Obama – the other white meat

You just can’t beat the headlines Ted Rall uses on his columns.

First, Rall compares Barack Obama “denouncing” his long-term pastor, Jeremiah Wright, to George McGovern dumping Tom Eagleton as his vice-presidential candidate in 1972 after Eagleton’s history of depression, including treatment with electro-convulsive therapy, came out into the public.

Rall argues the controversy would have eventually faded away if McGovern would just have listened to Tammy Wynette to “stand by your man.” Instead, he folded, and the GOP knew he could be pushed.

Rall figures the same is in store for Obama. Especially since, well, Wright was right on 9/11 comments, at least:

What is truly ridiculous is that, six and a half years after 9/11, many Americans still think the attacks were motivated by crazy freedom-haters out to forcibly convert them to Islam. The rise of radical Islam resulted from what Chalmers Johnson termed “Blowback” — CIA jargon for the unintended consequences, in this case of arming and funding Islamist fighters against the Soviet Union. But Wright was right. “America's chickens are coming home to roost,” the Reverend said after 9/11.

It wasn’t an original thought. Ward Churchill said the same thing. So have countless analysts in other countries. Only in the U.S. is it prohibited to say something so obvious--particularly in a public forum.

Osama bin Laden and the 19 hijackers didn't think flying planes into buildings would make Americans join the local mosque. They were motivated by a desire to bring America’s wars home to its people, to ensure that it would suffer the consequences for having “supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans,” as Wright said. Like Wright, bin Laden has referenced these issues.

Well, I’ve e-mailed back and forth with Ted enough that I know he’s expects Obama to remain the other white meat, rather than the duck a l’orange of change. And, Ted has heard enough from me, and regular readers here know, that I don’t expect Obama to change, either.

Here’s what I don’t get.

You listened to Wright’s tapes at Harvard Law, Obama. You deliberately sought out Wright’s church in Chicago. You had to know something about black liberation theology.

So, was this a social climbing strategy move?

You are looking more and more like Just. Another. Politician.