right as wright...

I saw Rev. Jeremiah Wright on the Bill Moyers Show this week. Just to get it out of the way- Bill Moyers is amazing and is probably one of a handful of people that could actually save the press in this country. Love love love him. Ok, so back to Jeremiah Wright.

I am NOT going to talk about whether or not I think Obama bears some burden of responsibility for the words of his preacher because I think that is preposterous. Obama bears as much responsibility for what Jeremiah Wright says as I bear for what George W. says and if the theorum the media and Republicans are spouting holds- it turns out I am a mildly retarded brush clearer from Silver Spoon, TX. I am not George W. and, unfortunately for the verbose, I am unable to control what comes out of his mouth, as Obama is unable to control what comes out of Rev. Wrights’. Case closed. Jeez.

I am NOT going to talk about whether or not Jeremiah Wright is hurting Obama’s presidential bid or whether he was kind in his interview with Bill Moyers or whether his speech at the NAACP thing was tactful or not. The truth is that I don’t really care. I mean, I care whether or not a Democrat wins in November but as you can see from above- I really think all this hoopla over Jeremiah Wright is a real hack job.

Jeremiah Wright should be a non-issue, especially when there are so many other real issues to talk about. All of this media play he’s getting and the stream of ‘news’ anchors and political analysts trying to figure out what effect this will have on the campaign is just absolutely AMAZING. I mean, amazing. People are dying (so’s the economy). Iraq is in shambles (so’s the middle class). People want to kill us (and so do the terrorists). For this to be getting more play than Darfur, et. al. is unconscionable- as is ANY of the fluff we get force-fed on a 15-minute news loop. So I DON’T want to talk about Jeremiah Wrights effect on Obama’s bid. I DON’T want to talk about religion and politics and the incest going on between them. I DON’T want to talk Jeremiah Wright the man, the preacher or any of that.

What I would LOVE to talk about is the actual god damned speech if you’ll pardon the pun. The words of the speech are what I want to talk about because…holy mary mother of god...THEY ARE TRUE. Every single word in his ‘hate-filled, anti-American’ speech is true. He isn’t saying anything that I haven’t said a dozen times after a bottle of wine and Primary Colors. He didn’t spout one idea that I don’t agree with. He didn’t utter one phrase I haven’t yearned to hear from someone, anyone, in our socio-political landscape. And isn’t that the best part of all? In this whole in-depth [see: Shallow pg. 1] political argument NO ONE in the mainstream media or mainstream politics has the BALLS or the BRAINS to actually say- “You know, Anderson, I listened to Rev. Wright’s speech and I was moved by it because it’s how I feel sometimes.”

What the eff is it about this country and about our people that makes it IMPOSSIBLE to see the worst in ourselves? You know, people give the French so much bullshit but I love the French because I’m a masochist too and god damn it I wish more people were. Before you can fix all the bullshit in the world you have to first admit to yourself that’s it’s broken and that it’s probably your fault, folks. So hop on the Straight Razor Express and take a Wonka boat ride with me. This country IS imperialistic. This country (like, btw, EVERY OTHER COUNTRY THAT HAS EVER EXISTED ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET AND EVER WILL EXIST ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET) isn’t perfect. We don’t always do the right thing; we don’t always see the light, free the slaves, feed the hungry and recycle. Sometimes we massacre the natives. Sometimes we drop atomic bombs on the civilian population of an enemy state. Sometimes we support corrupt dictators in developing countries because they fit nicely into our pockets and will ‘develop’ their country in a way that is of maximum benefit to our exceptional* nation. Sometimes, we park in the handicapped spot. I’m okay with that. As a masochistic bohemian, I am at peace with shitiness and dedicated to the pursuit of improvement.

*”Exceptional” is also an acceptable term for ‘mentally retarded’ according to the Special Olympics website.

What Jeremiah Wright said was the truth. Before you judge, or let other people judge for you please watch it for yourself. The debate raging over his words, as usual, is off the mark. We shouldn’t be talking about whether or not what he said could hurt Obama or whether Obama is a terrorist for simply hearing Wright’s words. We should be talking about what Wright said. Whether you agree or disagree with his words, they are worth discussion and the current debate takes it as a foregone conclusion that they were ‘hate-filled’ and ‘anti-American’. They were the opposite. They were anger-filled words from someone who loves human life so much that the taking of it- for any reason- is enraging and they were pro-American because he and many other people like him love this country so much that they want it to be better, smarter, kinder, fairer and part of the solution.