Enough Of Reverend Wright Already
Just because the Reverend Jeremiah Wright decides he needs to do a media tour across the country based on his new media status as "Rabble Rousing Flavor Of The Month," does not mean the media should be covering him 24/7.
Enough, already!
Yesterday Reverend Wright was at the Washington Press Club and over the weekend he did an interview with Bill Moyers
which aired on PBS, and made an appearance at an NAACP gathering. So for the last 24 hours, Reverend Wright has been exhaustively covered on every single television news channel. I half expected to see a
segment about whether or not Reverend Wright's choice of toothpaste
reflected badly on Barack Obama or not, because God knows I saw everything else.
I resent all this coverage because it smacks of so many things I abhor about the media. Number one, that this one black man speaks for all black people. As far as the media was concerned, it used to be Jesse Jackson who "spoke" for all black people, then Reverend Al Sharpton, and for a while there, film director Spike Lee was our "spokesperson." Now it's Reverend Wright.
But I got news for you. Reverend Wright does not speak for all black people. Reverend Wright does not speak for Barack Obama. Reverend Wright is using this spotlight as his bully pulpit. Good for him for trying. That doesn't mean he's news any longer. That doesn't mean his every breath should be televised.
Memo to the news channels: Reverend Wright is not running for president. Barack Obama is.
There are health care issues, and poverty issues, and war issues all percolating under the surface of the public consciousness, but all you insist on doing is throwing Reverend Wright at us and hoping you can whip up a good old 24/7 news cycle race war.
It's ridiculous. Obama has answered every question he needs to about Reverend Wright and from now on when asked about him, he should just give the reporter a copy of his speech on race from a few weeks ago and move on.
Just like I want to do.
Bob Herbert of the New York Times wrote an article today where he speculates that Reverend Wright's recent forays in front of the spotlight have a lot to do with getting back at Barack Obama for not defending him. "What we’re witnessing now is Rev. Wright’s “I’ll show you!” tour," Herbert writes.
I don't know that I agree with that assessment, but I do know, I'd like to hear more critical assessments of the candidates positions and much, much less from Reverend Wright.
