Leonard Pitts Analysis of Rev. Wright - Is On Point

Leonard Pitts just wrote a great article The messenger who killed the message. He writes about Rev. Wright this week, and has captured much of my feelings regarding this whole issue. Great article Leonard Pitts!



He writes about Rev. Wright's "demeanor in the two speeches he gave: smug, mugging for the cameras, signifying, jive talking, acting the fool. Did he really say an attack on him was an attack on the black church? Did he really make those faces and throw that silly salute? Why didn't he just slap his hands together, yell, "Dy-no-mite!" and be done with it? Wright came across like drunken Uncle Buddy at the Thanksgiving table, the one who doesn't know he's not funny and won't shut up. More to the point, he did not come across like a reverend. Or even a Christian. The heck of it is, he had insightful things to say about culture, about difference, about reconciliation. But the messenger killed the message. It was bad enough that Obama was finally forced to sever ties with him. Bad enough that conspiracy theorists wondered aloud whether Hillary Clinton had a hand in setting up the speeches. Which is crazy, but you understand where it's coming from. Wright is this year's Willie Horton. Except that where George H.W. Bush made Willie Horton, Wright made himself. He had his chance to walk on water but - sorry, cousin - he fell in instead. The only remaining question is whether he will pull Barack Obama down with him. Read More HERE

Leonard Pitts Jr. won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2004. He is the author of Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood.