The irony here is that by virtue of being raised by a white mother and white grandparents, he already was acculturated to white society. He attached himself to Wright’s church most likely for two reasons: 1)gain street cred as a South Side politician of the people as opposed to being an Ivy League educated lawyer from Hawaii and 2)some aspect of Wright as a father figure and/or as a link to the black part of his heritage. Dreams of My Father, etc.

But later on this had to be balanced against later appealing to mainstream mainland society. As Obama had never lived in mainstream mainland society- Hawaii, the Ivy League and the South Side are outliers- he may have lacked the cultural cues on how to balance this.

There was too much to balance here, which is how Obama got tripped up.

For one thing, would anyone argue that the president of the united states should be one who shares the beliefs, values, and behavioral practices of the dominant culture, i.e. white middle class people of European descent?

Condi Rice: sure.
Colin Powel: sure.

Obama: ??? he’s just looking (to me) like a self-identified black guy from a black district who can talk well. He lacks the sort of acculteration that a member of a minority group should show (and I don’t mean race to be the defining characteristic, but beliefs and values and behaviors), if he/she wants to lead the dominant cultural group. I don’t think many of his supporters are understanding the basic psychology of this, nor do they realize how far outside the mainstream he has shown him to be with the Wright Fiasco.

Take it to Obama.

Maybe, just maybe in this time of media “paddy paddy cake” moment, speak no evil, she can show a little steel and confront him.

She has to fortify her base in Pennsylvania and probably will.

Americans reluctantly confront race and OB put it out there by not “dissing the Rev,” so white America is face to face with the issue of race brought forth by OB and the polls will reflect a fall off in support for him.

And of course the liberal media will call it “white racism” ignoring the 92% black vote for OB “black racism.”

“You know, I spoke out against Don Imus (who was fired from his radio and television shows after making racially insensitive remarks), saying that hate speech was unacceptable in any setting, and I believe that,” Clinton said. “I just think you have to speak out against that. You certainly have to do that, if not explicitly, then implicitly by getting up and moving.”

Especially when the setting is a frigging church, perhaps?