Opinion: Time For A Trade-In?

Imagine when you buy a new car – its shiny and clean, embraces the road perfectly, and is brimming with buttons and knobs and advanced features to transform the act of driving to and from work everyday from a chore into a luxurious experience. And we mustn’t forget that intoxicating new car smell.

You look at different makes and models until you find the one…the one that has everything you want…the one that will make your life better. Eventually the newness wears off, however, and you begin to notice things that weren’t so apparent during that glorious test drive. The passenger side window sticks a bit when you try to roll it down. The back left tire makes an annoying clicking noise, and out of 17 cup-holders, you can’t find one that will accommodate your morning cup of coffee perfectly.

Soon the realization sinks in that this new automobile isn’t as life changing as you once thought. The same could be said about America’s love affair with Barack Obama. My friends, Obama’s new-car smell has worn off.

Last week, news reports surfaced claiming that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ where Obama has been a member for 20 years, had made some alarming statements in his sermons. Soon after came the video.

“The government gives (black men) drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no. God damn America,” Wright bellows in one of his sermons, broadcast on YouTube and the major networks’ news programs. In other sermons he refers to the United States as the “U.S. of K.K.K.A.” and implies that the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 were a direct result of our country’s foreign policy.

Obama was quick to line up appearances on news stations to denounce Wright’s statements, calling them “inflammatory” and “appalling.” He claims he was not attending the services at Trinity United Church of Christ when these statements were made and, although he had heard about a couple of these statements, this would not be enough to force him to leave the church.

So, let’s give Obama the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he wasn’t in attendance on the Sundays these sermons were delivered. Okay, we can buy that.

Maybe Wright only referred to these ideas in one or two specific sermons, although this really is a bit of a stretch. It’s reasonable to believe that, with all of the power and conviction in his delivery, these are deep-seated views that Wright holds close to his heart – passionate beliefs that would surely find their way into many of his other sermons. Still, though, let’s say that these controversial topics were only visited in these particular sermons – sermons that Obama didn’t hear directly. We’ll give him that, too.

The one hard pill to swallow, however, is that Obama had no clue that this rhetoric was being presented by his pastor. How could he not know about Wright’s radical messages when they are included in the collection of sermons offered for sale by the church? Even if he hadn’t heard these sermons first-hand, someone – a campaign advisor, a family member, a friend from the church – had to let him know that Wright was disseminating a message that may polarize a lot of Americans.

Also, Obama’s camp makes it seem like they have just started distancing themselves from Wright because of the statements that have recently surfaced when, in fact, this process started when Obama rescinded an invitation to the reverend to deliver an invocation during his candidacy announcement over a year ago.

It seems that the candidate that tirelessly preaches about the necessity of having an open and honest government is being less than truthful with the American public. But this is the ride we have chosen – the shiny, new vehicle that dazzled us on the dealer’s lot has now depreciated in value. The once pristine floor mats are littered with week-old fries, coffee stains, and loose change, and we’ve got a never-ending line of monthly payments ahead of us.

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