The Latest Hit Piece

Richard Cohen at Wapo asks why Obama doesn't get 'outraged' that his minister gave Louis Farrakhan an award, although he admits Obama's never shown an ounce of anti-semitism:

"It's important to state right off that nothing in Obama's record suggests he harbors anti-Semitic views or agrees with Wright when it comes to Farrakhan. Instead, as Obama's top campaign aide, David Axelrod, points out, Obama often has said that he and his minister sometimes disagree. Farrakhan, Axelrod told me, is one of those instances.

"Fine. But where I differ with Axelrod and, I assume, Obama is that praise for an anti-Semitic demagogue is not a minor difference or an intrachurch issue. The Obama camp takes the view that its candidate, now that he has been told about the award, is under no obligation to speak out on the Farrakhan matter. It was not Obama's church that made the award but a magazine. This is a distinction without much of a difference. And given who the parishioner is, the obligation to speak out is all the greater. He could be the next American president. Where is his sense of outrage?"

Get it? No? Neither do I. Does Cohen mean that Obama's responsible for every jerk thing that happens or just the ones related to his church, or dare I say, his faith? If every parishioner in every church, regardless of denomination, had to get 'outraged' over what their minister said or did, well, we'd be a world of pissed off people.

Of course, when you read between the lines, you see that this is really all about Obama's race. This is Cohen's little way of reminding us that a) Obama's black, and b) Some black people don't like white people, ergo, Obama probably doesn't like white people, especially if he 'doesn't get outraged.' Think I'm wrong, well replace every instance of 'Obama' the above article with your favorite white politician, substitute 'Farrakhan' with 'Jena 6', and then talk about that white politician's 'lack of outrage' and see if you don't find the thought that maybe that white politician's a racist crossing your mind. It's a miserable hit piece disguised as journalism, so don't be surprised if it's on the news for the rest of the week.