Comment
April 11, 2008
Oybama
Jack Gilden
Special to the Jewish Times
So it looks like the Democratic people have spoken. Their choice is Barack Hussein Obama.
Oy gevalt!
Two years ago, the guy was an Illinois state senator and now he’s in line to fidget with the whole shebang. Doesn’t anybody read a resume anymore? Check references?
At first, the only thing most Americans knew about Obama was that he authored “The Audacity of Hope.” Nobody’s going to actually read a snoozer like that, but at least the title is distinctive — as the most moronic in literary history.
And yet “The Audacity of Hope” suggests many things about this successful young candidate.
First of all, it speaks to Obama’s supposed eloquence. They keep telling us that he’s a wonder on the stump, but to me he seems to accomplish the same things for inspirational oratory that oatmeal does for spicy cuisine.
To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, who really could light up a room, Obama’s no Jack Kennedy or, for that matter, William Kennedy Smith. I know why they claim he’s a great speaker. He spouts the crackpot join-hands-with-the-world platitudes that are like fine erotica to the left. But he does so with a kind of emotional insolvency.
And speaking of loony optimism, “The Audacity of Hope” also speaks to his views (read: lies) about Iraq. He’s been foolishly rash in his assessments of the war and its meaning.
First, he claimed that he was always against the war (unlike virtually everyone else in his party). Of course, his views back then mean bupkis since he was still just a state hack at that time. Oprah hadn’t told him to go out and run America yet.
Once she did, and he was legitimately an exalted candidate, he stated that he would immediately withdraw the troops. Now he backtracks on that and says he’ll try to fade the war out. That’s the Audacity of Baloney.
So maybe his eloquence should be described as Clintonian since, like our former president, he seems to believe the theory that lingual elegance increases when it’s slouching out of two sides of the same horrific mouth.
For the Jewish readers of our magazine, and I understand there are a few, there’s another reason to mistrust the mellifluous tones of Citizen Obama. Maybe you noticed his warm friendship with a Chicago pastor named Jeremiah Wright?
Obama attended Pastor Wright’s shul for 20 years. Wright married Obama and his wife and baptized their children. Obama gave Rev. Wright “credit” for inspiring “The Audacity of Hope” title.
It’s a truly beautiful thing to see all the man love between these two, but, as usual, there are just a couple little problems. It seems as though Rev. Wright believes America should be “damned” and screams it from the pulpit every chance he gets. He also believes that the Rev. Louis Farrakhan is a “great” man and throws parties in his honor.
Obama has never satisfactorily answered why he was so close to this racist for so long.
Moving forward, Jewish voters must wonder how this tolerance for anti-Jewish sentiment might affect an “Obama administration.” There are plenty of advisers on the left hostile to Israel and Judaism; will they find a welcome home in his Cabinet?
On the other hand, maybe Obama’s a statesman. At least his candidacy exposed the Clintons’ naked lust for power and foul belief in their own entitlement.
Hmm, on second thought, maybe Barack’s not such a bad guy after all.