A defense of Barack Obama

OK - don't get me wrong. I'm a Hillary Clinton supporter myself in the current primaries for the Democratic presidential nomination in the U.S. - longtime fan of hers. But while there are several reasons I support her over Barack Obama, I have been disappointed in the focus on his association with a controversial pastor. First of all, that pastor does not necessarily represent Obama's exact thoughts and feelings verbatim - I don't agree with everything my minister says (particularly his great joy in seeing a roadkill rabbit in the middle of the road on Easter Sunday, lol - somehow, not very pastor-like). But secondly, just because Rev. Jeremiah Wright uses strong language to express himself, does not mean his views are so far out of the mainstream as one might think. Let's take a look at these words from the great American civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr.:

<<"God didn't call America to engage in a senseless, unjust war," King said of the fighting in Vietnam. "And we are criminals in that war. We've committed more war crimes almost than any nation in the world, and I'm going to continue to say it."

While King didn't go as far as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in suggesting that God "damn America," he predicted that the almighty might punish this country for "our pride and our arrogance.">>

Somehow, I suspect MLK would be opposing the Iraq war right now, and America's actions in the world which have lowered its esteem amongst its fellow nations - and I doubt he'd be using the most gentile language to convey his disappointment.

By the way - this is an excerpt from a VERY interesting article on CNN.com talking about if Dr. King were alive today - definitely an interesting read and I encourage you to check it out here.