The Primate Press

Well, something fundamental must have happened to cause Maureen Dowd to momentarily suspend her perpetual sneer at everyone and everything:

Black, White and Gray

What is that tone? Serious? Respectful? And the subject is a presidential candidate? I had to turn away from my computer and rub my eyes for a second to stop the vertigo.

Unfortunately she had to end the piece with her inevitable whiny jab (since no one really is good enough) — which, to top it off, was grounded not on her subject’s failings but the typical inattentive ignorance of press types like her:

Obama did not surrender his pedestal willingly. But he was finally confronted by a problem that neither his charm nor his grandiosity would solve.

He now admits that he had heard the Rev. Wright make “controversial” remarks in church, and that he had a “lapse of judgment” when he let the much-investigated Rezko curry favor by buying the plot of land next to his and selling a slice back so Obama could have a bigger yard. Newly alert to the perils of not seeming patriotic enough, he ended a speech in Pennsylvania the other morning with “God bless America!”

A little disenchantment with Obama could turn out to be a good thing. Too much idealism can blind a leader to reality as surely as too much ideology can.

Her position that he’s finally getting around to admitting some failings is simply based on false information. Obama said the very first time the issue of Rezko was brought up that he made a “boneheaded” choice — not because it was the wrong thing to do, but because he should have been sensitive to how it would appear to outsiders, like Dowd, without all the facts. And he has been saying the same thing ever since. Similarly, he has not contradicted himself about Rev. Wright; he has simply filled out the picture with all its human paradoxes. This kind of communication takes time. It is truly unfortunate that the press lives in a series of disconnected moments that cannot accommodate a narrative of this sort.

Just because a member of the press discovers something for the first time doesn’t mean it just happened for the first time. Ms. Dowd should be reminded that a column thesis can also be as blinding as ideology.

I was starting to wonder myself if Barack was a liar, catching bits and bites of him explaining his relationship with his pastor. The media can do a number on someone trying to project an authentic persona simply by chopping it up — all the more so if there is no real authenticity to convey. Without clarification it becomes hard to tell which is the case. I understand his hesitation, because what politician wants to voluntarily delve into the red hot cauldron of racial resentment? Luckily Barack is capable of expressing something so complex, yet familiar to everyone, and has the courage to speak the truth about it.

Barack’s Speech on Race and Reverend Wright

There is something about this play that deletes my ability to be objective, and so I’ll keep it brief.

All of the actors were visually perfect, even though two twenty-somethings were playing Grandma and Grandpa. Peck hit Vogel’s requisition for someone that might play Atticus Finch just perfectly, and the woman in the combination role of the mother/Aunt Mary was fantastic. ‘Lil Bit was quite effective, but I wish she had somehow seemed more cerebral/ironic than breathless. Her inner sadness and young appearance would have been enough to elicit the required sympathy. Also, I wish the “You and the Reverse Gear” voice overs were more automated sounding — actually piped in over a loudspeaker. But that is definitely a taste issue. A wonderful set out of a Kentucky junkyard, with two folding chairs for the car.

All in all, too sad for words — from beginning to end.