Barack Obama is a failed candidate
Andy Martin puts Reverend Wright and Barack Obama in context. Martin says Obama is guilty of "negotiation malpractice" and provoked Reverend Jeremiah Wright to counterattack.
On the eve of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, Andy Martin calls Barack Obama a "failed candidate." Martin analyzes what is now known about the battles between Obama and his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, and condemns Obama for "negotiation malpractice." Andy also explains why ContrarianCommentary.com is America's #1 political blog.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
HOW OBAMA BOTCHED THE WRIGHT EPISODE
"BARRY O" IS NO NEGOTIATOR
WHY CONTRARIANCOMMENTARY.COM IS AMERICA'S #1 POLITICAL BLOG
(NEW YORK)(May 5, 2008) Barack Obama has been criticized for saying he wants to "negotiate" with the Iranians, and the North Koreans and other adversaries of the United States. Sadly, he failed the test of "negotiating" with his own pastor, "Jeremiad" Wright. The Obama-Wright fiasco is also a Chicago/Mainstream Media (MSM) fiasco. But the entire episode demonstrates why ContrarianCommentary.com is the undisputed #1 political blog of the 2008 campaign.
A few minutes after Obama's "Philadelphia speech" we published an instant analysis critical of the performance:
http://contrariancommentary.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html
We called Obama "Reverend Wright light."
On April 7th, two weeks later, we presented a more detailed interpretation of Obama's Philadelphia speech that was contrary to virtually all of the MSMs conclusions:
http://contrariancommentary.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html
We stated:
His flawed strategy and calculated but clumsy and callous confessions did fatal damage to his campaign… That is why I believe the long-term impact of Obama's declarations will prove toxic to his candidacy… The one time Obama should have used a Watergate-style "modified limited hangout" to deal with the Wright crescendo, he didn’t. He put faith in the power of his speechifying to calm the Wright-infested waters…
Bottom line: Obama blundered, and gave what will prove in retrospect to have been one of the most disastrous speeches in American political history, the turning point in his campaign. Obama, who worked so hard to evade race as an issue, now finds himself captured by the controversy. And hostage to the concept. Sorry, Mainstream media. You won't sell Obama's spin to the American people this time. The backlash is building. Would someone please save Barack Obama from his "supporters?" And from himself?
At that time, the full extent of Reverend's Wright's internal frustration or the reasons for his anger were unknown. The facts concerning Wright's humiliation by Obama in Springfield in February 2007 had been concealed by the senator. Obama was sitting on a time bomb. He lit the fuse in Philadelphia. Now that we know more of the facts, Reverend Wright's explosion is much more understandable. We also know that Philadelphia was the trigger to Wright's attack last week. Finally, we know that Obama is no negotiator. On the contrary, he is a complete incompetent.
Please note: I have written numerous columns in the past highlighting Obama's incompetence as an attorney and his flatulent misrepresentations that he was a "civil rights litigator," which is simply untrue. Obama was a ham-handed lawyer who found a patron in and a job through Tony Rezko. That he pretends to be competent to "negotiate" with foreign leaders is a joke.
And sadly, the joke lives. In yet another Chicago media coverup and embarrassment, the Chicago Tribune on May 4th urged Indiana voters to support incompetence and vote for Obama. The Tribune continues to live in a dream world, totally divorced from reality, and still praises the "remarkable speech in Philadelphia." http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0504edit1may04,0,3206628.story
This column is not a Tribune-bashing story (more of that to come) but, nevertheless, is it any wonder the Tribune is hemorrhaging readers and revenues when it practices incompetent and fraudulent journalism parallel to Obama's incompetent politics and negotiation malpractice?
In February, 2007 when he announced, we now know Obama humiliated Wright by keeping him locked in the basement of the Old State Capitol while white politicians introduced the candidate. If I had been in Wright's place, I would have been seething too. Wright's reaction was not a case of "Black rage." This was a case of human outrage, and an instance where Obama's timidity coupled with his incompetence created chaos. Bringing Wright to Springfield, and then hiding him in the basement was disgraceful behavior for a man who had been labeled the candidate's "father-figure." Disgraceful.
Had Obama been as much of a negotiator as he claims, he would have seen the Wright sound bites for what they were, an extremely irritating distraction but something that ultimately concerned Reverend Wright and not Obama. That is why in my prior analysis I said he faced a situation where a Nixonian "modified limited hangout" was called for.
Obama, of course, wanted to go for the dramatic. And play to the MSMs. He succeeded in bamboozling the MSMs, as the Tribune's latest editorial embarrassingly indicates. But he totally failed to manage the volatile Reverend Wright. I don’t usually agree with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell, because she has been a blind Obama partisan. But her recent writing has done more to place Wright's behavior in context than any other journalist. http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/930244,CST-NWS-mitch04.article
If you want to know what happened, read Ms. Mitchell. The only missing link that we do not yet have is the date when Wright got wind of the fact he was going to be disgraced by Northwestern University. My guess: Wright scheduled his attacks after he was told Northwestern was planning to revoke his honorary degree. (Please note, that's a guess. Northwestern announced its action after Wright's Washington performance; common sense suggests universities do not move that quickly, and that the stab-in-the-back must have been in progress before that.)
Wright thus faced a "Captain Carpenter" situation. It is a maneuver I am familiar with, because I have faced similar challenges in the past. "Captain Carpenter" was a famous West Point athlete who found himself in Viet-Nam, surrounded and overrun by the enemy. With no hope of extraction or escape, he called in strikes on his own position. The tactic worked, and the enemy scattered and withdrew. In my mind, a "Captain Carpenter" operation is one where you are surrounded and have no option but to bring down the artillery on yourself as the only way to survive.
Reverend Wright saw his entire career being destroyed by Obama's campaign for national office. There was no escape. Obama had gone on national television in Philadelphia and "defended" Wright by disowning him politely. Then Northwestern probably hinted that it was reconsidering Wright's honorary degree. Wright snapped. The result was the effective demise of Obama's presidential hopes. At the National Press Club in Washington.
If Obama had been as good a negotiator as he thought, and as good a judge of character as President Bush said he was when he looked into the eyes of the Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin, Obama would have anticipated the danger he faced with Wright and done everything to neutralize the fallout. He could have acted quietly, and he could have worked the line without tearing up Wright's reputation and claiming he had never heard any of Wrights controversial sermons.
Obama clearly provoked Wright to counterattack. Obama tried to lie, professing ignorance of Wright's theology; he insulted a man that he had previously led into a basement for "prayer" in secret because he was too fearful of being seen praying in public with his "father." For shame. Obama misjudged the man.
Last year, we published a "psychological profile" of Barack Obama. Go back and read it. http://www.contrariancommentary.com/community/Home/tabid/36/mid/363/newsid363/79/Default.aspx
We understood and presented a profile of Obama that is consistent with all of his hesitations and machinations since then. "Barack" Obama is still controlled by "Barry" Obama. He is a man trapped inside himself.
If Obama had handled Wright properly, and handled himself properly, there would have been no need for the Philadelphia speech. Mary Mitchell makes clear in her comments that Reverend Wright has not changed over the past 20 years; indeed Obama refers to Wright's fiery tongue in his own book, published over a decade ago. Mr. Obama has changed. Sadly, Mr. Obama is not any better a "negotiator" today than he was as a fledgling lawyer. He is an intelligent man, who lacks the very street smarts he claims to possess.
Seen in context, Wright's actions were very human and very understandable and very predictable. Faced with the same betrayal, many people would have acted the same way. I do not agree with Wright's theology; but I find it hard to disagree with his reaction to Obama's ingratitude and condescension.
And, not to put too fine a point on it, it was only ContrarianCommentary.com that predicted on April 7th the Philadelphia speech would become "one of the most disastrous speeches in American history." Who knew? We knew.
We got it right. No one else did. Is it any wonder that we are the #1 political blog in America?
Question: would anyone now like to tell me Obama's Philadelphia speech was a masterpiece? Or tell me Obama is competent to negotiate with dictators when he could not negotiate with his own pastor? Obama is guilty of "negotiation malpractice." Obama is a failed candidate. And this man wants to be president? Be real. Or read the Chicago Tribune's fantasies and fabrications masquerading as "editorials."
Well, to throw the Tribune a bone, we both agree that Obama's speech was "remarkable." After all, that speech destroyed his candidacy. Pretty remarkable.
------------------------------------------------------
Chicago's #1 Internet columnist, broadcaster and media critic, Andy Martin, is the Executive Editor and publisher of http://www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with more than forty years of experience. He is a chronicler of all things Midwestern and the authentic Voice of Middle America. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. He has been a candidate for U. S. Senator from Illinois. www.AndyforUSSenator.com. Comments? E-mail: AndyMart20@aol.com. Media contact: (866) 706-2639. Columns also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. [Editing note: we make typos, and we can’t recall every posting or e-mail; but updated versions are usually found on our blogs and web site.]
Andy Martin puts Reverend Wright and Barack Obama in context. Martin says Obama is guilty of "negotiation malpractice" and provoked Reverend Jeremiah Wright to counterattack.
On the eve of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, Andy Martin calls Barack Obama a "failed candidate." Martin analyzes what is now known about the battles between Obama and his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, and condemns Obama for "negotiation malpractice." Andy also explains why ContrarianCommentary.com is America's #1 political blog.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
HOW OBAMA BOTCHED THE WRIGHT EPISODE
"BARRY O" IS NO NEGOTIATOR
WHY CONTRARIANCOMMENTARY.COM IS AMERICA'S #1 POLITICAL BLOG
(NEW YORK)(May 5, 2008) Barack Obama has been criticized for saying he wants to "negotiate" with the Iranians, and the North Koreans and other adversaries of the United States. Sadly, he failed the test of "negotiating" with his own pastor, "Jeremiad" Wright. The Obama-Wright fiasco is also a Chicago/Mainstream Media (MSM) fiasco. But the entire episode demonstrates why ContrarianCommentary.com is the undisputed #1 political blog of the 2008 campaign.
A few minutes after Obama's "Philadelphia speech" we published an instant analysis critical of the performance:
http://contrariancommentary.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html
We called Obama "Reverend Wright light."
On April 7th, two weeks later, we presented a more detailed interpretation of Obama's Philadelphia speech that was contrary to virtually all of the MSMs conclusions:
http://contrariancommentary.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html
We stated:
His flawed strategy and calculated but clumsy and callous confessions did fatal damage to his campaign… That is why I believe the long-term impact of Obama's declarations will prove toxic to his candidacy… The one time Obama should have used a Watergate-style "modified limited hangout" to deal with the Wright crescendo, he didn’t. He put faith in the power of his speechifying to calm the Wright-infested waters…
Bottom line: Obama blundered, and gave what will prove in retrospect to have been one of the most disastrous speeches in American political history, the turning point in his campaign. Obama, who worked so hard to evade race as an issue, now finds himself captured by the controversy. And hostage to the concept. Sorry, Mainstream media. You won't sell Obama's spin to the American people this time. The backlash is building. Would someone please save Barack Obama from his "supporters?" And from himself?
At that time, the full extent of Reverend's Wright's internal frustration or the reasons for his anger were unknown. The facts concerning Wright's humiliation by Obama in Springfield in February 2007 had been concealed by the senator. Obama was sitting on a time bomb. He lit the fuse in Philadelphia. Now that we know more of the facts, Reverend Wright's explosion is much more understandable. We also know that Philadelphia was the trigger to Wright's attack last week. Finally, we know that Obama is no negotiator. On the contrary, he is a complete incompetent.
Please note: I have written numerous columns in the past highlighting Obama's incompetence as an attorney and his flatulent misrepresentations that he was a "civil rights litigator," which is simply untrue. Obama was a ham-handed lawyer who found a patron in and a job through Tony Rezko. That he pretends to be competent to "negotiate" with foreign leaders is a joke.
And sadly, the joke lives. In yet another Chicago media coverup and embarrassment, the Chicago Tribune on May 4th urged Indiana voters to support incompetence and vote for Obama. The Tribune continues to live in a dream world, totally divorced from reality, and still praises the "remarkable speech in Philadelphia." http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0504edit1may04,0,3206628.story
This column is not a Tribune-bashing story (more of that to come) but, nevertheless, is it any wonder the Tribune is hemorrhaging readers and revenues when it practices incompetent and fraudulent journalism parallel to Obama's incompetent politics and negotiation malpractice?
In February, 2007 when he announced, we now know Obama humiliated Wright by keeping him locked in the basement of the Old State Capitol while white politicians introduced the candidate. If I had been in Wright's place, I would have been seething too. Wright's reaction was not a case of "Black rage." This was a case of human outrage, and an instance where Obama's timidity coupled with his incompetence created chaos. Bringing Wright to Springfield, and then hiding him in the basement was disgraceful behavior for a man who had been labeled the candidate's "father-figure." Disgraceful.
Had Obama been as much of a negotiator as he claims, he would have seen the Wright sound bites for what they were, an extremely irritating distraction but something that ultimately concerned Reverend Wright and not Obama. That is why in my prior analysis I said he faced a situation where a Nixonian "modified limited hangout" was called for.
Obama, of course, wanted to go for the dramatic. And play to the MSMs. He succeeded in bamboozling the MSMs, as the Tribune's latest editorial embarrassingly indicates. But he totally failed to manage the volatile Reverend Wright. I don’t usually agree with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell, because she has been a blind Obama partisan. But her recent writing has done more to place Wright's behavior in context than any other journalist. http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/930244,CST-NWS-mitch04.article
If you want to know what happened, read Ms. Mitchell. The only missing link that we do not yet have is the date when Wright got wind of the fact he was going to be disgraced by Northwestern University. My guess: Wright scheduled his attacks after he was told Northwestern was planning to revoke his honorary degree. (Please note, that's a guess. Northwestern announced its action after Wright's Washington performance; common sense suggests universities do not move that quickly, and that the stab-in-the-back must have been in progress before that.)
Wright thus faced a "Captain Carpenter" situation. It is a maneuver I am familiar with, because I have faced similar challenges in the past. "Captain Carpenter" was a famous West Point athlete who found himself in Viet-Nam, surrounded and overrun by the enemy. With no hope of extraction or escape, he called in strikes on his own position. The tactic worked, and the enemy scattered and withdrew. In my mind, a "Captain Carpenter" operation is one where you are surrounded and have no option but to bring down the artillery on yourself as the only way to survive.
Reverend Wright saw his entire career being destroyed by Obama's campaign for national office. There was no escape. Obama had gone on national television in Philadelphia and "defended" Wright by disowning him politely. Then Northwestern probably hinted that it was reconsidering Wright's honorary degree. Wright snapped. The result was the effective demise of Obama's presidential hopes. At the National Press Club in Washington.
If Obama had been as good a negotiator as he thought, and as good a judge of character as President Bush said he was when he looked into the eyes of the Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin, Obama would have anticipated the danger he faced with Wright and done everything to neutralize the fallout. He could have acted quietly, and he could have worked the line without tearing up Wright's reputation and claiming he had never heard any of Wrights controversial sermons.
Obama clearly provoked Wright to counterattack. Obama tried to lie, professing ignorance of Wright's theology; he insulted a man that he had previously led into a basement for "prayer" in secret because he was too fearful of being seen praying in public with his "father." For shame. Obama misjudged the man.
Last year, we published a "psychological profile" of Barack Obama. Go back and read it. http://www.contrariancommentary.com/community/Home/tabid/36/mid/363/newsid363/79/Default.aspx
We understood and presented a profile of Obama that is consistent with all of his hesitations and machinations since then. "Barack" Obama is still controlled by "Barry" Obama. He is a man trapped inside himself.
If Obama had handled Wright properly, and handled himself properly, there would have been no need for the Philadelphia speech. Mary Mitchell makes clear in her comments that Reverend Wright has not changed over the past 20 years; indeed Obama refers to Wright's fiery tongue in his own book, published over a decade ago. Mr. Obama has changed. Sadly, Mr. Obama is not any better a "negotiator" today than he was as a fledgling lawyer. He is an intelligent man, who lacks the very street smarts he claims to possess.
Seen in context, Wright's actions were very human and very understandable and very predictable. Faced with the same betrayal, many people would have acted the same way. I do not agree with Wright's theology; but I find it hard to disagree with his reaction to Obama's ingratitude and condescension.
And, not to put too fine a point on it, it was only ContrarianCommentary.com that predicted on April 7th the Philadelphia speech would become "one of the most disastrous speeches in American history." Who knew? We knew.
We got it right. No one else did. Is it any wonder that we are the #1 political blog in America?
Question: would anyone now like to tell me Obama's Philadelphia speech was a masterpiece? Or tell me Obama is competent to negotiate with dictators when he could not negotiate with his own pastor? Obama is guilty of "negotiation malpractice." Obama is a failed candidate. And this man wants to be president? Be real. Or read the Chicago Tribune's fantasies and fabrications masquerading as "editorials."
Well, to throw the Tribune a bone, we both agree that Obama's speech was "remarkable." After all, that speech destroyed his candidacy. Pretty remarkable.
------------------------------------------------------
Chicago's #1 Internet columnist, broadcaster and media critic, Andy Martin, is the Executive Editor and publisher of http://www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with more than forty years of experience. He is a chronicler of all things Midwestern and the authentic Voice of Middle America. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. He has been a candidate for U. S. Senator from Illinois. www.AndyforUSSenator.com. Comments? E-mail: AndyMart20@aol.com. Media contact: (866) 706-2639. Columns also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. [Editing note: we make typos, and we can’t recall every posting or e-mail; but updated versions are usually found on our blogs and web site.]
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