PrintApril 14, 2008
Driving us to 'Distraction'
Note how frequently Obama waves away legitimate criticism by depicting them as "distractions."
Last night in Pennsylvania he deflected criticism regarding his remarks about small town Americans and their crutches of religion, guns, xenophobia, and isolationism by stating this:
So I think that this is an example of, frankly, how the political debate can distract us from what is really at issue and that is: How are we going to create a just and fair society where people are getting a fair shake? And that’s why I’m running this campaign.
Which has become a rhetorcial trope, as noted by The Weeekly Standard meant to end discussion :
It's not all that original to note that much of Obama's rhetoric is pretty vague -- often vapid. But I've begun to notice how many things Obama regards as distractions. When he labels a given issue a 'distraction,' he's saying that someone is whipping up a an issue from whole cloth simply for political gain.
So who does he think is being insincere: gays who want to marry, or people of faith who think marriage is for a man and a woman? How about in the competition between border enforcement advocates and those who want amnesty for illegal aliens? Or between those who favor abortion on demand, and those who believe life begins at conception?
All of these are important public policy questions, with divisions among Americans that prevent easy solutions. Obama shouldn't denigrate broad swaths of the population just because it would be difficult to address their concerns.
Obama also has been engaged in an effort to distance himself from Wright. He has called Wright his "moral compass" and "sounding board" and Wright has been his "spiruatl advisor" and the inspiration for his "Audacity of Hope" speech. Now he merely is his "Pastor".
