Don Kates on Clinton and Obama

Don Kates writes:

As puerile as Hillary’s excuses are (e.g. "sleep deprivation" caused her to three times claim having been under fire in Bosnia), they are no more absurd than Obama’s excuses for Rev. Wright.

Obama solemnly analogizes criticism of Rev. Wright to attacking somebody for "the five stupidest things" they ever said. That is persuasive only because Obama has implied a premise which is both missing and false. If someone frankly admitted "yes, I did say X and it was really stupid," I would have to admit to having said some really stupid things from time to time myself. But this is wholly inapplicable to Rev. Wright who has not disavowed even one of his bizarre lies. He does not admit that No, AIDS was not invented by America to commit genocide against blacks (or for any other reason); and, NO, the American government does not sell narcotics to blacks in order to imprison them (or for any other reason); and NO, the American government did not support South African state terrorism against blacks – in fact our sanctions against South Africa were a major reason for the fall of its white-only government.

Remember how Rev. Wright’s nonsense assertions came to light. Not because enemies of him or Obama gathered the nonsense up to criticize, No, it was Rev. Wright himself who had these bizarre lies recorded and put them on sale in the church store as exemplars of his views.

In sum, Rev. Wright has not disavowed any of these and other vicious falsehoods whose most charitable explanation is that he is sincere but mentally deranged. So Obama’s defense of Rev. Wright does not at all work and only raises more questions about Obama himself.

The refusal by American leftists to unhesitatingly condemn Rev. Wright is explicable as a matter of what might be called deliberate mental confusion. Instead of focusing on Wright’s deranged falsehoods leftists focus on his expressions of hatred for America. This appalls most Americans but is congenial to leftists because, just like Rev. Wright and Mrs. Obama, they too are ashamed of their nation. . . .