Rev Dr Barbara Reynolds' Reply

Rev Dr Barbara Reynolds has responded to her critics by outlining her role in the Wright/Obama story/saga.

I was hoping that she would have responded to her critics on her blogsite, as this was where those who disagreed with her had made their opinions known.

I applaud her for writing this piece, 'My Motive For Wright Breakfast', but still feel she is not as open or transparent as she claims to be due to the fact she has deliberately removed the comments of those who disagreed with her. Of course she is entitled to do as she pleases with her blogsite - she can moderate comments in anyway she sees fit - but it smacks a little of insecurity and taking things personally. If all those comments were positive I suspect they would still be visible to the whole world. But they weren't. And they are not.

Rev Dr Barbara Reynolds - Silencing the Flock

Most of you may have been keeping up-to-date about the saga which is rumbling on regarding Barack Obama, Rev Jeremiah Wright Jr and Rev Dr Barbara Reynolds.

I won't bore you with the details but provide a link to a site where you can obtain a version of events, at your convenience.

The angle I am taking on this story is: How do you deal with people who write things about you which appear on your blog/site which you don't like.

Dr Reynolds has received a slew of negative verbal attacks due to her perceived role in the 'taking down of a brother' - Barack Obama via Rev Wright. Her blog ReynoldsWorldNews had a post supporting Rev Wright which was written prior to this debacle. Interestingly enough most of the comments were post-debacle and contained comments which suggested she was a Judas, 'how can you sleep at night', 'shame on you', etc. The comments were vociferous, clear, emotional and very frank. No misinterpretation of their dissatisfaction with Dr Reynolds was possible. Comment after comment castigated her in no uncertain terms with the odd dissenting voice being quickly fired upon.

Now the interesting point for me was how Rev Reynolds dealt with the barrage of unflattering comments. She did not exercise her right of reply. It is her blog and she could respond in anyway she liked without censor. She, instead, decided to, firstly, remove her post regarding Rev Wright, including all comments.

The next day I checked her site and realised that 'anonymous' persons had written comments on another of her posts -related to the Rev Wright issue.

Today, I notice, all comments have been disabled.

For someone who is/was a journalist, who understand that politics is a dirty, nasty game and if you take a dip in the cesspool you will inevitably be soiled, it is astounding to me that she has decided to silence those who voice their honest opinions. For someone who purports to promote the 'word of god' she represents all that is negative about those who stand on pulpits and preach to the 'flock'. Don't stand up and be different, don't shout out at perceived injustices. Just don't have an opinion of your own.

In a so-called democratic society, I would recommend that in future, Dr Reynolds, you allow, welcome, enable dissenting voices to be heard. Is that not what the Civil Rights Movement was objecting to? - state-sanctioned silencing of those who, rightly, objected to the status quo, those who refused to accept segregation as a natural normal god-given way of life.

Come on, Dr Reynolds, let those voices be heard. Don't silence those who have an opinion. It does you nor the causes you support or promote any favours.

The Speech by Barack Obama

Barack Obama - 'A More Perfect Union'- Philadelphia, 18 March 2008

I thought I would spend some time digesting this speech and all its probable implications. So in case you missed it in its entirety...

One thing I can say about Barack Obama was his speech touched a raw nerve for a lot of people. Not only in the USA but around the world. Friends of mine, blog writers, newspapers columnists realised, or rather, hoped that a turning point had arrived. The genie was being taken out of the bottle - for some there was pain and for others, none.

What's Going On?

I want to know, having taken a short break from blogging, what the hell is going on?

I mean, here I am thinking that Barack Obama's run for the Democratic Presidential nomination will end and there he goes jogging without breaking too much of a sweat towards the finishing line?
How did that happen? I mean aren't all Americans (even including the black ones) red-necked ignorant racists? Aren't those people supposed to only vote for people because of their colour?
How did America get to the point where big money, hardcore corporate capitalists, chucking shed-loads of cash and favours the way of a black man who has the audacity and nerve to raise his head above the parapet and run for the 'top' job, suddenly promote him as the next President?

Something just doesn't seem right to me. I mean did the KKK just disappear overnight and suddenly embrace him as a 'brother'? Where are the Al Sharptonites? - the groupies who will talk a mile a minute about everything they know nothing about just to get on Tee-Vee? What about all those polarised communities where any black person walking down certain neighbourhoods is liable to have the police called to ask them what they are doing in the area? What about the perceived negative relations between the black and hispanic communities? has everyone had a group hug and high-fived into cultural homogeny?
Maybe they have gravitated towards The Hillary and Bill Show, gnashing their teeth and wailing silently as Bill has shown his true consummate-politician colours and agreeing that it's okay to call him 'Mr President' (on Oprah - of all places) as they fawn over the dying embers of Hillary's phoney campaign.

I'm a bit worried about the media, too. Why are they so supportive of Barack? They never promote someone ad infinitum. Payback time is round the corner, folks. You have seen it before and you will see it again.

Let's get something very clear - if you believe that having a black man running for President is going to make a difference, a real difference, then you need to gen up on a little bit of history. The figurehead of President is just that - a figurehead. A puppet. The powers-that-be are shady characters behind the scene, shadowy figures who like to remain so and fund special private entities who can ensure that the status quo is maintained in their favour. Make no bones about it: On the surface, what a monumental achievement it will be for a 'person of colour' to be President of the USofA but get real - 'business as usual' says the sign on the White House door.

The Hillary and Bill Clinton Show?

So Bill has leapt to his wife's defence after she placed 3rd in the Iowa caucus - what a surprise! Methinks it smacks of 'payback time' as stained blue dress and cigars jump into my mind.

She is now steadfastly for change and is a 'problem solver' - now it would be far too easy to pick at Hillary and denigrate her for having stood by her husband at a difficult time in their lives and so I won't spend too much time on that.

But, Hillary Clinton appears to me, as a British woman, as a consummate politician and for her husband to laud her with a quote attributed to Tony Blair, of all people, smacks of desperation and a lack of strategy.

How can anyone respect politicians? How can anyone happily go along to vote for any of the candidates wheeled out by corporate capitalists? Bear in mind the puppets pushed are usually those who will do the bidding of those who hold the moneybags. Is this democracy? Is this what a modern democratic society insists on?

Will Barack Obama win the Democratic nomination? In one sense I hope not. I suspect that America won't elect a black man as the figure-head of the nation - 'we're not ready' - just the same as it wouldn't happen in the UK. Maybe either of the other main contenders will at the last minute take the lead and win and then ask Barack Obama to be the Vice-President.

I think this might be preferable due to the economic recession which has started to hit the US. If you become the President after the Bush administration then you have to deal with the complete chaos left behind by an incompetent administration who has messed up the economy, reduced scientific advances, particularly into green alternative forms of energy and on top of that single-handedly created an environment where the rest of the world seems to be hostile even to the sound of an American accent. As the President you get it in the neck when you realise it is impossible to clean up the mess in the time given - as Vice-President you don't get smeared with the same stuff as you learn from the mistakes of the President and then you make your bid again next time round. That's what Barack should do. Don't get the job when the shit is hitting the fan - let it lie low, let someone else have a go and then you go again.

Do I expect that any of this will make any difference to the world? I suspect not.

Is the US ready to elect a person who happens to be defined as 'black' as a figurehead in such a polarised society?

Imagine that.