Freedom Rider: Obama and McClurkin
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret
Kimberley
"Anything for the President. I'm going to pray with the President (Bush)."
- Donnie McClurkin, 2004
What makes Barack Obama look more inept, the inability of
his campaign staff to search the web for information on Donnie McClurkin, or
the assumption that gospel concerts might improve his political fortunes with
black voters? Obama is looking a little less golden these days and nothing
proves it more than the debacle created by his political dalliance with an
opportunistic, closeted,
Bush supporting, singing preacher.
For months Obama was the political flavor of the month,
wooed by fawning celebrities, and promoted by the corporate media. The stamp of
approval from the right people had him sitting firmly atop an enormous pile of
campaign cash. Now his deep pocketed contributors are showing signs of buyers'
remorse, miffed because he is only neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in Iowa
and trailing behind her in New Hampshire.
"Obama openly scorned movement politics, and made the
appeal of color blindness his calling card."
Obama has been hoisted on his own petard. He assured
Democrats that he was "safe." He openly scorned movement politics, and made the
appeal of color blindness his calling card. He chose neo-con Bush suck-up Joe
Lieberman as his Senate mentor. His criticisms of the evil occupation of Iraq
focused not on murder and theft committed by Uncle Sam, but by the traumatized
Iraqis' efforts to deal with an American-created hellish existence.
Leaving "all options on the table" is part of the Obama
stump speech on Iran. It is the only way to stay in the good graces of the
pro-Israel lobby and its fund raising juggernaut. He said nothing about the Jim
Crow era injustices perpetrated in Jena, Louisiana, until Jesse Jackson called
him out for his disgraceful silence and inaction.
His attempt to imitate the worst of Clintonian triangulation
has resulted in greater support for a real Clinton. If support for him is weak
among black voters it is because he hasn't given them any reason to stray from
a known and comfortable quantity. The level of Bill Clinton's popularity among
black Americans was unwarranted but it remains firmly intact, and Mrs. Clinton,
the real McCoy, is the beneficiary.
In order to shore up black voter support in the South
Carolina primary, Obama or one of his very smart aides chose the least
meaningful, lowest hanging political fruit. They decided to get some old
time religion. Why not promote their man as a good Christian soldier and
have some good Christian music to go along with the claim? The Donnie McClurkin
snafu was born.
"Just a few years ago McClurkin was singing for George W.
Bush."
Donnie McClurkin is a gospel singer, and the pastor of a
church in New York. McClurkin now sings Obama's praises, but just a few years
ago he was singing for George W. Bush at the Republican National
Convention in 2004. Like all good business-minded preachers, McClurkin was
fully in the Bush camp when it made good political sense.
McClurkin has his own personal issues, admitting to having
sex with men but claiming that childhood sexual abuse was the sole reason for
his orientation. He also claimed that gays were trying to "kill our children"
while also calling homosexuality "a curse." McClurkin also opined that gays
could, like him, change if they prayed
hard enough. McClurkin certainly picked the right horse in the right year,
denying his own personal history in order to be in with the political in crowd.
"Gay Obama supporters are none too pleased that their guy
is hanging out with an avowed gay basher."
The McClurkin controversy exposed Obama's lack of respect
for the black community and also exposed his own opportunism. If he, a black
candidate, is getting a lukewarm reception among his own people, it is because
they doubt he is in their corner. They don't like being told that feelings of
race pride can be fulfilled with a black face in a high place but only on the
condition that they cease making demands on the system and make themselves
invisible.
Of course gay Obama supporters are none too pleased that
their guy is hanging out with an avowed gay basher. Oh well, too bad for them.
Why throw one group under the bus when you can throw two?
McClurkin and Obama deserve one another. Both men believe in
self promotion above all else. Their claims of political and religious
conviction are phony and ought to fall on deaf ears. McClurkin is a good
entertainer who will at least give audiences their money's worth. Obama's
appeal is a lot more elusive and his fans will go home empty handed. The closet
case preacher is definitely a better bet than the hollow politician.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York
City, and can be reached via e-Mail at
Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley' maintains an
edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com.
More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
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