Spring Break
Shoot the hostage
Dan Fitzpatrick
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: Forum
If political campaigns were modeled on movies, Barack Obama's campaign would definitely be based on the movie "Speed."
In the movie, Jeff Daniels tells Keanu Reeves that if he finds himself in a situation where someone is holding a hostage, Reeves should eliminate the criminal's bargaining chip by shooting the hostage.
When Daniels is taken hostage toward the beginning of the movie, Reeves dutifully shoots him in the leg, confusing the bad guy.
It might seem counterintuitive to attack the ones close to you to confuse your opponent, but Obama has learned it and given it his own spin. He's shown his willingness to throw anyone and anything under the bus, whether it's family, close friends or even his own statements.
Back when the Rev. Jeremiah Wright scandal erupted in March, Obama loudly proclaimed he could, "no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother."
Shoot the hostage. Obama's grandmother had once mentioned her fear of a panhandler who had been very aggressive in asking her for money and also happened to be black.
Sure, it's perfectly reasonable to be wary of aggressive people on the street, and sure, his grandmother was (by his own admission) "a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world" -but none of that mattered, because Obama had a crisis to avert.
So under the bus went Granny, like the poor old lady trying to get off the bus in "Speed."
But it was only a couple of months later that Wright finally lost his ticket to ride. After several public speeches supporting the screeds that had originally put him in hot water, Wright exploded the idea that he had been taken out of context. He also, perhaps too honestly, said that Obama was trying to run from him because it was what he had to do to get elected.
Obama finally gave up on Wright and tossed him and the United Church of Christ under the bus. And since Obama could not disown Wright any more than the black community, I guess the black community went under the bus too.
In the movie, Jeff Daniels tells Keanu Reeves that if he finds himself in a situation where someone is holding a hostage, Reeves should eliminate the criminal's bargaining chip by shooting the hostage.
When Daniels is taken hostage toward the beginning of the movie, Reeves dutifully shoots him in the leg, confusing the bad guy.
It might seem counterintuitive to attack the ones close to you to confuse your opponent, but Obama has learned it and given it his own spin. He's shown his willingness to throw anyone and anything under the bus, whether it's family, close friends or even his own statements.
Back when the Rev. Jeremiah Wright scandal erupted in March, Obama loudly proclaimed he could, "no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother."
Shoot the hostage. Obama's grandmother had once mentioned her fear of a panhandler who had been very aggressive in asking her for money and also happened to be black.
Sure, it's perfectly reasonable to be wary of aggressive people on the street, and sure, his grandmother was (by his own admission) "a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world" -but none of that mattered, because Obama had a crisis to avert.
So under the bus went Granny, like the poor old lady trying to get off the bus in "Speed."
But it was only a couple of months later that Wright finally lost his ticket to ride. After several public speeches supporting the screeds that had originally put him in hot water, Wright exploded the idea that he had been taken out of context. He also, perhaps too honestly, said that Obama was trying to run from him because it was what he had to do to get elected.
Obama finally gave up on Wright and tossed him and the United Church of Christ under the bus. And since Obama could not disown Wright any more than the black community, I guess the black community went under the bus too.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Be the first to comment on this story
Comments by registered users are approved by default.