Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright vs. Geraldine Ferraro

"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another..." so begins the Declaration of Independence. Our first step towards greatness as a nation was to recognize that some relationships had become more of a hindrance than a help, and it was time to distance ourselves from those who would hold us back.

Such a time is now for the Democratic nominees for the Presidency. As bets are placed and candidates maneuver for votes, we can expect the inevitable parade of supporters. It is a symbiotic relationship, with the supporters getting to share the spotlight and the candidates getting to bask in the adulation of Important People.

The problem becomes when the media confuse the candidate with their supporters. The first blip on the radar came when Louis Farrakhan endorsed the candidacy of Barack Obama. You could almost hear the collective cringe from Obama's white and Jewish supporters, as the situation was defused with the delicacy of a time bomb. The candidate morphs and becomes one with the supporters in the eyes of the media, and we can almost imagine Farrakhan's hateful diatribes coming from Obama himself. Obama deftly sidestepped the issue, saying that while he was happy as a candidate to get an endorsement, he wanted everyone to know that he rejected the message of Farrakhan.

Then from the mist of time immemorial, Geraldine Ferraro emerges. Unless you were paying attention in the early 1980's, Geraldine Ferraro qualifies as little more than a Final Jeopardy answer. The question? Who was the first woman to run for Vice President of the United States for one of the two major political parties? Even today, the candidacy of Ferraro raised speculation: was it a stunt? A dare? Were Democrats, sure that they were unable to thwart Reagan's re-election in 1984, trying to simply make a statement that they were the party of Women's Liberation? After her and Walter Mondale's defeat, she had her brief foray on the lecture circuit, and from there retreated into the mist.

Then with Hillary running, and winning Texas and Ohio, it seemed entirely plausible that we would see a woman taking the Oath of Office next January. The time was right for Ferraro to emerge from obscurity and cast her lot for Hillary. The only problem is, Ferraro has a big mouth, and a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Politicking is a delicate dance, and all it takes is one botched do-si-do to get voted off the stage. So, Ferraro shoots her mouth off in ways that came off as pretty racist against Obama, saying he wouldn't be a candidate if not for the fact that he's black. Wow, not even "African-American"? So much for that famous liberal sensitivity. Hillary, who remained loudly silent in the aftermath, probably did her campaign more harm than good as a result. The fact that she insisted that Obama both "denounce and reject" Minister Farrakhan's anti-Semitic comments was spot on. It is important that the leader of the United States to show no bias towards or against any group. Obama did the right thing in distancing himself from Farrakhan's hate speech, and for the life of me I can't figure out why Hillary wasn't as prompt to do the same.

Finally, we have Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright. Born in Philadelphia, Rev. Wright spent 36 years as pastor to the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. This is the same church Obama attended. So what did the good Reverend say that is so horrible as to incur the wrath of mainstream media and cast aspersions on the candidacy of the Democratic Senator from Illinois? Simply this: "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." He also said that Americans are "selfish, self-centered egotists who are arrogant and ignorant,". America is also said to have, "put Nelson Mandela in prison", to "believe in white supremacy", and to have, "supported Zionism shamelessly."

Ouch.

Whether Obama believes this or not is not the issue at this point. The good things the Reverend has done for his community will not be considered here. It's a shame too, because on the merits of the aforementioned quotes, it's hard not to lump Reverend Wright in with Minister Farrakhan. But regardless of how this boils down one lesson is already emerging: be careful who you count as your friends, especially in politics when everyone wants to be your friend. Whatever asinine stunt they pull becomes your stunt. Whatever invective spewed in a moment of anger becomes your new campaign slogan.

Hillary and Barack have done themselves and one another a good deal of harm in this "I hate your supporters" tiff. I do believe that they would both love to get back to the issues of the election and let this other stuff slide. I mean really, just because Geraldine Ferraro is a closet racist doesn't mean Hillary Clinton has to be one too. Just because Louis Farrakhan is gong to vote for Barack Obama doesn't mean that Obama hates Jews too. But even the fact that we have to pause to remind ourselves of that is a bad thing.