:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

The gatekeepers in the world of politics who tell us what we should care about have decided of late that political candidates should be held responsible for the statements of others in the communities and organizations to which they belong. If Jeremiah Wright said something, then some in the media have assumed that we can just drop the sound clip right in front of a picture of Obama with a photoshopped Jib-Jabbing mouth.

Now a guest speaker at Trinity Church, Obama’s home church, made some disparaging remarks about Hillary Clinton. Obama swiftly replied to the remarks:

“As I have traveled this country, I’ve been impressed by not what divides us, but by all that that unites us,” Mr. Obama said. “That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger’s divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn’t reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause.” And to make things even better, the guest speaker apologized.

Of course camp Clinton said they were looking for something a little stronger from Obama. Yawn. And then Obama responded by actually renouncing his membership at Trinity. Happy now?

All of this tells me that, and brace yourself for this, America deserves George W. Bush. I don’t care whether or not we approve of his job, our system has guaranteed that a character like Bush can rise to the top political office. The Bush presidency has been shrouded in secrecy, expanded executive power, and viciously worked to topple all who stand in the way. If you listened to Scott McClellan on Fresh Air yesterday, you know that our president willfully keeps opposing viewpoints and perspectives away from his tightly knit womb of advisors. He has cut himself off from accountability to the greater community, especially the Evangelicals he palled around with at election time.

The word for George W. Bush is isolated. That is exactly where we are driving Obama, a man who stands a good shot at becoming our next president. By attacking his former pastor and now his very own congregation, we are alienating him from a network of support and criticism that is needed by any president. Instead we hound him for remarks made by people he not even working within his campaign.

This does not apply to everyone in the media and in the world of politics, but for the majority I have this to say:

We focus on stupid issues. Our stupidity paints our leaders into corners where they must cut off ties from valuable friends and communities. We scrutinize too deeply into trifling details such as flag lapel pins, associations with a pastor, etc. There are times when we should be critical of associations our leaders make such as McCain’s leap of faith behind Hagee, but when we force our leaders to renounce membership in church just because a guest speaker made fun of Hillary Clinton, we are surely asking for trouble.