I feel sorry for Obama. In order for a half black, Ivy Leaguer from Hawaii to get somewhere in Chicago politics, he had to have the patronage of a traditional black leader. Traditional black leadership requires maintaining a distinctive black constituency. Maintaining a distinctive black constituency requires an enduring separateness. An enduring separateness requires a narrative of insurmountable injustice fortified with a mythology of white oppression (discrimination), ethnic cleansing (government created HIV virus) and global domination (resulting in “chickens coming home to roost after 9/11”): i.e., the “white devil” mythology.

Playing along with the charade that keeps these dinosaurs in power was bound to prove incompatible with appealing to a majority of Americans as is required of anyone seeking the presidency. Obama’s choice was either to justify a belief system based on this malarkey, probably by appealing to historical white guilt, or pulling back the curtain on this black kabuki or bla-buki theater (to coin a phrase) while explaining the necessity of, and asking forgiveness for, having “gone along to get along” in order to succeed as a community organizer, state senator and ultimately a U.S. senator and presidential candidate. He could have called up a Harry Truman – Pendergast machine analogy. He had a good chance to put it permanently behind him with the latter but only a hope and a prayer with the former.

Maybe it was his plan, once at the top, to destroy this archaic system of black power politics just by his very being. Unfortunately, that is no longer an option given the impact of the video. Dealing with this head-on and rocking the boat in a major way or out-Clintoning the Clintons in trying to explain it all away were his choices. He went the Clinton route with the bait and switch race speech. He was very eloquent but he didn’t do what needed to be done. He didn’t tell the truth: he doesn’t believe these things and doubts that the good Rev. Dr. Wright believes them either. It’s all an act. It’s all shtick. It is troubling that protecting the gaming of the black community that goes on vis-à-vis black power politics is more important to him than serving the country as president.