Predictable: Wright Stuff no longer Swift-boating, now “Willie Horton”
posted at 8:13 am on May 3, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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When the first pushback came on the criticism over Jeremiah Wright, the Left tried calling it “Swift-boating” — which they took to mean false accusations based on thin evidence. When it turned into a real Swift-boating — which means discrediting through a wide body of testimony and evidence — one could predict that the next phase of the pushback would be to perform the quadrennial resuscitation of Willie Horton. Washington Post columnist Colbert King leads the charge:
Obama’s opponents in the media have done their best to make Jeremiah Wright a household name. And before this contest is over, Wright is going to be Willie Hortonized — that is, converted into an ever-present threat to white America.
When he was a media consultant to George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 1988, Fox News’s founder and president, Roger Ailes, speaking in jest about the Republican use of Willie Horton against Democratic presidential nominee Mike Dukakis, said: “The only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it.”
By October, if Hillary Clinton’s Democratic rival is still in the race, look for a campaign ad with a menacing mug shot of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright holding a bomb and standing next to a smiling Barack Obama.
It’s come to this.
King tries to square the circle of acknowledging Wright’s responsibility for his meltdown and the objectionable things he said while somehow blaming the media — and Republicans — for sticking them on Barack Obama. King demonstrates nothing but hackery in equating the two, willfully overlooking many points in his efforts to blame the Right for Obama’s own failure. King wants to turn the Wright Stuff into a conspiracy theory worthy of, well, Jeremiah Wright.
The evocation of Horton is as dull-witted as it is predictable. First, let’s recall that Al Gore raised the Willie Horton issue first, in the Democratic primary — which is the only legitimate analogy here. John McCain has refused to use the Wright Stuff in his campaigning, but the Clintons have had no such scruples.
Next, even if one believes that the Horton ads were illegitimate — and I don’t — Willie Horton didn’t sit on the campaign staff of Michael Dukakis. Jeremiah Wright served on Obama’s campaign as an outreach director to the African-American community. In past interviews, Obama described him as a spiritual mentor and a political adviser, two roles that no one suggested for Horton with Dukakis, not even Dukakis’ worst enemies. Since Obama has no particular track record in national politics, he has chosen to run on his superior judgment. Aren’t voters entitled to vet campaign staff and advisers to evaluate that judgment for themselves — and doesn’t Wright’s rantings say quite a lot about Obama’s judgment for having Wright as an advisor?
Jeremiah Wright is no Willie Horton. Obama chose Wright in part because of Wright’s rabid views, as Obama wrote in his first book after hearing Wright talk about a “world in need” because of “white man’s greed”, and now those views have gotten wide exposure to the nation rather than just on the south side of Chicago. King wants to scold people for judging Obama’s judgment and accuse them of racism for doing so. It’s a tired ploy, and one that King doesn’t even bother to intellectually support.
What’s King going to blame when people focus more on Obama’s ties with William Ayers, including the time Obama worked for Ayers at the Annenberg Challenge? Lee Atwater?
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Almost correct, leave the bombing to someone with experience, Bill Ayers.
moxie_neanderthal on May 3, 2008 at 8:29 AM
I get sick and tired of people saying that the Willie Horton ads were in any way unjustified. Michael Dukakis let a convicted murderer out of prison. That guy later went on to commit a rape and an armed robbery.
As far as what that has to do with Barrak Obama, I have no idea. I guess it just has to be a slow news day at the Washington Post.
SoulGlo on May 3, 2008 at 8:33 AM
Doesn’t really matter what King or the others might say in trying to make this another Willie Horton case, if the Rev. Wright opts either to keep talking or his church digs up a video of Barak Obama actually attending one of the more controversial sermons.
Willie Horton was a set image for the one thing he did and what Dukakis did, it wasn’t as if he was out running around killing more people or talking to the media. Wright if he chooses can keep dropping verbal land mines in front of Obama for the next six months, or even blow up his entire campaign theme of being a different type of politician if there really is any video out there that contradicts Obama’s claim that he hit the lottery and was never in church when the reverend delivered his most venomous anti-American diatribes.
jon1979 on May 3, 2008 at 8:34 AM
The damage from Wrightwater continues.
BKennedy on May 3, 2008 at 8:34 AM
Very predictable from the left - they have no morals, no facts, and no brains to do anything except call names.
These people are frightening beyond belief - think Waco, Ruby Ridge, Elian Gonzalez, Khobar towers, WTC 1, USS Cole.
Do we want these lunatics anywhere near the finest military in the history of the world?
Colonel_prop on May 3, 2008 at 8:38 AM
The left columnists are struggling now. LOL
RobCon on May 3, 2008 at 8:43 AM
Let them use Willie Horton! It’s a great reminder of what an abject failure liberal ideas are, how dangerous liberal supreme courts are, and how wary we need to be of presidential candidates like Dukakis and Obama:
Ann Coulter’s Godless is a must read for anyone who labors under the misconception that using Willie Horton to defeat Dukakis was a dirty trick, or used to appeal to racists.
Buy Danish on May 3, 2008 at 8:52 AM
You are dead on about Horton, and the Dem’s nominated Dukakis anyway.
The Republicans had a similiar situation with Huckabee this year, and Huckabee was not nominated.
Hellooooo… McFly, anyone home?
Hog Wild on May 3, 2008 at 8:53 AM
OOPS, I forgot to provide the Willie Horton link to wiki.
Buy Danish on May 3, 2008 at 8:54 AM
Colbert King: “… Wright is going to be Willie Hortonized — that is, converted into an ever-present threat to white America.”
Colbert King is so tunnel-visioned in making the issue one of racial identity that he fails to see Wright’s rhetoric as damaging to all of America. Wright himself and the whole BLT perpetual grievance industry have been brought into the disinfectant sunlight, but the “doctor” and his dependent patients refuse to be healed. Who in America knew that there were such pox-filled sores preferring to have their scabs picked repeatedly rather than form a color-neutral skin of character?
onlineanalyst on May 3, 2008 at 8:58 AM
Didn’t you guys here at HA refer to the NC GOP ad as a “Willie Horton ad”?
Typhonsentra on May 3, 2008 at 8:58 AM
“It’s come to this.”
They are just so predictable.
ggoofer on May 3, 2008 at 9:00 AM
I sense desparation…
cannonball on May 3, 2008 at 9:08 AM
It’s sad how we allow the Left to re-image two of our great campaign victories, the Willie Horton ad and the Swift Boat Veterans.
Dork B. on May 3, 2008 at 9:08 AM
No need for Wright, Obama himself will do just fine in the mug shot.
The thing is that the Left had 8 years of fun depicting GWB as a terrorist.
If GWB is a terrorist, then Obama is Osama.
Time for payback.
Niko on May 3, 2008 at 9:10 AM
Thanks for the link! I wanted to link the YouTube video of the ad but for some reason I can’t access the web page…
Dork B. on May 3, 2008 at 9:10 AM
Colonel_prop on May 3, 2008 at 8:38 AM
Nicely stated Colonel… Also, think of what BJ did to our military apparatus during his administration. Liberals have nothing but disdain for anything military; in fact, they haver total disdain for anything with a uniform and a weapon.
Colbert King simply provides another look inside the mindset of a typical Liberal media head. This example shows why the MSM refused to to their jobs by vetting “ALL” candidates, not just Republicans. The double standards in play with the American media is so painfully obvious, it represents a total failure of the media to perform the desired tasks that came with the invent of the free press. Elements of the new media are doing great work; providing the people with the facts (vetted by investigative procedures) and allowing the people to make their own judgement. Liberals view working class Americans as stooges, incapable of making the “right” decision without influence from “smarter” intellectually gifted people (such as themselves).
The Wright story is the tip of the iceberg for Obama. Democrats wouldn’t be stuck in this nightmare scenario of the media had done it’s designed task with vetting all candidates. The media provided cover for this white person hating American hating Muslim loving empty suit with no experience that qualifies him to represent the greatest country on earth. Over the next (6) months, Obama will be vetted properly, and the relationships this man has with the mob, terrorists, anti-American spiritual advisers, shady business partners, & leaders of countries that are dangerous to America, will all come out on the table for review. Obama’s political career (national level) will be over.
Only the Democrat Party would allow such a line-up of absolute losers such as Murtha, Durbin, Pelosi, Boxer, Reid, Obama, & the Clinton’s.
Keemo on May 3, 2008 at 9:13 AM
B B But Bill Ayers never killed anybody, and he’s not an education professor, he’s an English professor.
Uncle Barry told me!!!
It is amazing that Barry the Uniter has done more to unveil the hidden divide between black people and white people. You used to not talk about it, now it is ok.
I wonder if he thinks about that. I bet he does.
benrand on May 3, 2008 at 9:14 AM
The Left call this technique “framing the debate”. Since Lefties have the media in their pockets to shill their message, the Big Lie gets repeated exposure in order to insure that the narrative and history are set in people’s minds. Facts and truth be damned!
onlineanalyst on May 3, 2008 at 9:17 AM
I don’t “fear” Wright. I lament his setting back race relations by 30 years or so.
flipflop on May 3, 2008 at 9:17 AM
Who in America knew that there were such pox-filled sores preferring to have their scabs picked repeatedly rather than form a color-neutral skin of character?
onlineanalyst on May 3, 2008 at 8:58 AM
Brilliant!
Keemo on May 3, 2008 at 9:19 AM
They are trying desperately to Wright their listing boat.
Wright-Boating should be the buzzword for trying to repair self-inflicted damage on a campaign.
EJDolbow on May 3, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Seriously. There had to be more cameras in that church, perhaps one focused on a certain politician from Illinois, nodding his head along to certain sermons.
Well, one can dream.
amkun on May 3, 2008 at 9:27 AM
Obama’s worst nightmare, a TV ad ala the Dukakis campaign of a revolving door with Wright, Ayers and Rezko going around and around with Wright throwing epithets, Ayers throwing bombs and Rezko throwing money every time they come around towards the camera.
Speakup on May 3, 2008 at 9:30 AM
I have no way of knowing, what the Rev. Wright was preaching in his church…I wasn’t there.
That said…
We know, from the Mar. 2007 interview with Sean Hannity, Wright firmly believes in BLT as articulated by Cone.
We’ve all seen the tapes of his sermons.
We’ve all seen the speech he gave to the NAACP.
We’ve all seen the speech he gave to the National Press Conference.
Now, we’re supposed to believe, he wasn’t preaching BLT in church?…Every Sunday…For 20 years.
We’re supposed to believe, Obama doesn’t have the same philosophical views?…That, he’s all “outraged”?
“I’m outraged…I don’t share those views.”
–Obama
“He’s just saying what politicians say.”
–Jerry Wright
“If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Mr. Wright said with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen.”
–NYTimes
So, with all this evidence, as circumstantial as it may be, you don’t have to be a member of this “church” or attended the sermons, to know EXACTLY what philosophy was being preached…And, the Con-Game, that’s being played.
franksalterego on May 3, 2008 at 10:08 AM
One more thing.
I’m assuming, Jeremiah Wright’s father was White…I come to this conclusion, because it’s been noted in many articles, his mother was Black, but in all those articles, his father’s race isn’t mentioned…We also know, Obama’s mother was White.
So, what you end up with is, two White guys with some Black heritage, telling Blacks what to think.
How disgusting is THAT?…A con-game being played on Blacks by two White guys.
jus’ another way of looking at it
franksalterego on May 3, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Wright is a race-baiting, demagogic, paranoid, conspiracy-mongering, self-aggrandizing, un-Christian, foul-mouthed, loose-cannon, pea-brained crackpot.
Let them try to defend that.
(This classical Baby of Tar will only get them all covered in their own laughable pitch.)
profitsbeard on May 3, 2008 at 10:48 AM
If anyone did, they certainly didn’t mean it as an insult. There was and is nothing wrong with the Willie Horton ad, nor with the NC GOP ad.
Willie was a murderer who committed awful crimes while on a furlough, a furlough that a soft-on-crime liberal Democrat supported. He also happened to be black, which is just about his least objectionable characteristic. As has been said in the comments previously, he wasn’t a threat to white America, he was a threat to America.
The Rev. is a racist, conspiracy-theory-peddling, grievance-mongering lunatic. He until very recently was supported by a liberal Democrat. He also happens to be black, which is just about his least objectionable characteristic. He’s not poison to white America, he’s poison to America.
misterpeasea on May 3, 2008 at 11:04 AM
The Swiftboaters were 238 decorated war veterans that swore an oath that Kerry was unfit to lead this nation. The left attacked them for telling the truth. When the leftwings says he was “swiftboated”, what they are really saying is the truth was used to attack him. What a novel idea.
volsense on May 3, 2008 at 11:19 AM
…who will, of course, be sitting at the edge of his indoor swimming pool, in a mansion on a golf-course, with a Million Dollar line of credit, chuckling, and congratulating himself.
franksalterego on May 3, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Does this guy even take himself seriously? He’s what I call the “N” word . . . Nutroot. (shame on you all)
geckomon on May 3, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Well said.
The sad part is we had several generations raised to reject the old evils. Now many will retreat into defensive positions.
The scary part is a seemingly neutral Obama had been sucking up Wright for 20 years.
Revealing Obama’s other side has cast doubt on everyone who poses as race neutral. This is a recipe for disaster
entagor on May 3, 2008 at 11:40 AM
A couple more weeks and it will be equivalent to the Holocaust. “A political ‘Kristallnacht’ against the black church”.
ronsfi on May 3, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Please, Not before breakfast.
ronsfi on May 3, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Um … just who do you think first used Willie Horton in a political campaign?
corona on May 3, 2008 at 11:46 AM
gotta read all the post next time … so used to everybody incorrectly assuming that the Republicans done did it ..
corona on May 3, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Just like “McCarthyism” - leftist thugs still perpetrate the fairy tale that there were no communists in high levels of government.
McCarthyism == exposing a democrat as a communist when he really is a communist.
jeff_from_mpls on May 3, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Every time The Left cries “RACISM!” over something that’s not racist they further lose ground. America’s had enough of being accused of being racists at every turn.
SouthernGent on May 3, 2008 at 12:25 PM
If I have to spend Sunday mornings being bored to tears or word-induced sleep by the usual Methodist or Lutheran pastor’s sermon or sitting in my pew, laughing my butt off at the rantings of a J-Wright, I’ll take J-wright.
GeneSmith on May 3, 2008 at 12:43 PM
The Obama folks were saving the whole “racism” line of attack for the general election.
Too bad they’ve had to prematurely ejacualate thus blowing their wad in the primaries.
Now they’ve soiled rug and have nothing left for McCain.
mylegsareswollen on May 3, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Exactly!, It was designed to appeal to anti-rapist folks like myself.
It would have been equally effective had Willie been white.
TheSitRep on May 3, 2008 at 1:43 PM
I just don’t understand. Horton’s throw home in game 5 of the ‘68 World Series caught Lou Brock trying to score and changed the complexion of the whole series. Why would bringing his name into the debate be racist? Oh, ‘complexion’ of the series, I see.
carlitos on May 3, 2008 at 2:10 PM
The candidate is a buddy of a guy who regrets not blowing away a big chunk of America decades ago. And he’s a sheep whose pastor has picked the scab off the racial divide and set race relations in America backward thirty years.
Swish, ‘Bams.’
Next, he’ll be doing a Walter Mondale imitation: “I wanted to run for president in the worst way.”
whitetop on May 3, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Horton was a murderer and serial rapist who brutally raped and tortured a woman (a complete stranger) while also viciously brutalizing her boyfriend while Horton, a convicted murderer serving a lifetime sentence without parole, was inexplicably given a pass out of prison, by that idiot Dukakis.
We folks in Texas would have been proud to kill and burn that worthless bastard in a pit.
I consider “the Willie Horton ad” to be a COMPLETELY TRUTHFUL, proud and noble moment for the Republican Party while opposing a leftwing POS like Dukakis. It was a very revealing look at Dukakis’ nutcase radicalism and probably saved many American lives by helping to stop the radical leftwing pro-criminal policies of the democrats.
RIP, Lee Atwell..
TexasJew on May 3, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Indeed!
Entelechy on May 3, 2008 at 3:35 PM
And misterpeasea, the good thing that will come out of Mr. Obama running for president is that this was exposed.
Entelechy on May 3, 2008 at 3:36 PM
The problem with your premise is that (as I keep repeating) almost all black Americans have some white heritage. Unless we’re going to pick a point where mixed race (black) persons are one race or the other…a more abhorent prospect than remaining at status quo IMO.
Atwater.
Is King comparing Wright to a murderer?
baldilocks on May 3, 2008 at 4:20 PM
I heard an entire J. Wright sermon today on Glenn Beck’s radio show. It’s much worse than we thought. Obama’s candidicy is DOA.
Mojave Mark on May 4, 2008 at 11:38 PM