To Roland Martin

http://www.rolandsmartin.com/blog/?p=147

Roland, Thanks for your intelligent and grounded reporting and commentary. If it weren’t for you and David Gergen, the CNN team would have trouble making the claim to be the best. DG is so wise and compassionate, he would be a great choice for UN Ambassador or another position of leadership. Anyone who has access to David would be smart to take notes and try out anything he advises. He’s an outstanding human being.

I appreciate your pointing out to the public that most of the comments about Rev. Jeremiah Wright are being made by people who have no idea what the man has said or done. It’s sad how willing people are to be manipulated by ruthless politicos who are not the least bit interested in the truth. Some of these are so cynical they probably don’t believe there is such a thing as truth. I’ve read people’s blogs citing the sermon “The audacity to hope” as an example of a racist diatribe! In reality the sermon is just a gentle and lovely paean to faith with no anger to be found. I enjoyed your open-minded statement that you will accurately report elements of Rev. Wright’s prophetic sermons that are offensive. I’m looking forward to reading your comments on what your research reveals. I expect you to find that Rev. Wright is an intelligent and complex man who wrestles with both angels and demons.

A good indicator of whether a consumer of punditry warrants credibility is if she or he is respectful and speaks to the audience as if it were composed of adults. You certainly pass this test. Kudos to those in politics and the media who are strong enough to take the audience seriously. That’s obviously one of the reasons Barack Obama appeals to youth and those with relatively more education. It’s not just a matter of holding a degree because plenty of highly educated folks seem to have forgotten how to think for themselves. They may have even forgotten how to learn. That’s the old way of politicking that I hope is dying. The youth of the world are so much freer than most of my fifty-something peers. They like to research things and don’t feel the need to fit themselves or other into neat categories. I’m grateful to be alive to see this happening. A race between Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain would give us a clear choice and a debate that would have a chance to rise above the old politics that assumes we’re all sitting numbly waiting to be manipulated. Thanks again for this post and keep up the good work.