Posted by Jed Lewison on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 7:41 AM Pacific

I probably shouldn't blog just after waking up, but...

...this morning, the more I think about the way the right-wing has manufactured the controversy over Jeremiah Wright, the angrier I get.

Barack Obama is not perfect; nobody is. But more than any prominent national politician, his rhetoric, message, and overall approach have been about moving past racial and ethnic divisions while at the same time recognizing the influence they have had on our history.

It's not that Barack Obama has been blind to identity politics; quite the opposite. It's not that he hasn't exploited them for political gain, when appropriate. He has. Don't forget, he's a politician. That's what politicians do.

But it matters what it is that he's exploiting, and why. As I've said many times, Obama is exploiting our hopes and dreams for a more united country and world. He hasn't exploited what makes us different. He has worked to embrace what makes us alike. And that's a good thing.

And as he has said many times, given the history of racial animus and segregation in this country, he would not be where he is today were it not for the civil rights movement and a generation of black leaders whose racial politics are rooted in an era when racism was a much more acceptable element of American society.

And now we have the political right feigning shock about the political views of Jeremiah Wright, and falsely assuming that there exists some sort of intrinsic transitive relationship between those views and Barack Obama's own. Worse, they ignore the history of why those views are different, and what that means about our nation and its possibilities.

Of course these leaders would have a different approach to racial politics than does Barack Obama. So much has changed in this country even in just a few decades, that it would be a great tragedy if Barack Obama did not have a different outlook. But that does not mean his views represent a reaction against what they represent. It means that he is the next generation of what they are -- and not just for African-Americans, but for all Americans.

And any fair observer would look at this and say Barack Obama represents great progress.

For my entire adult life (I'm 34, and, for what it's worth, white), I've had to listen to the reactionary right whine about reverse racism. Okay, fine.

But now here you have a guy who has done everything that they've asked, studiously avoiding racially polarizing rhetoric, never playing the victim card, managing to be racially aware without racializing every single damn thing.

And what is it that his political opposition does?

Attack him on race. For something that someone else said.

Give me a f&%!ing break.

Here's a message to Barack Obama's political opposition:

If you are serious about stopping him, fight this battle on the merits. Engage him on what he says.

Barack Obama is playing by all the rules that you set -- and he's winning. You don't like it. Well, grow up. Learn to deal with it.