Words have power

A few weeks ago Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama got into a tussle over actions vs. words, and Obama responded with a speech on the power of words - a speech which, you may recall, cribbed heavily from a speech by one of Obama's political friends, who maintained that his words were freely shared with the candidate.

"Don't tell me words don't matter! 'I have a dream.' Just words. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' Just words. 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself.' Just words, just speeches!"

"God damn America!" Just words?

Obama has taken steps to contain the damage with today's speech in Philadelphia, and others are using the "You just don't understand" response, stating that "God damn America!" has a specific theological meaning referring to divine condemnation of a nation for its sins and transgressions.

But words have power. Reverend Wright's intent - whatever it was - is eclipsed by how listeners interpret these words. And are they being heard out of context? Of course they are! How many people can cite the full context of "all men are created equal" or "I have a dream"? These words escape the confines of context and transform into memes, spreading from brain to brain like sparks through a parched forest. "God damn America!" is loose, too, and its sparks are causing a more damaging sort of fire.

Had the timing been a little different, had the Reverend Wright stuff hit the air more immediately after the "just words" kerfuffle, I would suspect a set-up designed to hoist Barack Obama with his own petard.* But now I suspect this is actually a tit-for-tat chess move in retaliation for the loss of Geraldine Ferarro from the Clinton campaign, for comments which were also taken out of context.

Which may be a good thing. Perhaps this winnowing process will actually strengthen both campaigns, and eliminate those weak spots in the armor that will certainly be exploited by the Republicans after the Democratic nominee is selected.

*It is telling that so many words and phrases can be given a racially offensive spin. "Others have been strung up for comments they made that were taken out of context" and "Reverend Wright's intent takes a back seat to how listeners interpret his words" were both edited out of this post as they were being written. "Hoist with his own petard" may seem to be a reference to lynchings, but is in fact a quote (well, a paraphrase) from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, Scene 4, and actually refers to someone blowing himself up with his own bomb.