Noga: I think you spot on in your analysis.
This is the American black mullahcracy – Wright, Farrakhan, etc. – reasserting themselves and their power. If there is going to be an “important” black man in this country it is going to be one of them, damnit, and no uppity negro like Obama is going to make them irrelevant (as he surely would if he won). But alas Obama cannot play Maliki to their Sadr because that is just not who he is. He is not a leader so much as a soother, an empty albeit golden vessel, a clearly good guy way out of his depth. Even if by some miracle he pulled the ultimate Sister Souljah moment on the bunch of them right now, it might be too late (although not for 2012). The most annoying thing in all of this is how savvy and prescient this makes Bill Clinton look; suddenly his SC comments don’t seem so vile or wacky at all.
