Is Donnie McClurkin the next Sister Souljah?

Longtime Public Enemy fans like myself scratch their heads that in 2007, Chuck D is a name consigned to history (sadly), Flava Flav is the biggest reality star on cable TV today and the name Sister Souljah is an enduring political term that just may outlive all of us.

Barack Obama occupies an odd space in this campaign that doesn't square with preconceived notions. He is the most outwardly religious candidate amongst all major candidates on either side, and yet he is arguably the most liberal candidate under serious consideration.

A few months ago, Rick Warren invited Obama to speak at his church, despite some disagreements on policy and he took a lot of heat for it, from the right. Lately, Obama has been taking a lot of heat from the left for his plans to include gospel singer Donnie McClurkin in some upcoming campaign events in South Carolina, despite their disagreements on some of the same issues.

As both an owner of at least one Donnie McClurkin album and a current supporter of Barack Obama, I was heartened to see this post bring some perspective to the issue by comparing the quotes of Warren's critics (and critics of his critics) during the initial controversy to those flying around the internet about the current controversy:

Read Barack Obama’s “Rick Warren Moment”

Obama on Iraq, in 2002

The war in Iraq was supported, on one level or another, by nearly every serious candidate for President, on either party- with one notable exception. Watch this interview the Barack Obama gave in late 2002, before the invasion took place.

I recognize that there is a big distinction between being a Senator, in the case of McCain, Clinton or Edwards and deferring to the President and being the President who proactively sought to make war with Iraq. The #1 question as it pertains to Iraq and the 2008 election is whether a candidate would have made the same mistake as President. John McCain seems to intimate that he would have, but would have run the war more competently. John Edwards says sorry, and we're waiting for Hillary's definitive answer. I'm inclined to support Barack Obama next year for a number of reasons, but chief among those is that on the issue of the day, he was right from the beginning and understood the risks with such clarity, it sounds like a post-mortem.