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[the following is is a paraphrase of a comment made elsewhere--but (a) it makes a point that needs making, and (b) otherwise i ain't got nothin--so it's going in.]
all public criticism of senator obama in this election cycle, regardless of the issue--rev. wright, bill ayers, annenberg, rezko, voting "present" when he shoulda taken a stand, etc.--has pretty much gone like this: (1) point is raised, (2) cries of "racism" are immediately and shrilly directed at whoever dared raise said point, (3) turmoil ensues, (4) after a suitable, politically-correct interval, barack eventually addresses the issue, peppering his wounded response with words like "divisive" (his code-word for "racist"), and (5) that's it--once barack's spoken on the matter, that's supposed to settle it, and any further questioning by anybody indicates nothing more than racism on the part of the questioner.
governor palin, on the other hand? say what you want about her--and i've said a lot--in the last three or so weeks, this ol' gal has taken a merciless beating on every minute aspect of her past by the press and the left, on a scale the likes of which i've never seen in american politics.
and, so unlike obama--and this is what stands out in my mind about her--regardless of what's been thrown at her, she hasn't whined even once about her treatment on the national stage; she evinces fearless toughness in a way the good senator can't even approach.
bottom line: he comes off like a whiny bitch, and the bitch takes it like a man.
and you really wonder why the race is so close?
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13 comments:
nope, never once wondered.
The truth is self evident and all that crap.
I don't think Obama is at all divisive and I think when you, mkf, see a person of color say something of sorts I thnk its your own experience going on in your head that screams, "Lordy, here we go! Another black person screaming racism!" when A) it's possible for something to be racist (and there are degrees of racism and its a term that gets thrown around too easily whitout any understanding of it ) B) it could just be that something is divisive and is working to tear apart his base or his reach to a wider audience. Because he is GOD!
Obama is a politician like any other and I do appreciate another perspective that points out his follies and how his celebrity is a a little hyped up but the idea of Palin being genuine is almost laughable. The idea that 'she is who she is' and 'is just like you and me (if we're both rich/white/ and/or "soccer moms" (middle class white women)) is a little silly. She's a genuine pawn if anything.
Senator Obama has used his race when it was to his advantage. Would he even be an elected senator if he had not campaigned in a mostly African American area?
judi: right?
anonymous 1: read more carefully--i never called barack divisive. my point is, he's gotten kid-glove treatment in the mainstream press (and yeah, i'm including the wright controversy--a white politician would've been roasted alive over a similar long-term association), and his ties to other questionable characters from his past haven't even registered as an issue on the mainstream radar--people are too afraid to go after him, and a lot of that has to do with his race.
and yeah, i know he and his people are terrified of him being swift-boated, but this over-reaction to even the slightest criticism by him and his supporters just makes him look weak and wimpy, sorry.
anonymous 2: if barack obama were white, nobody'd have ever heard of him--at least not at such an early point in his career. i mean, yeah, he's smart and ambitious, but there's only one explanation for his meteoric rise, and i have no doubt as to what it is.
Anon1: Hmm, okay I can see what you are saying, to a degree I agree that Obama may have been helped in the fact that he is a black man and a black man that America likes (for now for the country always falls in love with black men and in the end has to tear them apart for being human.. and black) and they see him as something other than a politician. I don't think his race is ALL that has helped him and if you think so, I thnk you are really selling the man short of what he has done and his charisma; he's a charismatic SOB. And you could argue that a many of white politicians have gotten where they are because well, they were rich-and-white, but hey that would have never crossed your mind being that it’s the default in politics.
Also, a many of Republicans have had ties to racist/sexist/homophobic (lol, I know, that goes without saying) preachers and no one bats an eye. McCain's pastor has said some crazy ass things himself and yet no one at all brought that out they way they did Rev. Wright. Can any black (or red or brown) person address a distrust of the government that in the past treated them like shit? Plus, I would not be so fast to call Rev. Wright a 'racist' as most of his clips were again pieces of sermons he had said taken out of context to 'scare' people into believing how “un-American” Obama is. Obama distanced himself and said some things that were, to me, lacking character. You can be in someone's church and not believe every sermon and to distance yourself like that just shows how much of a politician he is like any other; he does what he has to do in order to win, not making him any different.
Case in point, was Romney grilled alive when it was found out about his connections to the Mormon church and its treatment of black members? That hardly even made the news outside of POC bloggers bringing it to light. But whatever, to believe "OMG It's because He's black!" that Obama gets the treatment he does (as if it’s the ONLY reason) shows that that's all you really want to see of the man; is he worth all of the hype? Far from it, but to blame it totally on his blackness is a stretch. It matters but I don't think it does that much.
In the end, if Obama will be helped and hurt just as much by his color and if you don't believe so, I think you are fooling yourself as to how black people are seen in this country. Even the 'smart' ones.
If you watch Palin without the sound, she looks good. If you listen to Palin on the radio (or without the video), she sounds scary.
Obama speaks in platitudes, but not scary platitudes like Pallin.
The bottom line is that one is prepared to be president and one is not.
anon1: yes--luckily, obama has more to offer than just a nice smile and a nice speech; he's a smart, driven guy. and yeah, there's lots of unqualified white guys, too; unfortunately, perception wins elections in this country, not substance.
as far as the wright thing is concerned: yeah, every four years, republican candidates will kiss the asses of evangelical preachers in order to suck up to the base; obama, on the other hand, sat in wright's congregation for nigh on 20 years--don't tell me he doesn't resonate with the guy's ideas.
and yeah, his race may end up costing him the election, but i'll never doubt that without it he'd have never had a shot.
noblesavage: again, i'm not talking about substance here, i'm talking about perception, because that's what wins elections in america. she and mccain are both dumb as a box of hammers, but they both come across as "stronger" than obama, and america traditionally doesn't elect men it perceives as weak (see humphrey, mcgovern, carter 2, mondale, dukakis, gore, kerry for examples of this).
anon: don't even play that "Wright's words were taken out of context" shit. It's well documented to not be the case, and I'll be happy to provide evidence.
And since when did the race for president become Palin vs Obama? Last I checked, she's not running for the presidential seat.
I'm not sayin' nothin', I'm just sayin'.
judi: as i've said before, my belief is that this election is totally palin v. obama. if obama wins, it's because of him; if mccain wins, it's because of palin.
Anon1: To Judi-I'm sorry but I do have to "play" the 'Wright's words were taken out of context shit' because they were; if you have ever sat through any long-winded sermon, you know how they all sound batshit crazy if only captured in pieces and if you want to take pieces of soundbites and make Wright (and due to association, Obama) some American-hating black person then that’s just easy and lazy if you ask me. I've heard the sermon too, I don't need you to find it for me. I've also seen other sermons by the guy and read what he has done for his church and as a result the community. I don't agree with the guy in most stances, but that doesn't mean I think he hates this country.
But if anything, you'll have understand that from the perspective of black Americans, our relationship to America isn't that same as yours; it's a love/hate thing that you have to work out, and it is FAR from easy. Can we feel free to do so? Our ancestors didn’t come here to ‘get a better life’ so our relationship is colored a little different from yours and that of your family/people/ancestors/whatevah. And Wright like any other man of color in this country has the same issues.
And I'd go back to mkf's point that you do not sit in a church for that long and not agree with a man. I would wonder if mkf has ever belonged to a church because you can go to church for other reasons besides the pastor; hell, MANY more reasons besides the man in the pulpit. Church politics are always funny; how the members and the pastor/priest, and the deacons all deal with scripture and swallow their own opinions in order to make thins run easier to accomplish better things. It *is* possible for you to go to church with Wright's views and still not have them; you just keep your opinion to yourself as it doesn't concern you. Again, I know some people who share Wrights views (just like I know white people who know people in their families who hold racists views as well) and since you know those views don't constitute the *whole* person, you see other good qualities about them... and more to the point, they aren't hating on you exactly, so you let it slide in a since (I wonder how Obama felt as a man with a white mother hearing that stuff, but that's another story... not really but I'm not as qualified to speak on issues of bi-racial folks and their experiences with race) Wright expressed his opinion about America; and were they somewhat wacky? Sure they were- especially the bit about AIDS. However, and again I say this, to take what he said and somehow paint him as some American (and make that 'white' 'cause that's what it was really about) hating person just seems like a stretch. Hell, Malcolm X had said similar things in his speeches about 'America getting what it deserved' and yadda yadda ya. But the man was still a 'good guy', ideology aside.... hell, his ideology even changed.
I will agree with mkf that this is turning into Obama v. Palin, but I think that's just a effed up and distraction from the major issues because she's nothing mor than a pawn. But whatevs.
:::sigh:::
i just don't have the energy to argue with you anon. make no mistake, i am not conceded to you. i'd just as soon bang my head against a wall for all the good it would do.
anonymous: i've given some thought to your comments--as i've given a lot of thought to the whole wright thing.
as a relatively clueless white guy, i had, naturally, always known there was a lot of residual anger in the black community--no small amount of it justifed, perhaps--but i gotta tell ya, listening to jeremiah wright (and, trust me, i've heard more than just a few sound bites), my eyes were opened in a big way.
yeah, there are still lots of whites in this country who'll never vote for a non-white for president no matter what, but fuck them; i'm not talking about them (and i don't think judi is, either).
most of the whites i know who have reservations about obama from a racial standpoint are not racist in the sense the word was originally intended (i.e., seeing him as somehow inferior); on the contrary, most of 'em rightly see barack as much smarter and more disciplined than his opponent.
the thing most of these particular white folks are worried about, anonymous, is the possibility of electing somebody from another tribe who might not be as crazy about their tribe as they would like--in fact, might wanna exact a little payback in the form of extravagant social programs and wealth redistribution, for instance.
ridiculous? maybe, maybe not. i'll have more to say about this in a future post, and i hope you'll tune in and lemme know what you think.
C'mon Judi... argue with meh. I needs it, girl. If you don't, I'll just assume you've conded but just won't admit your conceded...ness. ;-)
mkf: I'm aware of that, as I think a lot of the white people who I talk to have expressed similar reasonings behind racism and prejudice. "That its not the same as it use to be," and "that talking about race isn't as easy 'cause people call you 'racist'" and stuff, especially with Obama running. In most circle that I know of, people of color do expect something from Obama, to be acknowledge by a president when in the past they have felt ignored or paid lip service to.
But it's funny you mentioned social and welfare programs because in the end, I think people forget (or just do not know at all) that you cannot talk about race without talking about class and you cannot talk about class without talking about race in this country; that's what sometimes people do not undertand that its not always *just* a black issue as it is a low/working-class issue and dealing the the history of black people in this country, so people are always throwing around heated conversations without knowing what they are really talking about. And once you talk about class, then imho, you are reallly talking about what needs to be talked about, and race will be dealt with (okay, hopefully dealt with) when you deal with class issues.
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