IS OBAMA "BLACK ENOUGH TO BE PRESIDENT"?
Wrong question! The better question is "Is whoever initiated this question competent enough to even participate in society without some kind of guardian or conservator appointed to make sure he doesn't flick his bic while fueling?"
I mean, c'mon. Would the "Black Community" prefer one of the cast of a 1000 whitebreads in the GOP primary, Alan Keyes or maybe Condi the Ultimator?
Warning, do not participate in this discussion! Like putting your ball cap on backwards, you will automatically lose at least ten IQ Points.
posted by UMRBlog @ 08:21
33 comments
33 Comments:
Ask Joe Biden.
When is someone going to be honest and point out that a lot of people swoon over Obama because he's black? There is a certain pathetic, insecure, guilty type who feels all warm inside supporting an "African-American." It shows how enlightened they are -- and, implicitly, morally superior to those of us who strenuously oppose this jackass having the power of a Senator, let alone the Presidency.
What if said ball cap was a Ar-kansas hat ?
I have always been let down at the same "art of blackness" hating on Condi and Powell . I mean come on folks role model central .
Sure beats Vicks dog service .
UMR - He is certainly black enough. I think the wife is hurting his campaign. I would not vote for anyone who has Huessin in his name. My prejudice but I am sticking with it.
How is it the black community cannot say Barack isn't down with the struggle, but a whitebread like yourself can imply that Condi isn't black enough?
1006,
Joe Biden is innocent of originating this thought. The next original thought he has is gonna be the first.
TYFCB
1010,
Fair comment....but there are also those who support him because they perceive him as fresh and new and unburdened by old political boundaries.
With respect to your comment (and there is a slice of the people you describe) please don't paint with too broad a brush. There are also some relatively guilt-free, morally balanced folks who feel like a vote for Obama is a vote against the old, entrenched political interests.
There is also a bigger implicit point in what you write (one that runs both ways): The belief that one docrinal view is morally superior to another. It's one of the things I always liked about Barry Goldwater. He never abandoned the idea that good people can disagree about matters of policy without implicating either intelligence or morality.
TYFMFCB
Tookie,
Only gotta know three words "Woo, Sooooooie, Pig, "T" and "Mac". Advanced students can add "Felix" and maybe even "Cat".
My problem with Condi is not her "role model-ness". It's her unsuitedness for her current job. She's an outmoded Sovietologist (Hello! They shut that puppy down some time ago.) who has no compromise or concilliation in her road game and thus makes enemies of both friends and "on-the-fence" countries.
To be fair, I understand she serves the President's agenda but her innate ability to piss off perfectly good allies is more a matter of bias and skill set than policy.
TYFCB
1103,
We all have biases. At least you admit yours up front. The Illinois Republican Party has a similar bias. It just can't stay away from guys named "Ryan". Rumor has it, they are changing gears in the next election cycle and looking for guys with the FIRST NAME Ryan.
TYFCB
1158,
Uh, that would be a great comment, except I never said it. I took her on for being an "Ultimator" (see earlier comment back to Tookie).
Evelyn Wood has left the building.
TYFCB, I think
CONDI IS HOT THOUGH !
TOOK
P.S.
WHICH WOULD YOU RATHER SEE IN SPANDEX CONDI OR OLE HIL ?
GOT YA THERE
Obama is not an everyman. He is an "anyman" - he's anything you want him to be. Until he defines himself, he risks having his political opponents do it for him. And that's an opportunity that Team Hillary is salivating for.
1314,
Yes and no. There are some things he can still get his back up about. Just for an example, he is an absolute raving flamer when it comes to racial profiling stats.
Your overall point is universally valid, though. When an up and comer leaves his slate blank, somebody else (usually someone who doesn't wish him well) will write on that blank slate.
TYFCB
UMR
Tell me in 6 words or less what Barack Obama's governing philosophy is. Not easy to do. If it were not for the fact that he is black, we wouldn't know his name.
UMR
Reread your comment. You implied the hell out of it. Maybe a slip, maybe unintentional, but it's pretty clear (whitebread, Keyes, Condi).
Republicans have chosen for positions of power such people as Condoleezza Rice, Michael Steele, Colin Powell, and Clarence Thomas because of their intelligence, sterling character, and leadership capabilities. Their race is not an issue, except possibly to their ideological opponents. They are not segregated into their own caucus, nor or they thought of as being different because of the color of their skin.
Conversely, Democrats have John Conyers, Maxine Waters, and Sheila Jackson Lee who are the polar opposites of their GOP counterparts. Though equally smart and capable, the party itself seems to encourage or at least enables their behavior that is characterized by clinging to an institutionalized racist past. The Democrats as a party are not able to set aside the past to build a brighter future. Instead they seem intent on propagating racial divide and eager to make this an issue in all matters for political gain.
UMR
I don't really think racial profiling will be a major, nor a minor, issue in this race. The guy is an empty suit. If he wasn't black, he would have been laughed out of this race by now. He's not qualified. He keeps proving that. Also, every poll has him falling further behind her highness Hillary.
I just don't see how you are able to work for the city, maintain your practice and stay as current as you do on your blog site. But then, most of the work you do is for the city, so taht explains that. Sort of an oxy-moron thing here.
1342,
Your brain is stuck on a grassy knoll somewhere. I described the generic republican candidate and then threw in two prominent republicans who are not candidates but happen to be black.
I shall be happy to defend my own ideas but not ideas you make up and attribute to me.
The reason why Obama is so refreshing is that he does not present typical black characteristics. Being half black gives him that afore mentioned refreshing look. Those of us understand his political background. The Cook County training ground from which he advanced should not be any kind of a plus and he should not really be a serious candidate, but he has the public faling all over him.
1423,
Follow the bouncing ball. I gave you an example of something about which the guy gets his hair on fire, to demonstrate he does have an occasional passionate side.
I don't think the Gold Standard will be an issue either.
TYFCB
OK, smart ass, follow this bouncing ball. Give an example of something that is actually relevant in the upcoming Presidential race, that would be 2008, about which Obama has shown passion or leadership through any means (ie legislation). Can you handle that?
Here's how it usually works. You raise a legitimate issue and I'll try to respond responsibly to it. But I do try to respond to the one you raise, as oppose to the one you're thinking about raising next.
He's loud passionate and, in my opinion, wrong about "redeployment".
Is that relevant enough?
Now you can go ahead and say he didn't pass anything legislatively to stop it. Enjoy.
The comment above about him remaining a blank slate at his own risk is apt. All I was trying to do with the profiling comment was let you know your generalization was, in the main, correct but the guy does have hot buttons. Pardon me for trying to be helpful and constructive.
TYFCB
UMR
Do you think if Obama weren't black, that we would be talking about him?
1633,
Black, Married to Michelle, from Chicago: subtract any of them and we're not having this conversation. If he's white, he doesn't get elected to the State Senate (launchpad)and, never wins the dem primary for US Senate. Not married to Michelle, never gets out of the State Senate Primary, same result. From Kansas, or Montana, he's teaching at the Law School.
TYFCB
UMR 809
Don't turn around, there's an elephant in your living room. You forgot Hull, Ryan and even Bobby Rush for not letting him win. You might as well say that if you subtract the fact that his parents conceived him, we would not be having this conversation. A Democratic corpse plucked from a Chicago graveyard could have won the race for Illinois Senator in 2004.
Sure, he has some nontrivial personal accomplishments. There are probably 1,000,001 people in the country right now with a comparable story, at least some of whom could probably deliver prepared lines just as flawlessly. Should we be running them for President as well?
He is an empty suit because there isn't anything there besides platitude and skin color - 100% pablum delivered flawlessly. Whenever he speaks I'm left wondering, "Where's the beef?" And what is there, his scant yet rather well left-of-center voting record, in no way reflects his happy-peppy rhetoric of Hope! - leading me to believe that one or perhaps both is for show.
Though it's still early in the presidential game one thing is clear, Obama is the first casualty of Obama.
.but there are also those who support him because they perceive him as fresh and new and unburdened by old political boundaries.
There are also some relatively guilt-free, morally balanced folks who feel like a vote for Obama is a vote against the old, entrenched political interests.
These would be the really stupid people.
There's a pattern developing here where an anon asks me questions as a setup piece to saying whatever philosophical rant is bursting to get out of his magic fingers.
You could just skip the question and give us the rant. I have no particular need to be a stage prop.
TYFCB
UMR 1251
Or, you could just admit your argument is weak.
1314,
I have no clue as to which "argument" you refer but I appreciate your post nonetheless.
We wrote about that here a few months ago, the blogger "vanquish the other" mentality, zero sum game worldview.
The Web is the wonderful tool for the sharing of thoughts and so many people choose to use it to play their own little game of "dumbass!"
Thank you for a marvelous illustration.
I did think "Opperation Rain men" was a all time high & low for blogger .
But it was funny
The idea of Obama being black enough is plain silly. But if this is the way America needs to discuss race and culture, then so be it. At least it isn't "too" harmful of a public discourse.
Garling Gauge has a good take on it:
http://garlinggauge.com/2007/08/27/bucket-for-obama/
Thanks for the citation. That was kind of the idea of the thread.
TYFCB
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