Mar 18 2008
What Obama’s speech meant
Obama’s speech may seem to have been the holy writ of unity but in reality it answered nothing and raised even more questions.
Where we had questions about his proximity to Wright despite his repudiation, now we see him rationalize and justify him and his hate speech, and create a whole new class of victim: Old black people whose lives were so shitty that they cannot help but speak out in the most negative of terms, see racism behind every tree, distrust whites, refuse to see any progress, entertain absurd conspiracy theories and preach this from the same pulpits where they would normally preach about the love and saving grace of Jesus.
Wright, according to Obama, is a product of his generation, one that saw the end of the last forms of institutional racism in the country. You would think they more than most could say with authority that things had changed, but to them, nothing has.
They carry their hate in their heart to the extent that they can see nothing else. It is a legacy of hate and failure at the hands of evil whites.
What would Jesus do? Would he foment hatred, division and discord, or would he preach love and unity?
Regardless, Obama not only excuses such behavior, even as he pays lip service to denouncing it, he also plays moral equivalency with it. Those people are no worse then middle class whites who fought their whole lives to succeed only to see blacks take jobs via affirmative action. So is whites feel resentment at affirmitive action, they have to accept that they are just as bad as Wright is, except he can’t help it.
He likens it to a racial stalemate.
The only stalemate I see is his refusal renounce the teachings of people like Wright in favor of the half hearted sophistry in his speech.
His stalemate is in talking a good program and refusing to stand against what is not popular. He claims to want racial healing but he offers none in the environment most personal to him: His Church.
What Barack Obama wants people to is to “hope” he will live up to his promises to bridge the racial and religious divides, to have “faith” that he will put his plan into action. But what he unknowingly did today was to show people that he was unwilling to do so in his own church. In other words, the nudge nudge wink wink his campaign gave to the Canadian Consulate General regarding NAFTA is exactly what Barack Obama has been doing all along on the issue of race. Saying one thing in public, while doing nothing in private with the man he calls his “spiritual mentor
For 20 years he has lived in this environment, and now finally he amends his denial to admit that he heard some controversial things, but none worth fighting against, none worth speaking out against, or even worth, apparently, talking to his pastor about to express his concerns.
Certainly none worth removing his family from.
We still can only assume why.
Hate is powerful and popular, and by keeping the thread of legitimacy open to those people he entertains an additional voting block. By his political two step, he keeps alive both the hope of the youth seeking peace and harmony and the anger of the old guard seeking the destruction of the white institution.
He is the candidate who is all things to all people. White enough for the whites, black enough for the blacks and willing to pander to both sides to achieve his goal.
In the end, this speech is not Reaganesque, it is Clintonesqe. It is full of rationalizing double talk and no real substance.
To Paraphrase Shakespeare: It is a tale told by a politician, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Here are a few links to some of the better commentary of the speech.
Obama’s speech: Consider these goalposts moved!
Obama speech: Effective for a narrow audience
The Obama Bargain by Shelby Steele
http://www.memeorandum.com/080318/p42#a080318p42
http://www.redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/4_881_words_of_bull
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, A Newt One- Chris Hill on tonight, Adam’s Blog, Right Truth, Stuck On Stupid, Nuke Gingrich, third world county, McCain Blogs, DragonLady’s World, The World According to Carl, Miss Beth’s Victory Dance, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, CORSARI D’ITALIA, Right Voices, Gone Hollywood, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
3 Responses to “What Obama’s speech meant”
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People ask well how could he have been there for 20 years and not walk away.
Simple really. He is a biracial man who wanted to get ahead in Chicago politics. He needed the votes of those in those churches. Doesn’t mean he had to agree with it. But it does mean, if he didnt go there, they would never have voted him in and we would never have the Obama we have today.
DOES OBAMA EVEN KNOW WHO HE AND HIS DESPICABLE PASTOR HAVE OFFENDED MOST, AND WHY HIS FAVORABILITY RATING IS IN FREEFALL?
Why is a guy who grew up a rich kid with a Kenyan father and Southern White mother (no ties to being a slave whatsoever) lecturing Northern Whites regarding the Civil War when it was our ancestors who fought and died in the Union Army to free the slaves?
Is Obama kidding or what? Yes, Senator Obama, let’s have a discussion about race in America and then maybe you’ll understand why you are in absolute freefall against John McCain in States like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. You ripped a scab off of a wound that we didn’t deserve to have inflicted in the first place.
Lexi
The fact that he would defame is own grandmother, who help to raise him and pay for his prep-school education in order to make excuses for his hate-mongering preacher is absolutely disgracefully !!!!!!!!
I do not understand how people can praise him for his loyalty to Rev. Wright when that loyalty brings shame on a person that has supported and loved him since birth.
This only goes to show how truly week-mined Sen. Obama really is that he could be so brainwashed by this hateful man he would turn on his own family.
My only comfort is that should he win the nomination (which he probably will because the democratic party is so afraid of angering the black community) is that the 527 are gonna swift-boat him rite out of the presidency.
This country can not afford to have a weak-mined, disloyal racist in the white house.