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Code.
David Gergen gets it.
This might be the hundredth time I've heard someone point this out, but
perhaps Gergen's direct nature will help drill the message home. Still,
I wonder how many people watch ABC's This Week
compared to those who hear rumors on the Internet, spread John McCain's
vitriolic attacks like a virus via YouTube and
otherwise hear the message that the Republicans (and Joe Lieberman) are
spreading: that Barack Obama is one uppity (n-word) who need learn his
place, and that like all the other African-Americans that gain
widespread fame in this country (athletes, actors, musicians), he's
nothing more than a "celebrity" whose opinion is therefore devalued.
Call it crying wolf all you wish - I don't care. I know
what is happening, from experience. It's happened to virtually every
African-American man who has dared assume his rightful place in society
after working as diligently as we were always told we needed to. Don't
tell me I can pull myself up by my own bootstraps if I'm later going to
be told that I'm too big for my britches.
(Cross-posted at 1,369 lightbulbs.)
Comments (28)
"Don't tell me I can pull myself up by my own bootstraps if I'm later going to be told that I'm too big for my britches."
Well said, Scientific. Rec'd.
August 3, 2008 9:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Don't tell me I can pull myself up by my own bootstraps if I'm later going to be told that I'm too big for my britches."
Or be told it was handed to you on a silver plate because of affirmative action...
This "arrogance" thing is driving me crazy!
Check out the hyperlink to the NYT panel analysis of Obama's lecture notes I put on BG's thread today. BOH is the real deal in every respect, and so far as I've asked, no one here at TPM can tell me any specific instance of arrogant behavior. They just say he's "arrogant"! Even level heads seem to have bought into that.
Its like that faux-folksy faux-populist faux-cowboy retard-in-chief in the WH has gotten everyone to thinking that is the proper way for adults to interact and converse! And anything else is arrogant and cold!
August 3, 2008 10:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
You keep reversing his initials. It's BHO.
August 4, 2008 8:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
great minds think alike ww!
August 3, 2008 10:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
All the more reason to work as hard as we can for Obama, to stuff their arrogance up their arrogant asses.
August 3, 2008 11:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Raider,
Reuters reports the Pew Hispanic poll of Thursday shows hispanic respondents going Obama by 66% margins.
Also Reuters reports that three economic forecasting models (NOT polls) that have had very good success rate since WWII in forecasting presidential elections, are all forecasting Obama in November by margins from 52% to 55%
The GOP is cruising in for a decisive drubbing, the only issue is by how much and how many congress seats can we pick up.
But no overconfidence...no Dewey Beats Truman predictions. You're dead on, we do have to work our tails off in the next three months...
August 3, 2008 11:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
52-55% is enough to win the election, sure, but the vindictive part of it would like to see it more like 70%. I want the world to take note that we believe in something greater - that most Americans are not like the lying scumbag criminals who hijacked us and held us hostage with the fear of 911 over our heads. We may have acted like a nation of sheeple, but I hope these sheep wake up and trample the wolves.
August 3, 2008 11:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I want the world to take note that we believe in something greater - that most Americans are not like the lying scumbag criminals who hijacked us and held us hostage with the fear of 911 over our heads.
But raider, there is little evidence that I can see that Americans are anything but scared, greedy, superstitious, mean, and short-sighted
This is not a post-911 phonomenon. Regan was elected in 1980 and still enjoys very high approvals even though he began a disaster that is still going on. Newt's revolution happened in 1994.
Here's my evidence:
-- The country gave Bush 90% favorability ratings when he told us that Bin Laden could run but not hide, then re-elected him when he abandonned the hunt to go after Saddam.
-- Few complain when we borrow about a trillion dollars a year that will screw up the lives of our kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great-grandkids.
-- We will continue to burn up the oil at unsustainable rates right up until the last drop hits the last sparkplug.
-- Amost half of us believe that the earth is less than 10,000 years old.
-- People on this very blog will argue that homosexuality is, if not actually evil, at least a topic that the government should have the ability to control.
-- The Republican candidate for President has called a Supreme Court decision upholding habeas corpus on of the worst decisions in the history of the country.
-- The Democratic candidate for President has voted to allow the government to listen to your phone calls, some say because he senses that's he can't be elected any other way.
If Sen. McCain gets less than 45% of the popular vote, I'll eat my hat.
August 4, 2008 8:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'll begrudgingly cede your points, Tankard. Part of it is ignorance and misinformation, but there's a lot that's true about what you say, unfortunately. Still, there are good values here, even among those who are uninformed and therefore prey to the would-be tyrants. Not all Germans were bad people during the Nazi era, though they supported an evil regime.
It's a nasty fault of mine to seek the higher ground and the more generous belief in people even when there's ample evidence to the contrary. It's a struggle that I engage in frequently, on the one hand seeing the venal, selfish and foolish aspect of humanity while on the other hand seeing the transcendent and the ultimate goodness that seems to be within our potential.
I can dream, I suppose. Others have done so, and they still rank among my heroes.
August 4, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ya I would like that too, but I'll settle for a 51% win in 49 states.
August 4, 2008 7:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
All I am praying for is a filibuster proof majority in the Senate and a replacement of leaders in both chambers.
Then we can start the hard work of repairing all the damage done in the last eight years.
Then we can bring the criminals who lied us into war, and brought our constitutional system to the brink of dissolution and who knowingly tortured and killed individuals on the mere presumption of their having actionable intelligence, we can bring these moral degenerates to justice at long last.
August 3, 2008 11:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh yes, and Obama in the White House.
August 3, 2008 11:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to sound too cynical, but I try to remind myself that this was bound to happen once we had a "minority" candidate one step from the White House. There remains just too much pent-up racial tension in this country to go unexploited when power is at stake. I'm not trying to ignore the (im)moral aspect of these developments or the culpability of the architects and enablers. I'm disgusted, too. Just not surprised.
My hope is that Obama, with the help of the current political climate, his supporters' efforts, and his own considerable political talents, can take on this inevitable resistance and still come out on top. That's the less cynical reflection: just how profound a victory, given these obstacles, this will be if he pulls it off.
August 4, 2008 1:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of course the real presumption here is that there is a monolithic white majority. When you factor in the gender gap it becomes clear that in electoral terms we are all minorities on this bus. When Obama is elected that will destroy the deeply embedded belief, even among many ethnic minorities, that this is a white nation at its core.
Like the notion that cheap energy is an eternal birthright of Americans, the shattering of the myth of a white majority will shake the foundations of the culture. Then we can begin to adapt to the world as it is instead of the collective hallucination of the wingnut nation.
August 4, 2008 6:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
The population is indeed fragmented as you say. Power is not.
How many Presidents have we had who were not white men? How many Senators? How many Fortune 500 CEOs? How many media moguls? How many TV preachers and leaders of mainstream religions?
This is still a white country all right. The body may be motley, but the face, the voice, and the hands are as pale as chardonnay and brie.
August 4, 2008 8:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not totally up with the stats but America is roughly 70% white. Millenials are 40% non-white, so don't expect this white monopoly on power to last.
A 60% majority is still a majority, but that's Iraqi Shia/Sunni numbers -- ie. total domination of one group is no longer possible with only 60%. My point is that the racist white Southern Strategy of the GOP will come back to but them on their ass. How sweet it will be. Payback.
August 4, 2008 9:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
That may be, but I would not sit on anything overly warm waiting for that to happen.
August 4, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sci, I see a different thing in "The One" ad going on that is much more dangerous to Obama's chances than being "uppity." You know that scene in Forrest Gump when Forrest starts running across the country and all these people just start following him because they think he has the answers? That's the more dangerous interpretation of "The One" ad - that people are supporting him on blind-faith alone. We can get caught up on the subliminal uppity who does he think he is, but that's not going to effectively rebut the more harmful charge of lack of substance.
Obama's got to hit back hard on the substance. This is what I stand for. These are my policies. McCain is trying to say I'm all charisma and no substance, but I'm the one with the real answers for our economy and our country and McCain's busy playing personal attacks.
And I have to say the new avatar scares me. PLEASE bring back Huey. I miss him.
August 4, 2008 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Your wish is my command. (And what happened to that picture of you, sistah? Now that I miss.)
I think you assuaged your own fears with your second paragraph. How on earth can McCain attack Obama on "substance" when he's spewing forth such sophomoric nonsense? How can he worry about how Obama is perceived when he can't even sell himself?
McCain has far deeper issues that the MSM seems to realize, and sadly, the American public's weird fascination for deciding our elections on their own insecurities may be a problem for Obama.
August 4, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Sci :) Now I can go back to reading all your posts in the Huey voice!
Agreed - McCain knows the only way to win is to go negative. I'd like to see the Obama campaign hit back hard on the economy and McCain's lack of answers. Do an ad on McCain wanting to privatizing social security, his tiny ineffective response to the health care and home foreclosure crisis, his lack of fiscal responsibility in backing the tax cuts and increasing our national debt and see how soon McCain's numbers start tanking even among fiscal conservatives. McCain's the real fraud and I'd like to see us call him on it before the convention.
August 4, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Obama has a smart way to start - on energy. It's not just an issue for the Sierra Club and Greenpeace anymore - it's something we're coming into daily contact with. On his birthday, he's going on the offensive, and I love it. The new ad kicks ass, and the speech will cut last week's crap off, hopefully.
(What am I getting hopeful for? The lazy MSM will likely call him a flip-flopper for advocating opening the strategic oil reserves, something completely different than drilling offshore in the manner McCain suggests...then we'll have to rely upon Olbermann and Maddow to straighten it out again. Maybe I'll be wrong.)
August 4, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Back to Huey. (How's that for unity, eh?)
August 4, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like your attitude, Raider, but this Mature American offers you this advice to take or leave as you see fit:
Look for the excellent and the good in individuals. As for large groups of people, faggeddabowdit. As you pointed out, most Germans were good people in the 30s and 40s, but it wasn't most Germans who prevailed, was it?
August 4, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
This was a reply to Raider, above.
August 4, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. I worked for a guy once who was inherently prejudiced against blacks and other groups, but when he dealt with an individual - any individual - he was always fair, respectful and genuine. It was a dichotomy between his belief systems and stereotypes and his ability to disregard them when dealing with real people that struck me. He was, in essence, a very generous person, but with a lot of outer baggage that tended to obscure his better nature at times.
People are rarely cast in clear "white hat/black hat" roles, even the best and the worst of us, but it seems so often that we can be influenced to support beliefs that tend toward the extremes, or that we allow such beliefs to become norms within our societies. Ultimately, a belief in peace and equality is one that I hold, often against the tide.
August 4, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
my biggest fear of all is the possibility that when faced with pressing that dial for Obama vs Mccain in the general, the frightened side of us might take over and override the logical side! Logically, we may believe he is the better choice for America, but when it really matters we find ourselves more comfortable with the idea of placing someoone who looks like all the others in the chair. In that booth, all by yourself, with no one looking over your shoulder, just what will you do?????
The only groups who Obama can count on 90% are the blacks and the younger people. Blacks have no reason to fear themselves and the younger we are, the less interested we are in racial divisions. In fact, Obama's hipness is probably all the push some of the younguns need (star appeal).
The tough one--my people (HISPANICS) are a toss up--some may throw their full support behind Obama b/c they fear they will be next for racial attacks or they may support him because he too is a minority; therefore, more inclined to sympathize with issues plaguing Hispanic communities. who buy into the notion that Hispanics will lose their bargaining chip with the powerful Whites if they elect a black man whom may be more inclined to only help other blacks. Asians and others always identified more with white anyway, so lyching Obama will be perceived as a black problem, not a minority issue. (Sorry I know I am taking liberties here-just thinking out loud). White working class is stuck in the middle-part of them want to go with the dude who can help them put food on the table, but part of them dont want that uppity you know what to get ahead of them either. They are a forgotten minoriy too!!!
Yes, I have fears and all the polling in the world doesn't mean a hill of beans to me until we get the results of the GE....
Til that moment, I continue to volunteer, blog and send in my donations with a heavy heart!!!
August 4, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regarding Obama being uppity and arrogant, I hope that people remember this campaign ad.
I guess that McCain felt that he shouldn't be the only arrogant candidate, so he created The One for Obama
August 4, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
JAJAJA...i remember that ad! mccain was not being arrogant and uppity, he was claiming his birth right! obama is uppity and presumptious because well, he is EXOTIC, a creature from outer space, an alien foreign to the human race!
August 4, 2008 7:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
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