Elect Obama or Michelle will be ashamed of America again
Obama now looks like he's got the Democratic nomination locked in. However, go have a look at John Derbyshire's interesting speculation "Al Gore is Inevitable" here http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWQxY2Q2ZWRmZGRkMDYwNzU1ZWQxMGU4YzY5ODY1YTQ=
Michelle Obama is "proud of America for the first time."
Poor girl, an oppressed minority woman, with nothing to comfort her but two Ivy League degrees and a few million dollars.
We'd better elect her husband or she'll be ashamed of America again.
Is she trying to guilt-trip America into electing her husband I wonder? There has been some speculation about the "white guilt" vote.
I think it's on the wrong track. Aside from Barack Obama's undeniable charm, he's got two things going for him - neither of which will take him all the way to the White House.
1) He's a blank slate, which people can write all their hopes and dreams onto.
The drawback of this is, a man who is not known for himself will be known by the company he keeps, and Obama keeps company with some weirdos. (Not neccessarily a condemnation. I have some definitely unsavory, but interesting, friends.)
2) I Don't think it's white guilt that makes white folks go for Obama, I think it's that the huge majority of us just want this whole race thing to be over.
The drawback to this is - Michelle. I think she may have shot down Obama's campaign right there with that dumb remark.
And what does "White guilt" say?
Some see just that, guilt. I've written elsewhere why I don't buy this this. Basically because the impression these people give is not guilt, but smug.
(See: http://rantsand.blogspot.com/2006/10/western-civilization-and-its_26.html )
Others see wimpy White intellectuals kow-towing to scary militant and aggressive minorities.
I think there's a lot of that in it, but when they say "Oh we're so sorry for what our people did to you" what does that imply?
Could it be, "Never forget, we have the power to do this to you"?
Michelle Obama is "proud of America for the first time."
Poor girl, an oppressed minority woman, with nothing to comfort her but two Ivy League degrees and a few million dollars.
We'd better elect her husband or she'll be ashamed of America again.
Is she trying to guilt-trip America into electing her husband I wonder? There has been some speculation about the "white guilt" vote.
I think it's on the wrong track. Aside from Barack Obama's undeniable charm, he's got two things going for him - neither of which will take him all the way to the White House.
1) He's a blank slate, which people can write all their hopes and dreams onto.
The drawback of this is, a man who is not known for himself will be known by the company he keeps, and Obama keeps company with some weirdos. (Not neccessarily a condemnation. I have some definitely unsavory, but interesting, friends.)
2) I Don't think it's white guilt that makes white folks go for Obama, I think it's that the huge majority of us just want this whole race thing to be over.
The drawback to this is - Michelle. I think she may have shot down Obama's campaign right there with that dumb remark.
And what does "White guilt" say?
Some see just that, guilt. I've written elsewhere why I don't buy this this. Basically because the impression these people give is not guilt, but smug.
(See: http://rantsand.blogspot.com/2006/10/western-civilization-and-its_26.html )
Others see wimpy White intellectuals kow-towing to scary militant and aggressive minorities.
I think there's a lot of that in it, but when they say "Oh we're so sorry for what our people did to you" what does that imply?
Could it be, "Never forget, we have the power to do this to you"?
posted by Steve @ 3:46 PM
10 Comments:
At 3:18 PM,
Joseph Sixpack said…
"There has been some speculation about the ‘white guilt’ vote."
That really concerns me because it means that there may be a large number of people experiencing "white guilt." The concept of "white guilt," goes beyond stupidity, beyond academic pondering, beyond pontificating, rushing headlong into the realm of "I’m such a brain dead idiot that I need to be struck in the head with a blunt object" - and it should be accomodated.
"I Don't think it's white guilt that makes white folks go for Obama, I think it's that the huge majority of us just want this whole race thing to be over."
I’ve lived in the north, in the south, overseas, and now in the liberal utopia of DC, and never seen the "race thing." I’ve only heard politically-minded commentators mention it occasionally. I don’t think this weighs at all into anyone’s vote.
"… she may have shot down Obama's campaign right there with that dumb remark."
If only it were that easy. If it were, then he would not have come this far. Obama is the Democrat front runner for the exact reasons that Joe Biden said (before he was accosted for speaking the truth). Obama is a black guy who can speak well and seems intelligent. Remember when Harold Ford wanted to be Speaker of the House? He was a new guy with no credentials, but he got a lot of attention because he was a black guy who could string some sentences together. In my opinion, that laid the framework for Obama. That was the first time that the liberal Democrats realized that they had some people with the right colored skin who were ready for prime time. Harry must be kicking himself now for running for Senate instead of running for President.
At 8:08 PM,
TheDarkDefender said…
a few million dollars? You have dumbass view on what is paid to hospital admininstrators.
Yes, those Weapons of Mass Destruction, real proud moment when they found them. What you say? OH THEY AVEN'T FOUND THEM!!
the bush reagan presidency, a long tale of abuse of power.
The tortures at Abu Graibh, and Gitmo, oh wait, you weren't even man enough to do your own torturing, but you had to sublet that to .... those same muslims!!! how treacherous is that?
Reagan, sold weapons to Iran, an avowed enemy, and illegally used the proceeds to continue funding anti-Sandinista rebels, the Contras, in Nicaragua! Real proud.
Standing by in Darfur, Rwanda.
Giving AIDS-money to Africa, but only if they don't spend it on condoms. And not to organisations which practice abortion.
Oh of course you can be proud of your treatment of black people like Obama. Like Rodney King, Like all the victims of Katrina, real proud.
because black people have it so easy in america. it's true, they don't have to fear lynchings so much as they used to. but the Jena cases and others prove that the sentiment still is out there.
I piss on you and your racist life.
At 5:37 AM,
Steve said…
Your point being?
At 5:45 AM,
Steve said…
Saint, I could have been clearer about "this race thing." More later, but what I mean at base is that my sense of America (as far as you can generalize about 300 million people) is that finally, and for some time now, the large majority of white folks genuinely want persons of color* fully assimilated into society, happy and successful, and probably wouldn't mind them as neighbors at all, contingent on behavior.
However, nobody is celebrating this, and in the face of all evidence, denying it.
At 5:47 AM,
Steve said…
* "Persons of color" - does it say anything that PC has mandated this phrase, from the Old South?
I wish I knew.
At 7:34 AM,
Joseph Sixpack said…
Persons of color is PC? I actually thought that phrase was a no-no. For example, I once heard a guy refer to black man as "the colored guy." The full context was that he couldn't remember his name and so he said, "you know, the colored guy." People looked at him like he had just been unfrozen from 1960s Alabama.
I thought the PC term was "African-American." I've always just said "black," which I don't think is offensive, but who knows? If I'm white, then they're black. They're no more African-American than I am European-American.
At 7:41 AM,
Steve said…
Yep, pretty weird. I think "colored" is offensive, because it was the polite term in the bad old segregation days. "Persons of Color" however is not, since it goes back to the slavery days.
Poul Anderson once wrote in "Withit's Collegiate Dictionary", that "black" replaces the older "negro", now considered offensive because it means "black."
And interesting historical note: I came across in my research once that in the ante-bellum South, Filipinos in Louisiana were defined in law as "free persons of color."
At 12:02 PM,
TheWayfarer said…
Actually, I think with Ron Paul out, people are looking at minimizing damage in an election where none of the candidates are good for America.
"White guilt" is only a factor for those stupid enough to buy the socialist myth of collective responsibility, sold to U.S. daily by the ABCNNBCBS, the Roman Catholic cult and their dupes.
The thinking minority don't, and we're gaining enough influence and market share to convince others to steer clear: We don't want the race over, we just want HITLERy and mark-of-McCain out of it.
At 1:55 PM,
Steve said…
I don't think I've ever met a person who professed guilt at being white and well-off who was actually convincing.
I know what guilt looks like, this wasn't it. Smug and self-rightious was what they conveyed.
At 10:21 AM,
bmac said…
I'll have to respectfully dis agree with you about the white guilt thing.
I believe it's the single issue drawing white voters to Obama, even if they don't realize it.
It's a chance for them to feel like they did their part, they cast a vote against racism, and in some small way, they will be released from the sins of their fathers.
It's also a chance for them to prove to themselves that they are not racists.
If Obama's campaign is not entirely about the fact that he's black, ask yourself, how would Obama fare were he white?
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