A Remarkable Day
by KevinJune 4th, 2008
Barack Obama clinched the Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination last night. It has been a long, hard fought campaign with temperatures running high on both sides of the contest. I think it’s important, though, to not let questions of what Clinton is going to do and will the Party be unified in November to overshadow the moment. An African-American has just been nominated to run for arguable the highest office in the land by one of the two major parties. It is a remarkable moment, becasue there are people still alive today — people my father’s age — who suffered through Jim Crow and the denial of their most basic human rights, including voting. Rev. Wright, to take a high profile example , was a teenager when Emmett Till was brutalized and murdered. Colin Powell was almost thirty when the Voting Rights Act was passed. Maxine Waters was nineteen when the Little Rock Nine were escorted into Central High. I was twenty when the Rodney King cops were set free. My oldest son was five when the noose was hung on the property of a Jena, LA school district after black students had sat under the “white tree” and dismissed by the school authorities as a “prank”. Racism and its legacy is a still very much a part of the American life. That makes Obama’s achievement even more impressive.
This is not to say that racism is not still a major issue. Far form it. But this has been a hard fought, hard won milestone. It is truly a remarkable achievement and an unalloyed good. There is a lot more work to be done, that is true, but we should take a moment to stop and appreciate what has been achieved.
Don’t mean to derail with a nitpick, but some nitpicks are important, I think. It’s Emmett Till.
too bad all the excitement is for nothing: read the bullshit in obama’s aipac speech. absolutely terrible. no change i can believe in. a sell out on day one.
“Racism and its legacy is a still very much a part of the American life. That makes Obama’s achievement even more impressive.”
I agree that Barry Obama’s achievement is impressive. It is one of the few achievements he has on his resume. It’s quite a jump from community activist, freshman senator, and empty orator to presidential nominee of a major party. Congratulations to him and his supportors. Too bad his ranks of supporters are so filled with racists.
Morris, care to back up your statement with any facts? Your brief bio did omit three terms as state senator. I am sure you made a big deal about GW Bush’s lack of political experience when he ran for prez, what with him having less time in elected office than Obama.
I’ll be the first to admit that Obama does not have a lot of experience. However, he has demonstrated that he is very intelligent and studious (whereas Bush has been militantly anti-intellectual and McCain boasts of his poor academic performance). The fact that his campaign was so effective is evidence he knows how to put together am organization. And I believe that those two traits will make up for his lack of experience. I believe he will evaluate people effectively and surround himself with the best talent possible (as opposed to, say, nominating his personal lawyer for the Supreme Court). As long as he has an experienced and talented Cabinet and staff, and listens to them and encourages honest debate (instead of squelching all opposing opinions), I believe he will make good, informed, decisions. I believe he will not invade a sovereign country without provocation (geographical proximity is generally not considered a valid reason for invasion), he will not spend money at a record pace while simultaneously cutting taxes, thus saddling future generations with record levels of debt, and perhaps most importantly, I believe he will unwind much of the imperial presidency that Bush has built (something that is absolutely critical to be done by the next prez before it becomes too institutionalized to undo). And at least, for that, you will have to respect him. You disagree with his policies, and he will voluntarily reduce his power to shove his policy down the public’s throat. And I believe he will make some progress in reducing the stranglehold of special interests on government - although that’s going to be a very tough one.
I don’t believe he will “fix” gas prices. Can’t be done. Demand is increasing. Supply is fixed or diminishing. I don’t believe he will transform Iraq into a peaceful country. Can’t be done. Short of a strongman government (like the one we dismantled), Iraq is doomed to suffer through a protracted civil war. I don’t believe he will “fix” the economy. Can’t be done - by a president. Governments can break an economy but there is very little that can be done to fix a recession. Especially when the number one weapon to jump start it - deficit spending - is unavailable because it has already been used for so long during prosperous times.
And I completely agree with Kevin. Today is a remarkable day.
I’m glad you backed your statements up with facts. Do you realize how many times you said “I believe”? That is very convincing.
Well, that’s because I am talking about the future. Nobody knows what will happen in the future for sure, so to state it as fact is dishonest. When I am not stating facts, but rather opinion, I make it a habit to preface my remarks with “I believe” so nobody is mislead.
Now, back to you. Since you stated as fact “his ranks of supporters are so filled with racists” would you care to back that up with facts, or are you expressing an opinion?
“Now, back to you. Since you stated as fact “his ranks of supporters are so filled with racists” would you care to back that up with facts, or are you expressing an opinion?”
That one is easy. Anyone who votes for someone based on race is a racist. Certainly, you don’t deny that much of his support is based on his race. Also, he spent 20 years in a racist church, leaving it only after it became a political liability, not because he disagreed with its racism.
Yeah, sure, Obama is a racist. Good luck with that one. But regardless, we were talking about his supporters. And you have not provided any facts to support your assertion.
I know this will be wasted on you and your tiny mind, but I’ll say it anyway. To not vote for someone who is otherwise qualified because of their race is racist. In a meaningful way. To exclusively vote only for members of one’s own race, when other plausible choices exist, is racist in a meaningful way. To be black, and a Democrat and to vote for the first viable black presidential candidate is not racist in any meaningful way.
You play this game with the word racism, labeling anyone who shows preference to their own race as racist. It completely trivializes the term and provides cover for real racists (real racists being people whose prejudices adversely impact members of another race).
As I said before, you really don’t have to bother to respond. I know exactly what you are going to say and I reject it 100%.
“To not vote for someone who is otherwise qualified because of their race is racist.”
Wow! We agree on something. I guess where we part company is that it is also racist to vote FOR someone because of his race.
“I know exactly what you are going to say and I reject it 100%.”
It must be wonderful to have an all knowing mind that is closed to all other ideas.
“(real racists being people whose prejudices adversely impact members of another race)”
You really are wonderful. You are the definer of words, too. The idea that a person cannot be a racist if he doesn’t adversely impact another person is laughable. Racism is in the mind. Reject that.
Yup, that’s what I expected.
Here’s a question for you Morris. You state that Obama’s supporters are racist. Some significant percentage of them anyway. Then you tell me that “racism is in the mind.” So you must be able to read the minds of millions of people you have never met. That’s a rather impressive capability.
Do you disagree that racism is in the mind?
I’ll answer your question right after you explain how you can read the minds of millions of people you have never met.
I don’t have to read anyone’s mind. Do you deny that many people have said they voted for Barack because of racial pride or some other reason that is racially motivated? I don’t believe you are that ignorant.
So racial pride is racism. I assume the same holds for ethnic pride, since race and ethnicity are closely related. So St Patrick’s Day is all about racism. Same for Columbus Day, and all the rest.
Or could it be that blacks voting for the first black candidate with a real chance of winning are exhibiting something a bit different than racism. On the other hand, since Obama wins about 90% of the black vote, maybe 90% of the blacks in this country are racist. At least by your childish, trivializing definition of the word.
Yes, voting for someone based on his race is racist. Haven’t you heard that a person is to be judged on the content of his character and not on the color of his skin? Do you disagree with that? Maybe you do. You have demonstrated many times in here that racism is okay with you as long as it serves what you consider a good purpose. Your support of Affirmative Discrimination has shown that.
“maybe 90% of the blacks in this country are racist.”
I think many blacks who voted for Barry did so because they agreed with his liberal, socialist policies. If so, fine. I can only go by statements by some of his supporters that they voted for him because they wanted a black man to win. That is racist.
OK, so you heard the statements of some of his supporters. How many? Five, ten? out of 17,000,000. And you feel comfortable extrapolating that to “his ranks of supporters are so filled with racists.”
Besides brushing up on your understanding of racism, you should do a bit of research on what socialism really is. Just because Rush says it, it’s not necessarily true.
“Just because Rush says it, it’s not necessarily true.”
Wow! That is profound. You are so much smarter than most people.
Haven’t you heard that a person is to be judged on the content of his character and not on the color of his skin?
If most blacks voted based on skin color rather than character, Alan Keyes would be the junior senator from Illinois right now. Just sayin’…
Wow! That is profound.
Wow! Morris got caught and dodged again! How unpredictable!
So, is it time yet to see again how long Fred/Mo can pretend to be civil as he plays his own sockpuppet?