Barack Obama is too gracious to gloat…I, however, am not.

Posted to a Blog that died on January 16, 2007 <–note the year.

Now, let us marinate on what this truly means.

Here we have a black man man with a white mother and a Kenyan father, born in Hawaii, with a somewhat checkered past who rose through Columbia College and Harvard University Law School and the Illinois State Assembly to the United States Senate and now stands on the brink of history.

Blah blah blah.  but what does it MEAN, REALLY?

Well it means this:

For the first time in history, A man of color is positioned as a front runner for the office of president of the United States.  And he has formed a committee to explore that possibility.

More Blah Blah Blah…You aint sayin nothing to me….Give me something.  You go through all these changes to “Free” yourself and now you give me spin…..CTB….What does this MEAN?

OK.

This means everyone out of the pool…the shark is coming.  I am sure you have heard the following:

“we don’t know anything about him”

“He doesn’t have the experience”

“He can’t win because he is Black”

“He Can’t Beat Hillary”

“His middle name is Hussein”

“They won’t let him win”

Let me address these in turn.

We don’t know anything about him -  If you don’t know about Barack Obama, you don’t WANNA know about him.  He has TWO books that have been NY Times best sellers.  One is a fairly in-depth memoir that covers his background.   One is a wonkish sort that alludes to building a better America.  The man has a microphone constantly stuck in his face and is pretty much the go-to man for thoughtful progressive (liberal, for those of you who get off on such terms).  Trust and believe, if the man wasn’t the real deal, he wouldn’t be getting this kind of push.  Today, Chris Matthews said that, as a writer, he believes that if you cannot express your thoughts on paper, you cannot think.  He went on to say that Barack Obama is one of the most formidable writers of this political generation.  What Senator Obama says, comes from HIS pen.  That speaks volumes, to me.

“He doesn’t have the experience” - Experience is overrated.  Nor does Experience get you elected.  This isn’t carpentry.  This is government.  To be honest, the more you govern, the more inept you become.

Government tends to be a vacuum.  The longer you are in government, the more detached from reality you become. You lose your edge.   You lose touch with reality.  You end up doing less leading and representing of people and more…governing.  You have hearings, you hold press conferences, you go on TV, you compromise, you cease to be a representative and go to playing one on TV.

Barack Obama has been in the US Senate for 3 years. Before that he taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago. That is long enough to get a decent grasp on the practice of Government to go along with the formidable academic understanding of Government he already has.

“He can’t win because he is Black” - People will say that until it happens.  They said that about Mayor of Chicago, and Mayor of Philadelphia, and Mayor of New York, and Governor of Massachusetts. That isn’t really an explanation.  It just hasn’t happened, YET.

“He Can’t Beat Hillary” - This is a more useful argument than he cannot win because he is Black.  Hillary is the front runner because she is viewed as inevitable and unbeatable.  She is neither.  Hillary is polarizing in ways that confound the imagination, even in her OWN party.  Additionally there is a certain sense of fear that Hillary, because of her polarizing nature, can’t win the general election on her own terms anyway.  In terms of qualifications, even with the additional 3 years in the Senate and 8 years as first lady, I view them as equally qualified, exchanging the whole real life thing for the 20+ years of government life that she has been living. 

His middle name is Hussein - Stop.  Just Stop.  If you really think that is an issue, all the rest of this is pretty much irrelevant

“They won’t let him win” - who is this THEY?  If the PEOPLE want him, they will have him.  Will the fight from the GOP be any different than if Hillary wins?  Any different than last time with Kerry?  I didn’t think so.

One thing nags at me.  If Senator Obama is truly about change, the Secret Service better get on it’s game.

And that is NOT a joke.

Toldya.

But…I’m STILL mad. Why is that?

I should be estatic.

I am not.

The speech was magnificent and all, but I almost seem to see more self-congratulatory (look how far we have come) bullshit than anything.

I reckon I was just blindsided, so caught up in my own happiness that I forgot everyone else was just as obtuse and myopic about the REAL issues of race and class that the actual lessons of this campaign have yet to be discovered.

But the fist bump is still the greatest example of Black Love in Action to grace Prime time television in a MINUTE

Seeing the Future…and not liking it.

As what I am prone to describing as Michelle Obama’s Witching hour* approaches, I noticed a curious phenomenon in my blog stats.

Suddenly the good Rev. Uncle Ruckus has been upstaged from his lofty perch on top of my search terms referrals.

By various permutations of Michelle Obama and whitey.

Shit.

I see where this is going and I don’t like it one bit. As the husband/son/subordinate/Friend/uncle/son-in-law/co-worker/ex-husband/grandson/ex-son-brother in law of strong Black women, I enjoy an unparalleled view of the majesty of Strong Black women in all their glory.

I see the kind of strength that crushes sexist stereotypes, the “attitude” that Black men alternately love and love to hate, that white women WISH they had even as they cower in fear when it sees the light of day, that White men are both scared of and attracted to.

America did not create the strong Black woman so much as it necessitated her. The strong Black woman is the result of bearing two burdens enforced on multiple fronts.

For all the oppression (real and imagined) that Hillary Clinton has suffered via sexism since her entry on the national stage in 1990, she cannot comprehend what Michelle Obama is about to face.

After 16 months of white hot spotlight, the best the haters could do was to beat the world over the head with the caricature of Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ to the point that the Obamas had to leave the church.

Since It is still (barely) Sunday, allow me to finish off this tangent.

What happens in the confines of the pulpit is right up there with what happens at my dining room table in terms of privacy. I am just sayin.

The Net is having a field day at Michelle Obama’s expense in the name of parlaying her speak-truth-to-power campaign style into some kind of loop-du-jour that will accelerate the demonization of Michelle Obama.

He told y’all to lay off his wife.

I don’t think he was joking.

*Looks at his watch…waits*

Sooooo…..

Apparently Larry Johnson has found some secret video that has Michelle Obama going ballistic on whitey

No not that Larry Johnson

Nope, Not THIS one either

This dude here.

So, he has the tape.

I certainly hope so.

lets get this out in the open RIGHT now.

Somehow I predict that the reality of this tape is much less problematic than the theory of this tape.

WE.SHALL.SEE.

BONUS:  if you are quick to anger…avoid the comments section.

Alcee Hastings, kindly get your facts straight before putting your foot in your mouth

So says Congressman Alcee Hastings

At the beginning of our great country’s history my ancestors were counted as only 2/3 of a person.  Until passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, they weren’t allowed to vote. During that same time and until 1920, women could not vote.  White men who did not own property could not vote at one point in our history as well.

Um…Sir…it was actually only 3/5 of a person.  As a person whose ancestors were the same as Rep. Hastings, let me be the first to say that while it may serve Mr. Hastings’ purposes to equate slavery and non-personhood to what is happening to Florida, I am inclined to find it rather hyperbolic and wishes he would shut the fuck up.

Respectfully.

It is a LONG ass way from 2/3 3/5 of a person to being caught up in some intra-party squabble that diminishes the weight of a citizens vote in a party primary to determine the party nominee.  A punishment passed along as a result of breaking party rules.

Of course, breaking rules is something you know something about, isn’t it?

Paying the price for breaking rules?

Not so much, huh, Mr. Impeached judge turned congressman?

This is funny. I don’t care HOW offended you get, either.

Props to Jerry O’Connell (Carpoolers was funny, but cursed by being attached to that Cavemen Debacle) and a Hat Tip to TBL

A Stealth Campaign for VP? Jim Webb is EVERYWHERE!!!

Jim Webb on Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Jim Webb in a more elaborate interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air (and If you dont know about Terry or Fresh Air….-500 points for you)

Every time I hear Jim Webb, who is currently on a book tour (timing!), I get a better and better sense of how well He and Obama would match up.

The more people ask him about what HAS to be an  forthcoming offer of the VP slot from the Obama campaign, the better he gets at not saying no.

My only question is:

Does Jim Webb KNOW he is auditioning for the VP slot?

Stop The Madness.

Let us be absolutely clear on one critical point.

The Prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination (who just happens to be married to the party standard bearer) is about to lose to a heretofore unknown Black Man whose name rhymes with Osama.

All the sexism (and there has been a healthy amount) in the WORLD did not bring this about.

There are OTHER factors that created this phenomenon.  Those of you (damn near ALL YALL) who are ignoring those factors do so at your peril.

What would you rather have?

Would you rather be part of an oppressed group that can be patronized and dismissed using coded language and revisionist history?

OR

Would you rather be part of an oppressed group that is still subject to a ubiquitous double standard and glass ceiling and suffer never ending slights to the press, compounding your own mistakes and squandering an unprecedented advantage in this campaign?

OR would you rather be part of BOTH?

Move the Crowd

How could I move the crowd
First of all, ain’t no mistakes allowed
Here’s the instruction, put it together
It simple ain’t it but quite clever
Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years
But weak ideas irritate my ears
Is this the best that you can make?
Cuz if not and you got more, I’ll wait - (W. Griffin, Jr., 1987)

Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don’t.  - (S. Carter, 2004)

When I see the crowds, I realize just what enrages the Clinton Diehards so much.  You cannot see a movement like that and not be inclined to jump on the bandwagon.

Unless the movement in question is running you over.