Obama Cracks My TV in Half

It didn't make sense. A politician responding to a TV news scandal during an election and he's not on the attack or the defensive. Instead he's asking us to look at the forces that shape our feelings on race and understand them. My first reaction was to call DirecTV. Clearly my antenna was out of alignment and picking up old broadcasts of the Outer Limits or Playhouse 90 that are bouncing back to earth from Jupiter. Or maybe that California roll I ate was a week old and I'm unconscious on my living room floor and chemicals in my brain are sloshing towards the wish fulfillment part of my frontal lobe.

But it happened. Barack Obama spoke like an enlightened leader from 2008 instead of like the fake cowboy from 1885 that most politicians evoke or like a pharmaceutical salesman talking about change, but "not that much change" at a team building exercise in Tahoe. In other words, he didn't pass the buck to save his own ass. It was a monumental moment in modern American politics. He didn't distract, deflect, or attempt to frighten. He didn't accuse, declare war, or get angry. He didn't game play, scape goat, or blame. Can you imagine? We need to engrave this shit onto a commemorative coin fast.

Corporate tabloid news coverage, the influence of lobbyists and opinion polls have turned our politicians into the biggest group of hacks since the writing staff for Real People disbanded in the eighties. It's been all button pushing and gamesmanship for our representatives over the past twenty years. Anyone who stepped out of line (Howard Dean, Jimmy Carter, Paul Wellstone) was either written off as boring, naive or nuts. All real issues faded to the background and instead "gay marriage" and "tax breaks" and "military photo ops" became the go to bag of hack political tricks. And our newspapers and TV news shows loved it because it took the discussion away from anything constructive and instead veered it towards juicy programming (Governor is Gay! Congressman involved in Three way! Do Gay Flag Burners Want to Pick Up Your Kids on the Internet?! etc.) and the corporate agenda.

But today's speech was different. It felt like a noise I had never heard but someone once tried to describe to me. It was somewhere between a good episode of The Wire and a John Dos Passos novel. It had perspective. Barack Obama was talking about the future of man and whether or not we will continue to fight each other because of random colors (flags, skin, etc) or whether we will solve big problems together like we have done before (medicine, space travel, democracy). Will we evolve or will we skirmish...? Tilt your head the right way when you listen to the speech. I'm pretty sure it's there.

And then as Obama finished I had to laugh. "Man this must have fucked Wolf Blitzer's shit up" I thought. He spends all of his time trying to avoid constructive discourse and discrediting those who do... This must have made him feel like he was on the tilt awhirl with a belly full of funnel cake and Stroh's. I haven't see his response but I'm sure he turned to the speech into a tactical move on Obama's part. If he didn't and was actually thoughtful about it then Hallelujah.

But enough about the fun-dents, as Ice Cube said "today was a good day."

Read more HuffPost coverage and reaction to Obama's speech

Comments

[kfdan]

Adam ~ hit the nail on the head. Obama is a breath of fresh air in American politics!

[Walkonterra]

When all is said and re-said about this right wing smear on the Black Church in America, we will still have three choices for president.

McCain is a shadow of who he was in 2000.

Clinton, who runs a GOP style race within the Democratic Party.

Obama, who speaks for a unified America.

Take your choice. We have had two Boomer administrations. It could be time to pass the torch of leadership to the people who will have to pay for Boomer mismanagement and ugly partisanship.

[JJRodham]

thats dump everyone wants a united America.

How about look at things like this

Clinton= Universal Healthcare ( allowing you to have the same healthcare as congress members, and allows you too keep it even if you switch jobs or are unemployed),

OBAMA = Some people get healthcare some dont ( basically the system we have),

Clinton=Economic class unity . ( fighting for the poor and middle class)

Obama= Racial Unity. ( fighting for African Americans and Whites) not sure where latinos, Indians, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Italians, etc etc etc stand

[KimberlyKay]

Don't know why you have this bit about Senator Obama divided up people since he never does it. Don't know why you say Senator Obama's health care reform proposal is "basically the system we have" since it is not. When Senator Obama is President, I urge you to watch the healthcare reform hearings on C-span. Then, as Senator Obama has proposed, if you hear something you do not like, you should take immediate action -- write the White House, write your congressman, write the press. And guess what? If your idea is any good -- or at least constructive -- it might have some effect.

Has Senator Clinton offered anything remotely close to that? Does she have a grasp of how the internet has changed our society? No, she does not. Senator Obama represents real transformational change and not because of the color of his skin, but because of the content of his vision.

[Fergie13]

"Obama, who speaks for a unified America" . . . where did you get that notion. The republicans are probably not in his court, and HALF of the democrats (those pesky Clinton supporters) are wounded and insulted from this primary. Nicely done Sen Obama. Here's hoping there are a zillion indepents you can sway.

[PioneerKing]

so you're voting RALPH NADER 2008

[ObserverinVancouver]

New thought (for me at least). Maybe the sound bites simply capture Rev. Wright playing devil's advocate?

[MsLiz]

Find the recent HuffPost articles about Ambassador Peck and you will find a link to the entire sermon about 9/11. It's enlightening.

[CAPTAIND]

Someone who wants to end ethnic and racial divisions does not choose people like Malley and Rev. Wright as advisors. Who is he and his defenders kidding. Is the Hamas manifesto or God damn Ameica" the words you would expect from persons acting as advisors to someone who is serious about ending racal divisions. I am old enough (64) to have studied logic while in College. This must be a subject n longer taught in schools. The cooments I see of Obama supporters and defender makes me believe they skipped that course.

[JohnTalbutt]

I am older than you but flunked logic. The only answer I come up with for the following is racism. Help me out.
White evangelical ministers, Falwell, Robertson, Hagee and on and on, said that disasters were God's punnishment of America for sinning and white candidates run to get these ministers support and are not held to account. .
Catholic candidates are not asked about pedophila and the covering up of pedophilia in their church - even though pedophilia is a crime and what the black preacher said might have been objectionable but it is not a crime.
We repspect great principles in these instances: Freedom of speech and Freedom of religion.
We do not believe in guilt by association.
Why do those principles not apply to a Black candidate and a Black minister? Why did TV play the same clips of Rev Wright thousands of times over and over after everyone had seen them?

.

[truesoccermom]

You also have to ask are those who attend Catholic services unpatriotic because the Pope was strongly against our invastion of Iraq?

[richardsgirl]

Did you read or hear the widely-reported revelation that Reverend Wright was quoting a white theologian and/or scholar, I believe his name is Peck, when he said, "God damnED America?" Do you know anything about Reverend Wright other than the inflammatory soundbites that were completely and purposefully taken out of context to present a slanted representation of the Reverend? Did you also hear that President Clinton invited Reverend Wright, among several other renowned ministers, to advise him after the Lewinsky affair was made public? I am 62 years old and retired after thirty-four years as an educator. One of the skills that I encouraged my students to use in all of their studies was critical thinking, which includes independent research to gather information from all sides before reaching a judgment. I think you could benefit from such a lesson.

[Pammy1151]

Unfortunately these trolls on here do not hear you richardsgirl. You are correct in what you say and anyone can find this out with just a little research on the computer. But they would rather come on here and shout their mean, nasty comments.

[Jedi007]

Let's continue your logic. Since people should be held accountable for all things that idiots in their churches say and do, it is time to demand that ALL Catholic politicians resign from their church. The Catholic Church knowingly allowed the molestation of thousands of innocent children. The records and court settlements prove it. Why have these politicians not rejected and denounced the Pope? By attending these churches they are openly conveying their support for these sick and demented acts. I can't wait until we start digging into every candidates church and the sermons given within. I understand that a book will be out shortly about Hillary's membership in some secret, right-wing, fundamentalist Christian "cell" (their word) in Washington DC. Should be enlightening.

God save us from your churches...please!

[nadaistic]

Our founders would be proud of this man of REASON. He embodies everything our nation is suppose to be about.. I am so disgusted with this country right that I concider leaving and living abroad. Obama is the only thing that gives me a sliver of hope to regain my patriotism. We have a lot of Slime to wash off this beaten up nation and Billary has proven to not have the character to give the nation a bath in anything other than a new color of slime.

[candomath]

Obama is one big whiner. A victim. A glass jaw. On the playground of politics, he's a wimp. As long as no one takes a swing at him, he's a hero. Once a punch comes his way, he's cowering, accusing, blaming, crying foul. If he's the nominee, McCain will win. If he does manage to be elected president, he will probably be impeached for absolute incompetence. High rhetoric doesn't get a person that far when s/he is on the job. If Clinton and Obama were vehicles, he would be a BMW and she would be a heavy duty pickup truck. When you need some real tough work done, a flashy BMW is useless.

[nadaistic]

You really haven't been paying attention have you? Is this OPPOSITE DAY or something?

[ObserverinVancouver]

Just two examples to refute your rubbish:

1. Tim Dickinson's article in the Mar 20/08 issue of Rolling Stone (the one with Sen. Obama on the cover), where he descibes how Obama and his team built Obama's campaign machinery. The title of the article is "The Machinery of Hope" .

2. The Lugar-Obama non-proliferation initiative to deal with loose nukes, which has got to be the greatest security threat in the whole world .

Compare these two things with Sen. Clinton's record.

Her campaign is a shambles. The fish rots from the top.

The punditi love to talk about the relative strengths of Sens. Obama and Clinton on national security. What has she done comparable to the Lugar-Obama initiative? The only thing I can recall is her miscalculated vote in favour of the Iraq war resolution.

[Pammy1151]

Obama has more class that Hillary could ever have even if she took lessons!! Who are you kidding. McCain will only win if somehow she is able to STEAL the nomination. If that happens you are so right he will win.

[sojtruth]

Mad props!

Well penned characterization of Obama's speech and the sad state of our media and political culture. Too bad we can't purge our airwaves of overpaid hacks and media corporate greed to have a civil and enlightened national conversation about the precarious state of our public sphere and who is best suited as a leader to repair it and our badly damaged international reputation.

[timetraveler2039]

In an effort to become a better person, a better citizen of the world, every so often I ask to have my character defects removed -- the largest boulder I face right now is a rock hard cynicism -- that the world can never get better.

I was born the day the Germans invaded Poland -- the day World War II began -- and I've seen a lot --all the while having a picture in my mind the way things COULD BE -- a world that would be a little kinder -- where wars wouldn't be used as an excuse to expand empire - where everyday people would look for the best in their family members, their neighbors. The more I read these posts, the more I realize that the Newt Gingriches, the Geo. Bushes, the Karl Roves and the Dick Cheneys of this world have won -- they have turned us against each other to the point that if there is even the slightest ray of hope--the expectation that we all come to this world with a Higher Purpose, it is scorned and laughed at -- crushed under the heel of Ridicule. Sadness.....shame on us! What if my own cynicism is a "group think"? Guess the way I can regain my hope is to drop out of the blogosphere for a while and work to alleviate my despair over our separation, our meanness -- it's time for us to start being a lot KINDER!!!

[Dustee]

Mr. Obama will be the president, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. So all of you Billary McBush supporters just have to get use to it. :)

[skonroy]

Don't forget that not just Obama's pastor is influenced by Marxist teachings. His mother, who single-handedly nurtured Obama during the most formative years of his life (his father abandoned him), was reported to be a left-liberal atheist with Marxist sympathies. I think people are wrongly empahasizing Obama's middle name and the Islamic slant, and overlooking the strong, atheist-leftist influence of his mother. Obama basically remained, like his mother, irreligious until his encounter in his late twenties with Wright's Christianity with a Marxist-li­berationis­t flavor.

[mageduley]

If you thought this speech was good. Check out the speech he did in 2006 about bridging the gap between fundamentalist Christians and Secular America. It was called The Call to Renewal - the role of religion in politics:

It is an awesome speech. This is how the religious right will back Barack Obama. People of faith are sick and tired of the republicans who hijacked their faith for political hackery.

Video Here Check it Out:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid463869411/bctid416343938

Transcript Here:
http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060628-call_to_renewal/index.php

[ethancorso]

Thank you for the links!!!

[MsLiz]

Oh brother. By all accounts, Obama's mother served her fellow humans in a manner that would make a Christian missionary proud, except she did not proselytise. Everyone's education should expose them to Marxist philosophy. That does not make them a revolutionary or a fan of dictatorships. Unfettered capitalism is only good for a few people, as the Bush administration is currently demonstrating.

[Shozen]

Marxism as a reason to not vote for a candidate? That is so last century.

[sigrid13]

Worse, it's the candidate's MOTHER'S Marxist leanings that appear to concern skonroy.

Can't find anything objectionable about the man? Investigate his family!

As to Obama's alleged irreligiosity, So? Besides didn't skonroy's hero GW Bush come to Jesus a bit late in life?

[snowcat]

Hear, Hear! Perfectly said!

[MagisterLudi]

What a great speech. It's kind of a Gettysburg Address, The Sermon on the Mount and Nuremberg Rally speech all rolled into one.

Everybody got what they wanted. Blacks now can feel with a wink and a nod that Obama is in their camp: he rejected the message of hate ( for the white, Hispanic and Asian audiences) and at the same time supported the messenger of that hateful speech ( for Blacks) AND denied he ever heard any of that hateful speech.

This takes some serious lawyering to achieve.

[STRONG]

AFTER LISTENING TO OBAMA'S EQUIVALENT TO THE "SERMON ON THE MOUNT", MANY WHITE VOTERS HAVE CONCLUDED THAT MINISTER WRIGHT WAS CORRECT WHEN HE SAID "..GOD DAMN AMERICA", EXCEPT THAT WE NOW BELIEVE THAT HE OMITTED A SALIENT, FOLLOWING PHRASE--"..IF WE ELECT OBAMA AS PRESIDENT."

[suntzu]

Sorry to say this but ALL CAPS did not add to the intellectual content of your diatribe. In fact....

[MagisterLudi]

Dear Obama is the new founding father. I often cry when I think
how kind, wise and merciful he is.

Our Leader Obama belongs in the same pantheon as Zeus, Socrates, Aristotle, Voltaire, Gandhi, Descartes, Vanilla Ice, Dumbo, Mother Teresa and Maria of Guadalupe.

[lovethesinner]

I like the way Jon Stewart said it: "... a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race, as though they were adults."

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=164437&title=baracks-wright-response&tag=generic_tag_barack_obama&itemId=108470