The Ascendancy of Barack Obama in Small Town America

UPDATE, 1-30-08: Exposing Racism: A Worthwhile Thing To Do

For those of you wondering how the Obama ascendancy is playing out in Small Town America, I offer you this column from the Independent, a weekly newspaper published on the East End of Long Island by Jerry Della Femina, the former advertising executive turned restaurateur and columnist. This particular piece was written by Rick Murphy under his weekly "Low Tidings" column. Murphy is also credited as a publisher of the Independent.

This article has caused quite a stir in East Hampton and beyond. So much so that the paper has pulled it from their website and Murphy, a regular antagonist of the Democratic Party, both locally and nationally, and the Clintons in particular, has replaced it with a brief apology. The Independent is considered the more right-leaning and Republican-endorsing paper of the East End community. Della Femina himself is regarded as one of the great Hillary-Haters in all of the world.

On the heels of Barack Obama being endorsed for the presidency by the normally close-to-the-vest Caroline Kennedy, whose invocation of her father's enduring legacy carries, in some people's hearts and minds, more weight than any ten such endorsements by others, please read what the local Republicans in my home town are thinking, and publishing, about Senator Obama. This is, quite clearly, not to be believed.

Article shots from Hamptons Plum

Comments

[JoDeeVa]

Yikes! It's wrong, embarrassing, intolerant, unbelievably racist, shocking, not-funny AT ALL,(well, unless you call Amos'n'Andy funny and that was..what? 50+ years ago!), denigrating, sleazy, bigoted and has no place in the political arena or anywhere else, for that matter..but, the one thing it is not is..unexpected! Can anyone, HONESTLY say it is not to be expected?

Reality check, people, if you think not..this is a nation of bigotry, especially racism. There will be much more of this and much of it will more hateful and egregious than this column. I actually heard someone call Obama "that uppity N*****!" (can't say it-won't write it!) And, don't forget "How do we beat the ~B-word~?" The country is challenged with both sexism and racism in this presidential campaign and it will get uglier than it already has before it is all over. Both are 2 of the last barriers to equality and they will be fought with people dragged yelling and screaming out of the dark past and into the future. Regardless of whether one supports Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, all should decry these tactics and call them out when they rear their ugly head. I hope someone did put a call in to Al Sharpton..let him at 'em...

Thanks, Alec..as much as I hate to see this in print, I think it is important to document and pass along this information, so awareness is brought to others who just may not experience it or indeed, even believe it exists!

[kylie]

How nice for Hillary. The affluent really love her.

She has begun to resemble all too closely the Republican Party. Tax cuts, corporate compromises galore, seedy "campaign" tactics.(Looks like the boys have been at it again, in certain heavily democratic districts in Florida-just love those Diebolds).

Hillary can't seem to keep commitments to her party, special privilege candidate, who will create a stampede to vote the other side of the aisle by many discouraged Democrats.

She is not the one I and my friends just voted for. She is the same old same old that panders to the elite of the Democratic party...

Lights, camera, action, Hillary, time to take a bow, for a primary your candidates never campaigned for-they keep their commitments.

[plutorage]

Tks, Alec, we needed that. It's good to be reminded of how a large portion of our population is still backwards, ignorant, and holding America back from greatness.

It is sad to see the old fogies in their rocking chairs spitting their dentures in their laps as they try hard to feel superior to something -anything - even if it is an educated and dignified man like Obama who only wishes them the best.

Thank God the old order is dying out. I look forward with great antcipation to a new age.

[lagunabeach]

Thank you so much for publishing this outstanding example of Long Island's mentality. The reason that moron Murphy published this is because he has an audience for it and that audience is a racist, red-necked mean-spirited power-hungry bunch of self-interested greedy people.

There is a minority of intelligent loving people in the Hamptons and on Long Island but they have to keep quiet or people like Murphy will make their lives miserable.

If it wasn't for the national attention this revolting, ignorant essay is getting, it would still be on-line and there would be no apologies.

Like so many vile neocon Republicans, Murphy is apologizing, not because he did something reprehensible but because he got caught.

Thanks again to Alec Baldwin for lifting up the rock and showing the world what kind of insects live at the Hamptons on Long Island.

P.S. I can't wait to write a letter to Mr. Murphy, editor of the Independent, and letting him know what I think of him and his unconscionable utterances.

[PollyTics]

Whereas I am sickened to read such an article, I still must ask Alec Baldwin why he is printing it again right now?

The timing and subject matter is a tad suspect...

[ButterflyWeed]

While I get the point made by exposing profound ignorance passing as humor - I fail to see the intelligence of reprinting this hateful article. I hope Rick Murphy's days as a writer are over.

[razajac]

Well, three things:

First, I'm with the fella who points out that extrapolating *The* Hamptons to small-town America is a bit of a stretch, even for a fine actor like Mr. Baldwin.

Second, I have to cop to the timeless retort of Oscar Wilde: "It could have been worse. It could have been poorly written." It could have, indeed.

But finally, I also have to admit there exist some people for whom an article like this not only fails to mock itself, but is actually construed to have something tendentiously substantial to say about Obama and his supporters.

There's something here to give pause, at least.

[Spinsterina]

Conservatives are just not funny.

They read the Onion...think they can do the same...but, sadly, no.

This is not a reason to vote for or against Obama however. It's just an appalling example of racist (failed) humor.

[VoteforOCD]

I live in small town America and for work travel in many different circles.

Full disclosure: I'm a huge Obama fan.

Like it or not racism is alive and well in America and it ain't gonna end just because we elect a black president. Or a woman. In fact, it may take a small step back.

Instead of making small talk about the weather, I ask: "What do you think about this election?" People from all walks of life are eager to let you know what they think. The thing I've found most interesting is the racism, and that it's not limited to Republicans. I'm I'm not trying to stir anything up, but in my small sampling I've seen more racism on the part of Democrats. I've tried to come up with an explanation for this and it mystifies me.

"I ain't voting for no nigger", "I don't care how good he is to her, no black man is good enough for my daughter." The first one I've heard several times from different Dems and Reps. The second one I heard today. While not referencing politics, I'm assuming Obama's not good enough to be daughter's president either.

I've read some impassioned posts on all sides of debate of Mr. Baldwin's blog. The only thing I can offer is although it's still a sad statement about America, things are getting better. We are taking steps forward. I'm sure Mr. Obama cares little about some dumb fuck in a piss-ant newspaper as long there are people ready to expose these assholes for what they are.

I'm a white male ages 25-35. So these people affect me little. However, if I were a minority, I think I'd be more unsettled by Bob Johnson's and Bob Kerrey's remarks and subtle digs.

One last thing: I'll pull my support from Obama if I ever see him root for the Yankee's or Red Sox.

[OkieMon]

the beatles arrived in the small towns too...obama is just a rockstar with nobody asking what's beneath the music....

[JackWOrf]

I would expect things MUCH worse than this in the red states. The fact that this comes from Long Island is a bit shocking. It indicates that the restraints of Political Correctness are beginning to fall. That indicates that the (S-Word) flying at Obama is going to be more than most people can possibly imagine.

Obama's name is a disaster. Consider: Obama rhymes with Osama, and his middle name is Hussein. Those are the names of the 2 arch-demon enemies of middle America: Osama Bin Laden and Sadam Hussein! And he wants to end the war immediately!

Consider how easy it is going to be to portray Obama as some sort of closet Moslem Fundamentalist sleeper, who is going to use the White House to disarm America and then destroy it.

Yes, they will say he wants to destroy Christianity, destroy the White Race, destroy the American way of life, and allow Terrorists to do as they please.

They can't demonize Hillary in the same way, because she is a known quantity. She already was IN the White House for 8 years, and they were better years than the Bush years. So she can not be demonized in the way that Barak is going to be demonized.

Barak, like John Kerry, thinks that he can talk to them, and all that (s-word). But he is wrong. They won't listen to him. They'll listen to their ministers, and they'll listen to Talk Radio. Barak will be some strange combination of a joke and a horror in mainstream white America.

Good luck, Obama supporters. You must INSANE if you think that he is electable.

I thought that it was highly amusing when somebody said that Hillary had higher negatives than Obama. That's only because Obama has not yet emerged as the candidate.

Obama's negatives in the red states will be 10 times worse then Hillary's. Personally, I don't think that Obama has the slightest chance of winning the election.

The only winning Democratic ticket is Clinton/Obama. Everything else is a loser. As usual.

[janmB]

HERE WE GO AGAIN. ANOTHER PREZ (OBAMA ) WILL BE LEARNING AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR COUNTRY.

WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP PROMOTING THOSE LESS QUALIFIED TO LEAD US AND WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP VOTING FOR THEM.
LAST TIME THE GUY THIS COUNTRY WANTED TO HAVE A BBQ WITH---BBQ'D THIS COUNTRY.
THIS TIME THE GUY THIS COUNTRY LIKES TO HEAR TALK---IS ALL YOU WILL GET---A LOT OF TALK

[homovivens]

The utter pigheaded stupidity and jaundiced yellow journalism of the of the East Hampton's cramped little paper, "The Codefendant" (as owner Jerry Della Femina and writer Rick Murphy should be sued) aside, there is no reason to exagerate and fantasize that the hoity-toity Hamptons even resembles "small-town" America. Especially if you mean to imply that Obama can't win because of it. Extrapolation of the teapotted Hampton's tempest to the larger, broader-minded America is what logicians call an irelevant conclusion.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

So Alec, knowing you have publicly supported the Clintons in the past, I have to wonder as to your personal position on Obama vs Hillary as the Democratic nominee?

While it's admirable to shine the light on racism and to examine and discuss it's presence in small town America, (both hidden and blatant) I am sincerely hoping that your intent wasn't to arouse fear in the minds of Democratic voters, when they decide who will be the Democratic nominee.

[gevan]

Will Smith has Dumbo ears? Really?