Obama's Struggle With Typical Liberal Hypocrisy
From the beginning it's been fairly clear a big chunk of supposedly liberal America hasn't been ready for Barack Obama. Their unease obvious in the shock and awe of Joe Biden, and in Newsweek's inane, aloud wonderings of whether or not Obama was "black enough." "Black enough" for the liberals being people of color in the Sharpton/Jackson mold; Old Schoolers devoutly wed to the regressive ideology of loud haranguing and low expectations. Obama -- early on in a Pound Cake-esque fashion urging people of color to do better and questioning race-based affirmative action -- was clearly not "black enough" for the Liberal Plantation.
Any doubt that Obama was from the jump fighting not only for the presidency, but also against Lefty hypocrisy was shattered into a million pieces by Geraldine Ferraro's "lucky" black man remark. Those pieces then again refined by Clinton's talk of "hard-working Americans, white Americans."
Clearly much of the liberal Left has long seen...oh, your average non-hard-working black, as nothing more than a piece of a loyal voting bloc. Keep us anesthetized, they feel, with promises of hand outs and government mollycoddling and we will mindlessly check the "D" box on Election Day.
Conservatives are, of course, not a hair less bigoted in their hearts (nor are Independents or anyone else for that matter). But unlike Democrats, Republicans have found a way to play nicely with the ideologically aligned, regardless of the color of their skin.
That, perhaps, is part of the problem; Obama is more his own man than merely a Democratic tool. That he refused to put up a show, and then capitulate, makes him all the more frustrating to those on the Left used to their people of color playing by pre-prescribed rules.
In that regard it's too bad Obama's not an anti-war Republican. His "Yes We Can" message of hope, his Morning in America redux, would have worked much better had it not be drowned out by the typical gloom and doom drum beat of the liberal machine. And all that clack about him being elitist? Well, the Right's managed to sneak in a "down to earth" Ivy League president two cycles running. As both sides make a grab for the middle, imagine what the Right could have done with the likes of Obama.
Which is not to say that Obama won't still be elected president. At this point I think there's nothing that he can't do. Though, if so, he will do it despite the best efforts of the typical hypocrisy of the Left.
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Get over it everybody about "black', OBAMA IS HALF WHITE.
W-H-I-T-E. And he's adult enough to bash the idiots that
cater to bigotry.
Oh yeah ... my wife tells me that there are two colors of people, they are "Green" and "Poor" ... and the Poor have much in common... does that make me a leftist? ... no I am more of an anarchist at heart.
so anarchist is not being a leftest?
Tell me what anarchist is to the right of?
It certainly appears that bigotry is quite prevalent in the Democratic party, but you've done a lot of conflating in this blog.
Firstly, Liberal isn't synonymous with Democrat, especially the DLC centrists that the party has staked its future on for so many election cycles. There are genuine black liberals who don't see Obama as black enough (a statement deliberately dumbed down to negate the fact that his candidacy HAS to avoid treating with black issues). But that grouping doesn't have any real power, and they certainly have none in the Democratic Party. They are not Geraldine Ferraro and they aren't motivated by the same forces that are motivating the Clinton campaign.
Clinton is in fact a CENTRIST, very similar in her policy positions to Obama. She has very effectively used race and unearthed for the world to see just how many bigots vote Democrat. But she isn't coming from a position of Liberal ideology. She's a political animal who is looking for a cheap and effective tactic to topple Obama's campaign. "Liberal" has nothing to do with her actions. And she's not by any measure a Liberal.
Finally, the irony of all this is you holding the GOP up as some sort of standard, even saying madness like "it's too bad Obama is not an Anti-war Republican." As vicious as Clinton's tactics have been, all she did was copy them from the GOP, who have enshrined racism as a persistent vote-getter.
Barack Obama is not black or white. He is not right or left.
He is America personified. He is the future.
I live in Mississippi ... and as a "white yankee", I am fully aware that bigotry is alive and well... and yes, there are many white voters not ready for a "black" president. In my own mind it is too bad that we still even think about such things as race, personally I was all for Hillary, until I heard Obama and then I knew he represents my views of what America can be. And your article is right on spot, because I have had black people tell me that the only reason I am proudly and vocally supporting Obama is because of "white guilt" ... granted they were Hillary supporters, so I take it with a grain of salt... but yes, it is a hurdle. I hope he clears it.
Oh, come on, man.
Yeah, the huuuuge problem liberals have with Obama. Which is why he's cleaning Hillary's clock on both coasts.
I mean - wha?
And as your example liberals, you trot out Joe Biden? And Geraldine frakkin' Ferraro? Such liberal icons. Matter of fact, I got a poster of Geraldine on my wall, holding an AK between Che and Malcolm X,
Look, I get it. You like being contrarian.
But positing some hypothetical liberal hypocrisy that is not even in statistical evidence - and then not even mentioning conservatives and Republicans on the subject of race? That's just ridiculous. What's up with you? What matters to you? What are you even arguing for?
Just why can't I find myself in this article? Why can't I find Senator Obama? Maybe because all there is in this article is the author himself...
You talk about liberals like we're all party insiders.
"Clearly much of the liberal Left has long seen...oh, your average non-hard-working black, as nothing more than a piece of a loyal voting bloc."
Your facile statement that liberals are hypocrites is as grating to my ears as any foolish generalization made by bigots about blacks, Mexicans, Mormons, Jews, or anyone else.
If you said anything worth knowing, I couldn't hear it over the buzz of your unjust stereotypes.
One of the things that President Obama's historic campaign will be the revealation of the bigotry among those who the world thought that they were the strongest supporters of racial diversity. It is disappointing to see the people, you once admired to be fighters for the common person, trying to actively use racial baiting to stop the prospects of the first black presidential nominee
Well said.
I read this article and felt a pang of truth.
I see this a lot:, "I can't believe you would turn your back on Hillary after all she's done for your community!"
Meanwhile, as Obama risked looking like an idiot by playing a game he was no good at (bowling), I never saw Hillary shoot hoops on some urban court in a black neighborhood. Yeah, she might've been crappy at it and not liked it at all, but can I just say that my appreciation of her would've gone up incredibly?
There was never a demand on her to connect with blacks the way that there was on Obama to connect with whites. So she didn't even try. She just expected that we "had her back", like we should be especially grateful for the help she gave us, even though we're Americans, too? And it was her and Bill's JOBS to look out for us, like they're supposed to do with every other American. Never once heard someone comment to a white person, "And after all Hillary's done for your community!" Instead, when talking to other whites, it's been, "And after all that Hillary's done for this country!"
Those kinds of small things are so strangely telling.
Sure. But how is that proof of "liberal hypocrisy", as opposed to the hypocrisy of our modern mainstream culture?
As a liberal, I personally could care less if Obama bowls, shoots hoops, shoots pool, or shoots quail. And it's certainly not what I discuss with any of the other liberal conspiracy, here at the Streisand compound.
The arguments that one hears on politics can be really amazing.
I have heard that Liberals are responsible for Bush's war in Iraq, that they are responsible for the neo-cons burying us in debt, and now that nominating Obama the Democratic presidential candidate means that Liberals are racist? Live long enough, and I will hear just about everything, I guess.
But will one, even once, hear the truth? Not in this article, I am afraid.
But unlike Democrats, Republicans have found a way to play nicely with the ideologically aligned, regardless of the color of their skin.
Come on, John, this overgeneralization would have gotten a big red circle on my 8th grade Social Studies paper.
Faulty and superficial analysis.
Um, if the R's were campaigning for Obama, that would just slightly counteract his messages. That, and the R's don't seem to like working solutions hen they can just spout of a nice, unattainable fantasy.
I think the biggest problem is that due to the Presidential race, people forget that it's not about themselves, and it's not about Obama, and it's not about Hillary.
Sure, they're out there trying to woo your votes. But at the same time, you're trying to decide which of a limited amount of candidates will BEST meet your interests.
Because in a country of over 250 million people from all different walks of life? You will never be able to put forth a candidate that everyone agrees on. People say, "Why should I have to choose the lesser of two evils?"
Because if you don't, the worse of two evils will choose you?
If it comes down to Obama vs. McCain, that's who you have to choose between, unless neither party suits you. But if you feel that the Democratic Party's ideals are the closest fit to your own ethical code - maybe not perfect, but close enough to get some things done that might benefit you - then vote for the party.
No President we elect has ever done a good or a bad job by him or herself. Bush didn't make this mess all on his own, it took Republicans all over the place, in the senate, congress, and further downticket, to create and implement these destructive polices. If not for the support of his party, Bush couldn't do ANYTHING.
Aversive racism exists!
In other news, the Pope is Catholic and bears do their business in the woods.
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