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Monday, May 16, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The arrogance of being President while being Black. America 2011
I don't think anyone was under some real illusion that the election of Barack Obama actually means the end of racism in America . I'm pretty sure that the president-elect knew it better than anyone. After all, he saw it every day, from the moment he announced his candidacy. To some degree, he saw it within his own party during the primaries. And he saw it in all ugliness during the general election. For half of this country, he was "That One". No matter how big and clear his victory was. No matter how smart he is. No matter how decent he is. No matter what a true patriot he is. No matter how optimistic and positive his vision for America was. All that didn't matter. Because at the end of the day, he was still black.
I'm quite old. I remember, vaguely, where my parents were on November 22, 1963. I've seen so many presidents. Some were feared, some were hated, some were adored, some popular and some not. But all of them, without exception, were treated with the highest respect deserving the office of the president of the United States .
That is until a black man won the right to occupy this office. It's been 13 months now, and in the eyes of so many, Barack Obama is still that one. He is being disrespected and at the same time being held to the highest standard of any president I've ever seen – and not just by the Republican side! He has to perform three times better than any president in history, and even that may not be enough.
For the media, he is many more times just "Obama" than "President Obama". They create scandals out of nothing issues. It took them at least 6 years to start giving Bush a small part of the shit he deserved. It took them 6 months to begin crap all over Obama because he's yet to fix the catastrophe that was left for him.
They use condescending tones when they talk about him, and only mildly less condescending when they talk TO him. With anyone else, CNN wouldn't dare go to commercials every time the president speaks, like they did during that summit on Thursday. They wouldn't dare be counting how many minutes George Bush or Bill Clinton were talking. Chris Mathews wouldn't dare make an issue out of Ronald Regan calling members of congress by their first name, like he is not actually the president. They fully cooperate with the Right-Wing smear machine when it comes to president Obama's national security performance – even if almost every independent and military expert actually thinks that he's a terrific Commander-in-Chief. You'll never see them on TV, and virtually no one from the Left, in congress and outside, defend the president on this matter.
I don't care about the Far-Right. They're just crazy ignorant Neanderthals. It's the way the beltway and the mainstream treats this president that is shocking. On Thursday, almost every Republican had no trouble interrupting him in the middle of a sentence. They looked like they're going to vomit every time they had to say "Mr. president". They all had this Eric-Cantor-Smirk whenever he spoke. Then they went out and started to spit their stupid talking points, to the delight of the media. Sarah Palin, a woman who can hardly read, thinks that he was "arrogant" towards John McCain, and somehow this is an important news. Because you see, "Obama's Arrogance" is the talking point of the day.
Oh, those talking points. He is arrogant (because he knows the facts better than all of them combined). He is an elitist (because he uses big words that they don't understand). He is weak on national security (because he actually thinks about the consequences). He divides the country (well, he did that the day he had the audacity to win the election). Worst of all, he actually thinks that he's the president. He even dared to say so on Thursday. How arrogant of him. You'd think that previous presidents didn't have any ego. Somehow it turned out that the one president who treats even his biggest opponents with the utmost respect – is the arrogant one. I wonder why?
I expected that his winning the Presidency would bring out some ugliness, but it's been far worse than I imagined. The racism coming from the Right is obviously clear and shameless, but there's also some hidden and maybe subconscious and disturbing underline tone behind some of the things that I read here and throughout the Left blogosphere, even before the end of Obama's first year - 'He's weak, he's spineless, he's got no balls, primary him in 2012'. It'll be dishonest to deny that.
The fact is that for millions in America, Barack Obama is this uppity black man (Not even a "real" black), who received good education only due to affirmative action, and has no right to litter the sacred Oval Office with his skin color. They just can't accept the fact that the president is a black man, who unlike his predecessor, was actually legally elected. But what's really sad is that it's not just the fringe, its deep deep in mainstream America .
Barack Obama's ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is and He never makes a mistake.
Sometimes, they make me feel ashamed to be a white man!!!
Author unknown
I'm quite old. I remember, vaguely, where my parents were on November 22, 1963. I've seen so many presidents. Some were feared, some were hated, some were adored, some popular and some not. But all of them, without exception, were treated with the highest respect deserving the office of the president of the United States .
That is until a black man won the right to occupy this office. It's been 13 months now, and in the eyes of so many, Barack Obama is still that one. He is being disrespected and at the same time being held to the highest standard of any president I've ever seen – and not just by the Republican side! He has to perform three times better than any president in history, and even that may not be enough.
For the media, he is many more times just "Obama" than "President Obama". They create scandals out of nothing issues. It took them at least 6 years to start giving Bush a small part of the shit he deserved. It took them 6 months to begin crap all over Obama because he's yet to fix the catastrophe that was left for him.
They use condescending tones when they talk about him, and only mildly less condescending when they talk TO him. With anyone else, CNN wouldn't dare go to commercials every time the president speaks, like they did during that summit on Thursday. They wouldn't dare be counting how many minutes George Bush or Bill Clinton were talking. Chris Mathews wouldn't dare make an issue out of Ronald Regan calling members of congress by their first name, like he is not actually the president. They fully cooperate with the Right-Wing smear machine when it comes to president Obama's national security performance – even if almost every independent and military expert actually thinks that he's a terrific Commander-in-Chief. You'll never see them on TV, and virtually no one from the Left, in congress and outside, defend the president on this matter.
I don't care about the Far-Right. They're just crazy ignorant Neanderthals. It's the way the beltway and the mainstream treats this president that is shocking. On Thursday, almost every Republican had no trouble interrupting him in the middle of a sentence. They looked like they're going to vomit every time they had to say "Mr. president". They all had this Eric-Cantor-Smirk whenever he spoke. Then they went out and started to spit their stupid talking points, to the delight of the media. Sarah Palin, a woman who can hardly read, thinks that he was "arrogant" towards John McCain, and somehow this is an important news. Because you see, "Obama's Arrogance" is the talking point of the day.
Oh, those talking points. He is arrogant (because he knows the facts better than all of them combined). He is an elitist (because he uses big words that they don't understand). He is weak on national security (because he actually thinks about the consequences). He divides the country (well, he did that the day he had the audacity to win the election). Worst of all, he actually thinks that he's the president. He even dared to say so on Thursday. How arrogant of him. You'd think that previous presidents didn't have any ego. Somehow it turned out that the one president who treats even his biggest opponents with the utmost respect – is the arrogant one. I wonder why?
I expected that his winning the Presidency would bring out some ugliness, but it's been far worse than I imagined. The racism coming from the Right is obviously clear and shameless, but there's also some hidden and maybe subconscious and disturbing underline tone behind some of the things that I read here and throughout the Left blogosphere, even before the end of Obama's first year - 'He's weak, he's spineless, he's got no balls, primary him in 2012'. It'll be dishonest to deny that.
The fact is that for millions in America, Barack Obama is this uppity black man (Not even a "real" black), who received good education only due to affirmative action, and has no right to litter the sacred Oval Office with his skin color. They just can't accept the fact that the president is a black man, who unlike his predecessor, was actually legally elected. But what's really sad is that it's not just the fringe, its deep deep in mainstream America .
Barack Obama's ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is and He never makes a mistake.
Sometimes, they make me feel ashamed to be a white man!!!
Author unknown
Thursday, April 28, 2011
HarpWeek | Elections | 1868 Medium Cartoons
HarpWeek Elections 1868 Medium Cartoons
What began in 1868 still exists in different forms. Too many believe there is no power in voting.
What began in 1868 still exists in different forms. Too many believe there is no power in voting.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
From Change To Wave
The midterm elections are over. Many pundits, analysts, and talk show hosts have concluded that the Republican wins and Democrat loss means only one thing; did President Obama get it?
The "it" these right or conservative based folks are referring to is the ideal that voters who chose Republicans and Tea Party Republicans over Democrats were sending a message to President Obama that he was "out of touch" with mainstream America. That he should admit his agenda was crap as Tim Pawlenty from Minnesota stated in a Fox interview. That all President Obama's policies were the agenda he'd always planned to inflict on the American people and not the result of the financial mess he inherited in 2008.
This constant memory loss of Republican supporters is how we arrived in our current situation of almost 10% unemployment. These same complainers conveniently forget NAFTA, Enron, subprime mortgages, Iraq, Afghanistan, and a $700 billion dollar bailout approved by Bush before leaving office. When President Obama made the statement Wednesday morning during his White House press conference that the policies of the past two years was an agenda for emergency action and not his planned agenda many right-wingers dismissed his explanation as an insult.
"He must think the American people are stupid," said Hannity on his usual rant of speaking for the so-called great Americans. I don't know if President Obama thinks these fickle voters are stupid but I know many of them appear to be brain dead.
Early Wednesday morning from CNN to Fox the only conversation was the Republican wave and how it sent a message to the president, only.
The Republican gains in the House were somehow a mandate and not a message to both parties about working together; the same party voters tossed out in 2008. Republican analysts all agree apparently that this midterm election is somehow more telling than what voters did 2 years prior. We are now to believe that the frustration of 10% unemployment and health care reform for those who have jobs means Republican and Tea Party candidates are now what the people really want.
These same critics spent the entire day repeating the same refrain, "he just doesn't get it" "he never admitted these losses for Democrats were all his fault" "he never humbled himself" "he won't admit his policies are not what the American people want."
How convenient to forget the millions of Americans who didn't support Republicans or Tea Party Republicans. Now that's what I call that stupid.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Support Black Talk Radio Call a FM Program Director
Angelique invited you to "Support Black Talk Radio Call a FM Program Director" on Thursday, March 25 until June 25.
Event: Support Black Talk Radio Call a FM Program Director
What: Protest
Start Time: Thursday, March 25 at 12:40am
End Time: Friday, June 25 at 3:40am
To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1108844401&k=Z5ETQZS6U6TF6BD1QJ24VSYZ23IB42WF3UEVG&oid=345873057741
Event: Support Black Talk Radio Call a FM Program Director
What: Protest
Start Time: Thursday, March 25 at 12:40am
End Time: Friday, June 25 at 3:40am
To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1108844401&k=Z5ETQZS6U6TF6BD1QJ24VSYZ23IB42WF3UEVG&oid=345873057741
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