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I would like to say that I am surprised that Barack Obama surrendered to Buchanan, Trump, and the Tea Party GOP Birther brigands. But sadly, his retreat from battle is just one more example of a man whose life and political career have been based on being a chronic compromiser--often to his own detriment.
Only time will tell if Obama's release of his birth certificate is actually a shrewd move in a game of political chess that cuts the legs out from under the Birthers. My concern is that Obama's political calculus is based on a false prior: as John Birth inspired paranoids driven by White Nationalism, the Birthers do not really care about the birth certificate, it is a MacGuffin of sorts, a stand in for the Tea Party GOP's deep bigotry and the inability of contemporary Conservatism's id to process the fact that a black man is President.
As Barack Obama has chronically done on many issues, even those where the American people gave him a mandate to lead, the President has sought common ground with his foes, a group that collectively want to see his presidency fail...even at the cost of the Common Good. In trying to make sense of Barack Obama's role as the 21st century Neville Chamberlain of American politics, I have been working through an idea that I need your help with.
Thus, some questions:
1. Is Obama's desire to surrender at every juncture a function of his inability --as a very rational and deeply reflective person--to understand the depth of the ideologically driven hatred and rage exhibited by the Right towards him?
2. I ask this very carefully, is President Obama as a self-identified black man born to a white family, who has had to negotiate his blackness throughout his life, ill equipped to "get" the ugliness of the white racism that drives the opposition to him? Because the President's family were "good white folks" (as my grandma would describe them), is Obama unable to accept that many Conservatives hold a deep antipathy towards his personhood, and that there is nothing he as a black man can do to satisfy them?
3. During his formative years, did Obama somehow miss the "Survival Skills 101 for Being Young Gifted and Black in America" life lesson?
4. Is appeasement simply Obama's default decision rule in times of crisis or challenge?
16 comments:
CD,
I addressed these questions of yours months ago here on your site..
Obama is a modern persona of a happy negro type a reflection and creation of a racial culture and narrative that had to be compelled respect the very essence and dignity of human beings of our hue ( civil rights acts/laws etc)
The culural dna of white america remains underdeveloped and lacks evolution and maturation even in the 21 century...
As I posted many moons ago Obama's personal narrative is one of a bi-racial configuration as such the depth of blackness will always been shallow and lacking...We can't expect a Bi-racial person in the narrative of America with our nation's legacy of manifest destiny and 2 domestic holocausts and the belief in our genetic shortcomings to really be a blues man.....WTF
I'm not qualified to answer the question you asked, but I will say that I'm now advocating that every single Republican in office or running for office post his/her own long form birth certificate on a public web site within the next 24 hours. I don't believe any of them were born in the US. I am sure their mothers drove to Canada to birth them and then smuggled them back in the US. They can't prove I'm wrong without long form birth certificates and affidavits from at least three witnesses of my choosing who saw them being born. Everybody knows those Canadians are socialists anyway.
I am a long time lurker and I am finally feeling comfy enough to come out of the closet. My sister in law is bi-racial however her mother is a covert racist conservative. She is a worse appeaser than Pres Obama. I asked her a couple of years ago if she subconsciously appeases people to "compensate" for being half black. She said no but I don't believe her. I think our President is the same way; he wants to be viewed as a "different kind of black." I am not surprised with his actions at all because if anyone was conscious of how he ran his campaign (keeping black folk at a distance everytime a camera was present) then the way he governs should be no surprise. I will say the appeasing is sickening and he will not get my vote in 2014.
PS.... I am in love you with Chauncy! Lol I had to get that off my chest. And yes I am a woman :)
I wanted to vote in your poll, but I don't feel that I have to choose between the two black or white (ha) statements you gave. There should definitely be a third, more moderate statement!
@olderwoman as a canadian i must remind you that we do have a conservative gov't in power, although the new democratic party seems to be gaining points as the federal election looms in mere days.
@Thrasher. I had your post in mind as I wrote this as I am still working through your sharp points.
@Older. Stop looking for consistency. Silly goose.
@Anon. Thanks for chiming in. Oh I am excited, throw me some more attention cause a brother is a glutton for the love ;)
@Ele. I don't want the truth. I am trying, like a good public opinion researcher, to get the answer I want by framing the choices in the way I see to... ;)
@Dr. Becky. You socialist commie Canadians need to be quiet and go back to your evil health care paradise before you ruin our society! USA Number One!!!!
That's just it, isn't it? That NO MATTER WHAT Obama does, it's never going to be good enough for the GOP, tea-party-ers and conservatives who, by divine providence, always know better.
The night was glare, the moon was yellow, and the leaves came tumbling down. Quantum banter relinquished it's liberally greased floors to silence. Like the toes of the Wicked Witch of The East, retentively coiled upon losing their ruby red glass slippers, I am suggesting the appendages of the black blogsphere should relax it's pointed index fingers to a slightly paused position.
Here I go again. To make a point, I opened with a line from the song Stagalee . Well, let me hit you with a few more lines...
"I was standin' on the corner when I heard my bulldog bark; he was barkin' at the two mens who gamblin' in the dark. It was Stagolee and Billy, Two men who gamble' late, Stagolee throw seven, Billy swore that he throwed eight. Stagolee told Billy, "I can't let you go with that; You have won my money and my brand new Stetson hat." Stagolee went home, And got his forty-four. Stagolee found Billy, "Oh please don't take my life! I got three little children, And a very sick little wife" Stagolee shot Billy, Oh he shot that boy so fast"
Okay, now I’m thinking about some white folks and Democrats vs. Republicans. Therein lies the core of my discontent with people like Donald Trump and those of his ilk. Look, some folks have no shame and are constitutionally incapable of telling the truth. So no matter what you or I say, real change will never come from their mouth. My daughter has a couple of sayings that addresses that point... “ don’t make a liar lie” and “That’s yo lie, you tell it, I’m not cosigning that bullsh*t”
Both Stagolee and Billy knew who was wrong, but somebody didn’t budge.
Cont....
cont...
And you know what, Langston Hughes spoke on The Ways of White Folks. I loved the brilliance of Langston Hughes. His artful way of showing people their evil ways - without yelling at them, or calling them enigmatic names - was a stroke of genius.
Hughes's stories were messages from that other America, sharply etched vignettes of its daily life, cruelly accurate portrayals of black people colliding -- sometimes humorously, more often tragically -- with whites".
So now I’m thinking about President Obama and this latest birth certificate fiasco. But wait, if you’re of the mindset that those who use “bad words” and/or vulgar language, only do so because they possess a limited vocabulary, I say miss me with that BULLSH*T, okay. And, if you’re offended by such language, as Dr. Seuss said,
Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now, cuz I am about to let it all hang out!
Listen, as I’ve said many times, telling white folks what they’ve done wrong and shame shame shame on them does little or nothing to persuade them to stop their evil ways. So, since Obama is a black, and every black person knows how to say “motherfu*ker”... real good, I know he would like to say exactly what’s on his mind. Seriously, if you show me a black person that can’t cus when they have to, I’ll show you an Oreo or a black man that lived in a cave on the south side of the moon. So, although all that political “correctness” and purple prose we (and the president) find ourselves engaged in - is the championed voice, I can’t help but believe our president would like to sometimes, some GOTDAMN time, tell a mfer what’s really on his mind. Check this out.
Cont...
cont...
Donald Trump: Mr. President, since you’re a black man and we’ve never had a black president, would you show us your birth certificate. We know your mother was white so we have a few questions.
The President: Look here you fu*kin’ weasel, you can miss me with that bullshit and kiss the pink part of my assh*le. How dare you offend me and my mother in that fashion.
Trump: But Mr. President, the public has a right to know about all the affairs of your mother and rather or not you’re really an American.
The President: Is that right? Well, I hate to talk about yo momma , she was a good ol' ho, with a two dollar pumtang, and a rubber a$$hole. See man, you done pissed me off and set off the natural black man in me. Your mother was talking about wrappin’her thang around my neck and chin. I told her she should be blowing it out her a$$ and try to be my mutherfkin’ friend.
Trump: OH NO, not the angry black man?
The President: OH NO MFer, don’t start crying like a bitch now, you started this shit. Your eyes my shine and you teeth my grin, but I’m tired of you diggin’ in my ass one mo again... you and all your friends. Hug me, love me, or leave me the fu*k alone, because I’m the HNIC up in this motherfu*ker.
Well my friends, that’s what the president would like to say and do. Yeah, he’d like to pull out his Johnson and slap some folks with it. See, as I said, some people are never going to change regardless of what we say or what names we call them. So we might as well lead with a left hook and an uppercut while they keep on jabbing. Yeah, fuck’em and the confederate horses they rode in on. Hey, my daddy told me you have to bring some to get some or get out of the fight. Bullies love punks. I don't like punks and I've never been one, and I am not afraid of controversy. I gotta speak what's on my mind.
Chauncey, you my guy, but I thought the premise of you questions were faulty from the jump.
"1. Is Obama's desire to surrender at every juncture a function of his inability --as a very rational and deeply reflective person--to understand the depth of the ideologically driven hatred and rage exhibited by the Right towards him?"
Every juncture?!
Nah, couldn't go there withya today.
And man, you gotta know my guy Obama is nobodies fool. He knows the fat lady ain't even in the house yet. So, you have to believe he's not tipping his hold card. Besides, trite but true... the race is not given to the swift, but those that endure to the end.
And Chauncey, I know you really didn't believe any of the following:
[Obama] "ill equipped to "get" the ugliness of the white racism that drives the opposition to him? Because the President's family were "good white folks" (as my grandma would describe them), is Obama unable to accept that many Conservatives hold a deep antipathy towards his personhood"
No you didn't even suggest such. Tell me yoou were giggling in the background?
Hey, Jesse said it... KEEP HOPE ALIVE :-)
As I white woman, I am distinctly unqualified to answer some of your questions. I've been concerned now and again with the appeasement our President has offered to gain a compromise, yet in the end, I find that he almost always puts himself and his real goals in a better position than they were in.
Of course the birthers aren't truly interested in the certificate, it is but a mask for their deep-seated hatred of Obama and their (as you say) inability to wrap their brains around the fact that a black man is in the White House.
However, the birther issue was growing and was I think starting to infect the middle (where elections are won). What Obama has done is convince them it was all hogwash. And that's who he had to convince. Now the GOP looks to be exactly as it is: a largely racist white organization whose only concern is to keep the rich rich at the hands of everyone black/brown/yellow/white beneath them.
So though initially disheartened that he had responded, I think it was the better thing to do. Anything and everything that lessens the "noise" of the right in terms of legitimacy is in our favor.
Great thoughtful post.
when a controversy is wrong, they provide evidence. But when a controversy is right, they refuse to provide the evidence.
Eagle
http://eseaf.com
Obama is President and has chosen transparency as his chief qualifier to hold office. Let those grasping for power like squeezed sand in a closed fist fail when he rises and distinguishes their foiled attempts. He has nothing to lose by following the law and from where I'm standing -- that's the only way he will change the law.
@Duku. If he cured cancer in the basement of the White House they would go after him for engaging in "socialized" medicine.
@Carey. Crystallize that for a guest post. I will run it.
@Sherry. As a white woman, you have insights we will not get. You are uniquely qualified to chime in. Speak truth to power and never devalue your perspective.
@Auran. Don't get twisted trying to explain madness. Not good for your help.
@Vesuvian. Why keep showing your hold card when you get punked for doing so?
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