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Title: The Obama Bargain
Source:
Wall Street Journal
URL Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120 ... ?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
Published: Mar 18, 2008
Author: Shelby Steele
Post Date: 2008-03-18 17:04:42 by mirage
Keywords: None
Views: 629
Comments: 64
Geraldine Ferraro may have had sinister motives when she said that Barack Obama would not be "in his position" as a frontrunner but for his race. Possibly she was acting as Hillary Clinton's surrogate. Or maybe she was simply befuddled by this new reality -- in which blackness could constitute a political advantage. But whatever her motives, she was right: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." Barack Obama is, of course, a very talented politician with a first-rate political organization at his back. But it does not detract from his merit to say that his race is also a large part of his prominence. And it is undeniable that something extremely powerful in the body politic, a force quite apart from the man himself, has pulled Obama forward. This force is about race and nothing else. The novelty of Barack Obama is more his cross-racial appeal than his talent. Jesse Jackson displayed considerable political talent in his presidential runs back in the 1980s. But there was a distinct limit to his white support. Mr. Obama's broad appeal to whites makes him the first plausible black presidential candidate in American history. And it was Mr. Obama's genius to understand this. Though he likes to claim that his race was a liability to be overcome, he also surely knew that his race could give him just the edge he needed -- an edge that would never be available to a white, not even a white woman. How to turn one's blackness to advantage? The answer is that one "bargains." Bargaining is a mask that blacks can wear in the American mainstream, one that enables them to put whites at their ease. This mask diffuses the anxiety that goes along with being white in a multiracial society. Bargainers make the subliminal promise to whites not to shame them with America's history of racism, on the condition that they will not hold the bargainer's race against him. And whites love this bargain -- and feel affection for the bargainer -- because it gives them racial innocence in a society where whites live under constant threat of being stigmatized as racist. So the bargainer presents himself as an opportunity for whites to experience racial innocence. This is how Mr. Obama has turned his blackness into his great political advantage, and also into a kind of personal charisma. Bargainers are conduits of white innocence, and they are as popular as the need for white innocence is strong. Mr. Obama's extraordinary dash to the forefront of American politics is less a measure of the man than of the hunger in white America for racial innocence. His actual policy positions are little more than Democratic Party boilerplate and hardly a tick different from Hillary's positions. He espouses no galvanizing political idea. He is unable to say what he means by "change" or "hope" or "the future." And he has failed to say how he would actually be a "unifier." By the evidence of his slight political record (130 "present" votes in the Illinois state legislature, little achievement in the U.S. Senate) Barack Obama stacks up as something of a mediocrity. None of this matters much. Race helps Mr. Obama in another way -- it lifts his political campaign to the level of allegory, making it the stuff of a far higher drama than budget deficits and education reform. His dark skin, with its powerful evocations of America's tortured racial past, frames the political contest as a morality play. Will his victory mean America's redemption from its racist past? Will his defeat show an America morally unevolved? Is his campaign a story of black overcoming, an echo of the civil rights movement? Or is it a passing-of-the-torch story, of one generation displacing another? Because he is black, there is a sense that profound questions stand to be resolved in the unfolding of his political destiny. And, as the Clintons have discovered, it is hard in the real world to run against a candidate of destiny. For many Americans -- black and white -- Barack Obama is simply too good (and too rare) an opportunity to pass up. For whites, here is the opportunity to document their deliverance from the shames of their forbearers. And for blacks, here is the chance to document the end of inferiority. So the Clintons have found themselves running more against America's very highest possibilities than against a man. And the press, normally happy to dispel every political pretension, has all but quivered before Mr. Obama. They, too, have feared being on the wrong side of destiny. And yet, in the end, Barack Obama's candidacy is not qualitatively different from Al Sharpton's or Jesse Jackson's. Like these more irascible of his forbearers, Mr. Obama's run at the presidency is based more on the manipulation of white guilt than on substance. Messrs. Sharpton and Jackson were "challengers," not bargainers. They intimidated whites and demanded, in the name of historical justice, that they be brought forward. Mr. Obama flatters whites, grants them racial innocence, and hopes to ascend on the back of their gratitude. Two sides of the same coin. But bargainers have an Achilles heel. They succeed as conduits of white innocence only as long as they are largely invisible as complex human beings. They hope to become icons that can be identified with rather than seen, and their individual complexity gets in the way of this. So bargainers are always laboring to stay invisible. (We don't know the real politics or convictions of Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey, bargainers all.) Mr. Obama has said of himself, "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views . . ." And so, human visibility is Mr. Obama's Achilles heel. If we see the real man, his contradictions and bents of character, he will be ruined as an icon, as a "blank screen." Thus, nothing could be more dangerous to Mr. Obama's political aspirations than the revelation that he, the son of a white woman, sat Sunday after Sunday -- for 20 years -- in an Afrocentric, black nationalist church in which his own mother, not to mention other whites, could never feel comfortable. His pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is a challenger who goes far past Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in his anti-American outrage ("God damn America"). How does one "transcend" race in this church? The fact is that Barack Obama has fellow-traveled with a hate-filled, anti-American black nationalism all his adult life, failing to stand and challenge an ideology that would have no place for his own mother. And what portent of presidential judgment is it to have exposed his two daughters for their entire lives to what is, at the very least, a subtext of anti-white vitriol? What could he have been thinking? Of course he wasn't thinking. He was driven by insecurity, by a need to "be black" despite his biracial background. And so fellow-traveling with a little race hatred seemed a small price to pay for a more secure racial identity. And anyway, wasn't this hatred more rhetorical than real? But now the floodlight of a presidential campaign has trained on this usually hidden corner of contemporary black life: a mindless indulgence in a rhetorical anti-Americanism as a way of bonding and of asserting one's blackness. Yet Jeremiah Wright, splashed across America's television screens, has shown us that there is no real difference between rhetorical hatred and real hatred. No matter his ultimate political fate, there is already enough pathos in Barack Obama to make him a cautionary tale. His public persona thrives on a manipulation of whites (bargaining), and his private sense of racial identity demands both self-betrayal and duplicity. His is the story of a man who flew so high, yet neglected to become himself.
Poster Comment: An interesting discourse on Obama's appeal.
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#1. To: mirage (#0)
It made me wonder who would he appoint to his cabinet? Perhaps that question should be asked of all four remaining candidates...
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
Don't be so hasty just yet. The speech itself was well delivered. If you didn't go back and read the transcript, you'd be mesmerized by it. There are a lot of things in the transcript that, if you go back and read it very carefully, will raise the hair on the back of your neck. The blogosphere is now going off and analyzing it and saying exactly that. We will see more reaction as this unfolds and there will be a lot of "I didn't think about that" moments over the next few days. Its not over yet...but Obama has set the stage for leadership. His campaign will now win or lose on that and that alone. Leadership, not rhetoric, will carry him now. It is now time for Obama to stand and deliver.
America is not at war. The military is at war. America is at the mall and the Congress is out to lunch.
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
He didn't address 9/11. He repudiated his Pastors 'incidiary' comments, yet, did not suggest that Pastor Wright be given the opportunity to explain. Why not? I would like to see specificity from each, as Obama himself refereced the clips of sermons played by cable for the last two weeks. Wright was tossed when it was clear that it would be politically expedient to do so. Oh, I mean, take a sabbatical. Such is politics. He doesn't see that a Global Tax, socialist healthcare and war, are forms of endless slavery. Only too happy to chain his children (and yours) to a global plantation. Ah, but slavery, you see, is a term owned and used as a perpetual political weapon. He did not discuss Executive powers, nor how he would define social justice or where checks and balances would exist if by some stretch, outside influences wrote the definition. He did not discuss civil liberties lost under his watch. He did not address the abuse of our military and their families. I heard nothing about the wrongs done to Native Americans. I heard political pandering. Same ol same ol'. Pastor Wright, as Obama said, has not seen the progress made in the last 40 years, so why was he an advisor? Why not choose someone rooted in reality? There are millions of Americans that have stories to tell. Stories of achievement and pride. But life isn't fair. Especially when you have puppets only too willing to protect the status quo, wallow and grow big Government, and use their church, faith, or flag as cover. He started well with the Declaration, and went downhill from there. It's a shame he is preying upon the very people he acknowledges are used time and again for votes. It gave me the creeps. Just as it does when McCain refers to us as 'his friends'. Were his policies and beliefs devoid of big government solutions, I'd probabaly enjoy his melodic words. But unfortunately, I heard the jackboot march. Some will fall for the story that runs in his veins, at the expense of the story that runs in their own. I gave him a lot more credit. I hope other candidates are given a half hour to address the nation. This type of exposure is good for the process.
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Sebastien Agar (1897-1980) Source: The Time for Greatness, 1942
Excellent reply and points - thanks for bringing them to our attention.
Aw, c'mon. Obama will expand the CFR's Middle East Union wars and reinforce the African Union with war if need be.
Our last hope for peace Obama will expand the CFR's Middle East Union wars and reinforce the African Union with war if need be. Yes, I wonder about social justice for the dead farmers of Africa.
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Sebastien Agar (1897-1980) Source: The Time for Greatness, 1942
You mean the white folk?
Our last hope for peace I'll disagree because the paper allows dissection. Something that popped out at me that seems odd is where he talks about his mom looking over her shoulder for black folk. Chris Rock has a routine where he talks about how HE does that too. ...this is another "whitey is a racist" moment he will have to clarify...unless he wants to claim Chris Rock is a racist too.... But, the blogosphere will come out with "WTF?" moments like this and we'll have an opportunity to read the reactions and say "Yes, that makes sense" or "No, I didn't see it that way" and make up our own minds. I maintain this speech is a great START for Obama. However, it REQUIRES followup and that is where he will make or break himself. This is brinksmanship at its finest. The cards are on the table. Let's see what kind of hand he plays.
America is not at war. The military is at war. America is at the mall and the Congress is out to lunch.
YW lod.
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Sebastien Agar (1897-1980) Source: The Time for Greatness, 1942
Yes. Perhaps we are not to notice such things outside our own so called borders. I'm confused about what I'm allowed to see globally. If you run across a spare decoder ring, let me know./s ;)
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Sebastien Agar (1897-1980) Source: The Time for Greatness, 1942
There's a long way to fall and a short time to complete it...
Our last hope for peace Be a hell of a splat.
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Sebastien Agar (1897-1980) Source: The Time for Greatness, 1942
Like this? But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam
Words written and spoken by the Establishment's puppets are worth LESS than the paper and air they are carried on...because they ARE Establishment people, we know all the worst will continue. If only under a different 'brand' or 'label'. Whatever the One World Monopolists want, that's what we get.
Our last hope for peace yes, isn't it too bad Ron Paul was never given the opportunity to give a speech like that.
Obama is not getting $2 million dollars a day from welfare checks.
We have here one of the Establishment's African Black Nationalist Racist One Worlders carrying on and on while a worthless smear against Ron Paul made headlines nationally...and then we have all these faux patriots that claimed to support what Ron Paul stood for now putting on the knee pads for the Establshment.
Our last hope for peace Needs to be repeated...
Our last hope for peace A blind man should be able to see what we will have if Obama wins the selection. Here's a news flash for those walking into walls: Socialism doesn't work. Hillary has already told us she would increase taxes. Obama also embraces socialistic ideals and will likewise grow government at the expense of the American taxpayer. And those guns we cherish? Get ready for a few new rounds of legislation designed to further erode our rights. A word of warning to the Obamaphiles: Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.
Obama was created for a purpose and it was NOT to be president of the United States. His ultimate usefulness will be determined when and if the ruling elite decide it is time. Anyone that needs a diagram of the above, don't ask me for it. Try to think on your own for once.
There is a lot more that will be taken apart and dissected :)
America is not at war. The military is at war. America is at the mall and the Congress is out to lunch.
as Peppa pointed out (which gave me a lightbulb moment), there's more to be gleened from what Obama didn't say than what he did.
Often we do not see what is in front of us.
You've earned this! Our last hope for peace That's about the long and short of it. The only good things that can be said about the guy is that he's not as nuts as McCain and probably not as crooked as the Clintons. But I think there's more to the Obama "bargain." It's not that Obama promises not to talk about white guilt in exchange for exceptance. It's just that he and his supporters are very subtle in their unspoken but implied "vote for me or else you're racist" message.
Who writes BO's speeches?
Our last hope for peace I wonder how that worked when BO ran against another black American, Alan Keyes...
Our last hope for peace He didn't have to. I don't think there's anybody alive who could take Alan Keyes seriously anyway, and that has nothing to do with his race.
FOH... Most here have not a clue about what I speak. Some of us have discussed this off line. If they cannot think for themselves, well then, let it be a shock and surprise to them.
I came to exactly this conclusion after having done the same thing. I just finished watching it. It was more powerful on paper for some reason. But this only works if one is literate. Seriously, probably around 25 percent of the electorate is not, at this point. The decline of literacy and the rise of talk radio/TV are two reasons why it is no longer possible to have an actual bonafide election campaign on the issues as occurred in the old days.
“I would give no thought of what the world might say of me, if I could only transmit to posterity the reputation of an honest man.” - Sam Houston
Here's a news flash for those walking into walls: Socialism doesn't work. Hillary has already told us she would increase taxes. Obama also embraces socialistic ideals and will likewise grow government at the expense of the American taxpayer. And those guns we cherish? Get ready for a few new rounds of legislation designed to further erode our rights. A word of warning to the Obamaphiles: Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. Obama and clinton whether many get it or not, are playing their part to distract from substance, and target the the richest and most divisive issue while defining themselves as unifiers or change agents. Personally, I see this as Classic Clinton trianglization (sp). Further, it's dangerous in that should Obama be denied the nomination despite the math, I suggest the riot lays way to the plans to put down dissent. Is it worth it? You can't tell me, Democrats denied again, especially if seen as being done through racism, will not lead to trouble. I hope people will take the time to evalutate what's at stake.
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Sebastien Agar (1897-1980) Source: The Time for Greatness, 1942
Exactly. Vote against Obama because he is black is vile racism. "Vote FOR Obama because he is black is not racism."
Thanks christine.
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Sebastien Agar (1897-1980) Source: The Time for Greatness, 1942
Here's a news flash for those walking into walls: Socialism doesn't work. Hillary has already told us she would increase taxes. Obama also embraces socialistic ideals and will likewise grow government at the expense of the American taxpayer. And those guns we cherish? Get ready for a few new rounds of legislation designed to further erode our rights. This is all true. Obama will be a disaster when it comes to domestic economic and social policy. The trouble is, we get the exact same things at home with McCain or Hillary, plus more wars abroad. With Obama, there's at least a chance that we won't have a full-fledged invasion and occupation of Iran to suck another several trillion dollars and several thousand lives out of the country. I could never bring myself to vote for BHO because of his welfare state policies and social/economic liberalism, but I still hope that he beats Billary this summer and Mad Mac in November.
Sadly have not and will not as seen by their posts here on this 4um. Your assessments of Obama have been excellent.
Blacks will vote for Obama because of identity politics. Liberal whites will vote for him to prove that they don't engage in identity politics.
For ascetic reasons alone I’d rather look at BHO, than HRC for the next four years.
Alan sounds like the greatest Constitutional Conservative savior the nation has ever known. In some ways, BO and AK have much in common...
Our last hope for peace
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestMost interesting, indeed.
#2. To: mirage (#0)
#3. To: ghostdogtxn (#2)
The speech Obama delivered today was masterful, and his campaign has been masterful, too. He's in the position he's in because he's beating the crap out of everyone else.
#4. To: mirage (#3)
#5. To: mirage (#0)
(Edited)
#6. To: Peppa (#5)
#7. To: Peppa (#5)
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#8. To: FOH (#7)
Aw, c'mon.
#9. To: Peppa (#8)
Yes, I wonder about social justice for the dead farmers of Africa.
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#10. To: ghostdogtxn (#4)
I'm one of those people who read all the time, though. I thought it was a better speech on paper.
#11. To: lodwick (#6)
#12. To: FOH (#9)
You mean the white folk?
#13. To: Peppa (#12)
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#14. To: FOH (#13)
There's a long way to fall and a short time to complete it...
#15. To: mirage, ghostdogtxn, robin, FOH, Jethro Tull (#3)
There are a lot of things in the transcript that, if you go back and read it very carefully, will raise the hair on the back of your neck.
#16. To: christine (#15)
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#17. To: FOH (#16)
#18. To: christine (#15)
a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam
#19. To: christine (#17)
yes, isn't it too bad Ron Paul was never given the opportunity to give a speech like that.
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#20. To: Cynicom (#18)
Obama is not getting $2 million dollars a day from welfare checks.
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#21. To: Peppa (#5)
#22. To: FOH, All (#20)
#23. To: christine (#15)
Like this?
#24. To: FOH, Peppa, Cynicom, mirage, lodwick, ghostdogtxn, aristeides, robin, Jethro Tull (#16)
#25. To: christine, all (#24)
#26. To: Cynicom (#22)
Obama was created for a purpose and it was NOT to be president of the United States.
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#27. To: mirage (#0)
His actual policy positions are little more than Democratic Party boilerplate and hardly a tick different from Hillary's positions. He espouses no galvanizing political idea. He is unable to say what he means by "change" or "hope" or "the future." And he has failed to say how he would actually be a "unifier." By the evidence of his slight political record (130 "present" votes in the Illinois state legislature, little achievement in the U.S. Senate) Barack Obama stacks up as something of a mediocrity. None of this matters much.
#28. To: christine, Peppa (#24)
as Peppa pointed out (which gave me a lightbulb moment), there's more to be gleened from what Obama didn't say than what he did.
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#29. To: Rupert_Pupkin (#27)
It's just that he and his supporters are very subtle in their unspoken but implied "vote for me or else you're racist" message.
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
#30. To: FOH (#29)
I wonder how that worked when BO ran against another black American, Alan Keyes...
#31. To: FOH (#26)
#32. To: ghostdogtxn (#4)
Actually, I read the speech before I saw him deliver it on Youtube. I'm one of those people who read all the time, though. I thought it was a better speech on paper.
#33. To: Jethro Tull (#21)
(Edited)
A blind man should be able to see what we will have if Obama wins the selection.
#34. To: Rupert_Pupkin (#27)
"vote for me or else you're racist" message.
#35. To: christine (#24)
as Peppa pointed out (which gave me a lightbulb moment), there's more to be gleened from what Obama didn't say than what he did.
#36. To: Jethro Tull (#21)
(Edited)
A blind man should be able to see what we will have if Obama wins the selection.
#37. To: Peppa (#33)
I hope people will take the time to evalutate of what's at stake.
#38. To: Cynicom (#34)
"Vote FOR Obama because he is black is not racism."
#39. To: Rupert_Pupkin (#36)
#40. To: Rupert_Pupkin (#30)
(Edited)
What North American Union? ~~~~~ Have you seen THIS yet? Pass it around...
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