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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (278889)	11/5/2008 4:09:44 PM
From: greenspirit	3 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793841

I agree, give him a chance. Let's see how he governs. Who knows, maybe I was wrong all along and he will be more of a common sense populist that used far left connections to get him ahead. We'll know soon enough. He did say he wanted to be everyone's President, even ones who didn't support him. I think every President elect should be given that opportunity. Granted, it's not something the left EVER did with George Bush or Ronald Reagan. But, we can set a higher standards for the country.

To: LindyBill who wrote (278889)	11/5/2008 5:41:44 PM
From: Brumar89	6 Recommendations Respond to of 793841

Coasting to the Presidency on the Harvard Law Review and Slack The treat him like they did Bush was my feeling this morning. Here are a few thoughts from this afternoon: Our new President did nothing really notable as an organizer, lawyer, state or federal Senator. The thing his supporters say about him over and over is he's smart, he was Harvard Law Review editor. They could talk about his books - they're achievements, but they don't. There's too much obsession with political and racial radicalism there. Thinking about that would interfere with the good feelings his supporters get from him. So that's a topic to be ignored (try searching a liberal site for "Dreams of My Father" and see). If we avoid talking or thinking about it, it's not there. Can someone coast all the way to the Presidency on the Harvard Law Review? Yes, if enough people agree to cut him slack in exchange for making them feel good. His supporters cut him slack because they want want to believe in him. Believing in him makes them feel good. He makes them feel good because he's black. Not a street black. Not a black who'll embarrass his supporters. Not a Sharpton or Jackson with their rhymes. But a smart (because of Harvard Law Review) non-threatening half-white black raised and educated in an expensive private school to act and talk right by white people. Biden said out loud what his supporters all think, he's an African-American who's "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy ... I mean, that's a storybook, man." He knows how to stay composed, even how to cock his head to the side to look thoughtful. And though half-white, raised and educated by whites, he's got the perfect authentic sounding African name. Authentic and hip, yet easy to pronounce. Yes, the important thing about Obama is that believing in him makes his supporters feel good. White guilt over America's historic racism expiated by voting for Obama. There's a lot of emotion tied up in the symbol of Obama. And so they cut him slack. Harvard Law Review proves he's brilliant and reasonable, doesn't it? Anything not congruent with what they want to believe to keep the feeling alive is ignored and if someone brings it up, those someone's are bad people, racists really, bigoted, prejudiced, trying to spoil this special feeling we've got going here. The news stories about his appeal to foreigners is gravy. Foreigners opinions count more than Americans. Especially Europeans. Europeans are so worldy and cultured and sophisticated and wise and irreligious. Americans are so often stupid and provincial and primitive and backward. The fact Americans have repeatedly had to rescue Europe from itself doesn't change this view. Europeans are worldly, sophisticated and wise even if they've so often gone for fascism and communism and socialism over the past century. How long will the euphoria over this symbolic man last? Looking back at the campaign might give a hint. What threatened for a time to break the spell cast over his supporters? Jeremiah Wright's press conferences. His followers had previously agreed to pretend Obama's church was "not particularly controversial." They'd even agreed to pretend the "God damn America", "We started the AIDS virus..", etc. were taken "out of context" or weren't really so unreasonable. But when Wright started calling press conferences to defend his views, they knew pretending this away wasn't going to work. So unwillingly, Obama did the necessary repudiating (of the same man he'd recently said he could no more disown than his "typical white person" grandmother) and Wright was talked to and quieted down. Heck, Wright was sent out of the country to Ghana where no reporter would follow him. No doubt the word went out to other Obama friends - Father Pfleger, Bill Ayers and his Weather Underground crowd, Khalid Rashidi - and to notable black spokesmen - Jackson, Sharpton, Farrakhan - to keep quiet, to say nothing inflammatory, to not spoil it for the brother. But now the campaign is over. These guys can come out of hiding. The temporary silence will end. Jeremiah Wright is a proud man, publicly slapped down and muzzled, for the sake of the campaign. You know this proud man will want vindication. There'll be a Wright book coming for sure. The media boycott on things embarrassing will little by little breakdown. They still have to peddle news and they can't make do with polls and pics of rallies anymore. Keep your eyes open. Truth will out.