politics makes strange bedfellows
So here's what I'm wondering today:
Now that Sen. Obama has thrown his entire church under the bus, essentially calling them another source of "distraction" in his quest for power, I wonder how long it will be until some "powerful voice" from the black liberation movement stands up and says "phooey" on Obama as a leader of the African-American population.
'Cuz let's face it: that's what he has become. And when he threw Trinity United under the bus, he made a lot of the past leaders of the black population look uncouth.
And Al Sharpton don't like uncouth. (The bad grammar was on purpose)
Folks, Obama isn't "transcendant". And if you listen to him lately--I mean actually LISTEN to him--he doesn't even sound like a man who can reason his way out of a paper bag, much less bridge the positional gaps that mark political discourse today.
He sounds like a man who thinks that everybody else in the room thinks that he's the smartest man in the room, and he knows he can get away with anything because the masses don't question, they just absorb.
Obviously, he spends a lot of time in rooms full of his supporters.
So here's my question, in marathon format: Jesse Jackson has been in the national limelight as a leader of the black population since . . .well, for a long darn time (40-odd years and counting, back to the time when he broke bread with MLK, Jr). Same with Al Sharpton (almost 40 years since he came into service with Jackson). These are men who are accomplished civil rights activists. I don't agree with them all the time. . .or even most of the time. . .but at least they have been out there, actively engaged in "the struggle" that many black people feel in every day of their lives. For them to be considered as "leaders" of that struggle makes sense.
Whether that "struggle" is a legitimate reason to rally around or not is a subject for another post. But I digress. . .
What has Obama done? Oh, that's right, he was a "community organizer"--after he went to Ivy League schools. He's been a candidate for more years than he's done anything else in his adult life.
To say he falls short of Jackson or even Sharpton is an understatement.
And yet Obama is in a position to be the face of the black economic and equality "struggle" for the next generation?
HELLO!!! He is NOT one of you! And since he clearly is not one of you, how dear do you think your agenda is to him?
Please keep in mind this is a man who has, in short order, disassociated himself from: his grandmother who helped raise him; his preacher who, as recently as this winter, was one of his closest personal advisers; his top foreign policy aide; and now his entire church community. And my personal over/under on his campaign manager, he of the strong ties to the lobbyist world, is about the end of July.
Jesse Jackson, love him or hate him, at least had the interests of the "black community"' honestly at heart. He never would have jettisoned his honest affection for that community for any reason, no matter what political doors it may have opened up.
Obama jettisons EVERYTHING.
And I just wonder when someone from "that world" is going to see the writing on the wall and realize that the "black" movement CAN'T tie themselves to Obama. At least not if they want to get anything accomplished.
So here's my call to arms for Al Sharpton or even--dare I say it--Jeremiah Wright. YOUR life's work is going to be voided if Obama gets into the White House.
He only gets there on the backs of people who listen to you. Will you go silently into that good night?
Now that Sen. Obama has thrown his entire church under the bus, essentially calling them another source of "distraction" in his quest for power, I wonder how long it will be until some "powerful voice" from the black liberation movement stands up and says "phooey" on Obama as a leader of the African-American population.
'Cuz let's face it: that's what he has become. And when he threw Trinity United under the bus, he made a lot of the past leaders of the black population look uncouth.
And Al Sharpton don't like uncouth. (The bad grammar was on purpose)
Folks, Obama isn't "transcendant". And if you listen to him lately--I mean actually LISTEN to him--he doesn't even sound like a man who can reason his way out of a paper bag, much less bridge the positional gaps that mark political discourse today.
He sounds like a man who thinks that everybody else in the room thinks that he's the smartest man in the room, and he knows he can get away with anything because the masses don't question, they just absorb.
Obviously, he spends a lot of time in rooms full of his supporters.
So here's my question, in marathon format: Jesse Jackson has been in the national limelight as a leader of the black population since . . .well, for a long darn time (40-odd years and counting, back to the time when he broke bread with MLK, Jr). Same with Al Sharpton (almost 40 years since he came into service with Jackson). These are men who are accomplished civil rights activists. I don't agree with them all the time. . .or even most of the time. . .but at least they have been out there, actively engaged in "the struggle" that many black people feel in every day of their lives. For them to be considered as "leaders" of that struggle makes sense.
Whether that "struggle" is a legitimate reason to rally around or not is a subject for another post. But I digress. . .
What has Obama done? Oh, that's right, he was a "community organizer"--after he went to Ivy League schools. He's been a candidate for more years than he's done anything else in his adult life.
To say he falls short of Jackson or even Sharpton is an understatement.
And yet Obama is in a position to be the face of the black economic and equality "struggle" for the next generation?
HELLO!!! He is NOT one of you! And since he clearly is not one of you, how dear do you think your agenda is to him?
Please keep in mind this is a man who has, in short order, disassociated himself from: his grandmother who helped raise him; his preacher who, as recently as this winter, was one of his closest personal advisers; his top foreign policy aide; and now his entire church community. And my personal over/under on his campaign manager, he of the strong ties to the lobbyist world, is about the end of July.
Jesse Jackson, love him or hate him, at least had the interests of the "black community"' honestly at heart. He never would have jettisoned his honest affection for that community for any reason, no matter what political doors it may have opened up.
Obama jettisons EVERYTHING.
And I just wonder when someone from "that world" is going to see the writing on the wall and realize that the "black" movement CAN'T tie themselves to Obama. At least not if they want to get anything accomplished.
So here's my call to arms for Al Sharpton or even--dare I say it--Jeremiah Wright. YOUR life's work is going to be voided if Obama gets into the White House.
He only gets there on the backs of people who listen to you. Will you go silently into that good night?
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