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I know any POC faces extra obstacles trying to navigate this space
I am not denying that. It is real, of course. That really is not what I am talking about.
I am not denying that. It is real, of course. That really is not what I am talking about.
You ARE talking about it because it means that person has had an entirely different life experience and it came with a societal set of expectations that have maliciously "defined" them, boxing them into an existence where their perspectives are considered irrelevant, and are dismissed out of hand.
I am talking about, what seems to me, as massive denialism. What I mean by that is that Obama has always been a picture of optimism -- that was a big part of his secret sauce. And he moved the country in a major way, or so we thought. We thought we were finally moving beyond the centuries of enduring racism that has been the foundation of this nation. His focus on the better angels was uplifting to millions of Americans.
Here is the problem. In fact, it was uplifting to a big part of the nation. For for another terribly large segment of the population, it brought out the worst demons. Nobody is blaming Obama for that. The enduring racism is there BECAUSE the country never dealt with it.
Here is the problem. In fact, it was uplifting to a big part of the nation. For for another terribly large segment of the population, it brought out the worst demons. Nobody is blaming Obama for that. The enduring racism is there BECAUSE the country never dealt with it.
It was "dealt with - through "Reconstruction".
The Civil War never ended, and today it seems to be back upon us in full force. That is not Obama's fault. It is America's big flaw. And I am certainly not saying Obama had many great options in 2009-2016 to have changed that. That is not what I am saying.
Read up on "Reconstruction", post-Civil War and the aftermath, "Jim Crow". We are going through a repeat of history.
What I am saying is that his Presidency unleashed the beast (again, not Obama's fault -- the beast was and still is there). But if leaders across the board would have stepped up to that, as John McCain did on several occasions, maybe we could have dealt with the beast.
But other than McCain, there were no GOP leaders to step in an lift us up from our history of racism. I hope we both agree with all of this so far. The problem is what happened next, and that is what I am talking about today.
But other than McCain, there were no GOP leaders to step in an lift us up from our history of racism. I hope we both agree with all of this so far. The problem is what happened next, and that is what I am talking about today.
But your original assertion was this -
I realize Obama wants to be scrupulous about not inserting himself into a live race, but this has not been a live race for months.
Having said that, I am glad Obama called, as long as this doesn't mean he is going to try to cajole Mamdani into moving away from his populist style. I would like to think this means that Obama now realizes that it was a huge mistake to try to meet fascists halfway, just as it sounded last year like Michelle realized the futility of "When they go low, we go high".
I hope this means that Obama realizes the energy in the Dem party is not with the appeasers, it is with those who proudly and firmly fight for progressive values. I hope this means that Obama is willing to start working behind the scenes to fundamentally remake the Democratic party and build it around the energy of people who are out there loud and proud, such as Mamdani, Plattner, AOC, Bernie, Jasmine, Liz Warren, Pritzker, Newsom and others who can easily join that team. And let's hope that means forming a strong alliance with the No Kings organizers, the David Hoggs of the world and the like.
Having said that, I am glad Obama called, as long as this doesn't mean he is going to try to cajole Mamdani into moving away from his populist style. I would like to think this means that Obama now realizes that it was a huge mistake to try to meet fascists halfway, just as it sounded last year like Michelle realized the futility of "When they go low, we go high".
I hope this means that Obama realizes the energy in the Dem party is not with the appeasers, it is with those who proudly and firmly fight for progressive values. I hope this means that Obama is willing to start working behind the scenes to fundamentally remake the Democratic party and build it around the energy of people who are out there loud and proud, such as Mamdani, Plattner, AOC, Bernie, Jasmine, Liz Warren, Pritzker, Newsom and others who can easily join that team. And let's hope that means forming a strong alliance with the No Kings organizers, the David Hoggs of the world and the like.
And until people understand that Obama will never be considered "equal" to a Gavin Newsom or J.B. Pritzker, then the conversation will go nowhere. Obama was elected by a broad coalition of people, across the political spectrum (including by "moderate"/"liberal" GOPers), who were tired of Shrub (and his father's) wars and the existing economic calamity, the worst since the Great Depression.
Right now, PA has a "populist Liberal" Senator, who unfortunately after going through apparently mind-altering psychological therapy, has transformed into "something", but had originally hit all the "populist" notes when campaigning. He is a textbook case of the difficulty in maintaining "liberal populism" in an environment of "isms" that have been entrenched in this society.
What happened next is that Trump, a life-long racist of the first order, saw this situation developing, and he saw that has his opportunity to step into the political space and make his "biggest deal ever". Trump rode that racist beast to power, but the two things that means more to Trump than racism are money and adoration. In the span of 15 years, Trump has turned "birtherism" into a full-fledged fascist state where he can suck billions of dollars out of our economy, commit unlimited crimes with no punishment, and declare laws through executive order.
The final piece of the current SCOTUS 6 that sealed what is going on, happened during the last year of the 2nd term of Obama, when no one "stepped up" when Turtle refused to schedule a confirmation hearing for Obama's SCOTUS pick after Scalia exited the world.
When I watch Obama's recent speeches, I see the same Obama we saw in 2018. Mostly, he talks like none of this happened, and if we just win some elections here and there, everything will be fine. He is stumping for candidates, and I guess that is a good thing, but his message is anything but hair on fire. It is as if he doesn't really believe anything is wrong with what is happening to our country today.
I disagree. I suppose you missed the 2024 campaign season.
And that is why I get very concerned when we hear he is trying to be counselor to Mamdani. I'm pretty sure Obama is trying to tell Mamdani, "Hey pal, ix-nay on the ocialism-say." From where I sit, it looks like Obama is trying to tamp down the voices that are challenging us to stand up to the threats we face today. Obama is not the only one, of course. We face a major fight between the Democratic Party establishment and the younger voices who are saying "No, this is not OK. We can no longer just go along to get along."
I hope I am reading Obama wrong, but I don't think so.
I hope I am reading Obama wrong, but I don't think so.
Let me give you some examples of what people need to keep in mind and you need to reflect on this -
What happened to Katie Porter?
What happened to Cori Bush?
What happened to Jamaal Bowman?
What happened to Chesa Boudin (San Francisco's recalled D.A.)?
What happened to Pamela Price (Alameda County, CA's recalled D.A.)?
What happened to George Gascón (L.A.'s D.A. who lost reelection in 2024)?
4 of the 6 above progressives were in the state that boasts of being "the most progressive" in the nation.
A smart politician carries out assessments of the landscape and makes adjustments, notably taking into account past history.
It doesn't mean rejection of the messenger's intent, but it means "reading the room" and being able to adapt that to a diverse population.
When you have someone going around calling people concerned with being wiped out of history for their contributions to this country's history, many descending from people who were here at or before this nation's founding, and declaring that "engaging in identity politics", then guess what?? You lose that audience.
We have a progressive D.A. here in Philly running for his 3rd term. He had been skewered and lampooned and bashed as he tried to clean up the mess of a "Democratic" D.A. from years past who became known as the "hanging judge", and he did it. He is expected to pretty much cruise to reelection, running against a disgruntled former Democratic judge who lost the primary to him and is now running as a Republican against him.
Larry Krasner "read the room" during his first 2 terms and made adjustments.
This whole discourse shows that there remains the lack of understanding and the simple candor of the hardcore Texan former President - Lyndon Baines Johnson - who "put it where the goats can get it) -
Opinion
Bill D. Moyers
WHAT A REAL PRESIDENT WAS LIKE
November 12, 1988
WHILE Lyndon Baines Johnson was a man of time and place, he felt the bitter paradox of both. I was a young man on his staff in 1960 when he gave me a vivid account of that southern schizophrenia he understood and feared. We were in Tennessee. During the motorcade, he spotted some ugly racial epithets scrawled on signs.
Late that night in the hotel, when the local dignitaries had finished the last bottles of bourbon and branch water and departed, he started talking about those signs. "I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it," he said. "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
Some years later when Johnson was president, there was a press conference in the East Room. A reporter unexpectedly asked the president how he could explain his sudden passion for civil rights when he had never shown much enthusiasm for the cause. The question hung in the air. I could almost hear his silent cursing of a press secretary who had not anticipated this one.
But then he relaxed, and from an instinct no assistant could brief -- one seasoned in the double life from which he was delivered and hoped to deliver others -- he said in effect: Most of us don't have a second chance to correct the mistakes of our youth. I do and I am. That evening, sitting in the White House, discussing the question with friends and staff, he gestured broadly and said,
"Eisenhower used to tell me that this place was a prison. I never felt freer." For weeks in 1964, the president carried in his pocket the summary of a Census Bureau report showing that the lifetime earnings of an average black college graduate were lower than that of a white man with an eighth-grade education. And when The New York Times in November 1964 reported racial segregation to be increasing instead of disappearing, he took his felt-tip pen and scribbled across it "shame, shame, shame," and sent it to Everett Dirksen, the Republican leader in the Senate. I have a hard time explaining to our two sons and daughter -- now in their twenties -- that when they were little, America was still deeply segregated.
(snip)
Bill D. Moyers
WHAT A REAL PRESIDENT WAS LIKE
November 12, 1988
WHILE Lyndon Baines Johnson was a man of time and place, he felt the bitter paradox of both. I was a young man on his staff in 1960 when he gave me a vivid account of that southern schizophrenia he understood and feared. We were in Tennessee. During the motorcade, he spotted some ugly racial epithets scrawled on signs.
Late that night in the hotel, when the local dignitaries had finished the last bottles of bourbon and branch water and departed, he started talking about those signs. "I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it," he said. "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
Some years later when Johnson was president, there was a press conference in the East Room. A reporter unexpectedly asked the president how he could explain his sudden passion for civil rights when he had never shown much enthusiasm for the cause. The question hung in the air. I could almost hear his silent cursing of a press secretary who had not anticipated this one.
But then he relaxed, and from an instinct no assistant could brief -- one seasoned in the double life from which he was delivered and hoped to deliver others -- he said in effect: Most of us don't have a second chance to correct the mistakes of our youth. I do and I am. That evening, sitting in the White House, discussing the question with friends and staff, he gestured broadly and said,
"Eisenhower used to tell me that this place was a prison. I never felt freer." For weeks in 1964, the president carried in his pocket the summary of a Census Bureau report showing that the lifetime earnings of an average black college graduate were lower than that of a white man with an eighth-grade education. And when The New York Times in November 1964 reported racial segregation to be increasing instead of disappearing, he took his felt-tip pen and scribbled across it "shame, shame, shame," and sent it to Everett Dirksen, the Republican leader in the Senate. I have a hard time explaining to our two sons and daughter -- now in their twenties -- that when they were little, America was still deeply segregated.
(snip)
The SCOTUS 6 is on the precipice of wiping out everything that LBJ did - both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.
"Millionaires and billionaires" and the "Robber Barons" of old, have ALWAYS been around, literally for thousands of years. What is left of the Empires around the globe are a testament to this. They are never going away. And some goal of eliminating them will be a fool's errand. So there needs to be a more practical strategy to maximize the benefits of the "rest of the population".
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