Slate's Mickey Kaus: The trouble with Obama's speech

http://www.slate.com/id/2186845/

Can't We Ignore Race? Please?The trouble with Obama's speech.
By Mickey Kaus
Updated Tuesday, March 18, 2008, at 10:25 PM ET

We Can't Ignore Race, So Let's Ignore Race: Some (tenative!) reactions to Obama's somewhat arid talk--which a) probably advanced the discussion of racial issues, b) gave me a much better (and basically appealing) idea of where Obama is coming from, but c) didn't particularly advance his case to be President--especially, I fear among doubting white, male, non-college, etc. voters:

Obama gives Archie Bunker a chance to tune out: The speech starts by talking about slavery. Yikes. Why are we talking about slavery? We know about slavery. We want to know why Obama picked his paranoid pastor! One of the troubles with African-American pastors like Wright, after all, is what seems to be an excessive emphasis on the racial sins burdens of the past. The last thing we want from Obama is more talk of slavery.

Finally in paragraph six or so, the speech starts again on a better note. ("I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.")

Troublesome Equivalence #1 <more at http://www.slate.com/id/2186845/ >

What an idiot.

It didn't appeal to Archie Bunker types? Guess what? nothing Obama says will appeal to them because they are by definition close minded. Duh!!!

give enough information to see that it is the Klaus article.

Thanks for the information in any case.

and the constitution. Guess Kaus missed that part. :eyes:

Poor thing.

and I cannot figure out how it is that you support Clinton.

It puzzles me.

I thought you were anti war, but oh well, its odd how people can
like and respect each other yet not agree on some things.

Oh, thats like Obama and Wright, isn't it?

appreciate that Obama has a gift that is very rare -

today I thought he'd returned to earth when he started out with a Harvard Freshmen opening paragraph - but then went and again gave an excellent speech - as always with near zero information on the how and when involved in accomplishing the goal - but also as always a speech that left you emotionally high.

I know Hillary's smarts and honesty and toughness and determination from the 93 stint monitoring the insurance industry lobbyists - I was tax guru but the health action was part of the reporting that I received and duscussed with other executives. I checked her book and she does relate the truth of her pushing single payer and Bill shooting it down even before the "task force" was formed. (we lied to Bill just as we lied to Nixon and promised industry support if not single payer so the plan left our profits alone).

Obama based on my research appears to be on both sides - or no side - of any reasonably major item - but to the left of Hillary on votes that do not matter as nothing is going to pass. I see no ability to get anything through a legislature, and I dislike the compromises with the GOP, such as adding a tax break for corporations to a social spending bill to get a GOP sponsor. The nuclear bill turned out to be a tiny request for a study that was done annually anyway but which Bush had not pushed to publication - the bill telling State to do the study.

I need more than great speech making ability.

And I need to trust him - so far he has given a race speech today that was needed before SC - rather than his playing the race card to gin the black vote higher by having campaign persons say "supporters" of Hillary were not being controlled properly - or Hillary was a racist - because those supporters said something that could be stretched and bent so as to see the phrase used as "sensistive to blacks".

Then there's the lie about no NAFYA meeting with Canada - until a few days later a memo surfaces that describes the meeting as one of don't worry because we are lying to the American voter and will change nothing via any end of treaty threat (of course that allows for changes to be agreed on with out any threat - but that was not what Obama had been saying). Then the Kudlow CNBC show I watched as Obama's chief economics adviser said that Kudlow should not worry about the cost of Onama's proposed social programs because "we do not expect them to pass" (check the video and see the fellows grin as he says this). Then there is a debate when Hillary says she will get a 60 day study/plan development group of the JCS to get us out of Iraq as quickly as possible - most likely in 2 years - to which Obama says that "that is the difference - with me you are certain I will have us out in 16 months". Of course Ms Powers of the Obama campaign a while kater tells an EU newspaper that the 16 months is not firm and that a plan will be developed once he is in office - the Hillary position that he dumped on in the debate.

Hillary has the smarts and grit to pull off the changes I want - Obama wants to change the atmosphere and refers to his working with the GOP - which brings us back to adding corporate tax cuts to get little bills co-sponsored.


In any case, I thank you for your kind words - my swimming against the DU tide is tiring - but I mean to do nothing more than make my alternative view available for discussion and provide "links" and data to supporters. Indeed I find I like and respect almost all of the Obama supports - and post the November election we will all be swimming with the same current - or against it if we lose. And of course we will all vote for whoever is the Dem nominee for Nov - although I will not do much more than that - but I will try to get those seniors that distrust Obama to at least stay home and not vote for McCain.

Does anybody (besides Clinton supporters) even read that idiot any more?

You can do better than Kaus to make your case. Can't you?

- as

It really is on Iraq, too.... Just heard it on a nightly news program....

I liked Edwards but his role may have been the worst of all out of the candidates. Kucinich was the only one I feel was right from the get go, and while I like that Obama said he wouldn't have voted for it I have a hard time giving credit to someone for saying what they would or wouldn't have done when they never had to face that decision.

I did not appreciate Kucinich enough.

"paranoid pastor".... yup, there we go.

I saw another thread, where Kaus said:

"If Obama's saying that those who fear young black men on the street are racists, the equivalents of Rev. Wright in offensiveness, then he's just insulted a whole lof ot people."{sic}

Aside from this obviously being an un-edited, un-vetted, screed (as compared to actual journalism), this is pretty much a career killer. Poor guy.

Get over it! They of their "excessive emphasis on the racial sins of the past". That is the past, man. Things are cool now! Get over it. Mickey has!

On edit: I didn't think this was necessary, but uh, this is :sarcasm:

maybe you can defend them.....lawyer....

I think anyone bringing up the Wright issue will look silly and petty. He's dealt with it in a way that every time he's asked about it he can just say that he's addressed it in this speech. Was he there on such and such date? Who cares, he's admitted that he heard controversial statements at times and that he disagreed with them. He's made clear his vision of race in America and that he is anything but militant.

It's over. We can move on now.

in the GE? I don't think so Mickey. Sorry about that Iran thing you were counting on.

:wtf:

Kaus is a wee bit out of touch.

of the speech for mid-morning on a workday, it's unlikely very many Archie Bunkers were watching anyway.

Wisely IMO, Obama deliberately spoke to the masses this time through the filter of each individual's favorite media outlet. HIs usual backdrop, a mass of cheering supporters, was replaced by a blue Presidential backdrop, with no less than 8 big US flags. Most Americans will take from this speech a Presidential image and an inspiring soundbyte or two. The rest of the speech was for the informed critics, for the history books, and for the record.

Now only Fox "News" will dare to continue running the loop of a carefully cherry-picked unrepresentative two or three minutes from hundreds of thousands of minutes of Jeremiah Wright's recorded and published sermons over 36 years. The rest of the media may still have some sense of shame over the double standard applied to Obama over the past ten days or so.

Mickey Kaus - http://althouse.blogspot.com/2008/02/half-democrats-are-going-to-vote-for.html

Man, if I wasn't sick of this catty jackass in 2004, he's sure makes a compelling case here for revoking his keyboard.