Thursday, July 17, 2008

Sorry Black Folk, Obama is Not Your Friend


Black folks have drunk the Kool-Aid and are too far gone to realize the truth - that Barack Obama is a shrewd, political hack who could give a damn about the Black masses and is very much about the status quo -- and furthering his political career.

But JJ, he's not running for the president of Black America! He's running for the president of All America!

Right. So let me ask you this, when Regan had his "I'm running for president," coming out party in Philadelphia Mississippi, do you think he was sending the message that he was running for all America or just white America?

While you're readying your response to that quip, here is a response to an excellent piece over on Black Agenda Report, that fully and accurately breaks down Obamaism:

It seems to me that the biggest problem we face today is the myth of the two-party system.
As long as we all pretend that there is any difference whatsoever between the major political parties in this country, we will continue to be vulnerable to manipulation by those global corporate entities who are really in charge.
A wet-behind-the-ears, newly elected junior senator does not have the wherewithall to mount a successful, dragon-slaying campaign without some powerful mojo from outside interests.
Nearly one hundred million dollars on hand before he was barely introduced to the millions of small donors who supposedly funded his campaign?
A manipulative, Rovian primary strategy that gamed the process in a style mastered in a ridiculously short political career, one spent almost entirely running for office and winning not on merit, but on technicality?
This is not the campaign of a committed politician, this is a carefully orchestrated puppet show.
The man behind the podium is a self-admitted blank screen, a chameleon, a shape-shifter.
To black Americans, he is redemption, validation, the culmination of the struggle, fulfillment of the dream.
For white Americans he is vindication, exoneration, absolution.
To young America he is hope, the promise of the future, the sign of the times, the prospect of things to come.
He's a liberal, he's a conservative, he's a hawk, he's anti-war, he's progressive, he's right-wing, he's black, he's white.
You name it, he is it.
What could be better?
Yet that is who he is only because that is who he is scripted to be.
In reality he is none of those things.
He's a two-bit political hack who can't seem to form a coherent sentence without a TelePrompter, let alone formulate or even explain a comprehensive, complex position on any government policy.
He simply looks the part for which he was cast.
In the minds of the string pullers he's the preferred winner, his opponent an equally scripted and cast, acceptable alternative.
What's so sad for black people is that to be so emotionally invested in what amounts to little more than an elaborately produced made-for-tv-movie is a sure-fire prescription for heartbreak.
The tragedy of buying the hype is there is no return policy, no money back guarantee, no recourse whatsoever.
What happens after the heartbreak is what worries many of us older folks, can our people endure such large-scale disillusionment?
Because the bottom line is whether he succeeds or fails those who look to him to be the reality of a common destiny realized are bound to be devastated when they realize it ain't about you.
And it never was.

But JJ, he's just saying and doing what he's doing so white folks will vote for him. Once he gets in to Office he'll really be for us Black folks!

Right. As Ed over at Dream and Hustle points out:

Oh, please spare me the nod-wink-nod “when Barack Obama gets in the office, he will take care of Black people - he just can’t say it on the campaign trail”. That no different than an irresponsible Black male telling a female if he gets her pregnant, he will “do the right thing” without any explicit commitment.

And we all know how well that has worked out for the Black community. I do wonder though, after the debacle that was the Clinton presidency (NAFTA, Welfare Reform, expansion of the prison industrial complex) why are Black folk so willing to believe that any politician running for president will do anything for us outside of take out votes and then give us his ass to kiss? Y do we sell our vote for so little? Why don't we demand that folk give us concrete ways in which they plan on helping us before they get in office (or get the nomination) and if they don't, we let them know we will take our vote elsewhere or sit home?

I know. I know. I wasn't always this down on Obama. I admit I got caught in the Obama wave a bit. But that was largely because Hillary Clinton pissed me the hell off. And if being ra, ra for Obama was what it took to sing, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," then so be it.

But my reservations about him have always been the same: That he was a corporate hack who would throw Black folk under the bus at the first opportunity.

And boy he wasted no time in proving me right. First his pastor, then Black fathers, and then the rest of black America to boot. He's doing what I like to call the Corporate Shuffle: Wanna get promoted in Corporate America? Just hate on Black folks and you'll show "The Man" you're not like one of those Negros.

But JJ, Black people do need to do better! 70% out of wedlock births, high incarceration rates, illiteracy, unemployment, you're just an apologist for irresponsible behaviour.

Right. So all those unemployed, under employed white folks are that way 'cause the system is bad but Black folks are that way because of our innate pathological tendencies? Let me ask you this: When has Obama EVER given a lecture to those good, God-fearing, gun-toting, hardworking Americans that he's been pandering to so much as of late?

Name a time.

Find me some video.

Has he said to them that there lack of an education is part of the reason why they are in the economic situation they are in (contrary to popular belief anti-intellectualism in not just a Black thing)? How about their racial bias that kept them voting for a party that could give a damn about them but since it wasn't the party of Niggers and Spics then they gladly did so year in and year out? How about the living above their means that had them using their homes as ATM's and now has left them flat broke and in major debt? Anything on that? No? Yeah. I thought so.

When white people experience hard times, there's a systemic issue. When Black people experience experience hard times, it's because we don't take "personal responsibility, for our actions. Am I the only that sees something wrong with that?

And on one final note: Why is Obama doing all this lecturing to folks whose votes he needs if he wants to be elected. As Ed said:
What kind of politician would tell a group of potential voters to “take responsibility” and what kind of freaking mess is that? Politicians pander to voters to get their votes, they don’t tell them to do anything. Show me in political history a candidate telling potential voters to take care of their themselves…please show me.

Yeah. Show me too.

7 comments:

NubianPrincess said...

so since you feel this way do you plan to not vote? i'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you, your opinion is yours and i have no right to judge your opinion.

I'm sure there are many people out there that feel the same way, so are they not going to vote either?

I don't even see him as black or white, i see for he is, A POLITICIAN. This is just my opinion but i would any intelligent person knows what kind of person a POLITICIAN is, they want a person trying to win votes, to get elect to whatever office they are running for.

I mean wouldn't you much rather Barack than McCain? Look at the state of economy..i'm not saying Barack will be our savior, and i'm not saying he will change things his first week, month or year in the office, but i really do believe he will do more to improve the state of our economy than any other politician.
Peace and Respect
Amera

NubianPrincess said...

i didnt edit my previous comment..my apologies...= )

Unknown said...

I don't understand all this Obama hate

Brown Sugar said...

@Teddybear

It's not hate. I'm just sick of Black Politicians believing they can throw Black folk under the bus whenever they're trying to curry favor with white folk.

Anonymous said...

Wow...scathing. I am curious to know who you'll be voting for as well. You seem to possess, in spades, the power of deductive reasoning---so it would then be almost hypocritical for a person so perceptive to vote for McCain. LOL--Maybe that's just me though.

Further, is Obama the same and thereby as bad as all of the politicians that have preceded him because he's a "two-bit political hack" (I mean, really, aren't there only a handful who haven't been)? Or is he different because no other white presidents have told their white supporters to "take responsibility". Surely you don't mean to suggest he's worse...(On a side note: I think you may be wrong about that point--there have been other presidents who've given white voters the ol "pull yourself up by your bootstraps/take some responsibility" speech. Hell, the "ask not what your country can do for you" line is an amalgamation of that.)

Would you disagree that black people certainly need to take (at the very least) MORE responsibility for ourselves than we do at present? If your answer is "yes", why is he wrong for saying it?? It seems almost naive to think that he's legitimately gaining anything by throwing black people under the bus. Race as an issue is so divisive in this country---I imagine that you could throw every black person under the bus and the people/corporations who aren't fans of yours because you're black, won't come around just because you started doing the ol Uncle Tom Two Step.

But it could very well be the case that I'm the naive one...

Paul Eilers said...

My grandad used to say, If you don't vote, you can't complain.

Ordinarily, I do not get too worked up over who will become President of the United States. My thinking is, "My success is not determined by who is elected president."

However, we are now in the age of The War on Terror. I am not crazy about either presidential candidate. But the thought of Barack Hussein Obama becoming president makes me nervous. I don't think he could fight his way out of a paper bag, much less protect the American people from the terrorists of the world.

Anonymous said...

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion & this is your blog so you will of course share yours. However, I do not feel that Barack was "hating on" or throwing Black people on the bus when he speaks to the African American community. Fatherless homes are a big problem in our community & if we don't take care of it, the future for so many children will spiral downward. We need to address the issues that effect our community, it will only worsen. If you have a disease you must take medicine or it will continue to spread. This has spread too far. Barack should be applauded for standing up & giving people advice who may not have any role models. Too many people are trying to tear Barack down....