15 thoughts on “Do the Right Thing”
  1. “But the vast majority of the country put aside any racist notions. Indeed, I think his ascendancy was postracial, and race-irrelevant.”

    Hey, David. Yeah – Ohio, Virginia, and Indiana too! All I mean to say is that Obama’s racial make up was (and continues to be) a major point in conversations about the election in both black and white communities. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a lot to talk about once you bring up race, our country’s history, and our current state of the world. The discussion can be nuanced and healthy.

    I’m not disagreeing with your points. But I do think it’s wrong to assume that race did not play into some people’s investment (or lack thereof) in Obama. Simply supporting a candidate because of his skin color – black or white or whatever – is not something I would support. But what if a candidates race did in fact become one of many reasons why you decided to support such a candidate? That’s a complicated conversation.

    Many people had never heard a man like Reverend Wright and as a result had trouble understanding where the hell he was coming from with his sermons. The soundbites that circulated freaked people out. The atmosphere of the church, this history of the church in black communities – some of this stuff is very alien to some white people. Obama initially responded to the ensuing controversy with a powerful speech about – yes, you guessed it – race. Obama acknowledged that race and all of our f—ed up preconceptions of what that denotes in terms of character was in fact a part of the communities we live in and the people we know and love.

    So again, I basically agree with your points. Maybe I’m just going off a bit after listening to too much talk radio :O(

  2. Chris, the facts suggest otherwise. No doubt there were some folks who would not vote for Obama due to his race. But the vast majority of the country put aside any racist notions. Indeed, I think his ascendancy was postracial, and race-irrelevant. I mean, he won Iowa. He won a great proportion of white America. So I would think we’re a bit more past excluding someone because of his or her race.

    Now we need to be a country where race, gender, sexual orientation, relgion, etc. no longer disqualifies one for president. I’d love to have a Muslim president, or a fellow atheist, or a woman. I doubt it will happen in my lifetime, but we’re at least one step closer to not caring about things that really don’t matter.

  3. “Truth be told, Obama’s election has little to do with race and everything to do with inclusivity and tolerance.”

    Uh…maybe that’s a topic for another day 🙂 Race was a big factor in this election. Not the only factor thank God, but it was a subject that came up every time I discussed the election with friends both black and white (and half-white, and half-black, etc), young and old, male and female, etc.

    If it was a factor in the election, it certainly became a topic with more depth with more room for analysis than it is generally believed American’s can grapple with.

    http://www.wbai.org

  4. Truth be told, Obama’s election has little to do with race and everything to do with inclusivity and tolerance. The next eight years will be far better for Republicans than the past eight years were for progressives like me and many others.

  5. Peace, gentlemen. From one of those ex-Republicans you’ve heard so much about. Obama’s election is a great step forward for interracial relations. I’m not sure what else it is, but that’s a big one, and enough to make me, who did not vote for him, philosophical–instead of bitter–this rainy Wednesday in Blueville.

  6. It’s 8:24 here in Pennsylvania and I’m officially calling it for Obama. He just won my state, and with that, it’s over for McSame. So there you go, you’ve heard it here first. 😎

  7. I also agree with the late Bill Buckley, that I would rather be governed by the first 100 names of the Boston phone book than the faculty of Harvard.

    Amen brother & RIP William F.

  8. It’s not the homogeneity that is ”blessed“ here in Wyncote—it’s the intelligence and commitment of our local voters to work for change and support diversity over the same old nonsense and politics of division. What’s happened is that the GOP is becoming the party of intolerance. Actually, that’s been the case for quite some time. It’s just coming out to the forefront since they’re floundering in the polls. And if the majority of the people I live with are progressive, I’m fine with that. Perfectly fine with that. I don’t want everyone to agree with me on everything, since that’s boring. But living with a progressive majority that believes in the right to choose, the right for anyone to marry anyone else regardless of sexual preference, the right for someone to be religious or not, the right to privacy, the right to not be renditioned or tortured, and the right to accept anyone for what they think rather than their gender or color of their skin, is a beautiful thing.

  9. Vote for whom you please, but spare me being ‘educated’ by visiting Danes on what’s good for me. I’ll enjoy Nielsen and Hans Christian Anderson, please to enjoy my culture over there. I also agree with the late Bill Buckley, that I would rather be governed by the first 100 names of the Boston phone book than the faculty of Harvard. Enjoy your ‘blessed’ homogeneity, David. Thanks for demonstrating “unity” is believe what I say.

    So I got to see some wonderful performances of Chen Yi this weekend at the Baldwin-Wallace College Focus Festival. Wonderfully prescient timing and some energetic and committed performances by the faculty and visiting artists. (now in the interests of disclosure, my wife was a member of one of the groups). While I was a little familiar with her percussion concerto, I hadn’t heard much else of hers. I look forward to hearing more of her works.

  10. I’m sorry—who are the “thugs” here? Who’s been suppressing votes, intimidating voters, hawking disinformation in an attempt to disenfranchise voters? Let me help you out—the GOP.

    And please, spare me the “experience”nonsense. Have you taken a good hard look at the GOP VP nominee? Have you considered Obama!a long service at both the state level as well as the US Senate? I mean, the dude was head of he Harvars Law Review. Sarah was, let’s see…oh yeah, she went through a number of colleges in the academically rich state of Alaska. Good luck with that. McCain was at the bottom of his class in the Naval Academy. Please…

  11. voted at 9 here in Wyncote. No lines and not a republican in sight (we live in a blessed suburb of Philadelphia). I just finished a GOTV effort for almost 60 houses. Hope you all are doing something to get out the vote, since votes matter, polls don’t. I’ve been twittering all along this morning on my iPhone (my twitter monicker is dbtoub), if anyone wants to check it out. I’ve been canvassing with some Danish students. That’s right—they schlepped here from Denmark to help us get out the vote because it’s just too important for the planet that Obama lead the US and the world. Makes me realize how friggin apathetic many folks are in this country when it comes to politics. Hoping that changes after today.

  12. Sure thing, boss! I’ll snag that issue of Alternative Press first thing tomorrow morning, so I too will know everything there is to know about Fall Out Boy!

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