Re: Let.s Go Hillary

[ravi <ravi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Feb 8, 2008, at 3:38 PM, raghu wrote:
> On Feb 8, 2008 11:33 AM, ravi <ravi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > > http://tinyurl.com/26ffym
> > And his statement of my own point that Obama serves as a safety  
> > valve/
> > outlet and also as a stunted end not a means to our goals:
> >
> > > In 2007, the Obama "package" amply satisfied all three
> > > "constituencies." Corporations found him a loyal ally on Capitol
> > > Hill and on the speaking circuit, rewarding him handsomely for his
> > > fealty; millions of whites came to believe Obama could solve the
> > > "race problem" by his mere presence, at no cost to their own notions
> > > of skin privilege;
>
> In other words Obama is a House Negro because many non-blacks like
> him. This is a very unfair criticism whatever may be his other flaws.


I am not sure that old phrase can be fruitfully employed here. But the  
criticism of Obama is not just because "non-blacks like him" -- but  
because of *why* they (non-blacks but also the power elite) like him.  
And in that regard, the facts presented are unrefuted, aren't they? He  
is on record: "I love the free market/capitalism", "90%" of equality  
has been reached (the sort of thing, as Ford correctly points out,  
only a black Democrat can get away with saying), expanded military  
budget and 100,000 more troops, etc, etc. Here is Michael Eric Dyson,  
one of Obama's supporters, on why Jesse Jackson (an actual civil  
rights activist) is not visible in the Obama campaign despite  
endorsing the man:

> Well, Jesse Jackson is one of the greatest freedom fighters in the  
> history of this country, certainly in the twentieth century, and he  
> is an ally and an asset to any campaign. I think when he talked  
> about the strategic distance, that’s an acknowledgement and a nod to  
> the kind of burden that Jesse Jackson may carry among the white  
> population of people who potentially could vote for him, the same  
> way that Hillary Clinton has to be very careful in terms of how she  
> uses Bill Clinton, whether use him as a person to leverage her  
> authority or as a wedge between her and that vote. So that’s a  
> calculation that has to be dealt with.

One can say that Al Sharpton carries some real baggage, but what is  
the primary baggage that Jesse carries relative to Obama? Jesse is  
"divisive" *because* he represents black demands for equality.

       --ravi