THOUGHTS AFTER OBAMA’S RACE SPEECH
3/18/08
After listening to Barack Obama’s race speech, I did not feel differently than I did when I wrote my previous post “Why Reverend Wright is Wrong”. His speech was his last ditch effort to hold back the dyke of his entire campaign from bursting into a disasterous defeat. He is still defeated, because he apologized for his friend Rev. Wright. He condemned his statements that were aired on television, but defended the man who made those statements. He said no one knew the Rev. like he did . My first impression of that statement was no one in their right mind would want to know Reverend Wright.
My second impression of Barack Obama was that I saw him as a middle aged man, angered by the hopelessness of his own people, who he has so greatly inspired . His foolish, heartfelt loyalty, to a maniacal, racist, preacher, meant more to him than his presidential candidacy, and he has let his people and supporters down. He stated that Rev. Wright’s greatest flaw was that he held on to the past hatred of his race towards the White people who caused all the pain and discrimination of blacks in the past. But in saying those words it was visably obvious; that he was also tortured by the offenses committed against him, as he mentioned his white grandmother’s struggle and fear of black men who insulted her with racial slurs.
It was easy to see his frustration, having’ to relive those private , hurtful memories. But this is the public vetting of an American presidential candidate. Hillary has had to endure as much scutiny and more , in her public life, and she continues her battle . Presidential races are always bloody battles in the U.S. A candidate becomes known for who and what they really are, unless they are carefully assembled and marketed , without press or public scrutiny, the way Obama has been up until now.
My final thought on his speech occurred to me in his final words ; that ended his speech with a sigh. It signified his own resignation; that the world can take or leave whatever he said and support him or not, but he was finished his speech to the world. He said all he had to say on the issue of race and his connection to Reverend Wright. It was enough for me and perhaps for all who listened . People who didn’t trust him to begin with , still don’t. People who believed in him and were enthralled by his charisma and eloquence , are now doubting him, and will dive deeper into their pools of self deception, to follow Obama to the bitter end. They are destined to learn, as the “Deanie Babies” learned; that politics is not a game between hopeful and hopeless candidates. It is a high stakes game of cunning, and great skill, for the prize of power. Presidential politics is the highest form of the game and was designed to be won by hardened realists, not hopeful idealists.
L.A. STEEL
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