OBAMARAMA
OBAMA HITS ONE OUT OF THE PARK

From the Huffington Post courtesy of Eschaton:

"A More Perfect Union"

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

And

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it - those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations - those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.

And

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

But I have asserted a firm conviction - a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people - that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

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Finally, in a speech that I'm assuming has been in the works for many months, in expectation of the day that Obama would have to break publicly with his fiery minister, the Senator from Illinois matches substance with rhetoric. And, man, it really was something else.

It's late, I'm tired, and I know I just can't analyze this speech in the way that it deserves right now. For the moment, suffice it to say that I was quite literally blown away. I've never witnessed such a political speech from a contemporary politician in my lifetime. I mean, this really was Obama's JFK moment, the kind of speech that may very well have made history, although it may take a decade or more to see if that's actually the case.

In short, in his attempt to end the "stalemate" in the American racial debate, Obama has created a new conceptual framework which allows both black and white to share grievances without pointing the finger of blame at each other. To be honest, I've been trying to do the same thing for some years now here at Real Art, but clearly without the skill, clarity, and forethought evidenced in "A More Perfect Union." Not to mention the fact that I don't have a chance in hell of my ideas ever going mainstream: Obama's actually got a shot; only time will tell if this new framework takes.

You know, I was honestly moved to tears at several points in his speech. It was beyond brilliant.

Toward the end of it, I was having to ask myself, once again, why I'm not going to be voting for him, assuming he gets the nomination. The answer remains the same as it has always been. No matter how well meaning, no matter how liberal, or how charismatic, or popular, nobody running for president, no president for that matter, can make the changes needed to make America the more just and equitable society which simple morality demands it must be. Back when I was teaching high school, I learned a very basic social truism: once you join the institution, you belong to it. Sure, you can push and pull, nudge, snip, swipe, coax. You can even make some real and important, albeit small, changes, affecting the lives of real people. What you can't do is make radical change from within the institution. The very notion of "institution" itself makes that impossible. You have to play by the institution's rules, and the most basic of those rules is that the institution is above all else concerned with self preservation. If you coax too much, you are no longer preserving the institution, and it will spring into action to slap you down.

This is what political parties do. This is what the US government does, even with presidents. This is what all institutions do. The kind of change America needs can only come from outside the institution, outside the social realm we call "politics." Only the people can change America.

I'm just not willing to wait for decades or centuries for politics to change by coaxing from within.

Think about it for a moment. While I loved Obama's speech, quite deeply in fact, I was greatly disturbed by his having to distance himself from a man who, I believe, pretty much spoke the truth. What if Obama said what I said a few days ago? What if he seconded the statement, as I do, "God damn America"? And that's a fair thing to say: the US really has done many horrible things over its 200 plus year history, and continues to do so today; our country is indeed damnable.

If Obama had spoken the truth, if he had defended Reverend Wright's comments as he should have, it would have been over. Hillary would have won right then and there, and his "yes we can" express would have been consigned to history's rubbish heap. If you join the institution, you belong to it, and have to play by its rules.

Personally, I'm sick of playing by the rules. I'm sick of the game board. I'm sick of the game. I really do want to see Obama succeed, but I just don't see how that's possible. I just don't see how he can deliver. The rules are written to guarantee his failure. To extend the metaphor, the only way we can change this country for the better is to do what a nine year old boy might do in disgust during a Risk game right after his continent's been busted: turn the game board upside down while screaming "Fuck this shit!" You know, kind of like what Nader does every time he runs for president.

Frankly, I think this speech, by itself, has more potential for creating positive change in this country than any presidential action might have. It's all about changing culture, which necessarily precedes the changing of politics.

Anyway, it really was a fabulous speech:



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