Journal pudge's Journal: "This is a Moment" 17
Apparently today is one of the greatest moments in American history: a black man will receive the presidential nomination for one of the two major political parties.
I do not feel like this is a special event. I do not feel, as a pundit said this morning on MSNBC, that "this is a moment." I feel like it is no different from any other nomination. I do not care one whit what color Obama's skin is.
I know that this is meaningful to a lot of people, just like it was meaningful for people when Lieberman and Ferraro got the VP nods, and when Kennedy got the nomination for President (and then won). Any time a minority group, especially a formerly oppressed one, gets "one of their own" into a position like this, it's a big deal for many people.
Not to me. Some people compare it to Jackie Robinson becoming the first black major league baseball player. But the comparison is weak because with Robinson, becoming the first was a difficult process: he was not widely lauded, he had to win over most people to the idea.
But with Obama, the fact that he is in this position means we've already become comfortable with the idea. If a ton of people were opposed to it, it wouldn't have happened. This obviously isn't the case with Jackie Robinson.
That Obama is the nominee is a signal that we've already gotten beyond race, whereas Robinson was a courageous attempt to get past race.
To use another baseball analogy, to me this is like making a bigger deal out of the parade for winning the World Series, than the World Series itself. It's anticlimatic. I do not care whether a black man is a major party presidential nominee, I care that a black man -- or woman of any color -- is ABLE to become a major party presidential nominee, and that was something that's been true for quite awhile now.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
One other difference (Score:1)
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OO SNAP
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Pathetic, pudge. For all your claims about race, I can't see why the Obama hater-stroke-fest keeps you so fixated.
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I can't see why the Obama hater-stroke-fest keeps you so fixated.
What are you babbling about? My guess is YOU don't even know, so how do you expect ME to know?
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Huh. Your guess is that I don't know? That is my point.
You're running out of last-word material. Maybe I shouldn't waste my time, but your crusades didn't bore me before!
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Huh. Your guess is that I don't know? That is my point.
Your point is that you don't know what your point is? ... Really?
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Let me parse this for you. This is my point:
1) I admit that I don't understand something about you: (I can't see...)
"I can't see why the Obama hater-stroke-fest keeps you so fixated"
And your reply is
2.1) "My guess is YOU don't even know"
2.2) "So how do you expect ME to know"
3.1) Your "guess" is a claim already made by ME.
3.2) Then you assert that I shouldn't expect YOU to know something that I don't.
That doesn't compute, so I reiterate. "That is my point" (i.e. I don't grok your participation
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1) I admit that I don't understand something about you: (I can't see...)
"I can't see why the Obama hater-stroke-fest keeps you so fixated"
And your reply is
2.1) "My guess is YOU don't even know"
Incorrect. "My guess is YOU don't even know" was in response to my question, "What are you babbling about?" (Now don't you feel silly?)
"That is my point" (i.e. I don't grok your participation in the hate-fest vis-a-vis Obama.)
I understand what "I don't grok your participation in the hate-fest vis-a-vis Obama" means. I did not understand what "I can't see why the Obama hater-stroke-fest keeps you so fixated" means.
Apparently the latter means what the former means. However, I did not express any hate toward Obama. Nothing in my original post was in any way hateful toward Obama. The comment yo
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Yes, I do feel silly. I know spoon feeding a question is no way to generate an honest to goodness answer. I hope to God you have kids by now and someday you will understand this feeling! Good luck to you.
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So does this mean you don't think I am expressing hate toward Obama? This would please me!
Post-ism (Score:2)
We're not really "there" (in the sense that the military pretty much is) as a society until we simply don't even notice gender or racial background. Calling attention to such in any way means that the line of demarcation remains in the future.
I'd go so far as to argue that the attention paid to the ethnic background of some candidates is, in fact, a smoke screen to cover significant character/policy deficiencies.
moof (Score:1)
That Obama is the nominee is a signal that we've already gotten beyond race, ...
And this is "the moment" that we found that out. Whether the time of occurrence of the event of note coincides or not with the time of our noticing it doesn't make the event of note any less noteworthy. Today is "a moment" because today's event is a significant piece of concrete evidence of something noteworthy having happened.
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That Obama is the nominee is a signal that we've already gotten beyond race, ...
And this is "the moment" that we found that out.
Speak for yourself. I think I found out more than 10 years ago. I distinctly remember -- I was supporting Alan Keyes in 1996 -- thinking that it is not at all out of the question for a black man to become President. It couldn't be some like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, nor like Keyes, but I specifically remember thinking it could be someone a lot like Obama, and that it could happen at any time.
I have never doubted that a black man could become President, again, at any time.
Whether the time of occurrence of the event of note coincides or not with the time of our noticing it doesn't make the event of note any less noteworthy.
I didn't say it is not notewo
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I don't know what to think. People say that Romney couldn't win the presidency because he's Mormon. And that he'd hurt McCain if he were on the ticket. Just because you and I don't care about irrelevant (e.g. race) or mostly irrelevant (e.g. sect of Christianity) factors, doesn't mean America in general thinks that way. You can "think" (i.e. feel) that we're beyond race, and someone else can have the opinion that we're not, but the only way we (as in Americans collectively) really know is when a moment of e
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This.
The first *sshole who calls me a racist
Honestly... (Score:2)
I thought Keith Olbermann was going to spooge all over himself tonight.
Me, I thought most of The One's speech was dry, pre-packaged product. And that his barbs against Mac may actually hurt him some down the road.
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I would not have seen KO, because he is even worse than BOR, and I can't watch either of them.
But I can imagine.
I had CNN on as usual. And yeah, it was a big "eh."
David Gergen says: "But for this moment and for this purpose, I saw Obama's speech tonight as a political masterpiece. As I had a chance to say on CNN a few moments ago, it was in many ways less a speech than a symphony." My friend: "Maybe that's why I fell asleep."
I think the worst part for Obama was the whole Messiah trip of the night. This wil