Monday, May 5, 2008

FOUR RACE CARDS AND A PASTOR


"You know he's black".

Today the 2008, Indiana and North Carolina primaries will be decided between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and one thing has been as sure as death and taxes. Race has played a part in this campaign and been used like slim-jim on a car sitting alone on the 4th floor of parking garage. Early on here at the Bastille, we felt that we would be lucky to have Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama as a presidential nominee, but with time Hillary bared her "racial" claws and dug deep into Obama, like a cat trapped in a corner. As has the mainstream media and I’m not just talking about FOX News.

Throughout Hillary’s campaign, the issue of race has floated just under the surface of a frozen sea of prejudice, like a seal or penguin looking for a break in the ice. Sadly, that break has never been found and Obama has been steadily bumping his head into the frozen blocks of ice called, “Reverend Wright”, “elect-ability and “he can’t pull white voters”. Never in my life would I believe that a political candidate would be so beholden to words by his pastor. But then again Obama is the candidate -- forgive me THE BLACK CANDIDATE, which is the big difference. Barack Obama was an afterthought to candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton months ago. He was such a novelty on the political landscape, that Hillary Clinton felt counting the states of Florida and Michigan were not worth her time. She even signed a paper to officially discount those votes. After Obama had a run of winning 11 straight states in primaries she felt it was important that “these states and their voters be counted”, but it was too late (the DNC’s words, not mine... so far). At this point, the Republican party and it’s presumptive candidate, John McCain started floating the “elitist” title into the public ear and onto Obama’s flagless lapels. I think McCain chose that route because calling him a ni***r outright might be misconstrued by him as well as Hillary, who wields the word “elitist” like a Jedi and his light saber.

Obama, a former child user of foodstamps, is the biracial son born to a single white woman from Kansas and a Nigerian man, whom Barack has only has met once in his life. Hillary, a Wesleyan graduate, and her husband have made 109 million dollars over the past ten years. John McCain is married to a beer heiress and owns eight homes, but the black guy, from the broken home, is the “elitist” looking down on people. I don’t want to call them racist, but I think the utter shock of trailing a black man in this presidential race had them truly aghast and ready to do anything to keep this ‘perfect negro’ from their precious presidency. Media pundits have been stating that Bill Clinton has hit his stride by campaigning for votes in small, rural towns in North Carolina (see “all-white” & "redneck").

Barack Obama has run such clean and strong campaign that his opponents have had to resort to "kitchen sink" tatics (which is code for 'whatever it takes') and in this case, it means reminds the voters in clandentstine ways that Barack Obama is still black. That is done by communicating to rural voters, who have little contact with people of color, set him off from her by calling him "elitist" and drinking a beer. This Sunday, Obama appeared on Meet The Press with Tim Russert, who questioned him on the Reverend Wright subject for the first fifteen minutes, but all week Russert asked people on MSNBC, “when is the Wright situation going to go away?” I find it ironic that Russert continued the discussion instead of asking Mr. Obama about his policies. I wouldn’t be so upset about the “Reverend Wright” situation, if the pundits would ask Hillary Clinton about her former pastor, Rev. William Procanick, who was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday, for inappropriately touching a 7 year old child. Or how about asking John McCain to explain his steady welcoming the endorsement of the righteous, Rev. John Hagee, who said that Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans because they were hosting a gay parade (that is held annually). Or Hagee’s opinion that Catholicism is a whore religion and that teachers letting children read Harry Potter are promoting wichcraft. Again McCain has restated twice in recent weeks that he happily accepts this bizarre man’s endorsement. Even after denouncing Jeremiah Wright, if Wright were accused of pulling an “R. Kelly” on a 7 year old child or denouncing Catholicism, Obama 0-8 would be, oh so over. He would be raked over the coals worse than he already has been (if that’s possible). It has gotten so bad for Hillary and McCain that have resolved to flat out saying things like “he’s not like us”. Oh what could they mean by that remark? The scales are so tipped into Clinton and McCain’s favor that even the majority of mainstream media can’t recognize that they have fallen into the racial trap of steadily questioning “can he get the working white class vote”. Why is no one asking if Hillary can get the black vote? With about ten hours until the polls close I hear political pundits on TV saying they’re “still waiting for the Jeremiah Wright boot to drop”, since Wright hasn’t responded to Obama’s “divorcing” from him. How despondent are some members of mainstream media to wait for Obama, who holds the race lead to wait for the man he has formally denounced to speak again? There are like vultures awaiting the death of a thirsty animal crossing the desert.

We’ve been told numerous times that is mathematically impossible for Obama to lose this race and that Hillary has to win 66% of the vote in the remaining states to stay close. Yet, Hillary and her people keep twisting words like Lindsay Lohan’s publicist to make the public believe she still is in this thing. How can she do that? Because she believes that if she has a shot of something and a beer she magically becomes a non-educated, Gran Torino driving, white voter. And with that she implies to some voters through her thinly veiled veneer, “You know he’s black”. She has portrayed herself as a "fighter for the American people", but she has taken advantage of that stance and played on the ignorance of some non-black voters, who would easily react negatively, if Barack responded as a "fighter" as so many white pundits have requested him to do. Barack Obama knows the last thing some middle American or rural white mother needs to see is a man named Barack going off a sixty year old white woman. When it’s all said and done Obama is black, no matter how hard he has tried to get past it. He is reminded of it daily in what should be a very historic presidential race… if only Hillary would let it be that.

Now follow me! Follow me to freedom!