Ok... I was considerably bummed by some recent Obama drama. The first one is the comments he made insinuating McCain's people will try and convince the American public to not vote for him because "he doesn't look like the other presidents on the dollar bills." Which insinuates, because he is black McCain's people will use racist tactics to win supporters. So, now you've just insinuated Republicans are racists. Now, no matter how harmless or overzealous a statement Obama made, it isn't the "One America" that wowed Americans when he spoke at the Democratic Convention in Boston. Look, we all know that the McCain machine, much like the Obama machine, will hit well below the belt at some point... but this statement came from the horse's mouth. Sure, McCain has been on record saying phrases like "gook", so it's not too far off the mark to think his campaign is capable of stating something about Obama's skin... but that's the thing... you can't beat THEM to the punch... you got to let THEM land on their face first (to dumb this down, yes I'm using THEM). This reminds me of Michelle's comment on Hillary when she said, "you can't run the White House if you can't run your own house," alluding to Bill's cheat'n ways... I think having the audience in the palm of your hand, feeding that excitement, can lead one to say stupid things for further crowd appeal... but being the world leader shouldn't mean taking so much creative license (I know, Bush is apparently our country's leader and he probably uses Ad Libs to complete a thought).
My second Obama bummer is that he apparently is now open to the idea of offshore drilling, when at one point he was against it. EWWW... I don't like this flip flop, or even the suggestion of it. I say we suffer with what we've got and what we've done before we start to get in bed with the oil industries again. Because, if we ok offshore drilling now, we won't feel it's rewards until a future administration... and by that time it's probably 2012. I think oil companies now, who are having record selling profits, should be forced to turn those profits to fund alternative energies... I mean, they profit and lead us into war - they have a responsibility.
So, this past week has been an Obama bummer. I don't want him to exhibit Hillary-like weaknesses and act divisive, presumptive and spin to win. The current media frenzy (CNN dedicates about 70% of it's coverage now to the election) is unfortunately uncontrollable so feeding to it's nonsense and being fully aware of it's scrutiny leaves no room for verbal blunders. Yes, I'm asking Obama to be almost Christ-like and above the fray. But I know he can do it... or I would like to think he can. Obama can't afford to be "folksy" just to create the warm and fuzzy feeling like you're shoot'n from the hip, and keep'n it real. If he does this, he reverts the racists to bring back "Birth of a Nation" type satyr. He can't be an entertainer. He can't be compared to Arsenio Hall... he has to keep it at his original statesmen persona. McCain will blunder on his own accord. McCain is a stiff relic willing to sell his POW soul for a taste of Oval Office decadence, so Obama needs to do very little to tarnish McCain's ultra-dull shine.
Obama has to stay as far away from the race issue when possible... only to speak of it when it's constructive. It is obvious he is visually signifying change... It is obvious he has analyzed race and how's it's molded him - he has discussed this in two books...
On THAT note, that ignorant, IGNORANT dude who heckled Obama at a Florida Town Hall meeting asking, "Barack Obama, what are you going to do for the black community?”, obviously doesn't read papers, or read any of Barack's books, and only pays attention to crap culture. I'm tired of people wanting Barack to be some caped crusader and down with slang, and view his education as a "selling out". This is backwards, ridiculous, mentally retarded thinking that creates no advancement for anyone but the dumb and slaps Booker T. Washington and anyone who ran the Underground Railroad, Brown vs Board of Ed, and anyone else demanding civil rights IN THE FACE. God lord, our first non-white male as president will speak MEGA-WATTAGE in terms of our country's mental capacity.
SO THIS RESTS MY CASE... with ignorant thinking out there in which Obama needs to be the martyr, a secret oppressor, a deviant who sheds his skin upon the pearly whites of the ivory elite... he needs to stay clear of the topic of race unless it creates a constructive dialogue. Otherwise, the SUPER STUPID spin it until everyone is too dizzy to think straight. And I would think, with the vast diverse cultures and races in his family lineage, he would probably have the strongest insights on race than any US President we've ever had. Obama... I'm still pulling for ya!
(and yes, I do get a kick out of the idea of electing our first black President... but I'm liking other aspects behind Obama that I didn't feel like addressing which trump any race issue for me.)
