Barack Obama’s Other Race Speech (2007) is a speech he gave in June 2007 at Hampton University to black Christian ministers. It was mainly about how he would fight poverty as president. But the right in America has racialized poverty so much that to them it seems like a “race” speech.
Even though the press covered it five years ago, Sean Hannity of Fox News, Matt Drudge and Tucker Carlson covered it again on October 2nd 2012. They said few reporters back in 2007 listened to more than ten minutes of the speech, that if you listen to the whole thing it gives a shockingly different picture of Obama than the one the public knows!
Matt Drudge helpfully put the main points to notice in all-caps on his website:
- “THE ACCENT”
- “THE ANGER”
- “THE SHOUT-OUT TO REV. WRIGHT, WHO IS IN AUDIENCE”
“THE ACCENT”: Obama gave the speech in a blacker accent than he does in front of mostly white audiences. Not surprising since his audience was nearly all black.
Carlson calls this “a remarkable display of falseness on display, there is no other explanation”. Either Obama is not being his true self with blacks or he is hiding his true nature from whites.
Carlson is so sunk in a white privilege mindset that he overlooks the fact that the English he himself uses with family and friends is seen as a sign of education and intelligence wherever he goes. Because people like him run things, like universities and, oh, television networks, like his father did. Unlike most blacks, Carlson does not have to be bidialectical and code-switch between dialects according to circumstances.
“THE ANGER”: Obama said the government gave money more freely to New York after 9/11 and Florida after Hurricane Andrew than it did to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina:
Makes no sense. Tells me that somehow, the people down in New Orleans they don’t care about as much.
Obama gave other examples of how the government left the poor behind, something that Katrina laid bare before the world. He told the pastors that as president he would fight for policies to help the poor, the sick, the unemployed, the formerly imprisoned and minority-owned businesses.
Carlson calls this “divisive”, “nasty” and “demagogic” because, he says, it tells blacks that the government does not like them because of their skin colour.
Carlson is so sunk in a white privilege mindset that he overlooks the fact that white men on Fox News can be as angry as they want to be – that is just “free speech”, “honest opinion” and “part of the political process”. But when blacks do it, it is seen as”divisive” and “dangerous” – or, as liberals put it, “counterproductive”.
“THE SHOUT-OUT TO REV. WRIGHT, WHO IS IN AUDIENCE”: Most whites are so sunk in a white privilege mindset that while they expect Barack Obama to disown his pastor for comments whites found outrageous, they do not expect Mitt Romney to disown Fox News for comments that blacks find outrageous.
See also:
Well it is what it is white privilege mind set. All those jerks at Fox are racist. Enough said.
LikeLike
I try to ignore right-wing pundits. They are lowest form of the human species. The vast majority wouldn’t give credit to Obama if he stopped an asteroid from annihilating the earth. They do not care. He is not good enough to serve them and when he tries to address other Non-White communities, they freak out as though he is trying to destroy White America. Naturally, the listeners buy into it every time because they want to.
They are a bunch of sick puppies.
LikeLike
I really like Obama, and hope he wins….
He is a politition, a lot of people lose sight of that…
Ive come to realise, I love America, I just hate a lot of people there
LikeLike
The opposition are worried, they’re scrapeing the barrel – turning everything into a race fight – they hav’nt got anything positive to say. C’mon Obama.
I’m English living in England and don’t really follow american politics but i’d still like Obama to win. Mitt Romney is another puppet.
LikeLike
It says a lot about the monocultural world that Fox hosts live in that they would see Obama’s code-switching as being fake.
Lots of us who inhabit an environment with more than one culture do this, not necessarily deliberately, but as an unconscious adaption to who is around.
My accent changes slightly when I’m speaking to people whose English is not so good. It becomes slightly more white when I’m in an exclusively white crowd. It became slightly more black for a while yesterday after watching several episodes of The Wire.
LikeLike
Thumbs up!
LikeLike
Ah, so this is what all this was about. Saw some things about Obama and race and wondered what was going on. Just White privilege in overdrive.
I can’t imagine how much my dialect and accent changes depending on whom I’m talking to. My life is a jumble of different countries, races and classes. I think I do it naturally to build rapport, make the person feel comfortable, or (in some cases) make the other consider me more equal to them.
LikeLike
Bottom line, it was two white men picking apart how a black man talks. And who is it injecting race into the whole discussion? Why, that would be the two white men!
Also don’t forget the leadup to the video, on the same day. George Will comes out with a claim that the country will tolerate the “failed president” because he’s black. George Horowitz asserts that Obama would have never been elected if he weren’t black. Limbaugh asserts that “Obama is the affirmative action hire,” and then, this one sort of floored me; John Hawkins, apparently someone tied to the Romney campaign, tweeted the pithy-but-amazing ohrase, “a white woman voting for Barack obama is like a black woman voting for the KKK.” After that, we get “OBAMA SPEAKING AS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE!”
Target audience? Well, let’s just leave it at saying it’s doubtful Sean Hannity’s viewership has much melanin.
I’ve proposed that this isn’t so much an attempt by the republican Party to campaign against Obama; they’ve lost that one. This is just them trying to keep their own doors open. They’re terrling the racist portion of their base, “hey guys, we’re still with you” and trying to scare the shit out of the white-flight-suburbanite types. As Sen. Lindsey Graham put it, “We’re just not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business in the long run”
LikeLike
I would never call Fox News as news, it is pure crap and rightwing propaganda.
As for Obama’s “race speech”, it is so funny that everytime anyone in USA talks about the poor and lower classes, and brings up the incredible unequality of the society, he/she is blaimed talking about race, playing race card etc. Infact, there are millions of poor whites too in USA. And even though Obama is talking to the black audeince, he is talking about ALL the poor.
Fox guys are pure horse manure.
LikeLike
The right doesn’t have to racialize poverty; blacks are already overwhelmingly represented among them.
LikeLike
@ Brunchy,
According to … your own experience talking with Black people? I highly doubt it.
LikeLike
@ brunchy
Most poor Americans are not black and most black Americans are not poor:
As of 2010:
27.4% of blacks live in poverty
23.1% of those living in poverty were black
LikeLike
@ Dave Enamu
I agree. It reminds very much of Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary in March 2008. It comes off as an act of desperation.
LikeLike
@ chulanowa
People who say that apparently have no idea how Obama is a cut above people like Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney as a political candidate. Obama is THOROUGH, so much so he makes the others look like they are making it up as they go along, like they are just winging it.
LikeLike
That Carlson guy is just revealing that he doesn’t know the country he lives in. DuBois’s veil right in front of his eyes.
LikeLike
http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/ Poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics greatly exceed the national average. In 2010, 27.4 percent of blacks and 26.6 percent of Hispanics were poor, compared to 9.9 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 12.1 percent of Asians.
Even if the right wing interpretation of his speech is completely spot-on, would you blame Obama? The reason New Orleans was ignored was because it was a majority black city. I don’t know why you need to apologize or pretend that the president is completely racially unaware like the most insulated of white-privilege-having university students… You know the ones, kids who think that they are morally better than people who weren’t born into money, handed to them by their parents. Who think that poor people are that way just because they’re “lazy” despite the fact they’ve never worked a day in their lives.
It just seems to me that you don’t always need to contradict Fox News on everything. If I were writing this, I’d say something like Hell yes, we’re angry, hell yes it’s a racial thing, and hell no we didn’t start it.
All whites want to do is maintain their social dominance at any cost.
LikeLike
AMEN!!! Abagond, you were preaching right there 😀
LikeLike
And also don’t think I’m like the “Obama Phone” lady the white children of the internet like to post all over their blogs, taking the lowest example of our culture to demean us. He’s half white after all; I think he’s sincere in his desire to help everyone. If he seems to put a little extra focus on the problems of one ethnic group, well, that’s because they’re the ones that are the most in need.
LikeLike
Maybe I’m missing something commenting here as a non-Afrircan American. Still I’ve watched and observed Obama ever since he became elected as President on the momentum of “Change we can believe in”. But what exactly has he achieved or done in the last 4 years for America?
But more specifically what has he done for African-Americans or possibly could he do if re-elected again?
This whole event seems like a stage managed charade (just like Obama’s presidency) so why would anyone allow themselves to be caught up in such an obviously polarized debate?
Just my own observation…
LikeLike
What a racist, racist land we live in.
LikeLike
Somewhat off topic, but I just want to say this about the racialization of poverty. Who benefits from this? Most of the nation’s poor are actually white people, many of those are republican and/or conservative leaning who have somehow bought into the right’s lies and continue to vote against their own interests. My personal belief is the white male power structure is invested in placating poor whites at the expense of poor people of color, because if these factions joined forces their power would be challenged as never before. Am I crazy to believe this? I can’t fathom why else this myth that whites aren’t poor, only lazy minorities are poor, keeps being pushed. It’s classic divide an conquer, and like everything the right accuses the left of, it’s pure projection. This are some sick people who will do anything to maintain their power. I hope and pray that we are able to re-elect president Obama and win back the House. I feel he is a good man at heart and that he will be able to get some things done in a second term and turn this country around.
LikeLike
No, poetess, you are not crazy. It is exactly how the US (and elsewhere) have been using the “race card” for centuries to ensure capitalism reigns.
In the US, starting in the 1660s (and before, but that was a “date”) with the legal definition of Africans as “black” and “therefore” slaves, which separated them from the non-yet “white” but soon to be European indentured servants like them, who, not being black, were not slaves and moved up to another layer, the “poor whites”. This is a summary of course, there are many stages in this…
LikeLike
@ Kwamla
“But more specifically what has he done for African-Americans or possibly could he do if re-elected again?”
Not a damn thing.
Obama has not said “boo” to black folks who supported him and believed in him. In fact, he’s made it glaringly clear that black people are the least important people on his agenda.
Like many black officials, they work for their European masters, who signs their check. Obama’s masters are:
the Koch Bros.
JP Morgan Chase
Goldman Sachs
All Jewish Bankers.
Black people need to wake up and see the writing on the wall.
LikeLike
@ Kwamla,
In defense of Obama:
People tend to overvalue what a sole individual can do – the “cult of the presidency” as they say. Obama has governed over a centre right country in the midst of economic collapse. He has addressed issues of social justice throughout his presidency; passed the Affordable Care Act; and consistently tried to mediate racial issues at the beginning, middle and end of his first four years.
People are way too demanding in what they expect a singular individual to accomplish. Especially when they sit sideline and throw up their hands.
I support Obama 100%.
LikeLike
The right just gets worse and worse. This is not to say that the left isn’t full of it, but the members of the right are so color-aroused they make it a hobby against the President of the U.S.
LikeLike
As a side note I don’t care much for Obama myself. However, it is more than evident that his position in the highest office in the land has set off fireworks with a lot of whites who feel entitled to…everything. The minute Obama was elected to office, the numbers of white people who saw themselves as “oppressed” skyrocked. (Yes. I know, that has been the mentality before Obama’s election) Whites are now crying how they are being racially oppressed.
Since when???
As far as the right-wing media like Fox News and the Drudge Report goes, they will trumpet on behalf of rich white people by whatever means possible. To me they are a hate group that wears suits instead of hoods.
LikeLike
I sincerely hope that people who have gone cool on Obama truly consider his achievements before they decide either to vote for Romney or not vote at all. Maybe they will still decide Romney or not to vote but give Obama some credit. Look at the divided congress, divided population of the USA. He is stuck between a rock and a very hard place every where he turns. And he still outsmarts the idiots in the Republican (and democratic party). Smartest president that surrounded themselves with probably the smartest people, ever.
LikeLike
“truthbetold
@ Kwamla
“But more specifically what has he done for African-Americans or possibly could he do if re-elected again?”
Not a damn thing.”
Linda says,
True, Obama wasn’t able to accomplish much but the alternative choice for 2012 is Obama vs. No One because Romney is not a real choice or alternative.
The Republicans spent 8 years putting America in the financial sh’t the country went into, borrowed money from China and spent money they didn’t budget for.
Now they want to act like they should be the ones to correct the problems they caused in the first place — using the same plans/mistakes — they didn’t see the financial crash coming when they were implementing these piss poor financial decisions.
I shouldn’t really complain though because I made good money (real estate) because they took their eyes off the ball, but I’m not that greedy — they need to keep cooling their heels and stop obstructing progress.
LikeLike
I agree with the essence of Truthbetold’s comment here:
Who does Obama really serve the interests of? He is definitely not his own person in any shape or form. Look at America now and before he was elected is it a safer, fairer and respected place to live in? Look around the world for your answer to that! Because you won’t find it in the less than objective internal news media. Would it have been any different if Republican John McCain had won the election or even Hillary Clinton?
If you honestly believe it would have made a major difference then you’ve become part of the delusion, not just the American people, but people around the world are caught up in that democratic elections are fair and free and make a difference. Do they really?
This is why I can maintain:
“…This whole event seems like a stage managed charade (just like Obama’s presidency) so why would anyone allow themselves to be caught up in such an obviously polarized debate?…”
And Yes the answer would be not to take part in this deluded game. Which is the beginnings at least of what the Occupy Wall street movement was all about. Its not the solution but it is in the right direction towards one.
LikeLike
Electoral debates are for bitch-niggas.
Chris Hedges:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21239.htm
LikeLike
What gets lost in the perspective is just how bad the years with Bush and Chenney were…not only bad, disgusting…
The blatent lies about Iraq to start a war , a war Chenny made millions off of with Haliburton , the absolute ignoring of the people suffering in Katrina, heck, Travolta and Oprah could have dropped suplies in Travoltas airplane, what happened? And, the Republican deregulation policies that allowed the financial disastor crisis…
Obama was handed with the worst situaion I have ever seen in America…I think there is a slow but notable stop from going downwards…
Democracy is far from what it is cracked up to be, and we dont live in real freedom at all….And, the American presidency is a total political game that involves unbeleivable money…played that way on purpose, the media, one of the big benificiaries of this money will never bite the hand that pays them well….never…A president cant win if he wants to stop the Cuban embargo because the Cubans in Florida, a key state, will vote against that…there are lobbies that dictate what happens…its an imperfect system…but I love America , I just hate a lot of people there
LikeLike
I am not particularly happy with Obama either:
It is only when compared with Romney that he looks good. Romney is a Mini-Me Reagan with his claws showing – and Reagan was bad enough.
LikeLike
@ Cornlia
Co-sign.
LikeLike
@ brunchy
I agree that it was mainly because of race, but Obama in the speech DID NOT agree with that. He blamed the government’s incompetence:
In fact, most of his speech was expressed in a colour-blind, white liberal way. Al Gore could have given most of the speech. Bobby Kennedy would have been far more straightforward about race than Obama can ever dream of being, even as president.
Obama completely gets it that some of the issues blacks have lie beyond the reach of class-based solutions, because they are driven by racism, not class. He said that flat-out in his book, “Dreams from My Father” (1995). But as a black man depending on white votes he has to keep it colour-blind to have any chance of helping blacks at all.
LikeLike
Poetess,
I must co-sign and say that you are not crazy for thinking that way. That has been the tactic since day one. The white male power structure despises black people being unified against them, but they especially hate it when black and white people get together.
Many poor whites have become easily fooled into the propaganda that their greatest enemies are nonwhites. They’ve been tricked into believing that they have advantages over nonwhites, and that brainwashing has turned into a reality for them as society has become a white privilege nation.
LikeLike
I agree that it was mainly because of race, but Obama in the speech DID NOT agree with that. He blamed the government’s incompetence:
“”””
@ Abagond, @ Brunchy,
You know the truth. I know the truth. Obama knows the truth. Bush admin left New Orleans and its predominantly Black population to die. The Black population of the USA has been demonstratably unimportant (at best) to the American government. The truth-value of that fact does not, unfortunately, change the social reality of American electoral politics which is that the majority of the american electorate is white. Most of those americans are truly ignorant of the Black experience. Even if you beat them over the head with it, they would not get it. Nor might they care. They have concerns to their own self-preservation that precede and in their minds even run against the achievement of social justice for Black Americans.
In my opinion, if Obama were to run on a social justice platform – that platform would guarantee his political suicide. Nonetheless, if it were to happen it would happen in his 2nd term when he doesnt have to worry about getting reelected.
LikeLike
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart had a good takedown of the Right’s fuss over this video the other night.
Also John McWhorter wrote a pretty good piece about the accent thing: http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/108180/the-perpetual-failure-understand-obamas-double-consciousness
LikeLike
@ Abagond
“… maybe I have been fooling myself all along about the true nature of the president.
In the past I was always able to blame the viewpoint and political beliefs of the man who held the office. Now I no longer can…”
This is precisely the point myself, truthbetold and even satanforce have alluded to.
LikeLike
>Even if you beat them over the head with it, they would not get it. Nor might they care. They have concerns to their own self-preservation that precede and in their minds even run against the achievement of social justice for Black Americans.
It’s amazing what people will make themselves believe, sometimes sincerely, when they have contravening personal interests. My white friends tell me that whenever they hear a black man calling for social justice, they just see it as a “power grab”… That’s really how they really see this kind of thing. It’s so depressing. They think we have no other way to gain power besides guilting the white man into giving up a piece of his overlarge pie. And they simultaneously think white privilege doesn’t exist!
LikeLike
To win the presidency , you have to go through the deep political system, there is no way to get around that. And , until people really band together and really push for that kind of change, millions marching on washington on a regular basis, or something like that, the voting public , which is like what ? 30 percent? will play this game to death
I was disapointed by some things coming from the Obama administration, but, I have no doubt in my mind that Obama and the Democrats are the much more needed party to be in charge. Its just amazing how low the country can sink under administrations like Bush Chenny….how quickly everyone forgets, and forgest the prosperity under the Democratic adminisration of Clinton…
I do want to see what Obama could do under a second term
So what is wrong with his health care packedge? Isnt that something that benifits the poor?He did bring down the concflict in Iraq , a mistake to go in in the first place under the most disgusting of lies.
The truth is, the political game of really helping people plays out on the local leval as much if not more than a national leval. If people dont see enough change around them in their personal lives, they have to equaly look at that as much if not more
But, I see the fraility of democracy also. Its not the be all solution to the human condition by any means. Its very open to who can buy or muscle the election
LikeLike
@ Abagond
May I spill secrets?
When I was living in NYC and traveling across this country, I met a few folks who traveled in the “artistic circle.” Musicians, painters, designers, etc…These folks knew people or worked with people who knew politicians, actors, etc. My friend in lower Manhattan has a co-worker who has an independent-filmmaker in her family, so I get all the juicy details on the perversion of many high-esteemed people on film and in office, like ex-mayor Giuliani…
Obama wanted to have “the talk” on racism long ago. In fact, he and Eric Holder wanted to have a national discussion on slavery and it’s after-effects on AmeriKlan society and how it hurts everyone, not just blacks.
His Jewish banking masters, Goldman-Sachs, told him and Eric Holder “Do not go there or your donations will dry up.” So he shut up. When Skip Gates got arrested, Obama derailed from his usual “script” and said they acted “stupidly”. That caused a major rippled in his image and his advisers warned that he’ll appear to be The Angry Black Man and lose white and homosexual voters. (That’s why he changed his views on gay marriage. He was TOLD to)
You or anyone else on this blog don’t have to believe a word I say…which is fine. But please believe that Obama doesn’t have black people’s best interest at heart. In fact, when he wins again in November, he’ll ignore the black community even more.
One more thing, I found out another tidbit of info. When Travyon Martin was lynched, Obama was told by his Jewish advisers to say something “benign” about the killing of this black boy to appease the black community but don’t say anything too profound that will upset the white voters. That’s why he gave that pathetic “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon…” speech.
A lot of blacks were duped by Obama including me.
LikeLike
It’s amazing what people will make themselves believe, sometimes sincerely, when they have contravening personal interests. My white friends tell me that whenever they hear a black man calling for social justice, they just see it as a “power grab”… That’s really how they really see this kind of thing. It’s so depressing. They think we have no other way to gain power besides guilting the white man into giving up a piece of his overlarge pie. And they simultaneously think white privilege doesn’t exist!
”
”
”
”
@ Brunchy
I think it is hard for many to understand where real social justice begins and ends – and does it co-occur with white self-sacrifice? I have wondered over this before.
LikeLike
In fact, when he [Obama] wins again in November, he’ll ignore the black community even more.
”
”
”
And why will he ignore the Black community even more after November? Do you not think as the father of Sasha and Malia; the husband of Michelle; the son of a Black man; and someone who did not grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth that he would have trouble sympathizing with other members of the Black community or not want the best for those people closest to him that are too Black?
Honestly, I understand that people are frustrated with Obama but I *cannot* understand the unachievable expectations they have given him.
I really wish you were president Truthbetold so we could see how easy it is to run a country of 300 million people.
LikeLike
And it begins….
I’m done here on this thread. Believe what you wish.
LikeLike
And it begins …”
”
”
”
What begins? People that have a different point of view than you? Why are you on the internet if you expect that everyone agree with you?
LikeLike
You mean just like how a poor southerner named Bill Clinton did nothing to stop mountaintop removal mining for coal, instituted the three-strikes policy that solidified the Legal-Industrial Complex, or removed the firewalls that would prevent a Great Recession?
Oh, you mean Barack Obama, the man who was bought by the health insurance industry (no single payer or universal health plan for you… waaaaaahh!!!!), and the financial sector:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303933404577500810740985338.html#articleTabs%3Dvideo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-has-more-cash-from-financial-sector-than-gop-hopefuls-combined-data-show/2011/10/18/gIQAX4rAyL_story.html
I’m sorry but that nigga has better things to do than help black people. Like service the FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate). Most sensible people new that, just watch the first episode of Season 3 of The Boondocks.
Like the Benetton ads in the ’90s that used HIV positive models and blacks as an exotic gimmick, Barack Obama is merely a soulless novelty to be used to bait the American public,
Face it people, the man is just another slimy Chicago politician (think Tom Kane from Boss), groomed by the utterly diabolic Ram Emmanuel – a man who probably reads Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’ to his children for their bedtime. But that is also the case with ALL mainstream American politicians. Just lookatthe Democratic Party, which has long since passed the Republicans in terms of fundraising. They have been utterly bought off, while decent people , like Ralph Nader, Andrew Napolitano, Cynthia McKinney and Dennis Kucinich are ignored and sidelined.
So the problem is bigger than any one man, the entire political process in the United States is broken beyond repair. The President has not been a leader , since Jimmy Carter, but is now merely a lawyer for vested interests. But that was also the case when FDR took the presidency in the midst of the Great Depression. But unlike Obama, he was nobody’s bitch. Of course , he fucked up a lot of things, but he did what had to be done.
Perhaps a time will come when America will get a leader capable of leading her back to glory. But that certainly will not happen now. Not with men like Obama at the reins.
LikeLike
“I really wish you were president Truthbetold so we could see how easy it is to run a country of 300 million people.”
*********
@ JT
Obama, as most/all recent POTUS, actually runs very little.
He hardly sets the national policies and gets his own personal agendas accomplished. His “handlers” (the super rich and powerful men who stay hidden in the shadows) give him instructions and marching orders, and should he stray too far from his masters – well, look at what happened to JFK!
His campaign promise was was about CHANGE – and he kept his promise. MONEY *changed* hands from from the have less (poor and working class) to the have more (the very wealthy). The Big 3 auto manufacturers and the Bankster crooks (who should have went to jail) were among the primary recipients of this “change.”
Meanwhile, US tax dollars are STILL financing ILLEGAL wars and massacres overseas, which means the neo-cons, headed by Bush senior, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others in the military industrial complex cartel are still raking in billions/trillions in profits through weapons manufacturing – war supplies/services and corporations like Kellog, Halliburton.That’s only the tip of …
Obama is OWNED. Always has been and always will be. No one gets into the Oval Office without being owned. (Just ask Ron Paul and his supporters!) Regardless of who wins the election, the office of the presidency (in this so-called democracy) is merely a very well managed theatrical production – a two party sham – where THE GAME is about how well these guys (DEM/GOP politicians/judges/appointees) can continue to dupe the incredibly dumbed down American sheeple while enriching themselves and their cronies in the process.
It’s a smoke and mirrors, horse and pony ACT/SHOW that defies logic and wisdom, and yet “the voters” are convinced that it is they who are choosing the leader of the free world every four years who will work for their best interest lol UNBELIEVABLE.
LikeLike
@ Satanforce,
If you were on wall street who would you vote for: the guy that has a historically validated method of reigniting the economy (Obama) or the guy that has a historically invalidated method of reigniting the economy (Romney).
Obama knows you can’t cut government expenditure when the economy is in the tanks. Consumer spending is down. Exports are not growing dynamically and imports still exceed exports, creating a trade deficit. Interest rates are at 0%.
Meaning that the only tools available to Obama to stimulate the economy are government expenditure and devaluing the American currency (which we are currently seeing stimulates interest in American-produced goods and services).
Obama is doing everything he can to do, especially in Congressional Deadlock. People need to get off his d!<k.
LikeLike
Seeing how the other administration handled things, I think there is a quantitive differance…
Of course it is smoke and mirrors .Most of us do other things and have to play politics to get somewhere in our circles, and get back to what we do, what those guys do is politics , that is who they are, ..that should tell anyone a lot right away…
And, the truth is, the big money people play both sides , so who ever wins, they will be taken care of…
But, its the media that is the most obscene of them all, the recipiants of the biggest amount of money from everyone, and pretend that they are only reporting on it…They never want the public to know the real deal about what is going on…
I want Obama to win
LikeLike
As a young Black woman, I see that race is a powerful force in this election. Alot of rightwing nutjobs dislike Pres. Obama solely because of the fact that he is a Black man. Alot of Conservatives don’t like anyone that is not White, American, ”Christian”(if they knew anything about Christianity they wouldn’t be racist), etc. So ALOT of Conservative, rightwing, Tea baggers are racist and xenophobic
I don’t think Pres. Obama has done the best job as president nor do I think he has done the worst. He is a medicore president in my opinion but I think he would be a MUCH BETTER choice than Romney.
LikeLike
Yes. That ‘Cash for Clunkers’ sure did the trick! From Currency Wars by James Rickards
Keynes is probably rolling in his grave.
LikeLike
@ Satanforce,
I personally believe that the only time Keynes was rolling in his grave was when blue dog Democrats, and the Republicans were hijacking considerations of stimulus size. Obama and most economists wanted the stimulus to be dramatically larger. But this became politically unfeasible as the opposition took control of the public discourse with arguments like they are chaining our children with debt etc. The tea party began shrieking which took over the news cycle, and we got a stunted stimulus. Keynes thought that the multiplier effect could only occur if the stimulus drafted was proportional to the size of the economy. We didn’t get that. That doesnt mean Keynes was wrong. That means we became passive and the right wing wrought victory after victory, headache after headache to the Obama admin.
One thing i will say, is that it hasn’t helped that Obama has been trying to govern from the middle so religiously. He should have strong armed the decision making process, like previous presidents have under the state of economic emergency and given the American people a proper stimulus.Thats the only flaw i can attribute to him in this whole mess. I like Obama and i think he has done a wonderful job all and all. That’s just my opinion.
LikeLike
[…] saw this awesome quote at abagond. Carlson is so sunk in a white privilege mindset that he overlooks the fact that white men on Fox […]
LikeLike
@all:
Okay, Obama is not perfect, sure. He is not the Saviour Mark II nor he made the oceans split. Yes, he has to handle himself with care, be politically correct and make compromises. But he got you out of a war that really did stink and was useless in everyway, and by the way, which was started just for the heck of it for no real reason.
And most importantly, what is the alternative? A multi millionaire who does hide his wealth in tax havens, who does not even know how the the majority lives and who would continue those same ruineous policies which almost drove USA to the ground during the Bush regime. Just check how the national debt exploded during the republican era. Yeah, more that?
Besides, he is the first black president in USA. Perhaps he is too black for the republicans and too white for some blacks, but he is who he is. And that is a lot better than the other guy here.
LikeLike
truth be told can we not with the anti semetism? thanks.
LikeLike
sam,
The real problem with voting is that the United States is not a democracy. It is a plutocracy where if you have enough money, you get to tell politicians what they should support (ex. ALEC, US Chamber of Commerce). Voting for Obama may be better than Romney, but should I or any other person just settle for being better than Romney (and that’s not even considering the similarities between their policies). Being the first Black president doesn’t matter when you uphold the system of white supremacy and capitalism. I noticed how Obama didn’t have anything to say about Black people being slaughtered by ‘rebels’ in Libya or how the US government gave money and aid to Ghadaffi for years so that oil companes could benefit from exploiting working Libyans, many who were migrant workers. He gave a few token platitudes on Mubarak, but he and his party had nothing to say about Ben Ali when he was slaughtering and robbing his people for the benefit of the local ruling class. People around the world are waking up and realizing that to make any genuine change, we must rise up and operate outside of electoral poltics. We create their massive wealth and we must take it back in full.
Matari,
Not sure if you’re a Ron Paul supporter but he is just as paid off as anyone else in Congress. The thing that gets me with Ron Paul is that his support for reactionary views (ex. promoting the Lost Cause of the South, his views on abortion and Gay marriage, stance on unions, etc.) gets ignored in favor of painting him as some sort of rebel against the establishment. This is a man who made millions selling racist newspapers with his name on them and has campaigned in favor of increasing the dominance of capitalism by removing what few checks the government has to keep capitalists from consolidating too much power. It’s telling that even left-of-center Democrats like Dennis Kuncinich, much less party socialists like Stewart Alexander can’t get any time on TV despite their views on war in all its forms (i.e Terror, Drugs, etc.) but Ron Paul can even appear on the Daily Show and have Jon Stewart uncritically promote the belief that Paul is some sort of truth-telling politician.
LikeLike