Barack Obama's Big Race Speech - Who Doesn't Wanna Blow Him Now?:
Pre-Show: No, major news media, for the most part, most voters don't give a fuck about Rev. Jeremiah Wright's occasional rhetorical flourishes when he's preaching. Most voters are actually smart enough to separate Obama from that. But you got 24 hours to fill and you're afraid of Fox "news" getting viewers, so there ya go.
Right now, the Rude Pundit's listening to some fucktard on MSNBC, Jonathan Capeheart of the Washington Post, say that when the Wright story broke, he had "friends" who supported Obama who were "worried" that other people would be upset about Obama's church. You got that? These people, who, if they are friends of Capeheart, must be smart, 'cause he's a black guy who wears poindexter glasses, weren't worried about their support of Obama. No, they're smart enough, because they are friends of Capeheart, who, it should be pointed out, is a black guy who wears poindexter glasses and looks not unlike Raj on What's Happening. It's all the other people who Capeheart's friends are worried about. Why should they be worried? Because it's fuckers like Capeheart who have made this into a story that would worry their oh-so-smarter-than-the-rubes friends.
'Cause, like, the Rude Pundit wants every candidate's advisors and allies vetted for every time one of them said something potentially offensive that's YouTube-ready. And then he wants the candidates to have to make a statement about it.
(Note: the Rude Pundit thought the uproar over Ferraro was nonsensical, but what Ferraro said was a directly offensive remark about the candidate.)
The show:
10:53: Fuck the black part of Obama. Someone's fuckin' Dumbo ears need to get pinned.
10:54: Throws mad props to Philadelphia for the Declaration of Independence, oh, but, snap, says how the Founders bailed on slavery.
10:57: Says flat out what his racial background is and ties it to the Greatest Generation. His wife's to slavery. No denial of the multiracial nature of his life.
10:58: Nice line about how his story is only possible is in America.
10:59: Damn. We're not used to this sort of honesty from a candidate. Can't compute. Cynicism circuit shorting out.
11:00: Talking about Wright, he's gonna hang the Reverend out to dry, says Wright's comments present a "distorted" view of America. Whew. Thank god, the cynicism circuit can work again.
11:02: Oh, shit, now he's getting Wright's back. Saying that Wright's a Marine who has credibility, intelligence, compassion. Shorting out again.
11:03: Reading from his own book. Amazon braces for Oprah-like surge in sales.
11:05: Goes to bat for black churches in general. Talks about how services go, the raucousness and embodiment of the black community within them. Even addresses how this scares many white people, who prefer to pray looking at their groins.
11:06: Wright is "like family...I could no more disown him than disown the black community. I could no more disown him than I could disown my white grandmother" who said she was afraid of black men who passed her on the street. Clinton's people write a speech about how her grandfather slapped Mexicans, yet she still loves him.
11:07: "These people are part of me" and are part of America, he says.
11:09: Calls bullshit on those who want to emphasize Wright over real issues.
11:10: Goes to town on how racial discrimination still affects America, in schools, in business, how there's a lack of educational and economic opportunity, contributing to the erosion of families and communities. He even brings up busing. Shit. He's really fuckin' good.
11:12: Explains how Wright comes out of the days of segregation. And how racism still controls how the black community reacts. He's actually saying, in a major speech, the shit we've been saying out here in the hinterlands of power for years.
11:13: The fact that people are surprised at Wright's angry sermons points to how divided people really are.
11:15: Most middle class white Americans feel anger, too. Because of jobs going overseas and other shit that Republicans (and Democrats) have done.
11:16: Addresses affirmative action and welfare anger and how politicians and the media have exploited those things. How the Reagan Revolution was based on it. The Rude Pundit gets an erection.
11:17: Talks about "A racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years...I've never been so naive as to think one election" can erase the racial divide.
11:19: We must "take full responsibility for our own lives" by families being stronger. Teach our children "never to succumb to despair or cynicism."
11:20: Brings it back to Wright. Mistake was that Wright "spoke as if our society was stagnant." Mentions the "audacity to hope," thus plugging his second book. Amazon braces for more.
11:21: White community needs to acknowledge that racism the black community perceives is not just in the minds of black people. He's really laying it all on the line.
11:22: Says we should live by the golden rule. And other biblical mumbo-jumbo and let "our politics reflect that."
11:23: Brings up OJ, Katrina, Wright, says we can keep race as a divisive issue and "nothing will change." This is the straightest talk this blogger has heard from a major presidential candidate in a very, very long time, maybe, truly, without hyperbole, in his lifetime.
11:24: Or, he says, we can actually do something "this time." Brings it back to education, health care, economics.
11:26: Oh, and did I mention that the war "shouldn't have been authorized or waged."
11:27: "This unions may not be perfect, but... it can always be perfected." That'll be the line that's quoted endlessly. Like here.
In some hotel room, maybe in Pennsylvania, who knows, Hillary Clinton is shitting blood. Mark Penn is on his Blackberry, furiously commanding that a commercial be made that shows Obama saying that Wright "is family" while showing the Reverend shouting all black and scary.
Somewhere in the Middle East, John McCain wonders if there's a small cage he can crawl into until it's all over.
Bottom line: that was a motherfuckin' speech by a motherfuckin' President of the United States. You remember what that's like? No, not here either.
