Obama Fairytale comment at 51 seconds
One of he great things about being blogger is that people
send you stuff that they know you will really like.
That was the case earlier this week when Jonzey
sent me a copy of Ishmael Reed's latest piece
on the Clinton's.
Welfare Reform, Lani Guiner, Rwanda, Mass Incarceration
of Black men. Reed lays it all out.
Writing in The Baltimore Sun, I was the first to identify Clinton as a black president as a result of his mimicking a black style. (I said he was the second, since Warren G. Harding never denied the rumors about his black ancestry.) As a result of his ability to imitate the black preaching style, Clinton was able to seduce black audiences, who ignored some of his actions that were unfriendly, even hostile to blacks. His interrupting his campaign to get a mentally disabled black man, Ricky Ray Rector executed. (Did Mrs. Clinton tear up about this act?) His humiliation of Jesse Jackson. His humiliation of Jocelyn Elders and Lani Gunier.And he continues, writing,
The welfare reform bill that has left thousands of women black, white, yellow and brown destitute, prompting Robert Scheer to write in the San Francisco Chronicle, "To his everlasting shame as president, Clinton supported and signed welfare legislation that shredded the federal safety net for the poor from which he personally had benefited." (Has Ms. Clinton shed a tear for these women, or did she oppose her husband's endorsement of this legislation?) His administration saw a high rate of black incarceration as a result of Draconian drug laws that occurred during his regime. He advocated trade agreements that sent thousands of jobs overseas. (Did Mrs. Clinton, with misty eyes, beg him to assess how such trade deals would effect the livelihood of thousands of families, black, white, brown, red and yellow?) He refused to intervene to rescue thousands of Rwandans from genocide. (Did Mrs. Clinton tearfully beseech her husband to intervene on behalf of her African sisters
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Do you think that Black folks are going to take kindly to
Obama's candidacy being called a fairy tale?
Doesn't it come across like Bill sees Obama as someone
who is "getting out of his place"?
Why do Black Folks Love Bill Clinton?
Why don't we remember the things that happened on his clock
that have harmed us?
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6 comments:
"Do you think that Black folks are going to take kindly to
Obama's candidacy being called a fairy tale?"
Not necessarily.
And no diss because I love my people.
But sometimes we hear only want we want to hear. You have people who are so far up Bill Clinton's ass, they have yet to see daylight. They're not going to associate that comment with Clinton. Even with them seeing it from the horse's mouth.
"Doesn't it come across like Bill sees Obama as someone
who is "getting out of his place"?"
Damn straight.
"Why do Black Folks Love Bill Clinton?"
"Why don't we remember the things that happened on his clock
that have harmed us?"
Because out of all the candidates we've encountered, he did the best job at pandering to us. When he spoke to us, he spoke our talk and walked our walk. And as a result, we ignored his fuckups.
He reminds me of that white boy that goes to an all black school that just wants to be "down". So he "talks like us" and "walks like us". Might even date him a black girl. All in the name of becoming "us".
BUT as soon as he goes to college, gets that degree, and gets hired at a Fortune 500 company, those black folk back then? Yeah, they become "them" again.
Don't get me wrong, I like Bill Clinton.
But I'm not ignorant to the politic game he played with us.
Do you think that Black folks are going to take kindly to
Obama's candidacy being called a fairy tale?
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Probably not, primarily because Clinton never said that Obama's candidacy was a fairy tale; he said that Obama's position on the Iraq War was a fairy tale. That's a BIG difference.
Doesn't it come across like Bill sees Obama as someone
who is "getting out of his place"?
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Not at all. This is politics, and sometimes in politics, people say mean things about other people. I can promise you, if John Edwards was the front runner. Bill would have both barrels on him, too. Just look at how nasty the (all white male) Republican race has gotten. Compared to the way Huckabee, McCain, and Romney et al fight each other, what the Democrats are doing is nothing at all.
Why do Black Folks Love Bill Clinton?
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After Ronald Reagan and George Bush, are we really surprised? I like Bill Clinton because he actually cared about the working class. Let's face it: after the war on drugs began in the 80s, lots of young black men were going to jail anyway, whether he was the president or not. Bill Clinton was far from perfect, but he was (and is) better than the alternative. In addition, as dismal as the current Bush has been as commander in chief, it makes the rose-colored glasses just that much...rosier.
Why don't we remember the things that happened on his clock
that have harmed us?
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If we had to catalog all of the harmful and negative things that have happened to all black people on all of the Presidents' watches, there wouldn't be enough room on the internet to list them all.
The answer to why we don't remember any of the bad stuff during Clinton's era? How soon we all forget...
Clinton appeals to folks' emotions, that's the #1 tactic of all great orators, the ability to stir up emotions..each time he got on the podium...cats were acting like they were bout to spaz out or something..even till now, if you sit down and ask ppl blow for blow, how much GOOD did dude do..you may draw some blanks.
Because out of all the candidates we've encountered, he did the best job at pandering to us. When he spoke to us, he spoke our talk and walked our walk. And as a result, we ignored his fuckups.
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Is that all I gotta do blood.
Is connect with you.
Man. I can do that In my sleep.
The question is will I BE ABLE to sleep?
I like Bill Clinton because he actually cared about the working class. Let's face it: after the war on drugs began in the 80s, lots of young black men were going to jail anyway, whether he was the president or not. Bill Clinton was far from perfect, but he was (and is) better than the alternative.
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Diddly D. Come on yo? Come on?
If we had to catalog all of the harmful and negative things that have happened to all black people on all of the Presidents' watches
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Blood. Just because there have been hella atrocities doesn't mean we stop counting. Do you not believe that we have to draw the line somewhere?
Don't you think you are just giving him a pass tho?
I mean. "They were all going to go to jail anyways".....That shit don't need to be speed up, accelerated...etc..Man
That cat Filthy Dubois said it best....Jails are the new Steel Mills.
Are we not worth holding people accountable?
When you write sh*t like this it makes me want to get on my grind and fine tune this Post on how Taxes are used to redistribute wealth and how Target/Walmart Mommas and Dad's are footing the bill.
I just need to get a handle on exactly what the alternative minimum tax is. ***any help from a reader would be GREATLY appreciated.
Diddly D. Come on yo? Come on?
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One of the reasons that I vote Democratic is that, unlike Republicans, they give a shit about people who are not similarly situated. Both parties in Congress are overrepresented by rich white men, but a key difference is that the the rich white men that have "D" in front of their name care a hell of a lot more about the people at the bottom (and in the middle) than those other guys across the aisle. Listen to John Edwards speak for five minutes; he is the only major candidate who is really concerned about the poor and the working class. Pretty wild that the most liberal major Democratic candidate is a white man from the South.
Are we not worth holding people accountable?
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Accountability is good, but we also have to realize that for the majority of his term, Clinton had to deal with a Republican Congress, and in '94 Democrats lost the house in a big way. I don't agree with everything that he did as President, but politically he didn't have a whole lot of breathing room. I'm willing to bet that if GHWB got re-elected, or if Dole had won in '96, things would be a lot worse as a whole for black people, especially young black men. We can all admit that the War on Drugs was a massive failure, but the results would have been a whole lot worse if Republicans had stayed in office. Since so few black people vote Republican, they don't "owe" us anything. Plus, I like and respect Clinton for his global aids initiative, which goes back to his concern for the poor-even the ones that didn't vote for him.
As always, sorry for the long-ass post...
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