One more week. One more week.
I mentioned this in my last post, but here, above, is the speech by the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka. I post it today because I think that racisim – overt, unspoken, latent, even unconscious – is now the only thing that could prevent Barack Obama from becoming the 44th President of the United States of America.
I post the speech because of several items I heard on the radio this weekend. The first was an interview with a woman, on NPR. She was older, and, I believe, southern. As best as I can paraphrase, she said that when she was a girl, black people had to step off the sidewalk and walk on the street to let white folks pass by, and that if she were black, that would've made her very angry, with good reason. She said that she was concerned that if "they" take power, they're going to want payback. She went on to say that doesn't think America's ready for a black president. What interested and shocked and worried me was that this woman seemed honest and well-intentioned. But she was also paranoid and really deluded, and ready to perpetuate injustice, arguably to participate in it, to protect herself from a nonexistent threat. She honestly feels that Barack Obama becoming president is the equivalent of a black government taking power. If I were her, I'd be more worried about what will happen if Barack is leading every poll by double digits and then loses the election.
Then, on Saturday, I listened to This American Life, which focused this week on following the presidential campaign in Pennsylvania. One thing that was troubling was a pair of "Democrats for McCain" who were going door to door. I honestly believe they'd convinced themselves that their concern was Obama's experience, his "resume" of "leadership" as compared to McCain's, but it became crystal clear as they peddled their wares that "experience" is code for race, and the fear they're banking on is of the "inexperience" of people of a certain color in positions of power. (I'm pretty sure one of the two Mc-Cain-ocrats was identified as an African-American man, but my interpretation still stands. Just because you're black doesn't mean you don't fear "black power.")
Finally, I can't remember if it was on that same progam (I was driving to and from Albany scanning stations, listening to the talkers talk, on Fri. and Sat.), but I heard an older man, union guy, lifelong Democrat if I recall correctly, who's thought of himself as unprejudiced person, talking about how he found himself wavering about his presidential choice. Then (I forget why), he found himself thinking about whether, if his eyes were closed and he looked at the issues, he 'd any doubt whom to vote for, and he seemed genuinely surprised at himself, at his biases, when he realized that of course Barack was his candidate.
It's the age-old fear of that woman; the ability for self-delusion/denial of the younger pair; the clear self-reflection that that retired union guy found but that I'm not convinced most Americans are capable of – that worries me, that will have me wondering what will happen when people pull that curtain closed, will have me biting my nails in front of the TV next Tuesday night.
Thus I give you the Trumka speech, to share with someone you know who reminds you of these people, by a "regular guy" pulling no punches. He begins, "There's not a single good reason for any worker . . . to vote against Barack Obama. And there's only one really really bad reason to vote against Barack Obama, and that's because he's not white."
One more week!
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On what planet is that clown Lou Dobbs an "independent."? It's disturbing how far to the right CNN has tilted, with both conservative/reactionary Dobbs and the heinous Glenn Beck in primetime. Last night, on the treadmill at the Y, I watched Dobbs spew anti-immigrant, anti-San Francisco-venom, rail against the "far left group" (or maybe it was "radical leftist" group) ACORN's "voter fraud" in between repeatedly mentioning Obama and Biden coming under attack for their "wealth distribution" plans, using "wealth distribution" and "distributing the wealth" as if they were the Dems' own chosen terms. He might as well be on Fox News. Shameless anywhere, way more so from someone hailed as America's independent. While Ted Turner's no favorite of mine, he was both an actual maverick and independent – I can't imagine the current CNN can be what he'd ever envisioned. Yuck. Got my pulse goin' real good, though.
CNN's demise (and the fact that the right-wing radio jocks still site it, NBC, and the Times as the axis of liberal media) makes me worry about MSNBC, whose milquetoast early evening anchor David Gregory – replaced Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann in the prime-est spot – pretty much brings on one conservative or two a night and lets them say whatever factually-challenged talking points they want without being called on it.
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If I see one more headline about Obama fighting off "accusations of socialism," I'm gonna, I'm gonna . . . I'm gonna write a blog post about it!!!
I dream of an American in which "socialism" isn't something one can be "accused" of.
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The good news today is that even Arizona is now within the margin of error. ARIZONA!!! How sweet would that be?!?
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For more AMAZING photos like the one below, from the Obama campaign trail by Callie Shell, click here. Check out the pull-up one! And the sleeping Barack one. And . . . .
