Harry Reid is fighting for his political life today for comments he made during the Presidential campaign last year. He apparently said that if Obama was a darker-skinned person of color who spoke with a ‘negro’ dialect (what year is he living in?), he could not have been elected President. Condemnation of his comments was swift, and he personally apologized for them to the President, and I’m sure to everyone he has seen since.
This brings to mind Obama’s speech two summers ago after the Reverend What’s-His-Name came out screaming and everyone said be very afraid of Obama and his religious and political affiliations. Obama responded with his race speech, one of the strongest speeches of his life. He said that admitting that much in black-white relations in this country is unchanged (even his own grandmother fears seeing a person of color on the street when he passes close to her) is nothing to hide. He said it’s something to include in the dialog. He spoke the truth and we all sat a little straighter and felt a little lighter. Admitting what is true is really quite cathartic. I wish I did it more often.
I wish Obama had responded to Reid’s comments with the same statement. I wish he said it was probably true and how pathetic is that? Would he have been more or less qualified if his skin had been darker? His voice more “black”? He should have said, “Let’s talk about the problem not the messenger.” Reid wanted Obama to win. How can we so miss the point? Instead we are talking about partisan politics, about how if a Republican had said it…boring.
Let me do it now. While they aren’t pretty comments, I believe what Harry Reid said is true. Let’s be real, it is. Obama is bi-racial and as a result can cross the boundaries to many in this country who are unable to trust those who have no physical characteristics that mirror their own. It’s a stepping stone to the holy grail, but we surely are not there yet and I certainly do not think that Obama doesn’t know it.
Let me give you another truth.
George Bush would not have been President if his father hadn’t been. He would not have been President if there wasn’t the family political machine behind him. He did not get the Presidency based on anything he did.
Here’s the newsflash bottom line. Those who govern are not necessarily voted in because their policies mesh with the voters’ opinions on those policies. They are based on our perceptions of how we feel when we see and hear them. End of story. Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton (poor Hillary, had she been more like Michelle Obama in her personal presentation, we might have health care policies already). They won not based on experience or promises of a future but rather how we felt when they spoke to us. How did they move us?
The condemnation does not belong with Harry Reid, although he should keep his stupid mouth shut, but rather with us, the voters. Our votes need to be blindly based on what the person we are voting for can do for us and how they stand on issues; not how cute they are, the color of their skin, their family name, how well they give a speech, and so on and so on. So, Harry didn’t lose my vote. I gave it away myself.
Speaking the Truth
Harry Reid is fighting for his political life today for comments he made during the Presidential campaign last year. He apparently said that if Obama was a darker-skinned person of color who spoke with a ‘negro’ dialect (what year is he living in?), he could not have been elected President. Condemnation of his comments was swift, and he personally apologized for them to the President, and I’m sure to everyone he has seen since.
This brings to mind Obama’s speech two summers ago after the Reverend What’s-His-Name came out screaming and everyone said be very afraid of Obama and his religious and political affiliations. Obama responded with his race speech, one of the strongest speeches of his life. He said that admitting that much in black-white relations in this country is unchanged (even his own grandmother fears seeing a person of color on the street when he passes close to her) is nothing to hide. He said it’s something to include in the dialog. He spoke the truth and we all sat a little straighter and felt a little lighter. Admitting what is true is really quite cathartic. I wish I did it more often.
I wish Obama had responded to Reid’s comments with the same statement. I wish he said it was probably true and how pathetic is that? Would he have been more or less qualified if his skin had been darker? His voice more “black”? He should have said, “Let’s talk about the problem not the messenger.” Reid wanted Obama to win. How can we so miss the point? Instead we are talking about partisan politics, about how if a Republican had said it…boring.
Let me do it now. While they aren’t pretty comments, I believe what Harry Reid said is true. Let’s be real, it is. Obama is bi-racial and as a result can cross the boundaries to many in this country who are unable to trust those who have no physical characteristics that mirror their own. It’s a stepping stone to the holy grail, but we surely are not there yet and I certainly do not think that Obama doesn’t know it.
Let me give you another truth.
George Bush would not have been President if his father hadn’t been. He would not have been President if there wasn’t the family political machine behind him. He did not get the Presidency based on anything he did.
Here’s the newsflash bottom line. Those who govern are not necessarily voted in because their policies mesh with the voters’ opinions on those policies. They are based on our perceptions of how we feel when we see and hear them. End of story. Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton (poor Hillary, had she been more like Michelle Obama in her personal presentation, we might have health care policies already). They won not based on experience or promises of a future but rather how we felt when they spoke to us. How did they move us?
The condemnation does not belong with Harry Reid, although he should keep his stupid mouth shut, but rather with us, the voters. Our votes need to be blindly based on what the person we are voting for can do for us and how they stand on issues; not how cute they are, the color of their skin, their family name, how well they give a speech, and so on and so on. So, Harry didn’t lose my vote. I gave it away myself.