I'm still thinking a lot about Obama's character, the fact that he ran a perfect race and we have little idea of his inner life. There was no spontaneity in his speech last night. I can't think of one line that was personal and concrete and from the heart except for his comments about his strategists; so those were lines about ambition. The rhetoric, as I wrote before, was very high-flown. While McCain's was direct and concrete and even personal. At times Obama's speech seemed to me a little immature even, in its Harvard-speechwritingness and lack of directness. I love Obama, but I think he will need to come down to the human level, and be more open if he is going to lead. Already I wonder how aloof and arrogant he will be toward the press and the negative dynamic that could result.
When I told my wife about this, she said that he has had to be this way to make his way as a black man in America. Agreed. He has trust issues. He has never shown his hand and has played people deftly, allowed everyone to project, and to believe that he agrees with them. Much as I am looking forward to his selling out the biggest investor/projectors of all, the Israel lobby, I wonder whether this style can be successful. He has shown incredible intelligence, judgment, sangfroid, and management skills, but he must get past his guardedness and even resentment. How much black anger is there? Dreams From My Fathers is now 15 years past and reveals a different person, but there is considerable anger in that book. Fine; anger is human, but can you grow from it? Neocons were fueled by their ethnic resentment to build a parallel establishment. Then they burned down the Middle East. Obama has grown incredibly over the last two years. You can see the gray hairs now. I say it will be a great thing to watch him continue to grow.
"He has trust issues. He has never shown his hand and has played people deftly, allowed everyone to project, and to believe that he agrees with them. Much as I am looking forward to his selling out the biggest investor/projectors of all, the Israel lobby…"
What makes you think he won't sell you out instead? He's probably already planning his re-election campaign.
Obama knows the power of what use to be called "World Jewry."
Since that term was coined, things have changed: we have the Jewish state of Israel.
It will take some time for the goy to assimilate this double punch.
Eventually they will, and it will not be pretty, just as the events leading up to it will not have been pretty, though heavily masked until that day. If you think this prognosis is wrong, or not in accord with all of history, given the free play of ideas and gradual access to information, please tell me why?
Obama is a mystery? Shouldn't he have been grilled during the campiagn if there were doubts about him? Should we take Phil's post-racial talk seriously if even he admits that Obama could be resentful, and that he apparently voted for something other than issues? What were the issues of this election? Obama is for undefined change, and McCain is a professional POW. Great!
"Dreams from My Father" is all about how Obama felt himself to be insufficiently black and about how he wanted to lift up his black people. "A Story of Race and Inheritance" is the subtitle. The last page tells how he admires his half-brother for returning to Africa and thus being authentic.
If that is what he still believes, no wonder he cannot spontaneously say what he feels. Why he has to speak only in generalities? Will he have any gut instincts that incline him to do what is best for non-minority America?
Does he have the same problem as Zionists? Can non-minority America get a leader anymore that has their interests at heart? McCain seemed more worried about Hispanics and Israel than about anything else.
Interesting.
It seems the big evil to deal with is working class whites.