"The Red Phone In Black & White"

I want to thank an e-mailer named "xaymaca" for sending me the following link.

It's an oped from the New York Times, and it was written by my homeboy, and one of my favorite thinkers in A-merry-ca today, Orlando Patterson.

Here goes:

"ON first watching Hillary Clinton’s recent “It’s 3 a.m.” advertisement, I was left with an uneasy feeling that something was not quite right — something that went beyond my disappointment that she had decided to go negative. Repeated watching of the ad on YouTube increased my unease. I realized that I had only too often in my study of America’s racial history seen images much like these, and the sentiments to which they allude.

I am not referring to the fact that the ad is unoriginal; as several others have noted, it mimics a similar ad made for Walter Mondale in his 1984 campaign for the Democratic nomination. What bothers me is the difference between this and the Mondale ad. The Mondale ad directly and unequivocally played on the issue of experience. The danger was that the red telephone might be answered by someone who was “unsure, unsteady, untested.” Why do I believe this? Because the phone and Mr. Mondale are the only images in the ad. Fair game in the normal politics of fear.

Not so this Clinton ad. To be sure, it states that something is “happening in the world” — although it never says what this is — and that Mrs. Clinton is better able to handle such danger because of her experience with foreign leaders. But every ad-maker, like every social linguist, knows that words are often the least important aspect of a message and are easily muted by powerful images.

I have spent my life studying the pictures and symbols of racism and slavery, and when I saw the Clinton ad’s central image — innocent sleeping children and a mother in the middle of the night at risk of mortal danger — it brought to my mind scenes from the past. I couldn’t help but think of D. W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation,” the racist movie epic that helped revive the Ku Klux Klan, with its portrayal of black men lurking in the bushes around white society. The danger implicit in the phone ad — as I see it — is that the person answering the phone might be a black man, someone who could not be trusted to protect us from this threat..."

There is more here.

Soooooo it looks like The Ice Queen's ad guys gave us a subliminal Willie Horton moment.

I wonder if it worked with its intended target?

She won't go!

I bet Hillary and Bill's bags were all packed. I could hear them now: "Yeah all that shit they talked about us, and how we took silverware from the White House. Well we are back bitches!" They were planning the next four years and what it would be like. The first Man and Mrs. President, you gotta love it. But a funny thing happened on the way to Pennsylvania Avenue.

That upstart Negro from Illinois is really acting like he wants to take this thing from Bill and Hillary, and rain on their inaugural parade. Can you imagine how pissed off Hillary is at Barack? I mean that Negro came out of nowhere, and for awhile he could do no wrong.

He was the Tiger Woods of politics. The media loves him, republicans love him, women love him, men love him...hell if you believe the Internet rumors going around, even the KKK love him. I mean this Negro is loved by everybody. And then there is poor Hillary. Fighting an uphill battle and years and years of negative perceptions. Bill's sins were her sins and "Clinton fatigue" meant that we were tired of Bill and Hillary. But still, she was to be next. A-merry-ca was ready to become more like the country we broke away from, than the "perfect union" our founding fathers tried to form. Sixteen and possibly 24 years of Clinton and Bush and A-merry-cans weren't blinking an eye. And then along came this new Negro from Illinois.

When he speaks he gives black and white A-merry-can's goose bumps, and he has them literally feinting off their feet. White people don't see a black person, they see an A-merry-can. You can't get more iconic than that. "He transcends race. He doesn't carry the baggage of slavery. He speaks so well. He is so dashing. He is like a black JFK". Will Smith will play him in the movie for crying out loud.

And there is Hillary; seething at every star struck turn. Wishing that this narrow ass uppity Negro would just go away. But sadly for her it won't happen quite so fast. There are still more primaries to go, and we all have a date in Denver this summer. But I suspect that Hillary and the "O" man will be both short of the necessary delegates to bring the ball home, so the dumbocrats have a problem. Howard Dean, I know you are a Doctor, but this one calls for some major ass surgery.

Super Delegates, two large states (Michigan and Florida) crying foul, and an entire segment of your party (African Americans) about to bolt and never come back if things don't go their way.

Yes, this is a mess. They don't call you all dumbocrats for nothing.

And then there is Hillary again. A woman so blinded by her ambition and focused on going back to the house where her husband gave new meaning to the term multitasking, that nothing will make her go away. Nothing. Not even a ten state losing streak. The party could cry all that unity shit if they want to, Hillary isn't trying to hear it. If she is not at the top of the ticket, and if she isn't the one sitting in that house to take that call at 3:00AM in the morning, she doesn't want to hear whatever it is the DNC has to say.

The scary thing is, Hillary might have one big state left in her (Pennsylvania). Sorry Obamaholics, poor blue collar white folks just ain't voting for your boy, and that could be a problem in the Keystone state. "O" man, those kind of folks think you got to where you are because of your color. They think that but for skin color, they would be where you are. Yes you have a Harvard Law Degree, and I am a high school drop out who has been working in the coal mines, but I am smarter than you are. So if Hillary looses they are not going to vote in November. And like the African Americans for Obama, they might leave the party never to come back.

What a mess. I guess I will have to start calling Mr. Morton (because he is always salty) Mr. President now. And I guess it's time to call my broker. Time to load up on those defense contractor stocks. I think they are going to do real well for the next four years.

The Blackening of Barack.

I have been tricked! Hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Set up and played by the Clintons, and I fell right into their trap.

Oh don't act like they didn't trick the rest of you Negroes too. I read all the nasty comments and e-mails about Billary and their dirty tricks and racial politics. And the tone was all the same: "Why are you picking on one of us? Why are you racializing this election? Why are you playing the race card?"

I know you all meant well, and you were just looking out for one of your own. I read all the righteous indignation on your blogs, I heard it on black radio, and I heard it in your day to day conversations. But you were acting just like "Billary" wanted you to act, and you followed the script to a tee.

So what did we do? We helped to turn South Carolina into the 2008 version of Sista Souljah. The Clintons knew that by blackening up the "O" man, they would force us to come to his defense, and ultimately, make this election about race and nothing else. And what better place is there to set up a racial firewall than South Carolina, with black folks making up almost 50% of their democratic voters?

I heard it all night tonight from the lily white pundits and anchor people. "Boy race really played a part in this election." The blacks really came out for Obama." "Obama got 81% of the black vote which is far more than both of his opponents.... and on and on it went. When it was over, it was as if Jessie Jackson was running for president. Did I say Jessie Jackson? Oh yeah, and just for good measure; Bill mentioned him too. Just in case we forgot that Obama, like Jessie, is a black man.

A-merry-cans will wake up tomorrow and realize for the first time that Barack is black.

"Honey did you know that Beerack feller is black?""He is?" "Yep they have been talking about it on the news all night. Bout how he got 81% of the black vote, bout how all dem black folks are rallying around their own after the Clinton attacks." "Well I will be damned....I guess a woman president wouldn't be so bad after all."

Poor Barack, all that candidate of change stuff, all that morning in A-merry-ca rhetoric; and yet.....A-merry-cans will wake up tomorrow and see his Kenyan father and not his white mother from Kansas. His quest to achieve racial neutrality and to bridge the racial divide in A-merry-ca will be shot down by the politics of racial division and wedge issues. But the Clintons knew this all along. South Carolina was a small sacrifice to pay in order to blacken up the "O" man for their fellow A-merry-cans.

Honestly, listening to all those pundits tonight I wasn't surprised to see that Pat Buchanan was the only one who got it right. Think what you want about old Pat; he is, at least, honest. And he will usually tell you how white folks really feel. The other pundits were saying that the Clintons divisive politics of the nineties would fail, because this is a new day in A-merry-ca and blah blah blah. But Pat knew better, and said so. He told them that white folks will start seeing Obama as a "black candidate" now, and thus, their votes will not be as forthcoming. As a result, this little bump in South Carolina will be beneficial to the Clintons in the long run. I agree with him. And I bet Bill and Hillary agree with him too.

Damn those Clintons are good.

True Feelings!

"The field negro must have sunstroke! (0 / 0)
I won't pick a candidate just to redress his feelings of anger and cynicism. His quoted comments are at the same time vain and petty (once more I'm reminded of the National Lampoon cover: "Buy this magazine or we'll shoot this puppy!"), and hopelessly naive (as if the election of Barack Obama, or Jesse Jackson for that matter, would redress the actual problems of racism in America).
by Rich in PA on Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 10:11:48 AM PST"

Whatever Kossack man. Let's make a deal; you can call me whatever you want as long as you don't call me "collect".

This messenger has a bullet proof vest, so you folks over at Big Orange can't shoot me. I realized a long time ago that some of you white folks on the left are no different to your racist comrades on the right. Your racism and ignorance can take a different tone at times than your more openly bigoted friends, but its effects are the same. Unfortunately, it always takes incidents such as the latest Sistah Souljah moment from Lady Hillary and her minions (see sidebar) to expose you all for the loofs (that's a backwards fool in case you were wondering) that you are.

And to think, I am not even on the "O" bandwagon. But as is always the case in A-merry-ca, it's not "O" that's being attacked or disparaged, it's everyone that looks like him, and everyone that shares at least half of his heritage. Of course the folks on the left will tell us that it's not about the "O" man's race, it's about his politics, and that someone like John Edwards would be a much better President policy wise for the progressives. Now that might or might not be true, but on our way to deciding who should be our President, it would be nice if people like the Clintons (who everyone swears should know better) would show a little fucking sensitivity. Hillary did you really say that the "O" man should "do the necessary spade work"? I mean we expect this type of blatant racism from the repukes, not you. We expect your racism to be softer, and more subtle. Unlike the repukes, we at least expect you to pretend that you love black folks.

But I suppose that is too much to ask now that we are in the middle of a presidential race with the stakes being so high. It's time for people's true feelings to come out. It's time to win by any means necessary. And then after the coronation we can make nice and pretend that all is well in A-merry-ca again.

Missy's world and the "Bradley Effect".

I guess black folks are still feeling dissed after the folks in lily white New Hampshire pulled a Bradley Effect move on them. I mean just when we were ready to crown King Obama as our leader, A-merry-ca brings us back to reality. And every one seems so shocked that this could have happened. I mean wasn't Hillary down by double digits? They are calling this one of the greatest political upsets in history. It caught every one by surprise.....yeah well it didn't surprise me. And I suspect that quite a few of you reading this blog feel the same way.

The truth of the matter is that the more powerful Barrack's movement becomes, the more irrelevant angry and cynical black men like the field Negro will become. A-merry-ca could shut the field up tomorrow by rising above petty racial and gender politics and and embracing a truly unifying change in her politics. But it ain't happening; you know it, and so do I.

So you all are angry now, and you are turning on your first black Prez. Just read this from Donna Brazile:

" I could understand his frustration at this moment. But, look, he shouldn't take out all his pain on Barrack Obama. It's time that they regroup. Figure out what Hillary needs to do to get her campaign back on track. It sounds like sour grapes coming from the former commander in chief. Someone that many Democrats hold in high esteem. For him to go after Obama, using a fairy tale, calling him as he did last week. It's an insult. And I will tell you, as an African-American, I find his tone and his words to be very depressing..."

She was talking about BJ Bill of course, and her sentiments are being echoed by quite a few African American bloggers and others out there. Bill and Hilary Clinton can use code words with the best of them, and they know what buttons to push to bring out the racial bogeyman lurking behind every corner in A-merry-ca. And in case you were wondering, there is no gender bogeyman. Yes women have been discriminated against in this country, and they have suffered mightily at the hands of the all powerful white male. But don't for a minute think there is a fear of women out there. There isn't. But ask me if there is a fear of black men and you know what I will tell you.

So when I see columns like this one from a popular hometown columnist here in Philly, it gives me cause for pause. I really have to wonder what makes the white A-merry-can woman think that she has all of a sudden become the victim in her precious country. Memo to white women: You have nothing to worry about, next to house pets you are the most protected class in this country. So let's stop with the beat up on Hillary shtick. No one is beating up on Hillary. I know some people on the right think that she is a witch, but she still looks like a white woman to me.

Now I leave you with some comments left on the POLITICO'S blog after they (the commenters) read Donna Brazile's posts:

"Sounds like bitter loser pill Donna is what Carville is to HRC . . . race race race . . . "as an African-American" way to interject race into a non racial story . . . shut up! "
Posted By: January 08, 2008 at 08:04 PM

"Awe, I am such a fan of Donna Brazile (even at one point wanting to draft her as chair of the DNC) and I'm saddened that it seems like she played the race card here :-\ As a minority, that's depressing to me too Donna . . . "
Posted By: LawSchoolDem January 08, 2008 at 08:08 PM

"I ususally really like Donna, but she really played the race card on this one. Not cool. "
Posted By: Elizabeth January 08, 2008 at 08:17 PM

"Donna Brazile had an article in WaTimes yesterday that proves she writes about topics of which she has no clue. Her opening paragraph mischaracterized the economy of our country the past few years to an extent of embarassment. She's disgraceful for spouting such myths. Who can take her seriously, other than another myth-believing Bush-hater? And why above, is she bringing Bill Bennett into the fray? He's a highly principled man whose wife works in inner city Newark NJ schools to try to improve things, and Bennett would like nothing more than to improve the lot of inner-city blacks. DBrazile's a total farce. "
Posted By: sbourg January 08, 2008 at 08:24 PM

"Oprah (black)::Obama (black): Brazille (black):: Obama (black)"

"Donna, Obama was never a college professor. He was a lecturer. Big difference. "
Posted By: Allie January 08, 2008 at 08:34 PM

"When are negroes going to stand on their own merits and quit using the race card?"
Posted By: Bigmarunga January 08, 2008 at 08:35 PM

"I'd like to know how Hillary and Bill have bypassed the writers strike? Just look at all the pre-written fiction that they have been acting out on the national stage."
Posted By: Writer January 08, 2008 at 08:35 PM

"Brazille is a racist and Bill and Hillary are your typical plantation master dems OB they dont plan of letting their slaves run the show. They make me sick. I am sick of Dems playing white against blacks and poor against rich. It is disgusting,but someone keeps voting for them. Just amazing. The Dem party is proof of how horrible the US educational system has become. You have to be drunk or an idiot to vote for any these conmen."
Posted By: jack January 08, 2008 at 08:37 PM "

"How pathetic that Brazile immediately has to resort to the hoary racism card to criticize Bill. No wonder the networks treat Obama with lamb skin gloves, they're all afraid of being called racists if they so much as show any criticism to Obama. His campaign knows this and they have benefited from a cowering media. Bill called out Obama on the falsies in his campaign, he never called Obama a kid, he simply said that Obama's claims were a fairly tale. Only in the mind of a professional race baiter can that be construed as racism. "
Posted By: Joe Nada January 08, 2008 at 08:37 PM

I lifted all those comments from the folks at POLITICO (Don't try to sue me, you will lose).

I hope you took the time to read them. They are quite revealing :)