.
President Obama
1990-Harvard
image and photo credit
here
Johnathan Capehart has something to say in the Washington Post today
-here
- read it and weep
add women to the mix, gay and lesbian American citizens , and children-who we are failing terribly.
ny times 1990 harvard
here
.
A sad day in America. And frightening.
ReplyDeleteI am no admirer of Donald Trump, but I think both Jonathan Capehart and Lawrence O'Donnell overinterpret and broadly overstate the case, the former because he's generally feckless and the latter clearly for his hit-em-over-the-head-and-then-hit-em-again political advocacy reasons. The president's inexplicable reluctance to furnish standard issue documentary biographical materials to the press has been highly unusual; the press's reluctance to press the point is almost weirder. If broad and consistent accusations of racism are going to be the sharp point of the Democratic party's political sword in the coming year (because the president will have a difficult time running and defending a record showing successful domestic and international accomplishments), as seems to be the case based on the last 24-hour news cycle, then I think we're in for a tragic and sickening ride. Regards, Curtis Roberts
ReplyDeleteI hope all who object to Trump's comments boycott all businesses with any connection to him. And he wants to be President?
ReplyDeleteCurtis, I agree to a point. However the President did have available since the campaign the Hawaii state recognized document-the one that was shown yesterday is not the officially documented one. I have a friend that was born in Hawaii the one year after and at the same hospital as the President- and that is the only one-the same one that is official as the President. She is very waspy- and I have no doubt her bc would be called into question anywhere in this country. I see racism in the country-here in the South and it is everywhere. The insults will continue to plague the President and for the most part he has ignored them and in a dignified way. When the constant hammering of this conspiracy theory continued or does still it becomes an impermeable mark on the country. When the Speaker of the House, and other highly elected officials propagate it by claiming to not be responsible for what other citizens "think"-when he is elected by his state to do just that in voting everyday it is a big problem. The sad part is that these people-whether conservative or otherwise allow it to grow to their political advantage it is a glaring acceptance of race baiting. It is not by choice that race is an issue- it is an issue.
ReplyDeleteHobac-true, though i can not afford his real estate, I will not purchase his hair club for men products, his seminars at his onetime University-till his was called down for calling his seminars one. He just didn't know there was a standard for the Use of such a word. Nor do I plan to purchase his daughter's shoes-yes she is making shoes and his wife is making jewelry for tv. One thing he can never claim to be is President or a Gentleman.
ReplyDeleteBruce, yes I agree, and a disgrace to the process we call equality. I don't think the article overstates it.
ReplyDeleteThe lead editorial in today's New York Times is very much not to be missed, for touching on the home-town embarrassment in particular. I honestly cannot bring myself to repeat his name, it will be tallied somewhere as an approval.
ReplyDeleteMr Cravan's ad hominem dismissal of two public figures who, for that reason, cannot sue, is part and parcel of an openly partisan erasure of the momentous legislative record the incumbent has achieved already. But his pride in signing that immunised intervention is one to enrich with an absorption of reality. And a little instruction in the ways of a gentleman, beginning with the excruciatingly unendurable maxim, Never complain, never explain.
If there is anything transparently plain about Mr Obama, whom I fault for many things, it is that he is doing his utmost to drain the gutter of the previous 8 years, and to live up to aspirations he made obvious to every one of his contemporaries at Harvard - let's just keep our eyes on our business, which is excellence. Legendarily, and very possibly faultable for it, he will not defend himself against contemptible and, to him, irrelevant attacks.
But now, dear blogger, we come to a parallel tragedy. Who can doubt, the list you offer of similarly situated "classes" (as the Courts call them) of persons? It's the "similarly situated" part which the Right has succeeded in obliterating, in year after decade after quarter century of selective bribery to destroy the coalition of the 1960s and 1970s. I give you their angels, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, molded since undergraduate infancy to reject to their dying day, the doctrine of the equal protection of the laws for all persons (citizens, or not). These despicable zombies of Republican think tanks - The Federalist Society, The Cato Institute, &c - are not, however, to be blamed for the shattering of empathy between African-Americans and gay Californians, voting in the same election on Proposition 8. And the soccermommy vote, which responded to the Security State swagger of George Bush with such blindness to his scorched-earth war against human rights and social justice, here and worldwide, is sobering to this day. The natural coalition of resistance to these monsters is no more.
There is no time in our time to rebuild the devastation of the Right. But it is encouraging to find it remarked here, and wherever else people are prepared to step outside of their frenzy for self-aggrandisement.
I assume Laurent is kidding about the phrases "generally feckless" and "hit-em-over-the-head-and-then-hit-em-again political advocacy", whether or not applied to public figures, being legally actionable. (I suppose I shouldn't leave out the probably equally offensive to him "overinterpret" and "broadly overstate". Good grief. I feel compelled to note in contrast his grossly offensive (but not actionable in any tribunal unless possibly you happen to be a lawyer characterizing them in this manner) descriptions of Supreme Court Justices Thomas and Alito as officers of the court who reject the doctrine of equal protection under the laws and being despicable zombies of Republican think tanks. Fancy language and subordinate clauses don't in and of themselves add up to civilized and productive discussion. And, based on my experience, I generally reject the notion that race is an issue. It certainly was when I was a child. Things have changed quite a bit for the better since then, although obviously things aren't perfect. (Of course, they never will be.) Curtis Roberts
ReplyDeleteI am saddened by those who say how much better things are now for Blacks, women, gays, etc. Sure they're better than they were 50, 100, 150 years ago, but when a clown such as Trump is taken seriously when he has the gall to question Obama's educational bona fides, I think Capeheart's point is made.
ReplyDeleteI have learned over my long life to seriously consider the words, opinions and narratives of individuals who experience the condition,whatever it is,under discussion, as I form my own opinions about various issues. I don't uncritically assume that a member of an oppressed or marginalized group is always, absolutely correct on every issue...naturally I trust my own and others' experiences and knowledge as well. But frankly, it is hard to validate the viewpoints of elite whites who talk about how much better things are for blacks, when someone like Johnathan Capeheart gives us the benefit of his on-the-ground in situ experience, so to speak.
The USA was founded and built on the genocide of native Americans, slavery, the indentured servitude of poor whites, Japanese, Chinese and Mexicans.
The upheaval we are now experiencing is the result of this unfinished business. For the sake of the grandchildren, I hope we figure it
At least we know Trump was born here! Do we know for certain that Obama was? No!
ReplyDeleteoh dear Anon, Where have you been? last week our President showed his bc-and unless the whole of Hawaii is to be questioned-I accept it. ARe you sure you are not Orly Taitz?
ReplyDelete& do we really know the D. was born here, rumor has it he was born in Alaska.
Oh, and the infamous Osama Bin Laden was executed last night-shot through the eye-dna confirmed. We are past that one would hope, real problems abound.
Get over it- again.
Lolz. All of this 'inspiration' in your life and you still seem so very unhappy and tense. Gee, maybe you should get over it? Oh, and great luck with your relentless desperate climbing. Lol!
ReplyDeletefunny I was thinking the same thing of you- in the obnoxious comment you left. As is typical with school room bullies- since you are determined to misbehave little one-no more Anon. comments for you-or ice cream.
ReplyDeleteCome back if you have a name- and no lack of laughter here. It is easier to climb with one-silly you.
I assume Ann in SF is referring to me as the "elite white". Ann has no idea, obviously, whether I'm black, white, blue or red and the phrase "elite white" was clearly intended to be insulting. I'm guessing that Ann considers herself to be "super-elite" and from that high perch she feels well-positioned to put others less lofty and enlightened than she down. If relative stages of improvement cannot be recognized and appreciated, there is little chance of further improvement occurring. And I'm sorry to have simply described Jonathan Capehart as "feckless". That was too kind. I really think he's one of the most mediocre and predictable journalists on the scene today. As for Donald Trump questioning the president's educational bona fides, think of him what you will (he provides ample food for thought, I suppose), but the president's continued refusal to release academic records is absolutely mystifying to me. This is standard-issue disclosure and you will recall from recent history George W. Bush and John Kerrey each submitting to this without whining. In connection with jobs far less prestigious than president of the United States, throughout my career (and more and more frequently in recent years) I have had to prove the facts contained in my resume by providing academic transcripts, as well as verifying citizenship and submitting to drug tests. It shouldn't be that big a deal. Curtis Roberts
ReplyDelete