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Thursday, August 28, 2008

"Clean, articulate" minorities

Joe Biden notoriously characterized Barak Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Biden got away with it because Biden is a white liberal, and if you’re a white liberal bigot, you get a pass.

It’s not that Biden is consciously racist. What comes through is the subliminal racism. He has such low expectations for blacks that he’s impressed by someone like Obama, since Obama is an exception to his low expectations.

And this isn’t limited to Biden. This is typical of the white liberal establishment. It reacts the same way to Obama as Biden, although it’s not as indiscreet as Biden.

I don’t doubt that Obama is bright and articulate. He’s far more articulate than George Bush or John McCain, to take two examples. But he’s overrated.

Of the top of my head, I can think of three other black public speakers who strike me as being more intellectually nimble and verbally agile than Obama: John McWhorter, Tavis Smiley, and Marc Lamont Hill.

And that’s even before we compare him to a real heavyweight like Tom Sowell.

Or suppose we compare him to another Democrat politician: Bill Clinton. Honestly, who’s the more fluent speaker?

Obama’s good with a teleprompter, but he’s not good at ad libbing.

Obama is overrated because white liberals have such low expectations of blacks. And they clearly have a very limited exposure to “clean, bright, articulate” blacks, in Biden’s invidious comparison. They mainly associate with other white liberals.

For them, blacks are abstractions. They treat them like stray cats. Something to be taken in and fed and petted and nursed back to health by the liberal white veterinarian or pet-owner.

8 comments:

  1. I disagree that Obama is a good public speaker. He's decent, I guess, when he has a TelePrompTer in front of him, but when he's speaking extemporaneously, he's just this side of lousy.
    Better than Dubya, yes, kinda. Dubya doesn't backchannel "uh, ummmm, uh" nearly as much as the Big O.

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  2. I've always thought that Dr. Ben Carson, Johns Hopkins Pediatrics, is one of the fastest and funniest on his feet when it comes to public speaking. He is not a pro, however, afterall medicine is his field.

    As for professional speakers,in which category I place Obama, Dr. Voddie Baucham is incomparable. Obama can only wish he could speak like this man.

    Obama's mediocrity is just so much better than most Democratic politicians, they have to love him.

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  3. Respectfully, Biden didn't "get away with it." He was roundly criticized for his remarks, especially on liberal blogs. While it didn’t doom his presidential campaign all by itself, it immediately soured the liberal blogosphere on Biden’s run.

    And what do you mean by “get away with it?” What’s your standard for not getting away with it? Getting voted out of office? Congressional censure? Mob violence? Google the words “clean, bright, articulate.” You’ll generate hundreds of news articles commenting unfavorably on Biden’s gaffe. It’s not like he paid no price for his remarks. He just didn’t pay enough, apparently, to satisfy your tastes.

    And did you notice that Obama himself selected Biden as his VP? Last time I checked, Obama was not white liberal. Might this suggest that Biden’s words, while somewhat naïve, weren’t so insulting to the black community as to end his political career? Might this suggest that the Democratic Party has a more realistic assessment of the actual import of Biden’s words that you do? You may think that Biden’s words were just the worst thing ever said by anyone ever, but apparently the Black community disagrees with you.

    Re: your comment that white liberals have little exposure to “clean, bright, articulate” blacks, and therefore overrate Obama’s candidacy: what, exactly, is the basis for this claim? I’m reasonably sure that most while liberals are familiar with Charlie Rangle, Jessie Jackson Jr., John Conyers, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Maxine Waters, Donna Edwards, and John Lewis (not to mention black politicians of an earlier era, like Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan). I’m also reasonably sure that these people are (or were) clean, bright, and articulate. How much exposure do we white liberals need to black politicians before they are no longer “abstractions” to us, in your opinion? I’m serious. I’d like to see that quantified, so I can tell my fellow white liberals when we have enough exposure to clean, bright, articulate blacks to actually vote for a black politician on the merits.

    And doesn’t your argument mean that white conservatives will be even more likely to overrate clean, bright, articulate black Republicans, since there are far fewer of them than there are similarly situated Democrats? If I recall correctly, there are no black Republican politicians currently serving in Congress. Not a one. So when the Republican Party selects Colin Powell to run for president in 2012, you will naturally conclude that his accomplishments are overrated by Republicans, right? Or is this one of those things that only applies to white liberals – you know, the ones that actually elect blacks to federal office on occasion?

    Re your comment that white liberals treat blacks” like stray cats . . . [s]omething to be taken in and fed and petted and nursed back to health by the liberal white veterinarian or pet-owner.” See above. The overwhelming majority of blacks in elective office are Democrats. We’ve just selected Obama as our presidential nominee. The logical inference is that we actually think that some blacks are worth voting for because they’ll do a good job. What logic compels your inference to the contrary?

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  4. TOM PETERS SAID:

    “And what do you mean by ‘get away with it?’ What’s your standard for not getting away with it?”

    Does “Trent Lott” ring a bell?

    “It’s not like he paid no price for his remarks.”

    What price did he pay? What tangible difference did it make? For example, did he lose a chairmanship over his remarks? No. Nothing changed.

    “And did you notice that Obama himself selected Biden as his VP? Last time I checked, Obama was not white liberal.”

    Last time I checked, my post was about white liberals, not black liberals.

    “Might this suggest that Biden’s words, while somewhat naïve, weren’t so insulting to the black community as to end his political career?”

    If David Duke said the same thing, would you excuse his remarks as merely “naïve”?

    “Might this suggest that the Democratic Party has a more realistic assessment of the actual import of Biden’s words that you do?”

    No, what it suggests is that Obama is just another cynical politician.

    “You may think that Biden’s words were just the worst thing ever said by anyone ever, but apparently the Black community disagrees with you.”

    The “Black community” didn’t pick Biden for Veep, Obama did.

    “I’m reasonably sure that most while liberals are familiar with Charlie Rangle, Jessie Jackson Jr., John Conyers, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Maxine Waters, Donna Edwards, and John Lewis (not to mention black politicians of an earlier era, like Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan).”

    You confuse knowing *about* someone (like I know about Paris Hilton) with knowing someone. Yes, most liberals are familiar with black political celebrities.

    That’s quite different than having black friends and neighbors, attending black churches, &c.

    “I’m also reasonably sure that these people are (or were) clean, bright, and articulate.”

    Not by Biden’s yardstick. According to Biden, they were (or are) dirty, dumb, ugly, and inarticulate.

    “How much exposure do we white liberals need to black politicians before they are no longer ‘abstractions’ to us, in your opinion? I’m serious.”

    Try living in Harlem. Or Watts. Or Bed-Stuy. Or the Deep South.

    “I’d like to see that quantified, so I can tell my fellow white liberals when we have enough exposure to clean, bright, articulate blacks to actually vote for a black politician on the merits.”

    And do you think that if Biden had more exposure, he would make the same remark about blacks?

    “And doesn’t your argument mean that white conservatives will be even more likely to overrate clean, bright, articulate black Republicans, since there are far fewer of them than there are similarly situated Democrats?”

    Thanks for illustrating my point that, for liberals like you, blacks are abstractions. The only blacks you can name are black politicians, whether Democrats or Republicans. Political celebrities. Television personalities.

    “If I recall correctly, there are no black Republican politicians currently serving in Congress. Not a one.”

    We can only vote for candidates who choose to run. If I recall correctly, there are also no one-armed Rastafarian midgets serving in Congress. Not a one.

    “So when the Republican Party selects Colin Powell to run for president in 2012, you will naturally conclude that his accomplishments are overrated by Republicans, right?”

    Actually, I do think his accomplishments are overrated.

    Give me someone like Thomas Sowell or Bobby Jindal to vote for.

    “Or is this one of those things that only applies to white liberals – you know, the ones that actually elect blacks to federal office on occasion?”

    Your argument is circular. Democrats vote for Democrats and Republicans vote for Republicans.

    J. C. Watts had no difficulty getting elected and reelected in an overwhelmingly white, Republican red state because he ran as a conservative.

    “The logical inference is that we actually think that some blacks are worth voting for because they’ll do a good job.”

    No, you only vote for blacks who think like white liberals.

    “What logic compels your inference to the contrary”

    Does “Clarence Thomas” ring a bell?

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  5. Obama is overrated because white liberals have such low expectations of blacks.

    Hmmmm trying to go after Obama for not being a good public speaker seems to me as silly as trying to run against Tiger Woods by saying he cheats on his golf score.

    But while you are talking about the expectations whites have of public speakers perhaps you can tell us about the 'high expectations' of speaking ability that got both Bushs elected.

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  6. BOONTON SAID:

    “Hmmmm trying to go after Obama for not being a good public speaker seems to me as silly as trying to run against Tiger Woods by saying he cheats on his golf score.”

    I see that literacy isn’t your forte. I wasn’t going “after Obama for not being a good public speaker.” I was merely pointing out that he’s overrated in that dept. And I made that point in the context of white liberals who think his oratorical skills are a major selling point. That represents their yardstick, not mine.

    And if you think that Barak Obama is to oratory what Tiger Woods is to golf, then you’ve just done a wonderful job of illustrating my point about liberal condescension towards minority groups. You’re right up there with Biden. Why don’t you take out a membership with the Klan to make it official.

    “But while you are talking about the expectations whites have of public speakers perhaps you can tell us about the 'high expectations' of speaking ability that got both Bushs elected.”

    Once again, I see that literacy is not your forte. You’re a tribute to our liberal public education system.

    But if you could read, you’d notice that I already said Obama was a better public speaker than Bush.

    And, of course, I didn’t say anything about the expectations of whites in general with reference to public speakers in general. My post specifically referred to liberal white expectations about blacks.

    Nice to see a liberal like you unwittingly corroborate my post.

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  7. "And if you think that Barak Obama is to oratory what Tiger Woods is to golf, then you’ve just done a wonderful job of illustrating my point about liberal condescension towards minority groups. You’re right up there with Biden. Why don’t you take out a membership with the Klan to make it official. "

    You're saying I'm racist because I think Obama is a great public speaker? The comparison might be a bit off because Woods is probably the best golfer in the world at the moment...I'm not sure I'd say Obama is the best speaker in the world but if I had to endure a 60 minute speech from anyone in the news at the moment it would be Obama. What is your reasoning here? I can see how people can differ in evaluating something subjective like public speaking ability but it is pretty hard, IMO, to seriously argue Obama is not excellent at speaking. You can say Bill Clinton is better. IMO Clinton is good at the 'folksy' aspect of speaking but he lacks Obama's ability to be inspirational (or as inspirational) and he sometimes suffers from getting bogged down in details.

    "And, of course, I didn’t say anything about the expectations of whites in general with reference to public speakers in general. My post specifically referred to liberal white expectations about blacks."

    So you admit Obama is a better speaker than Bush. What exactly are you saying about expectations? That whites expect blacks to be as poor speakers as Bush so Obama is getting overpraised? That's not really reality, public speaking is highly valued in the black community especially in black churches. In wider America public speaking is not so highly valued. The days of Lincoln, when people would flock to just hear public spheeches, are long gone and speeches are often seen as a formality to be endured rather than a combination of art and sport to be admired.

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