Letters to the Editor
weeping for brunnhilde
Published Letters: 1150 Editor's Choice: 3
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@ Clear Blue Sea
[Read the article: Barack Obama, working-class hero?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wow, thank you for such a warm, moving story.
On behalf of Obama's supporters, please extend a "welcome aboard!" to you and yours!
It's so refreshing to hear about real human beings rather than hearing talking heads speak of stock characters and poll data.
A good friend of mine, her husband and their one-month old all turned out to the Penn State event, and she said it was magical and that people came from miles around.
She also remarked that Obama's a brave man, due to the snipers she noticed everywhere and what she thought was the heightened security.
It took me a long time to warm up to Obama (I'm coming from a hard-left, black, academic background, so my concern was that he wasn't boldly leftist enough), and one of the factors that pushed me over the edge was the recognition that he is, quite literally, putting his life on the line in a way the others are not.
That fact alone persuaded me to give him the benefit of the doubt, that he really did have something to say, and a vision worth risking his life for. It's no small thing for his wife to have endorsed this, so I have to believe this is about more than just personal ambition.
Thanks again for your perspective!
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@ david sugarman
[Read the article: Barack Obama, working-class hero?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not sure if you're being ironic or not, but no, it's not that he wasn't "black enough," but that he wasn't radical enough. I think I see your point, though, about our perspectives and first responses being so different. Yes, he wasn't "black enough" for me inasmuch as blackness confers radical politics, perspective, etc. But frankly, most of the black politicians I see on the television leave me feeling underwhelmed. Of course, most of the politicians I see on the television leave me feeling that way, so there you have it.
But initially, I too thought Obama was a breath of fresh air, but I wasn't convinced he was Up to the Moment, as it were, equal to the Fierce Urgency of Now he talks about. But then, no one up there seemed up to it. Kucinich obviously was my ideological choice, but he obviously wasn't viable.
Obama's the first viable candidate I can remember that I've actually wanted to vote for.
Yes, your point is taken indeed, it was Obama's ability to unite that impressed me. Once people in Iowa voted for him (and I lived in Iowa, for many years) I really started to believe maybe he could put together a working majority.
At any rate, it's clear (to me) he's the only one who even stands a chance at that. There can be no "forward" movement under McCain or Clinton. The best Clinton could ever be is a placeholder and frankly, we're long past the point where that's even remotely adequate.
Clinton is issue-oriented, which is fine for rapid response, but I don't think she thinks structurally or long-term, which is why we need someone who can actually plan for the future.
So far, Clinton has displayed ZERO evidence of being able to show the foresight God gave a billy goat.
That's what happens when you spend your life in survival mode.
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@ david
[Read the article: Barack Obama, working-class hero?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Also, David, one of the ways that racism works (at least in my case) is that it has created in me a natural resistance towards black candidates, fearing lest I be engaging in some kind of tribalism.
Of course, white people don't have this problem because white candidates are just candidates.
So I had my own vetting process with Obama, focussed around a good many factors, but one of them was assuring myself I didn't just like him because he was black (or for that matter, Ivy-educated and in my generation). But all those things we do share and maybe ultimately those are the most compelling argument to me and the rest is all justification.
I don't think that's the case, but who knows, really?
I wouldn't presume to have it all figured out.
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@ Kate Tex
[Read the article: Barack Obama, working-class hero?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks, Kate. I don't think I was generalizing about his ability to unite, though. I think I was just speaking of this case, the way that David and I apparently came towards Obama from two different perspectives. And not just to him as a random Democrat, but because we both were drawn towards Obama the human (not to speak for David).
Honestly, I don't feel like clicking to those links, but if you'd like to paraphrase for me, I'd be happy to listen.
I don't believe in heresies, btw. So long as what you have to say is intellectually honest engaging (polemic has its uses, but it's generally spectacularly unproductive, if serious engagement is your goal).
But let's grant your premise, that Obama's not a "uniter." The question then becomes whether McCain and Clinton are more unifying, and then the question becomes, unifying to what end?