So I was watching Fox News some odd moment this past weekend. Probably Saturday morning when I was avoiding getting up at all costs. In any event, it was more of a zoom by as I was looking for some good quality trash tv to watch (The Bad Girls Club is a good one on a Saturday morning if you're looking too).
Anyhow, Fox was all over the whole South Carolina is good to go now, but so long Mr. Black Barack Obama. Or something along those lines. The whole race issue and all (like the gender issue, etc.)
Now. I'm fond of saying you can't have it both ways. My better half is all about how masterful the Clintons are at spin--make it your message and all. I'll definitely give them that. So when Bill (first name is okay right? Cause he surely ain't been acting anything "stately" or "Presidential" to garner much more than that lately) spun me dizzy on the whole "Well, you know, Jesse Jackson won So. Cackalacka (and you know he would have said it that way if he could have guaranteed 20 more votes from my people) back then too." I was all "well ain't that a trip?!"
There are so many MANY layers to that. There is the easy one to pick up all Jesse Jackson was black and so is Obama so...there's your black candidate.
But dig deeper. There's the whole "back in the 80's" tone...for a candidate of change and progression, what bigger smear than "talk about taking us back...waaaaay back...to the 80s..." that's a heavy hit.
So I'm dizzy and it really has nothing to do with "Yeah...let's not have the Michigan and Florida delegates seated because I'ma have this locked by then anyway but oh wait...I duped everyone else into not campaigning there and now I know I've got the edge so I want the delegates seated." We can all change our minds and all. I LOVED those SNL sketches with Al "I changed my mind" Gore. I gotta download those.
Nah. Lost in the shuffle of black folks coming home to vote for one of their own (and the scorch and burn politics of pissin' folks off so bad that if their candidate ISN'T the nominee, then they'll just stay home and not participate) is the fact that Mr. "He's a Black Man" Barack ALSO picked up a heavy tally of white votes. And women votes. And rural and urban and...
The message. Change. When people get so fed up with what is, to the point that they can't even imagine anything remotely worse to be afraid of that they just want change for the sake of change...THAT is when apathy breaks. THAT is when people get out and go vote. THAT is when people say enough is enough and they see results like Iowa (Huckabee and Barack) and results like New Hampshire (Clinton and McCain) and results like Nevada (popular vote vs. delegate count on the dem side) and results like South Carolina (landslide for Barack) and they say:
Hot damn! I really DO make a difference in this.
Why ruin it with politics as usual??
One last note on South Carolina. Street money. Research it. Understand it. And then understand how historic that democratic primary was.
That said...back to Fox. There was a headline about Oprah and the business of politics. I didn't see the story as I was a bit...ahem...busy. BUT, I can only imagine by her lack of presence now and her base of viewers that her choice to be vocal in her support was pretty gutsy. I mean yeah, most of her viewers and fans were all up on the "Sure O, whatever you say O, buy what again O?" BUT, I'm sure she caught some flack for it. Kinda like how Toni Morrison had been taking heat for her '98 essay blessing Clinton as the first black president. She restored my faith in all things Beloved with her endorsement today. But even that was not topped by Caroline Kennedy and her uncle.
My better half called it. THIS is one for the history books. Yeah, the last two elections were as well, for less than honorable reasons. But after those two elections (not the outcome, just how they played out) I had lost hope that I'd ever give two rips about another national election in this country. Never did I imagine that I'd care because it was so exciting in a GOOD way.
As you were. Toni...you're invited back over for book club again.
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