When people ask, "what is the biggest mistake made in the Black Panther Party?" I tell them very clearly that what we did wrong was to take God out of the movement. -Afeni Shakur (Former Black Panther and Mother of slain rapper,Tupac Shakur)
First it was Tim Russerts’ question to Sen. Barack Obama on live television about whether or not he supported The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan (or was it some of Farrakhan’s past statements?). During the interrogation Russert mentions Jeremiah Wright, but keeps the focus on Farrakhan. Obama wisely cut off Russert (who was gearing up to go down a line of alleged Farrakhan quotes), stated his position, and scurried the conversation forward. As many suspected, however, the “drive-by” mention was just a preview of the scrutiny to come.
I don’t have time to fully unpack this, but suffice to say when Tim Russert asked Barack Obama about whether he rejected the support of the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan and Obama “denounced and rejected” the Minister, a little air left my Barack Obama balloon.
I am fully aware of the particular nature of national politics and that it is a game, at times, of compromise, however, it does not sit well with me that Obama obliged mainstream thought and separated himself from a man that many in the African American community respect and hold in high esteem. He allowed mainstream thought to decide for him who the villains and heroes of our society are. He put the Minister at arms length and, I think, by extension showed that he is willing to put his people at arms length if it is politically expedient to do so.
Again - I understand that this is part and parcel of the game that seemingly must be played to get to the White House, but this morning and last night - that move by the Senator from Illinois does not sit well with me. Who’s to say that he won’t have to continue this behavior of rejecting those African Americans that mainstream america doesn’t like - Nat Turner, Malcolm X, Assata Shakur, John Brown, Jeremiah Wright, etc.??
Then again I asked myself how would I have responded on live television to that question. After having the luxury to think it out a bit more; I decided that I would have said something to the effect of welcoming votes from all quarters of America and that the name of the game in national politics is to get more votes. Then I might have gone on to say that the support given by the Minister is evidence of the BIG TENT - the American tent that “my” campaign makes room for. It doesn’t mean that everyone under the tent of voting for me will agree on everything, but it means that the majority of Americans feel like the established system is ignoring them and that people are setting aside their differences to find common ground in an effort to move this country forward in a positive direction. (Barack - feel free to take this line for the next time you’re asked about this…yes, I give you permission.)
Democratic hopeful, Hilary Clinton, took it to the next level over the weekend as she accused Obama’s campaign of engaging in dirty politics. At the center of it were two mailings that Obama is sending around that Hilary says are false. Obama responded that there is nothing false about them and they’ve been around for weeks. He suggested that this was a tactical move by Clinton being that all of her hopes hinge on how she does in the next round of primaries on March 4. Desperate times calls for desperate measures.
In the CNN/Univision debate last week, some of that desperation from Hilary came out again when she accused Obama of plagiarism saying that he stole lines from one of his national co-chairs, Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick. Obama explained that Patrick told him to use the lines before saying that we were entering “silly season” in the political race. That’s when Hilary came back saying that Obama isn’t offering change you can believe in, but “change you can xerox.”
“BOOOOOO!“, the crowd responded.
Interestingly enough, I found this youtube video this morning that points out some interesting passages that Hilary has seemed to “borrow” from past candidates and her husband. Her regurgitation of her husband’s lines is especially interesting because that was her closing line at the CNN debate that many of the TV talking-heads said gave her the slight edge in the contest.
