The Obama - Moses Ad: Or, PTTMCHLICMAM

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

PTTMCHLICMAM? We’ll get to that in a moment.

First an acknowledgment:

It’s getting increasingly harder to write these blog entries, primarily because there’s so much to write about, it’s difficult to settle on something and just, well, write it. But this morning, the McCain campaign has bestowed upon me an incredible gift - the gift of a lifted writer’s block. Thank you, John McCain!

Okay (clear throat). So, if you’re like me, you spent some part of yesterday scratching your head, trying to understand why the McCain campaign thinks that an ad depicting Moses (played by a recently deceased and beloved actor), and showing Senator Obama in various stages of his campaign (sometimes joking, sometimes lifting audiences with one of his soaring speeches) is anything but - dumb. And offensive if you REALLY loved “The Ten Commandments”.

This new ad was just as strange and confusing as the now infamous “Britney-Paris’ ad. The truth is, it was only because I had been forewarned that the BP ad was out there that I even knew it was a McCain ad. The references to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton were strange to be sure, but the ad, like this new one, shows our favorite Senator in front of adoring crowds, and has a constant ‘Obama! Obama!’ chant in the background. If you’re watching these ads and you’re a supporter of Senator Obama’s, you won’t know whether to cheer or collapse on the floor in a fit of confusion. But I can tell you that what I was at NO time tempted to do, was doubt the importance of Senator Obama’s ability to inspire, because (and please listen closely Mr. McCain) that is what real leaders do.

I think the McCaininites have stepped in it this time. If I were writing ads for the Obama Campaign, I would be all over this like a cheap suit, because in attempting to question whether or not Senator Obama can lead, what they’ve really done is shined a light on the fact that as one who has an almost endless ability to inspire, he possesses what is considered to be one of the most important traits of a truly great leader.

That’s Management 101 people. Any random Google search of ‘What makes a great leader?’ will return a list similar to the one below:

1. Visionary
2. Inspirational
3. Strategic
4. Tactical
5. Focused
6. Persuasive
7. Likable
8. Decisive
9. Ethical
10. Open to criticism

Let’s examine, shall we? Let’s see - John McCain is no visionary, and I think that by producing these ads his campaign has all but admitted that he’s about as inspirational as a bag of dirt. His ability to act strategically and tactically? Hmmm - he’s been in the Senate for like, a billion years, so I guess one has to assume that he has some measure of these skills. Let’s keep it movin’.

Watching him on the campaign trail, I haven’t seen much focus, and let’s face it, he is neither persuasive or likable. I’m sure he’s plenty decisive, but he’s proven in the past that ethics could be a problem for him. And finally, if you’ve seen him growl at one of his press corp reporters from time to time, you know he’s not the best at taking criticism. The evidence is overwhelming - the McCain campaign really needs to stop asking whether or not Senator Obama can lead, before someone turns the question back around on them.

This is a slippery slope for a number of reasons. The McCain campaign has to know that any line of attack that assumes that Senator Obama is all glorious speeches and no substance is a direct insult to me and people like me - and Senator Obama has said as much in his responses to these strange ads. And I feel it personally, because by throwing up the whole ‘Obama thinks he’s Moses’ thing, the McCain campaign is accusing me, and all of you, of being Pied-Piper like lemmings, with no real discernible ability to choose a candidate based on the issues, especially if he happens to be charismatic, drop dead gorgeous, and an impassioned and eloquent speaker.

Following that line of thought, there are a lot of great leaders who should have had ad campaigns levied at them chocked full of mocking references to biblical figures. Try to imagine what it would have been like if in 1980, Jimmy Carter’s campaign, desperate to stem the tide of admiration for Ronald Reagan and his good looks, articulate speeches, and Washington outsider status, had resorted to such tactics, perhaps by producing ads comparing him to Jonah, complete with a big whale that spewed peanuts, or hair gel.

The hair gel thing was a reference to Ronald Reagan’s always perfectly coiffed hair. I’ll move on.

Or if in 1960, Richard Nixon, upset by a clear upstaging from a young and attractive John F. Kennedy Jr., had somehow been able to foist ads upon us that compared him to John The Baptist - can’t you just see it? John The Baptist baptizing Uncle Sam in some lame attempt at belittling JFK?

Sounds ridiculous, I know, but no more so than the crap the McCain campaign put out this past week. Sadly, though their methods are goofy, I actually would have been disappointed if they hadn’t come back with something after having to sit through footage of Senator Obama in front of 200,000 chanting Europeans last week, all of whom seemed to be screaming, “We want you to lead the Free World, and not the old guy! We want you to lead the Free World and not the old guuuuuyyyyyy!” That would send any candidate over the edge. But it simply points out McCain’s clear disadvantage to produce these kinds of ads, and does nothing to change the inescapable fact that inspiration is what we want in our leaders. And those of us who know, know that Senator Obama is the near perfect combination of inspiration, brilliance and charisma. And more importantly than that, he knows how to inspire people to action, and then lead them when they move to act. John McCain couldn’t inspire me to even turn up the volume on one of his speeches, let alone do anything else he asked of me.

I understand this is all just politics. I do. But what I don’t get is how the McCain campaign could possibly get away with a line of attack that is first of all offensive, secondly - more than a little ridiculous, and thirdly, borderline blasphemy. Attacking Senator Obama because he’s inspirational? That’s like blasting Kobe Bryant because he’s good at popping 3-pointers.

If the McCain campaign wants to go all ‘can he lead?’ on us, then let us examine the facts, lest we forget:

Senator Obama has lead a campaign that on its own, and without special interest PAC money, has raised over $340,000,000 dollars.

Senator Obama has single-handedly awakened the American people from a long, tortuous slumber, brought on by decade after decade of exclusionary politics, and moved millions of them to get and stay involved in the political process.

Senator Obama has run an organization that at every step of the way has been professional, productive, organized, and meticulous in its dealings with his opponents, the media, and each other.

Senator Obama has consistently stayed on the defensive when it comes to negative campaigning, and has at no time resorted to the childish and misleading tactics that the McCain campaign has this week, and has been adamant about keeping his message about the issues and the needs of the American people.

Yikes - I could go on and on. But the bottom line is, I was not fooled by the McCain campaign’s attempt to lessen the importance of the man who is destined to become the next President of the United States, and I don’t think very many other people will be either. Just check out the blogs, they’re telling the story this morning. I think even McCain supporters are wincing over this one, and it’s hard to blame them. By now, they too are convinced as I am that this is ‘PTTMCHLICMAM’ - Proof-That-The-McCain-Campaign-Has-Lost-It’s-Collective-Monkey-Ass-Mind.

With A Supporter Like Jesse….

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

Oh boy.

Are you like me? When you saw the video today of Jesse Jackson whispering to an unknown guest about cutting off Senator Obama’s family jewels on FOX NEWS no less, did you cringe? Did you pray for a meteor or asteroid (I’ve never known the difference) to fall from the sky and incinerate Reverend Rude in an instant and in such a way that it would leave everything and everyone who might be around him intact and unharmed?

A better question - when you heard that self-serving, foul-mouthed, political call-boy say what could only be described as “the dumbest crap I’ve ever heard, bar none” with a look on his face like he’d just stolen the last Pop-Tart and left the empty box in the pantry right before dinner, did YOU read more into it than the media did?

I did. But first things first.

By now, unless you’ve been sleeping off a Twinkie binge, you know that Jesse Jackson, my favorite foot-in-mouther and yours, was caught yet a-(damned)-gain on tape, casting aspersions on our favorite Senator. I wish I could tell you that he accused Senator Obama os bad breath. I wish I could tell you that he had questioned, oh, Senator Obama’s taste in neck ties. Heck, I even wish I could report to you that in a moment of mysogeny, he lewdly declared Michelle Obama, “hot like lava”. I wish I could tell you that he had said ANYTHING but what came out of his mouth when he thought he wasn’t being heard. But hey - we ARE talking about Jesse Jackson here.

At some point during his interview with Fox Fake-News channel, Reverend (I REPEAT) REVEREND Jesse Jackson let the following words slip from his lips: (Viewer Discretion Is Advised):

“See, Barack been, um, talking down to black people. I wanna cut his nuts off.”

My boy definitely gets the “WTF” award for this week. Listen, what he said was shocking, true. But WHAT he said, was not nearly as shocking as HOW he said it. If you haven’t seen the video, please take five and locate it on CNN and have a look. I’ll wait.

Did you see what I saw?!?! There was an insidiousness to his remarks, and the devious way he let them slither out of his mouth just oozed, “Yeah - this dude thinks he’s taken the love of my black people away from ME?!?! He thinks he can roll through and usurp my ‘I-almost-became-president-even-though-I-never-really-got-close’ legacy?!?!? Aw, naw, naw, he’s actually been talkin’ down to my people, so I’m ’bout to expose him for what he really is, thus restoring the faith and love of da black race to its rightful place - with me, with me, WITH MEEEEEEEE!!!”

Stop - don’t close the browser! I’m being harsh, you say? I’m reading too much into Jesse’s latest round of jaw jappin’ you say? Uhhhhh, I don’t think so. And here’s why.

As you may recall, in a previous article, I wrote about my suspicions that Jesse Jackson’s hesitance to back Barack Obama at the time was probably attributable to a pretty bad Hatorade habit. My supposition was that Reverend Jackson, himself once a Presidential candidate of course, simply could not fathom the success of the young, popular upstart from Illinois, and similarly, could not resist (again, at the time) publicly dissing his efforts to win the Democratic nomination. Further, I hypothesized that Mr. Jackson would rather have done whatever he could to derail Senator Obama so that he could stand over his political carcass and cry, “See, he’s JUST as black and unelectable as I am!!! See! Seeeeeeeeee!”, than stand by the historic sidelines as someone who came outta nowhere, put together a stellar campaign organization, and by all accounts just did it all better, faster, and stronger than Jesse was able to.

And I’m sorry folks, I believe it to this day. Jesse just can’t stop hating on my boy. So let’s just revisit once again, PRECISELY what Reverend “Needs-To-Focus-On-Hatin-The-Game” had to say to the co-guest on Fox News who shall remain nameless:

“See, Barack been, um, talking down to black people. I wanna cut his nuts off.”

Okay. Here’s the real problem with this, people - I watched the video half a dozen times. Mr. Jackson has already started to call in his explanations to the media, saying that he was taken ‘out of context’, so I’ve been sitting here, squinting at the screen as I watch the video for the last half hour, turning my head from side to side, trying to do something, anything that would make me hear or see what he said in any other context than what he, well, meant to say it in. No luck.

The look on his face, the tone in his voice, the very way he delivered that last line - “I wanna cut his nuts off”, did not say, “Man, I’m so MAD at Barack, I could just CUT HIS NUTS OFF!” No. It said, “I GOT this sucka now!”

Let that marinate. Feel free to go watch the video again and tell me what YOU see.

But here’s the best part - I’ve also heard his apology, and while his contrition might seem convincing, his explanation of what he meant to convey is laughable. Reverend Jackson actually presumes to lecture Senator Obama on the need to deliver a ‘broader, moral’ message to black people, one that doesn’t look down on them, but stresses urban justice, and pushes for policies that I guess will somehow magically make so many black men stop leaving their kids in single parent homes. This from a man who had to briefly withdraw from public life after it was discovered that he had not only, a) fathered a love child with a young hottie on his staff during an extra-marital affair, but b), used Rainbow Push Coalition money to fund a move for her, and to pay her for “consulting services”. THIS man let the word ‘moral’ spring from his lips today.

Now, I realize that Jesse is no stranger to controversy, or to sticking his foot in his mouth, and that you might be thinking that I’m over-reacting somewhat. By I have to disagree - in an age where black women are heading up more households than ever before, and when 70% of OUR children are born out of wedlock, and when it seems more of our men go to prison than earn college degrees, some things needed to be said, and I support Senator Obama 100% in having the courage to say them.

But - I also acknowledge that some of Jesse’s points have merit. A broader conversation DOES need to take place about the fact that in this country, a college-educated black man will still tend to be overlooked in favor of a white man with none of his credentials by most corporate recruiters. And a broader conversation DOES need to occur about the fact that the residual effects of slavery are still being felt in our communities, even if just financially. And a broader conversation DOES need to take place about the self-loathing and doubt that often times derail our efforts to snatch our rightful chunk of the American Dream.

We need to have LOTS fo conversations. But the FIRST one we need to have is about why one of our prolific black leaders would ever feel the need to cut anything off of Senator Obama or anyone else, literally or figuratively. There needs to be a discussion about the public faces, and the not-so public faces of the people that we trust to represent our interests, even informally. And there needs to be a discussion about how if we can’t come together as a people to support one of our own, someone who is clearly so ready, so capable, so destined to lead this country, we cannot possibly hope to come together and have a meaningful dialog aobut how to begin to make a dent in the socio-economic condition of so many of our masses who have been left behind - that “broader, moral” discussion Reverend Jackson so passionately seeks.

That’s IT, son. You just lost your civil rights leader card. You do NOT get to proclaim yourself a leader of black men, and then connive and scheme to derail the efforts of one of our beloved. The Obama train is headed to the future, Jesse - for some reason, you’ve chosen to hold onto the end of it, your heels digging into the dirt, sparks flying, trying to slow it down. What’s worse? Today, Reverend Jackson, you proved that you’d even go so far as to pull the emergency brake on the train that so many of us are riding on, if given half a chance. And that sucks.

So, what us gon’ do for a leader now, Black America? Hey! I know! I say we go with the man that has shown that he can lead ALL Americans, and conduct himself always in a way that we can respect and be proud of as Black Americans. It’s been pretty sad to watch the shenanigans of some of the men who claim to have our best interests at heart during this process - Andrew Young, John Lewis (before he converted), Jesse. It’s disheartening, but I guess we can take solace in the fact that even the dirtiest of dirt done in the dark always comes to light. Man, you think Jesse would have learned THAT lesson by now.

Barack Obama’s The One!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that occassionally, I run across an amateur video-homage to Barack Obama that I decide to feature here on BWFO! Today’s video (yes) comes from YouTube, and a contributor who goes by the name of “Eracex”.

What to say about THIS video - remarkably creative, and a giggle inducer if you’re an Obama fan like I’m an Obama fan. A little hint - if you didn’t see Senator Obama dancing on the Ellen Degeneres show, just go ahead and click ‘play’:

You have to give Mr. Eracex points for creativity - taking the heated rantings of a man who is clearly NOT an Obama supporter, and turning them into a sample for such a catchy beat, that celebrates the man himself - I love it! And maybe we can all just decide to view this little video as a metaphor for our favorite Senator’s ability to withstand the slings and arrows that he so skillfully dodged during the Primary, and that he’s sure to fend off during the General Election as well.

Some may be concerned about Senator Obama’s perceived move to the political ‘center’ - not me. I understand that in order for Barack Obama to bring the change that we showed through our voting we so desperately long for, he has to make sure that mainstream America is comfortable that he is open to expanding his views on all issues - this is an absolute must if he is to pull together the coalition necessary to win in November, so it’s better that we all just relax and let the Obama Team do it’s thing. And I’m cool with that.

So fear not, Obamicans - I have no doubt that like the one-two punch he took at the bag in the video, Senator Obama and his brilliant campaign team are preparing to deliver the poltically fatal knockout punch to John McCain and his Bush-whacked policies this November, effectively obliterating John McCain’s chances at ever becoming President, and ending the Republicans’ reign of terror for the next 8 years. And let’s face it - when THAT happens, we’ll ALL feel like dancing. Even with Ellen if we have to.

Fox News’ Post-Racial Train Wreck

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

I have a stunning confession to make.

Prior to my activities as an Obama supporter and volunteer, I was a closet Fox News fan.

My affinity for Fox News began a few years back, when CNN was still a doddery, boring news channel, struggling to stem the tide of defections to the then new and exciting Fox News Network. I thought I was ‘different’, and ‘hip’ for watching the new upstart, and let’s face it, Fox News did usher in the age of cool graphics, cutting edge shows, and opinion-based journalism that now reigns supreme even at CNN with the likes of Lou Dobbs (cringe) and Anderson Cooper (yummy).

Please don’t get me twisted - I understood even then that their reporting was totally right-leaning, and often chuckled to myself at the notion that they were ‘fair and balanced’ even as I laughed at their on-air antics, but what can I say? I just really liked the on-air personalities and the fancy graphics. Pretty colors.

Also, because Sean Hannity had been a radio personality here in Atlanta, I’d followed his career all the way to Fox News. The show he did here was of course most definitely right-winged, but he at least seemed level-headed in his discussion of the issues of the day, and I saw nothing in him that seemed unfairly biased at all. And so, when he eventually made his way to Fox News, and well, blew up, I understood and even appreciated his success.

It all of course started to change when Fox News’ coverage of Election ‘08 kicked in. I was amused by Hannity’s “Stop Hillary Express”, because it was proof positive that like the Clintons, the boys at Fox never saw Barack Obama coming. And so I was of course not surprised when as it became apparent that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee, Fox and Sean Hannity decided to turn both barrels on him. It was then that I began to drift over to MSNBC and CNN to check out what was happening on the political reporting front, and it became patently clear that Fox was, let’s just say, a bit biased in it’s reporting. I went cold turkey on them then, because I wanted to hear only the positive news about my candidate for one, and also because I realized just how far the other cable news networks had come in retooling their shows, their on-air personalities, etc., to become more entertaining and informative while I had been languishing at Fox News.

What I did NOT see coming was how crazed the folks at Fox would soon become over the prospect of an Obama presidency, and the desperate, almost manic zeal with which they would soon begin attacking Senator Obama and all things African-American in order to sway the American people to their way of thinking. It would almost be funny if it weren’t so….unfunny.

For me, it all boils down to Fox News holding Senator Obama to a higher, more ridiculous standard than they ever would any white candidate. From their railing on about the absence of a lapel pin of the American flag on his suit jacket (when there is scant little evidence that ANY of the other candidates ever wore one) to their insistence on repeatedly running photos of him wearing Kenyan garb and using it to question his allegiance to radical Muslims - Fox has clearly and unfairly tried to strike fear in the hearts of the American people with this kind of rhetoric. But that’s only the beginning. The kind people of Fox News, and the myriad of pundits with which they associate have proven over the course of the last several months to be not only inconsistent standard bearers, but borderline racists, who are either actually panicked over the prospect of a black man becoming President, or doing a damned good job of making us all think they are.

Case in point - what the hell is a ‘terrorist fist jab’? When I learned that blonde bomb shell and Fox News host E. D. Hill had uttered these ridiculous words to describe the fist pound (as the mainstream media has NOW come to call it) that Michelle and Barack gave one another on the night that he clinched the nomination, I was mortified. I think it would have been perfectly appropriate to tease the Senator and his wife about what some might view as an unconventional salutation, but to characterize it as a ‘terrorist fist jab’ was just - dumb and racist. Period. And I guess I really didn’t want to believe that the guys and dolls at Fox were stupid racists - I wanted to believe that they just had strongly held views about their politics. Silly me.

Then of course, we have the ‘Fox & Friends’ crew, lamenting for a full TWO HOURS over Barack’s assertion that his grandmother was a ‘typical white person’ when he described how she might see people on the street that she might fear; this as news reports were breaking regarding the breach of the candidates’ passport files by Justice Department employees, and right after Senator Obama’s historic speech on race. It was like they hadn’t heard a single word of the speech, or chose to ignore its relevance. Either way, so blatant was their coverage that day that even Chris Wallace - himself a conservative Fox News personality - had to break in on air and ask them to make it stop, in what I consider to be one of the rare displays of balance I’ve seen on Fox since the election began.

And it goes on an on. Fox News dived all over a story from Insight, the online internet publication owned by the Washington Post, that reported that Senator Obama had attended a madrassah in Indonesia as a child, a type of school where young muslim extremists are educated. They later had to broadcast ‘clarifications’ regarding the story, which was of course false, but have yet to do a complete 180 on the essence of the story’s message.

We’ve had Liz Trotter, another Fox news reporter, crack a joke about assasinating Obama, graphics displayed during news stories referring to Michelle Obama as Barack’s ‘baby mama’, and a host of other reporting that has begun to make Fox News look like they’ve lost their collective minds. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING tops Sean Hannity’s lunatic ramblings night after night, after miserable night, over what he sees as Senator Obama’s radicalism, evidenced of course by his association to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Hannity’s blatant attempts at keeping the Trinity United Church of Christ and a handful of comments made by its former pastor over the span of 30 years alive and well in the minds of Americans is also racist, pure and simple. Racism after all, has been defined as an intolerance of another race or other races, and what Sean Hannity has displayed in his constant, never-ending reporting about Senator Obama, Reverend Wright, Michelle Obama (and her lack of pride in her country), etc., etc. is precisely that - intolerance. Intolerance of the black experience, intolerance of a man’s right to choose how and where he worships, intolerance of ideas different than his own - intolerance.

The idea that in a 2008 America, there are still people who don’t understand that many in the black community are still vocal about the ravages of economic and social inequality that have weighed our collective progress down since slavery is amazing to me. And that a man as intelligent, as thought-provoking and learned as I thought Sean Hannity was can’t seem to get past his flag-waving, love-me-or-leave-me American ideas long enough to acknowledge same is, well, disheartening.

And this, I think has been the most disappointing aspect of Fox News’ post-racial melt down, because as I said before, I never thought of Sean Hannity as a racist before - just a staunchly conservative, opinionated personality.

Only those who refuse to acknowledge the differences in who we are as black people, and what our experiences in this country have been would listen to his rantings and hear anything other than crap. And yet, with the launching of his ‘Stop Radical Obama Express’, he’s turned up the dial on the fear-mongering, race-baiting, and plain old lies all in order to quell the tide of support for a man who has never displayed even an ounce of intolerance for those different than himself in the twenty-plus years he has been a public servant. Mr. Hannity questions the judgement of Senator Obama over his association with Rev. Wright, but not John McCain’s over his involvement in the Keating 5 scandals of the late-eighties. He harangs Michelle Obama over the idea that this campaign has made her proud of her country for the first time in her life, but gives Cindy McCain a total pass on her past drug addiction and theft, and she and her father’s role in the same Keating scandals. And most disturbingly, he continues to drive home the idea that Senator Barack Obama is too ‘radical’ to be President, citing his ties to this controversial figure or that one, never bothering to expend a moment of airtime exporing the violent flip-flopping and pandering that John McCain has had to do in order to get and stay in the good graces of the Republican conservative wing.

But I guess he wouldn’t, would he? Because then he WOULD be fair and balanced. I don’t think that any of us that have set our sights on the transgressions of the Fox News Network want special treatment for Senator Obama or anyone else. I think we’d like for them to a) really try and be more responsible in their reporting, and b) take a deep and somber look at the level of bias they’ve introduced into this election cycle and put the brakes on it. It does nothing but harm the process, and I believe that most honest, good-hearted Americans are not buying it anyway.

If that weren’t true, Senator Obama would not be smoking John McCain in the polls in so many important swing states, as he is as of this writing. Sean, you are a brilliant guy - can’t you and your buddies at the network find a way to fight this battle based on the issues and not the fears of the American people? I hope you can, because BWFO is watching you, dude, all of you, and we’re going to shoot the tires off of the “Stop Radical Obama Express”. Believe that.

See You At The Finish Line!

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

I have to admit - at times, I have been just about ready to shoot myself in the face over this nomination process.

I can’t quite tell whether or not I’ve been antsy because I’ve never been this engaged in a nomination fight before, or if this really truly has been the world’s longest primary race, or race of any kind in fact. I guess I could delve into Wikipedia to try and gain some historic perspective, but damnit, I just don’t have the energy.

I think the most amazing part of being so deeply interested in the happenings of this particular race has been watching the cataclysmic shift in the political power base, and specifically watching Billary go kicking and screaming into their joint political sunsets. I don’t think anyone could have imagined a year and a half ago that we would be about to witness the bitter end of the Clinton era, and everything that entails. I don’t think anyone saw it coming, especially not the Clintons themselves - the ushering in of a new day, rife with so many possibilities. I also don’t think anyone could have predicted how really truly enlightening the whole thing would be - how many bright hot lights would be shone on so many things and people who I’m sure would rather have continued to dwell in the dark.

Let’s see - you have the Bush Administration, just recently being outed by Scott McClellan, who essentially in one fell literary swoop, validated everything that the nation has slowly on its own grown to know about Dubya’s White House, and it’s shady and reckless dealings. It feels to me like a pretty rare moment, when a consummate administration insider breaks under the pressure of his own conscience to cast such damaging aspersions on a sitting President - and just in time to save us from a possible third term at the hands of a man who thinks it was all okay. Whoa.

And of course you have Billary - and the take-no-prisoners, leave no truth standing approach to power grabbing that they’ve been accused of for so many years by the political right. I cannot tell you how many Rush Limbaugh littanies I’ve sat through during which he described the Clintons and their tactics in terms that at the time seemed petty, sarcastic, exaggerated, and otherwise unbelievable. As I re-play some of those snarling recitations back in my head now, I have to admit that the guy had a lot of it right. Much to the Clintons’ chagrin, the power of the media, the Internet, and technological advancements in general have made it possible for each and every one of their campaign-trail transgressions to be vetted and broadcast and bandied about in near real-time for every rabid blogger and every news organization in the world to guffaw about. I mean, even with my deep disdain for Ms. “they-shot-at-me-so-I-deserve-to-be-President”, I can’t help but believe that she honestly just didn’t realize how easy it would be for someone to produce the very footage of the Bosnian event that she tried to re-write in her many retellings of the story. A Jehdi-mind trick gone awry, and all because of a tragic underestimation of the power that is access to instant information.

Then there are the lunatic ministers - Hagee on the right, Wright on the left, and so many others somewhere in between, who in
doing what has in the past come so naturally (and without repercussions or consequences) have managed to create an entirely new discussion about Religion and Politics, Religion and Race, Religion and Gender (I thought Michael Pfleger’s imitation of Hillary was hilarious, by the way), and Religion and well, Religion. Are we better off because we all now know what some who claim to be purveyors of the Gospel, spreaders of the good news of the deity of their choosing, etc., also may have dangerous opinions, and way too much power through which to spread them? This is a question that I think we’ll all begin to ask once the dust settles, and President Obama is busy about the business of running the country; but for now, still only a question.

But finally - we have the colossal, glaring spotlight that now shines on the failings and mis-steps of the Democratic Party rule-makers (see “Superdelegates - Who the F&%$ Knew?!?”, and ” A Brief History of the Michigan and Florida Democratic Primaries”). If we hadn’t been thrown head-first into what now feels like a never-ending nominating process, would we have ever been alerted to the disastrous and possibly even unconstitutional methods by which the Democratic Party has decided to select its candidates? Most certainly not!

Yep - these have been truly illuminating times, and it’s not over yet. This week will be one for the history books. This week, we resolve the issue of “hey, those votes don’t count - no wait, I need them, so uh, yes they do!” This week, your favorite Senator and mine will almost assuredly be rewarded for playng by the rules, and running one of the most honorable campaigns on record when he overcomes the remaining 45 delegate deficit to secure the nomination. And this week, the nation takes a historic quantum leap towards electing a non-white-male to the presidency of the United States. I’m awe struck.

It’s been tough, though. So many days and nights of political disagreements, phone calls, events, road trips, etc. Now that I’m on the other side of this thing? I feel like, hey - if as a nation we were forced to suck down a blue pill and open our eyes to the realities of our churches, our political process, and our society in general, then so be it. No matter what happens from this point forward, this race has changed the nation forever - we’ve seen the matrix, and we can never go back now. The only thing left for us to do is don the cool black outfits, slick our collective hair-do’s back, and begin to do the work that will turn what we realize now is a flawed reality into the one we long for. The one that Senator Obama has proven by his historic candidacy is attainable.

It has been tiring, emotionally draining, exhilerating, and yes, ever-so frustrating, but now that we’re in plain sight of the finish line, I think we’d all have to agree, it’s all been so worth it! Black Women for Obama loves you, America! See you at the finish line!