Martin Luther King Day and stubbing toes on race

Obama's Martin Luther King speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta got a lot of media coverage and lots of play of his line:

"We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late."

However, the media wasn't so quick to include this bit:

"We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity."

Yes, Obama went to the black community and essentially said, "You are also being bigots and it must end." Wonderful stuff!

This won't be an attack on the media about leaving that bit out, but on the issue of bigotry in the campaign. This is a step in the right direction by Obama to atone for the incident with the ex-gay gospel singer a few months ago. We'll see whether he can follow that with action.

But the more interesting aspect of the speech is to wonder why Edwards and Hillary weren't saying something similar. True, it would have been difficult for either to go into the black community and tell the audience they are being bigoted. Charges of racism would have been thick. But they haven't gone into their own communities (mill workers and trial lawyers for Edwards and women's groups for Hillary) to talk about the bigotry that exists there.

In a situation where the speaker and audience are of different races the charge of racism is almost reflexive. The audience feels uncomfortable with the message and charges the speaker with being racist. The speaker responds with defense, "I can't possibly be racist." The real issue is obscured. A better way would be for the speaker to say, "Perhaps I am. Could you explain how I offended you so I don't do it again?" The audience will have to actually examine the speaker's message. Alas, today's politicians won't (or can't) bring themselves to say such an admission. Their foes would jump all over them.

The charges and denials of racism flared in the Democratic race around the New Hampshire primary. Both Clinton and Obama made mistakes which intensified the problem. Though both seem to have agreed race-baiting helps neither side, according to columnist Stephen Henderson it showed Obama may be in an impossible situation:

"You're forced to take sides in America's racial debate, and to prove to every possible faction that you're exactly -- and exclusively -- the black person they expect you to be."

All this talk of racism as well as much of what Huckabee says, according to columnist Tom Walsh:

" This nation needs to get over its hypersensitivity about who's insulting whom with an ill-chosen phrase, who's doing what in their bedrooms and who believes what about the hereafter. It's time to focus on the here and now of how to compete in a dynamic global economy, how to create companies and more good jobs and how best to educate our children to cope in a world that no longer kowtows to the notion that the United States gets to make all the rules."

Michigan primary: What to do?

What's a poor Democrat in Michigan to do? Next Tuesday's primary is a botched affair and leaves few choices.

First, a review of the candidates through the help of columnist Chris Crain from Between the Lines who, alas, only looks at the top 3 candidates. His take:

Clinton: She's even more cautious than Bill. When he brought up gay issues and the GOP pulled out his knives, he backed down and we ended up with Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act. It is doubtful she would fare nearly as well.

Edwards: He says all the right things, but he has a habit (as does Romney and Huckabee) of changing his message according to his audience. We can do without the slipperiness.

Obama: Also says the right things with a few things in his favor. He brings up gay issues before national audiences. He refuses to pander and will not polarize. He sticks to his ideals (though I’m personally annoyed with that ex-gay gospel singer debacle).

Kucinich: The ideal candidate on gay issues, but… At least he recommends Obama as a second choice.

Strange that the Dem candidates have all stated pro-gay platforms on the campaign trail and have been pretty much ignored by the press. The GOP candidates, however, are being grilled on their positions both from the mainstream media to highlight how uniformly anti-gay they are and from conservative commentators who claim the candidates are not anti-gay enough.

But back to the primary dilemma. Since Edwards and Obama have withdrawn their names a write-in vote for them means the ballot will not be counted. That leaves essentially 4 options: (1) Sit out, which has the advantage that my name won't go on a political party "preferred voter" list, (2) vote for Clinton (see above and add in high negative ratings), (3) vote for "uncommitted" (which is a way to embarrass Clinton, but the delegate is free to vote for Clinton anyway), (4) vote for Kucinich. The NewsHits column of Detroit's Metro Times explains why a vote for Kucinich is preferable. Other than getting on that voter list, there is nothing to lose (which is damning with faint praise -- and typical for this political year).

Tidbits

Newsweek has been doing articles on all the Prez candidates. This time it is John Edwards. The article didn't strike me as revealing any new, profound truths, so I'll let you read it for yourself.

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Campaign news in Between the Lines (alas, no link):

Barack Obama said that as president he would have his attorney general review Bush's executive orders and "anything undermining civil liberties, or overreaching I will overturn it with a stroke of a pen."

It is good to hear a candidate talk about it. Alas, he is only the second (the first being Hillary).

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Most memorable quotes of 2007. A sample.

7. "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody (Vice President Dick Cheney) who has a 9 percent approval rating."

-- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

Find the rest here.