The audacity of focus

nobody@vox.com(Brian) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:09:29 -0400

While I've seen different sources call Obama's speech this evening "falling short of his goal" or "improperly targeted", I think the criticisms miss one of Obama's central points (and gloss over the value of the direct things he said about race relations in the US).

In speaking of how it is tempting to focus on the sound bites, the Obama's pastor said or Hillary's aide said or "white men will flock to McCain regardless of his policies"... or we can say "Not this time." We can focus on what the real issues are and not on the speculation, the sound bites and the expert opinions that seem to form so much of our discourse anymore.

In this and in the course of action he proposes in light of "Not this time" he's asking a lot from us. Look at people outside our insular groups as part of "us" rather than as "them" and see how similar their problems are to ours.

In that sense, Obama's speech voices something I've been hoping we'd hear more articulately from candidates for some time. Let's talk about the real stuff, not all the crap that flies around a campaign. What I'm most excited to see in that respect is how Obama will meet the challenge he's laid before himself.

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Political Science

nobody@vox.com(Brian) — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 01:59:34 -0400

Was excited to catch a shout out to Randy Newman's "Political Science" on the Colbert Report the other night. (Okay, less a shout out than a straight out performance.)

I enjoy various Newman songs, but I'd have to admit that my favorites are his political ones, specifically this and "Rednecks." Rednecks is a tougher listen due to repetition of a certain "n" word, but it makes a great point of the hypocrisy with which we yankees sometimes look down our noses at our southern neighbors.

Now your northern n*'s a Negro
You see he's got his dignity
Down here we're too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the n* free
Yes he's free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he's free to be put in a cage in the South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the n* down

I don't quite agree with Newman painting us all on equal footing as Lester Maddox, but I can see where he's coming from. Would there be such a thing as "white flight" if he didn't have at least a bit of a point?

Ciencia politica

Me impresionó ver que hace algunos días presentaron "Political Science (Ciencia Politica)" de Randy Newman en el programa The Colbert Report (El Reporte Colbert)

Disfruto algunas canciónes de Newman, pero mis favoritos son las políticas, específicamente "Political Science" y "Rednecks." La segunda es un poco mas difícil escuchar por el uso de lenguage racista (en cuanto a la gente negra), pero ilustra muy bien la hipocracía que mostramos los yankis al pensarnos mejores que los del sur de los EEUU.

Ahora, el [negro] del norte es un Negro
Tiene su dignidad
Por aquí somos demasiado ignorantes para entender
Que los yankis han librado al [negro].
Es libre ser encarcelado
En Harlem en Nueva York
Libre de ser encarcelado
En el lado del sur de Chicago
O el lado occidental
Libre de ser encarcelado en Hough en Cleveland
Libre de ser encarcelado en East St. Louis
Libre de ser encarcelado en Fillmore en San Francisco
Libre de ser encarcelado en Roxbury en Boston
Los recogen a ellos de todo lado
Hechando a los [negros] por abajo.

No estoy completamente de acuerdo con la implicación que todos los blancos son tal como Lester Maddox, pero entiendo su manera de pensar. ¿Hubiese "vuelo blanco" si él no tuviera nada de razón?

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The audacity of focus

Political Science