Jack and Jill Politics - Latest Comments in We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:39:00 -0000

I stumbled across this website today while looking up info on the Tavis/Obama tiff and found an absolute fountain of intelligence! I read every comment posted and am in awe of the level of intellectual discourse by the readers. No name-calling, no personal attacks and best of all no N-word. I hope th join the great debates soon, thanks for restoring my hope.I knew you were out there and now I have found you!

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:18:00 -0000

xenophon... its apparent that you're very very smart. Though I find it interesting that you spew so much rhetoric about black culture and what Barack needs to do for blacks yet your blog name is that of a Greek scholar. Unless of course you are Greek and if so... I stand corrected.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:51:00 -0000

Please, lets not let anyone divide us like this. Obama can't be everywhere at once. He tried to lend what he could (his very wonderful and smart wife) in his place and they chose not to accept this. I am committed to Obama monetarily, emotionally and mentally. The Clinton campaign and the Republicans want to encourage internal strife in order to divide and conquer our resolve. Let's not let them do it. Keep the faith! Yes we can!

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Nita — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:35:00 -0000

Chris, somebody is investigating the megachurches making money off what amounts to bribes and religious quackery? GOOD.

Those are not churches, those are corporations masquerading as churches for the tax benefits. Investigate all of them.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:36:00 -0000

From a BLACKS 4 BARACK! Commenter:

An Open Letter

To TAVIS SMILEY

by: Sheila Price

Dear Mr. Smiley,

I would like to start out by saying that I am a 45 year old white middle class library professional. I am also a great admirer of yours and listen regularly to your television show and radio broadcasts. I have a lifetime of experiences watching the inequality and lack of empowerment suffered by our African American community and as a result of this I have a deep empathy and passion for the struggles of black people.

I felt compelled to write to you concerning not only your lack of endorsement for Barack Obama, but also what appears to be somewhat of a negative doubt-raising tone concerning Barack Obama. I must say I am absolutely shocked and amazed that you, one of the leading African American "thinkers" of contemporary culture, not to mention a significant role model for black youths, would even consider not endorsing Barack Obama for president let alone raise doubts about his competency.

With all due respect Mr.Smiley, it is because I have read your "Covenant with Black America" that I care so deeply for what appears to be a serious contradiction between what you stand for and what you are communicating to the public regarding your lack of support and empowerment for one of, if not the only, seriously credible candidate for President of the United States. I'm especially concerned about the message that sends to the African American youth of today. Surely, you, being a highly intelligent and competant man, are able to easily find the vast amount of information out there concerning Barack Obama's exceptional experience and extremely respectable character not to mention his very effective and credible plans for the future of our country.

One only has to visit the Barack Obama website to find these things out or read one of his books or one of the books written about him. Yesterday was an historic day for our nation, for all of our nation, but especially so for our African American population when the Kennedy's stood side by side with Barack Obama at his rally in Washington DC. This was an extremely powerful endorsement for Barack and a source of great pride for African Americans. It is with sincerity and urgency that I implore you Mr.Smiley to stand tall with us for Barack Obama.

The time is now for the blinders to come off and to cast off the seeds of doubt. Barack Obama is not only the best candidate for the job of President of the United States, white or black, he is the best person to realize the ideals you put forth in your "Covenant with Black America". I'm not sure what the underlying reasons for your lack of support have been. I would be very interested to hear from you regarding them so that we could dispel any further doubt together. Because that's what Barack stands for, bringing people together to gain a better understanding of eachother and to demolish fear and hatred.

Thank you for the opportunity to communicate with you. I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Sheila Price

Cleveland, Ohio

From a www.Blacks4Barack.org commenter

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Janann — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:47:00 -0000

Nobody has time to play plantation politics. Leadership is always born on the backs of disenfranchised people. Its starting to look like the Clintons are calling in markers of some folks that "owe" them something. If Hillary wins the primaries outright and honestly then she will have the support of the black community. Right now BARACKO is our first choice. This is why he is my first choice:

Let's take a closer look at who's really qualified and or who's really working for the good of all of us in the Senate. Obama or Clinton.

Senator Clinton, who has served only one full term - 6yrs. - and another year campaigning, has managed to author and pass into law - 20 - twenty pieces of legislation in her first six years.

These bills can be found on the website of the Library of Congress www.thomas.loc.gov, but to save you trouble, I'll post them here for you.

1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site.

2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month.

3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall.

5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson.

6. Name post office after Jonn A. O'Shea.

7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day.

8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day.

9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death.

10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.

11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.

12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program.

13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda.

14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death.

15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty. Only five of Clinton's bills are, more substantive.

16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.

17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11 18. Assist landmine victims in other countries.

19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.

20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the wilderness preservation system.

There you have it, the fact's straight from the Senate Record

Now, I would post those of Obama's, but the list is too substantive, so I'll mainly categorize.

During the first - 8 - eight years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced

233 regarding healthcare reform,

125 on poverty and public assistance,

112 crime fighting bills,

97 economic bills,

60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills,

21 ethics reform bills,

15 gun control,

6 veterans affairs and many others.

His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These included **the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 - became law, **The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, - became law, **The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate, **The 2007 Government Ethics Bill, - became law, **The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, In committee, and many more.

In all, since entering the U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096.

An impressive record, for someone who supposedly has no record according to some who would prefer that this comparison not be made public.

He's not just a talker. He's a doer. Pass it on....It's impressive

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Mixedbrotha — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:22:00 -0000

tavis isn't suspect to me. I can smell his brand of BS a mile away. I listened to the mess he was talkin on the Tom Joyner show before SC. It was just about as pro-hillary WITHOUT actually saying it as one could get.

I wonder what job she offered him...

What we NEED to do is keep an eye on all these sell-out fools and make sure the elected officials end up as greeters at Walmart... like Al Wynn who voters forcefully replaced during the potomac primaries. As for Tavis... I think he will get the picture when those ratings start droppin and he can't GIVE a book away.

nuff said.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

chris — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:00:00 -0000

Don't waste any air on Tavis. Tavis is a product of Noel Jones. Noel Jones runs one of those mega oneness churches. As you know...those megachurches do nothing but "steal in the name of the Lord." In other words Tavis is a product of those preachers who are bought and paid to deliver votes. Hillary is more apt than Obama to give NOEL JONES (one of Tavis' mentors) a pass from the likes of Senator Leahy who is investigating these criminals. Tavis=Noel Jones

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:11:00 -0000

Obama doesn't need to discuss policy with Hillary on Smiley's show Feb 23rd, between the first and second debate with her.

There is no reason for Obama to walk into the trap that is Tavis Smiley's bullshit marketing conference (sponsored by McDonald's, Walmart, etc.) The primary result of those conferences have been book sales for Tavis Smiley and perhaps a few cruise ship tickets for Tom Joyner's Fantastic Voyage.

It is NOT pertinent for Obama to show up to this thing to appeal to MOST black people.

I think Hillary may have accepted the invitation to Smiley's show only because she thought Obama would be there. Now she's pressuring Smiley to make sure Obama shows up so she doesn't sit there alone looking dumb. That's not Obama's problem, IMHO.

Yeah, right. Hillary Clinton has turned down SOTBU in the past too. She's only going because she, her husband, Bob Johnson, Andrew Young and other surrogates screwed up South Carolina for her and the Negroes fled.

The SOTBU will turn out to be a Hillary Hankerchief Head Conference because the Negroes present will NOT challenge her and WILL GO OUT OF THEIR WAY to avoid making her feel uncomfortable.

If Obama's calendar is really open on the 23rd (the campaign does not make every date public) then maybe he and Michelle can catch a breather and spend some quality time together.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:20:00 -0000

yes, not exactly my favorite source nor pundit, but the argument offered makes sense:

About a week ago we started seeing references in the national media (ABC, New York Times, L.A. Times) to Mr. Obama spawning a "cult of personality" — a theme that had existed in Illinois for some time but mysteriously didn't substantially appear in the national media until about Super Tuesday. The maxim in political strategy is always go at your opponent's strength.

If you turn him on that, the battle is over. So, the cult of personality perfectly targets his strength: That Mr. Obama has a wonderful personality. The Clintons (presumably) are suggesting, in effect, that he may be delectable, but he's not electable. That it is unhealthy to adore a leader — undemocratic, in fact.

http://www.washingtontimes....

contrarian purists like xenophon will never be satisfied. he probably voted for nader.

what was the elitist "mayflower" quip for? nobody cares about your pedigree.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:07:00 -0000

Look at Obama's calendar.
Feb 19th Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries.

Feb 21st debate with Hillary in TX.

Feb 26th debate with Hillary in OH.

Mar 4th four primaries - TX, OH, RI and VT.

Obama doesn't need to discuss policy with Hillary on Smiley's show Feb 23rd, between the first and second debate with her.

I think Hillary may have accepted the invitation to Smiley's show only because she thought Obama would be there. Now she's pressuring Smiley to make sure Obama shows up so she doesn't sit there alone looking dumb. That's not Obama's problem, IMHO.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Webb — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 01:23:00 -0000

@anon, I have three reasons why *O* should not be at Tavis' SOBTU also known as "Tavis Smiley's bullshit marketing conference (sponsored by McDonalds, Walmart, etc.)"

Reason #1: OHio

Reason #2: TeXas

Reason #3: Polls that show *O* slightly behind Billary in both states.

*O* needs to be in TX with a sombrero on his head, hollering "Si se puede!" until March 4th arrives.

@Xenophon, thanks for instigating this debate. You think that Obama is, "dismissing a portion of the constituency on which his success depends," and what's interesting to me is that I DO NOT FEEL DISMISSED at all...but i'm an AA who has an income that exceeds the poverty level.

Why does *O* have to specifically target AA poverty to make you happy? Why does *O* have to be the "black" candidate for you as opposed to being the "universal" candidate? There are poor caucasians and latinos in this country who need support as much as AAs...should they be ignored too?

There are more NON-AAs on welfare than AAs...it's the Republicans who have traditionally equated being poor to being black...and thus exploited that racist premise to win elections.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:30:00 -0000

Though Barack may have his own reasons for skipping Tavis's SOTBU, this is the second year in a row that obama finds an excuse to skip it. With Hillary accepting the invitation, there's no reason why Barack shouldnt go there. At least no one that I can think of.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Craig Hickman — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:13:00 -0000

xenophon said...

"Even though I normally wouldn’t do this (I find something vulgar about violating the sanctity of the voting booth). I have a state that allocates the electoral votes to the winner of the majority of popular votes in the caucus. So yes. I will vote (in spite of the unsecure electronic machines). I cannot vote for president (a little thing like the Constitution of the United States prevents that – me not being an elector and all). I will vote in the caucus for electoral votes (I suggest you have your state adopt a similar procedure). And finally, I will vote for His Lord and Glory Barack. May Big Pimpin’ rule forever."

I live in Maine. We elect our 4 electors proportionally. Well, sort of. But that's another story...

I abhor the Electoral College.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Felicia — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:27:00 -0000

I have a question about Tavis Smiley. Is there a petition or letter writing campaign going on to encourage him to allow Michelle Obama to speak at the State of the Black (dis)Union symposium? Perhaps if the black community--the community Smiley’s supposed to speaking for--pushed back on his stance, he would allow Michelle to speak. If he doesn’t want her to speak as a presidential candidate, at least he could let her sit on one of the panels. Just a suggestion.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Xenophon — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:12:00 -0000

“Does that mean you aren't going to vote at all? Or you're going to vote for the candidate you think the Electoral College is going to vote for? And if so, who's that?”

Even though I normally wouldn’t do this (I find something vulgar about violating the sanctity of the voting booth). I have a state that allocates the electoral votes to the winner of the majority of popular votes in the caucus. So yes. I will vote (in spite of the unsecure electronic machines). I cannot vote for president (a little thing like the Constitution of the United States prevents that – me not being an elector and all). I will vote in the caucus for electoral votes (I suggest you have your state adopt a similar procedure). And finally, I will vote for His Lord and Glory Barack. May Big Pimpin’ rule forever.

Now, why does that matter?

Some of us have read all the material, understand it and still have questions. Some of us our serious about our democratic system and participation in it. Some of us play to win. So when an employee of mine tells me he has better things to do than worry about my vote ...

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Xenophon — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:03:00 -0000

"As Obama has said, this is a movement from the ground up...its up to the people to contact the campaign and/or do their own research for the candidate's views...and not hope the candidate is going to knock on your door."

Does that exempt him from answering questios about his platform? Does it prevet him from better articualting and integrating his information, especialy if it's online? Since he hasn't passed very many bills its kind of hard to figure out which pieces of legislation he is refering to or intended to refer to. Sometimes the details matter.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Xenophon — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:58:00 -0000

"and resent his threat to Obama"

what threat?!?

Breath, chill ...

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Xenophon — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:55:00 -0000

“My definition of "post-racial" is simply "beyond race." That's moving America beyond identity politics.”

In terms of political strategy, yes, I totally agree, Identity politics is long dead. If I had to hear another people of color remark I’d gag. But if “post racial” were to mean, as some take it to mean, color blind I have to object. I don’t want to be colorless. I don’t want it to be ignored. I don’t want to be homogenized into some mutant form of latte drinking yuppie. My culture has served me well and the people who participate in it are dear to me. (Notice never a word about race). I think the process, the democratic one in which we are so passionately engaged, can handle me not thinking very much of the Pilgrims or any of the colonist that invaded America so long as we abide by the rules of the constitution. They can also hadle me questioning a public servant for dismissing a portion of the constituency on which his success depends. He may not win without Texas; he absolutely will not win without the black vote. We can agree to disagree. We can argue over the issues of allocation of wealth and methods of determining need within the framework of our civil society. That way the cultural identity of Blackness isn’t reduced to the experience of slavery and racism. Racism is a symptom secondary to exploitation. Let’s end the exploitation and then, I think, racism will be rather easy to relegate to the past.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Craig Hickman — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:49:00 -0000

Xenophone said...

"BTW, if anybody other than the Electoral College voted to elect a president, I would vote for … Barack."

Does that mean you aren't going to vote at all? Or you're going to vote for the candidate you think the Electoral College is going to vote for? And if so, who's that?

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:41:00 -0000

People who say: "Obama hasn't mentioned black issues (whatever that is) clearly have not done their research ---or they are waiting CNN (the Clinton News Network) to interview him eating sweet potato pie at a black bakery on 125th in Harlem. Oh wait...I forgot, all of the black bakeries in Harlem went out of business...except for one); while the black gatekeepers stood by in silence or actively aided in their demise.

As Obama has said, this is a movement from the ground up...its up to the people to contact the campaign and/or do their own research for the candidate's views...and not hope the candidate is going to knock on your door.

The Tavis Smiley will learn that the electorate have decided which direction they want the country to take...and resent his threat to Obama -- that his decision to not appear at the BS State of Union -- is a miscalculation --what a crock...and thank you for your support Tavis Smiley

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Xenophon — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:35:00 -0000

"And I had been waiting and waiting for somebody to talk about infrastructure as a long-term economic solution"

You mean the transportation plan that includes, Job Access and Reverse Commute Grant? That one? Certainly we need to improve our infrastructure. But it seems to me that the welfare to work model on which the original legislation is based is going to end up subsidizing middle class commutes and drive out less educated workers, particularly from urban areas. Here is why. The JARC grant was primarily to assist the newly accountable “welfare to work” group. It helped them commute eight hours a day in some cases to 8- 10 hour jobs. They had to work, usually I affluent suburbs, where there were jobs. Hard to get to the burbs without transportation, hence the JARC. The problem with the new model is – you need job creation to help the poor out of poverty. If the only jobs you are creating are “green technology and manufacturing jobs” that leaves out most of the poor who are under educated. So what you have is a massive gentrification plan that displaces and relocates the poor from the city to …wherever, and the subsidizes the middle class, as oil and materials makes transportation ever more expensive – think $10 a gallon oil. So in effect what you have in his transportation policy is a further stratification between educated and less educated; rich and poor based on legislation designed to help people out of poverty. You improve infrastructure and access to transportation and at the same time remove those who are less educated and poor.

BTW, if anybody other than the Electoral College voted to elect a president, I would vote for … Barack.

I don’t know; is worrying about the welfare of those displaced by gentrification a racial issue? I learned it from my grandparents who had to migrate from the south during the great migration. Somehow I thought in a democracy asking a candidate to address contradictions I policy was part of the process.

PS

"tickles my logical desires pink"

desire and sensation (tickles) are by definition irrational. The only way to reconcile a rational operator like logic with irrational elements like desire and sensation is through an irrational synthesis, usually through some artistic or phatastic construction ... like an archetype (like a hero), a metaphor (salvation), analogy (titilation).

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Admiral Komack — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:10:00 -0000

"Next, thank you to those who keep laying waste to the divisive notion that we can only get behind Obama because we are too stupid, too caught up in the rapture, to know any better."

-Don't forget the "C" word: CULT.

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Craig Hickman — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:39:00 -0000

I stumbled upon this blog today and had no idea I would enjoy so much the first discussion I read.

First, thank you to those people who have called out Mr. Smiley for his self-obsession.

Next, thank you to those who keep laying waste to the divisive notion that we can only get behind Obama because we are too stupid, too caught up in the rapture, to know any better.

And finally, I want to know one thing. Xenophon, which presidential candidate are you voting for, if any?

Re: We Received a Nice Note From Tavis Smiley about Barack Obama

Webb — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:20:00 -0000

My definition of "post-racial" is simply "beyond race." That's moving America beyond identity politics.

An Obama Presidency will not solve all of the ills of our society...but it will move us one-step closer toward achieving the Dream that MLK died for nearly 40 years ago.

Apparently, community organizing is not substantive-enough work for some of you.

The idea that *O* can not relate to the suffering of the poor is damn-near sinister.

It is essentially swift-boating a war hero while you were either hiding out in the national guard (BUSH), serving on the Board of Walmart (HILLARY), or making millions as a trial lawyer (EDWARDS).

I "double-dog dare" Edwards to endorse Hillary. If you think what Ann Coulter said about Edwards was rough, "he AIN't HEARD nothing yet."

John should know by now that Elizabeth doesn't like it when people talk too negatively about her husband...