Obama Paraphernalia

I've seen a few black people (way up here in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) sporting Barack Obama sweaters, t-shirts, jackets, etc. This is a big deal. This is a gigantic symbol of progress and no doubt a source of deep pride for a people still oppressed and hated by most of the US-American ruling class.

I said earlier, that it was a shame that a woman and an African-American had to go up against each other in order to break their respective barriers. I also said that I would extend good wishes to either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama if they won the nomination. As well, I said that I didn't really like either of them. Hillary has said and done some things that just appalled me and Barack says a lot of empty rhetoric with very little substance. At the same time I recognize that this is the nature of the system. You generally can't simultaneously break social barriers AND political-economic barriers, even if you want to.

The importance of the symbolism of an Obama victory can perhaps best be understood in the story of this black man in London, England, whose Obama t-shirt produced an unhinged tirade of racist abuse and three shots (to the face, shoulder and hand) from the lunatic's pellet-gun. Of course, that's London, England. On the other hand, in the USA, these meth-addicted fools (who no doubt blame affirmative action or something for their lot in life) weren't out to volunteer on the Obama campaign when they showed up in Denver for the DNC. They hoped to assassinate him. And then there's this guy: Florida "teacher" Greg Howard.

A Marianna middle-school teacher has been suspended for 10 days without pay after he wrote a racially charged interpretation of a commonly used phrase in the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama.

It said, "C.H.A.N.G.E. — Come Help A (N-word) Get Elected."

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and speculate on the source of Howard's irrational and ugly racism. [I started on a bunch of nasty insults, but then my fears of legal action got the better of me. It's a shame, it was pretty funny.]

The thing about Obama and his undeniable abilities to play the game is that it might end up making him no more than a symbol. And, given that he listened to the sermons of Jeremiah Wright for so many years without storming out of his church in a snit, and only abandoned him during his race for the presidency, I can't believe that Obama really believes all the shit that he's saying. There's a glimmer of knowledge there, and Obama might as well use it. Because the shit-heads in charge of that country have done nothing but ruin it. While they talk about flag-pins and terrorism and WMDs and nation-building and free markets and all their other empty rhetoric, they've brought nothing but failure. I wish him well, do what you have to do to win, but once that's over, give your head a shake. You fucked up on FISA and you fucked up on the bail-out, and so many other things. You must know that the world view you're pandering to is nonsense. America doesn't have the resources to play stupid anymore.

Last thought: If some stupid racist needle-dick does successfully take a shot at the first black President of the United States, there really should be blood in the streets. Nobody should stand up and call for "law-and-order" and "forgiveness." And non-racist whites should take the lead in taking any white, racist, repugnican Klansman who shoots off his mouth and drag him behind a truck for a while.