Yet, despite the knowing, this man will not be able to pull the lever for a black man no matter how well he knows he should.
If you are not registered to vote, do it now. There is no time to waste. Minutes at most. If possible get out there and take part in a voter registration drive, even if you can only give a few hours.
Encourage one friend who has never voted to vote. Discuss the issues with those who you think are clandestinely racist. Don't bother with those who are overtly racist, frankly we just don't have time - we are going to have to save their country without them.
Do it for that man. He will thank you.
Peace
'You are old, Father William', the young man said,
'And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head --
Do you think, at your age, it is right?'
'In my youth', Father William replied to his son,
'I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.'
A No Comment "for my own good" production.
Article comments
1 - Clavos
I disagree entirely with your premise, especially your characterization of the future under the McCain/Palin ticket.
That said, your writing is very good; you're fresh and innovative. I enjoyed reading this.
Props.
2 - pia
But I agreed with everything you said, and will add that we are a capitalist country and capitalism only works with government oversight and regulation
3 - Cannonshop
#2..
would you agree that:
1)The regulations have to be simple enough that they can be followed AND enforced (and they must BE enforced).
2) Oversight must be absolutely honest and transparent, those tasked with enforcing the regulations and reporting to the oversight must be willing to accept responsibility as well as authority, and...
3) CYA/bunker mentality just can NOT be tolerated within and among those agencies.
otherwise, it just doesn't work and we end up with the kind of mess we have now.
4 - cooper
Clavos: We will have to disagree on this. my nightmares on what could be are very real, but I am glad you were entertained, if at best momentarily.
Pia: Something which has happened over the last eight years which I find fascinating is a party which is supposed to be for less government has given us the largest and most inept government ever, something which happens when you are too busy looking out for "the private sector" a code word for your rich friends and those who would contribute to your party.
Cannonship: Likewise the bureaucracy has gotten larger and significantly more loaded with self interest as time goes on, making it impossible to get anything done effectively.
Transparency is paramount.
5 - bliffle
Cooper is right.
McCain attempted to outflank Obama by selecting a woman as VP candidate, thus allowing racists to vote against The Black Guy by hiding behind their newfound feminism.
6 - Cannonshop
#4 ayup. It might be nice to see REAL prison attached to any reforms, not the Club Fed Mike Milken went to, but something more on the lines of Joliet or Walla Walla, and maybe prosecution under RICO statutes too-I'm sure there's plenty of evidence in things like shareholder statements and tax records for conspiracy to run a criminal enterprise...(of course, that also means a whole lot of elected officials from both parties, which is fine by me.)
7 - cuervodeluna
It says a LOT about gringos that the folks they came up with as candidates (with a chance of winning elections) are:
1. A guy who I called capuccino from the jar a year or more ago but who gringos call the N who is paired with
2. A geezer nonentity who represents the worst in democrat ward boss behavior; and they are facing off with
3. A super-geezer whose claim to fame was being a POW extra in the 1970s film "The Deer Hunter"; who is paied with
4. A pit bull with lipstick beauty contest loser.
And I thought we had pathetic candidates here in Mexico....
8 - Cindy D
cooper,
amazing work cooper. ditto everything Clav said (except the part about disagreeing with you).
9 - Baritone
While listening to the Diane Rhem show this AM one of the guests noted that while Congress and the administration struggled over the week-end to put together the bail out package, big wigs among bankers, lenders and wall streeters were also meeting to figure out a way for them to profit from all this mess. That may be an unfair way to describe it, but it does serve to remind us all regardless of everything that's happened, the "golden rule" still applies: "Them that's got the gold, makes the rules." To believe that all of this will make things better for you and me, is probably a delusion.
That transparency we all speak of will be very difficult to insure. The combination of corporate mucky-mucks, attorneys, lobbyists and government officials in the tank, will work feverishly to twist and turn everything in such a way that what we believe to be an open window into that world will really only be an ever repeating loop of images that belie what is really moving and changing behind closed doors.
B
10 - Baritone
cooper,
I also agree that race will be a larger factor come Nov 4th than many people will admit. "Closet racism" lives.
What I've heard recently regarding racist feelings having an effect on the election was being refered to as the "bubba factor." Using such an obnoxious euphemism for racism tends to soften its effects, even giving it a mildly humorous aspect. We should call a spade a spade (no obnoxious pun intended.)
It is apparent that most polling results do not account for how racism will actually play out in the voting booth. One thing that is not clear to me is that I have heard more than once that current polling is not accounting for recent/first time registered voters of whom their are many, nor does it include large numbers of mostly younger people who do not have land line phones. I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just curious if either of those claims are accurate?
B
11 - Baronius
Ditto everything that Clavos said, except that the writing is clunky and pompous.
12 - Cindy D
Baritone?
Did you ever get the Obama video I posted to you?
13 - Cindy D
Another thing B(aritone),
Slacker Uprising is available tonight at midnight. It's Micahel Moore's free film aimed at getting young people motivated to go out and sign up to vote.
I can't remember how many young people signed up on Moore's tour across the U.S. to make the film but it was a whoooole lot!
14 - cooper
Baritone:
I understood the move with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley would make them significantly more transparent, though my understanding of the baking industry is pretty weak. It may be more of a "as transparent as the banking industry gets".
It's also called the Bradley effect depending on who is speaking, either way it's very real. From what I hear Obama would have to be polling at ten percent above to make it close because of it.
There is some thought from those who study and analyze elections from an economic standpoint that in June Obama would have been slightly ahead due to the economy, even with the Bradley effect. Then came the conventions, and it appeared not so, now with the whole financial mess it looks like he is back up at least to where he was, from that predictor anyway.
It may well all hinge on that.
Cindy: Thanks
Baronius: Thank you too, but I choose Carol and Clavos's opinion. I mean who wouldn't. So, nice to have a choice.
15 - Baritone
Cindy,
Yes I did get that link. I think I had seen it before, but it was good.
I saw Moore a few nights ago on the tube talking up "Slacker." I'll check it out sometime soon, though probably not tonite.
Cannon,
Whatever one wants to call it, racism will doubtless have its effect in November.
It seems that pollsters are bending over backwards in breaking down their data to illustrate all the ways Obama is likely to lose - how he's lost ground among white working class males over 40, earning more than 20k but less than 45k, who bowl under a 150 average and have chronic hemorrhoids, or women under 35 with pronated feet, plucked eyebrows, who stopped watching "The View" with the departure of Rosie O'Donnell in favor of that nappy haired darkie, Whoopie Goldberg.
I suppose it counts as news, but one wonders just how many ways pollsters can 'pigeon hole' prospective voters.
B
16 - cooper
I wonder what these pollsters and media pundits are going to do once their collective orgasm finished?
I was only 18 last time, and really wasn't paying as close attention. I don't know if they spent as much time and energy presenting the election this way or that way last time, or salivating over whatever new item they were choosing to focus on. or if this is a newer phenomenon.
It seems whether it be pollsters, or pundits, and even in some cases what people might call real journalists, they all seem frantic and have for a long time now.
17 - Lumpy
Remarkably biased and poorly expressed article. Just another obamadroid repeating the nonsensical talking points on the theory that if you say that mccain is another bush often enough it will somehow alter reality and make people forget how radically different the two are.
18 - jacob
Cooper you know I love your writing, and coming from a family of English teachers I can say they'd be prouder of you than they were of me.
I agree wholeheartedly with what you say, and think it was expressed beautifully.
As is pointed out in your piece, you don't have to point to Bush, pointing to McCain is enough.
I'd go on but I'm at work.
19 - Baritone
With one or two notable exceptions, anyone who disagreed with the substance of cooper's article, also apparently felt obliged to disparage his (or her?) writing. On the other hand, many of those in harmony with cooper's positions also applauded his (or her) literary skills.
Interesting.
B
20 - pleasexcusetheinterruption
Remarkably biased and poorly expressed article. Just another obamadroid repeating the nonsensical talking points on the theory that if you say that mccain is another bush often enough it will somehow alter reality and make people forget how radically different the two are.
The fact that you've supported both is similarity enough for me.
-PETI
21 - Stazian
There is a lot to be said for not voting, because that can have dignity, the electorate don't have an actionable will. Who wants to live in Harvey, Illinois or San Francisco.
Why not Jay Z for President?
McCain is attractive, because the same is maybe ok, because only an idiot wants to be like Harvey or San Francisco.
There is a lot to be said for wandering into the desert in decent isolation. What is missing, is a sense of honor, or genuine ideology, we don't need a new value, we need to have one or two of the old ones.