I don’t understand why the recent televised comments by Barack Obama about white citizens haven’t been a major news story. I don’t understand why it isn’t the topic of dozens of columns and commentary pieces in newspapers, on broadcast news outlets, and on the web. There have been few comments about the episode here, and most of those have consisted of virtual shrugs: ‘Oh, as usual, the Obama worshipers and the news media will just look the other way, because he can do no wrong in their eyes.’ End of issue, apparently.
On the site that first publicized the exchange during CBS Sunday Morning, RealClearPolitics,there are no comments at all as I write this. None. A post called “Pét-Nats Are Champagne’s Funkier Cousin. Are They Here to Stay?.” also posted yesterday, has 29, and I have no idea what the hell its about. I know what the Ethics Alarms post is about, though. The former President of the United States looked upon as the most respected leader of the Democratic Party and who received about 98% of the black vote when he ran for President revealed himself as an anti-white bigot.
What he said on CBS to his new pal, Bruce Springsteen, was signature significance: nobody who isn’t an anti-while bigot says it or thinks it. Let me refresh your memory: Obama said to “The Boss,” speaking about a black E Street Band musician that Springsteen admired, “But most of your audiences were primarily white. And they can love Clarence when he’s onstage, but if they ran into him in a bar, suddenly…the n-word comes out.”
Do you know what Obama’s statement reminded me of? It recalled a line from “12 Angry Men,” when Juror 10 says, asserting that it only stands to reason the the young defendant, who is a member of an unstated minority group, killed his father, the victim in the murder trial,
“Look, these people are lushing it up and fighting all the time, and if somebody gets killed, so somebody
gets killed…they don’t care. Oh, there are some good things about ’em too. Look, I’m the first
one to say that!”
Juror 10 is the repulsive, stereotypical bigot on the jury.
How can such a statement from Barack Obama be ignored? Why isn’t it calling into question his entire reputation and legacy? Statues of Thomas Jefferson are being removed because his personal life grossly contradicted his publicly stated principles that gave our nation life. Barack Obama is alive, and he just told us that he believes the typical white American hates blacks. I call that important news, though it confirms what I long suspected and what Obama’s periodic unscripted comments while President suggested. Rolling Stone was one of the few publications to write about the show where Obama made his revealing comment, and Obama’s bigotry was not mentioned at all. This was quoted, however,
“I think Joe Biden is pursuing the exact policies that need to be pursued,” Obama said. “Has he been able to bridge the polarization that we’ve seen building up over several decades now? No, and in fairness in to him, I wasn’t able to slow that down as much as I would’ve liked, and certainly my successor actively promoted it. We’re gonna have to figure out how do we regain some sense of a common American story, and I think that’s a longer term process.”
Gee, maybe Barack wasn’t able to slow the polarization down because he thinks most white people are ready to call blacks “niggers” as soon as they get a chance! In truth, Obama didn’t “slow down” polarization “as much as [he] would’ve liked,” he vastly accelerated it, by, to cite just one example, immediately telling the public that Trayvon Martin could have been his son, and implying that the young black man was murdered because he was black.
The news media ignored Obama telling the nation what he thinks of white people, but never mind: here’s what NPR wrote about after that CBS Sunday Morning revelation: “In a new book, Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen envision a more unified America.”
A more unified America! And the way to unify America is to agree that whites are racists.
Ethics Alarms 
I’d bet you $5 that you know, with precision, why Obama’s overt bigotry isn’t being reported on. We all know. The following is not completely mine, but I can’t recall to whom I can attribute…
“I think this would be a wonderful opportunity to pause for a moment and give thanks for the many great contributions of the Black community to our society. Their peaceful and generous nature makes them ideal neighbors, lending testimony to their exceptional family values and parenting skills unrivaled by any other culture. Their commitment to academic excellence enriches our schools and serves as an example to all who hope to achieve prominence as a people. Their adherence to the laws of the land and upright moral codes bring a swift decrease in neighborhood crime rates. Real estate values are fueled by the influx of African Americans into an area due to their caring and respectful nurturing of these communities, an example of all they have achieved through their enthusiasm for self improvement by hard work and self-reliant can-do attitude. Without their industrious and creative drive, we would be poorer as a nation. I am sure the murdering of innocents, murdering of one another, dope selling, rioting, looting, burning and civil unrest is just a fluke.” It’s not racist when they do it.
Jack wrote:
Barack Obama is alive, and he just told us that he believes the typical white American hates blacks. I call that important news, though it confirms what I long suspected and what Obama’s periodic unscripted comments while President suggested.
Important news? He’s been sending that message for years, and now he says the quiet part out loud and you expect outrage? Frog, meet warming pot.
My outrage-meter broke a long time ago. I have a life to live, and living it in a perpetual state of anger cannot be a good way to do it.
Your commentary speaks for me better than I can speak for myself. So I’ll second your commentary, but I simply cannot generate enough emotional feedback to do it justice myself. Thank God one of us can.
I think the fact that the left has been calling white people racist for years also lends to the apathy. The word has lost its meaning, and been defanged. It is now merely annoying rather than being a mortal insult to be called racist.
Racism fatigue has set in, and people have tuned out.
Exactly. If someone called me a racist, I’d be inclined to consider it a badge of honor for this reason — it no longer means anything.
When everything is racist, nothing is.
NP, you hit the nail on the head! The Divider-In-Chief’s remarks certainly weren’t surprising to me, now that there is open season on “whiteness.” My F-meter reads “zero.” Ho-hum, what’s on Netflix?
Agreed. If everyone and everything is racist then nothing is racist.
jvb
Imagine how Barack and his ilk converse in private.
Springsteen comes off as a toady. Barack put him in an interesting position and all Springsteen could come up with is “Yeah.” Imagine if he had paused and replied: no, that isn’t how the people I associate with speak Mr. President and I certainly do not. I loved and respected Clarence as a brother, friend, fellow musician, and always spoke well of him both publicly and privately. Furthermore, I have not heard the N word used in years. Or something like that.
Now that, may have made the news and would be a perfect example why Springsteen is known as “The Boss” instead of his new nickname, The Asskisser. Plus, he would sell more albums that way. This will hurt his sales/legacy if it ever becomes widely known.
1) That’s EXACTLY what Bruce should have said.
2) It needs to become widely known.
Indeed.
I think that’s right. In the other thread, I asked coyly, “what’s the Boss to do? He challenges St. Barack and he loses his gig.” But, your comment is exactly what is needed. But, the Boss became t the Bootlicker.
jvb
I suspect there aren’t too many regular readers of this blog who actually lowered their opinion (as opposed to having it confirmed) of Obama and Springsteen as a result of this exchange, but I’m one.
I actually see this as the flip side of some of the antics of James O’Keefe and his lot: that by exaggerating a real problem beyond recognition, he loses the opportunity to actually make an important point. Imagine if instead of the quotation you cite, he’d said “But most of your audiences were primarily white. And they loved Clarence when he was onstage, but if some of them had run into him in a bar [note past tense!], things might have been very different.”
That would be a true statement, worthy of consideration by all of us. No, not all white Springsteen fans, but some; not certainty of the response, but plausibility; and not the n-word, at least spoken aloud–but perhaps a tension, a distancing that ought not to be there and is worthy of addressing.
That Obama, with something of a reputation as a wordsmith, would say something so profoundly stupid and insulting is indeed deeply problematic. Does this one incident legitimately characterize him as an anti-white racist? Perhaps not… but perhaps so.
As for Springsteen–certainly the working class persona he tries to exude felt a lot more authentic back in ’70s, when it was authentic. I haven’t paid a lot of attention to his more recent stuff, but I still consider myself a fan of the music he wrote and performed a generation or so ago. I’m a bigger fan, though, of the late Warren Zevon. In one of my favorite songs of his, we get this:
“They say, ‘Everything’s alright.’
They say, ‘Better days are near.’
They tell us, ‘These are the good times.’
But they don’t live around here.
Billy and Christie don’t,
And Bruce and Patti don’t.
They don’t live around here.”
What Warren said.
Excellent analysis, and at the risk of appearing to be hammering on this episode, I’ll probably make it a COTD.
This lowers my opinion of Obama a LOT. I regarded him as a weak, feckless, narcissistic and even lazy leader who played President wonderfully—crucial for the first black President, so that was a big plus. I still assumed he respected his office and influence enough not to say something like this.
I prefer the more … umm… earthy late Frank Zappa in response to both Mystery Man Obama and The Boss, who had a perfect response to snake oil peddlers:
I proceeded to tell him his future then
As long as he was hanging around,
I said
“The price of meat has just gone up
An’ yer ol’ lady has just gone down…”
Look here brother,
Who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris?
Frankly, I think that’s how a lot of people feel, and maybe that’s why the outcry has been muted.
Now that just brought back some very, very old memories!
Curmie wrote, “Imagine if instead of the quotation you cite, he’d said “But most of your audiences were primarily white. And they loved Clarence when he was onstage, but if some of them had run into him in a bar [note past tense!], things might have been very different.” “
I get your point, I really do; but, doesn’t that statement coming from that particular President figuratively twist the knife that’s already been inserted in the bleeding wound of hyper sensitive perceptions of racism? Both statements are bigoted at their core and both statement are divisive race baiting.
The comments came after a discussion, instigated by the interviewer, of the very close relationship between Springsteen and Clemons, especially notable precisely because they were of different races. So it would have been disingenuous to have ducked the question altogether. Racism does exist; pretending otherwise gets us nowhere. It’s not “bigoted at [the] core” to recognize reality.
Curmie wrote, “It’s not “bigoted at [the] core” to recognize reality.”
What reality are you recognizing?
Both statements are bigoted in that both statements do the same thing, one just does in a non-blanketed way, they both are obstinately attached to a belief (that there are racist in the group) that is prejudiced against people based on their membership of a particular group (because they are white people). There is no evidence that any of the white people that attend Springsteen concerts are racist, it’s race based bigotry therefore it’s racism as in prejudice (preconceived opinion) directed against people (white people) basis solely on their membership in a particular racial group.
I asked above what reality are you recognizing and it appears to me that you’re falling into a trap of recognizing a reality that may not actually exist in the perceived subgroup of people that are being smeared. Is it ethically correct to assumption that we can cherry pick an arbitrary unknown group of white people within a larger known group of white people and impune their character by stating or implying that they’re racist while not actually knowing if any of them are actually racists? In my opinion, this is an unethical and unsupportable assumption and to accuse or imply that someone or a group of unknown people are racist is immoral unless there is actual evidence to support the accusation.
The real reality is that we must recognize that both statements are bigoted even if one is somehow considered “less bigoted” than the other; bigoted is bigoted, racism is racism, period.
Oh, come on. I’m not suggesting that people are racist because they’re white; they’re racist because they’re racist. Nor am I suggesting that Springsteen fans are more likely to be racist than other people are, merely that they’re not immune simply because Bruce and Clarence were close. It’s possible that none of the thousands of people at a Springsteen concert have ever used a racial slur; I just don’t think it’s likely. And it doesn’t take a lot of these folks in one place to make things very uncomfortable for everyone.
Curmie wrote, “Oh, come on. I’m not suggesting that people are racist because they’re white; they’re racist because they’re racist. Nor am I suggesting that Springsteen fans are more likely to be racist than other people are, merely that they’re not immune simply because Bruce and Clarence were close.”
No, no, no; I wasn’t suggesting that you were suggesting that in any way. I was simply comparing the actual Obama statement to the fictional Obama statement you wrote and pointing out that the underlying core of both of them was still bigotry and racism, the degree of bigotry and racism is not relevant if it exists then it exists.
I think there’s a couple reasons why this story isn’t gaining traction.
First, stories about presidents who are no longer presidents don’t garner the same interest as the current president. Even super conservative sites (like the GatewayPundit, which I know you’ve banned because their stories are hit and miss) hasn’t really hyped this story much. Nor has the Daily Wire. I probably know more about it because I regularly read your blog.
Second, I think people are afraid to attack Obama because he’s still relatively popular. People assume (wrongly because our culture doesn’t know how to sift through actual evidence) that if someone is going hard after Obama, then that the person must somehow be secretly racist. He plays that card well to avoid criticism.
His recent statements, along with attending Jeremiah Wright’s church for so long, along with being obsessed about his own biracial identity, means he sees everything through the lens of race. Michelle Obama has made some comments as well that shows me both of them really think a lot of white people are secretly racist. His comment to Springsteen basically affirms as much.
So the American public elected a black man who is somewhat racist towards whites. I don’t think anyone is really surprised. The lack of surprise is probably another reason the story hasn’t gained more traction.
I do agree with you though. If our society cared about logic and truth at all, this story would be a really big deal.
“But most of your audiences were primarily white. And they can love Clarence when he’s onstage, but if they ran into him in a bar, suddenly…the n-word comes out.” President Barack Obama
I think this was a truly signature significant Freudian slip that reveals that Barack Obama (the person) is anti-white bigot and he’s been hiding it, it’s truly character revealing. The statement is self-evident and there’s absolutely no way for Obama to walk this one back by saying he “misspoke” (or something along those lines) so his loyal Pravda like media won’t bother to publicly bring it up to further embarrass their chosen one. Eventually you’ll likely hear the Pravda like media make some claims, implications or ad hominems that Republicans are somehow evil for pointing out the revelation that President Obama really is an anti-white bigot.
P.S. I’m sure I remember a similar quote coming from a prominent black musician some years ago when talking about the racism he witnessed, I think it went something like this, they absolutely love me when I’m performing onstage but when they see me walking towards them on the sidewalk they cross to the other side of the street.
I suspect no one in the media finds this quote newsworthy because they, like Springsteen, agree. The left thinks assholes can be legislated out of existence. They’re looking for mind control. They think all whites think like this and it’s just a matter of fine tuning the right legislation and programs to re-wire peoples’ brains. This is a never ending project that justifies never ending restriction of liberties.
My take is there are always going to be assholes and bigots. Fuck ’em. Don’t let them adversely affect your life. Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. If you spend your life trying to get assholes to stop being assholes, you’re wasting your life. Isn’t Obama famous for saying haters gonna hate? Why doesn’t he take this ungrammatical thought to heart and act accordingly? Dare I say he should “move on?”
Concerning Obama, the perplexing thing about his apparent wholesale hatred for Whites is that he is in fact half White, and reportedly was raised primarily by his White Mother and White grandparents, with little contact -almost none- with his father or other Black family members. The people I know of multi-racial ancestry have a much more nuanced view toward race and racial identity than Obama seems to have, which, in my mind, just further sets him apart as one who deliberately chose a racist outlook and identity politics.
Good for business, Jim. I don’t see “Dreams about my white grandparents” getting a particularly big advance.