Is Obama's Victory Ours?
[col. writ. 6/5/08] (c)'08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
With the attainment of the required delegates to claim the Democratic Party's nomination for U.S. president, Sen. Barack H. Obama (D. ILL.) has written a new page in American history.
For by so doing he succeeds where Channing Phillips, Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, Sr., and Al Sharpton could not - by gaining the necessary delegates to demand nomination.
Of course, there have been numerous Black candidates for president, but these have been third party efforts designed more to raise issues, to organize or protest than to actually win elections. Some of the best known have been Eldridge Cleaver (former Black Panther Minister of Information), Dick Gregory, Dr. Lenora Fulani, and the former congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney.
But this is a different kettle of fish, for Obama's candidacy is the closest to make it to the winner's circle.
What also distinguishes Obama from his predecessors is he doesn't come from civil rights, Black liberation, socialist or anti war movements. (He often remarks at speeches, "I'm not against all wars, I'm just against dumb wars")
Indeed, although his detractors may try to paint him as a leftist liberal this is hardly true. On issues both foreign and domestic he would've been more at home in the Republican Party of his senatorial forebear, Edward Brooke of Massachusetts. For though he is Black by dint of his African father, he has studiously avoided Black political groups in his long, harrowing climb to the rim of the White House.
He has studiously avoided the very real and long standing grievances of Black America. In fact, he tried to run a 'post-racial' campaign until Sen. Hillary R. Clinton (D.N.Y.) (and her rambunctious husband, former Pres. Bill), brought race front and center during the Super Tuesday February primaries, by trying to pigeonhole him as 'the Black candidate'.
This primary wounded Obama, and as he won in the delegate count, he also lost a number of primary states, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, which are necessary for a win in November.
Politics is the art of making people believe that they are in power when in fact, they have none.
It is a measure of how dire is the hour that they've passed the keys to the kingdom to a Black man.
As in many American cities, Black Mayors were let in when the treasuries were almost barren, and tax bases were almost at rock-bottom.
With the nation's manufacturing base also a thing of history, amidst the socioeconomic wreckage of globalization, with foreign affairs in shambles, the rulers reach for a pretty, brown face to front for the Empire.
'Real change that you could believe in' would be an end to Empire, and an end to wars for corporate greed, not just a change of the shade of the political managers.
That change, I'm afraid, is still to come.
--(c) '08 maj
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Comentarios
Mumia is innocent but wrong about politics. He's in a time warp
Submitted by Anonymous (no verificado) on Mié, 06/11/2008 - 6:08amby RichardKanePA | 06.11.2008
I disagree with Mumia's opinions but not his innocents. I know him what he amazed us fellow volunteers at "Community" underground "Newspaper by joining our staff. I and many of his friends were upset that he added curse words to his vocabulary and felt he was stressed out. Only when Beverly came forward with his confession and I obseved Mumia's reaction did I know he was innocent. The powder test entered the news slowly.
I knew Mumia personally when he came to volunteer at “Community” underground “Newspaper” We and the other unpaid volunteers were elated that a real reporter and commentator joined our staff. However I and most of his former friend were upset that he added curse words to his vocabulary calling it natural speech. He was upset with my article in the Philadelphia Tribune because I claimed that the Move back to nature faith was part of his problems. They wouldn’t let me through there picket line and pushed back. I ended up on the ground. The next headline screamed that I was beat up. All copies disappeared and also disappeared was all copies of the spirited NAACP protest complaining about Billy, his brother’s, 100,000 bail for going up a one way street that the NAACP had held at the round house. Most of his friends thought he actually shot someone me included until I observed his testimony after Beverly confessed. Since then I am certain he never shot anyone.
But just like in 1992 I declare Mumia to be wrong this time about Obama. Actually I think he is more right about Move then I though in 1992.
Rather than explain further I will enclose an article I was planning to post to Philly IMC before I saw Mumia’s recent comments.
Election season keeps getting shriller. Of course Obama wasn’t a Muslim, but neither is McCain insane.
Can’t we choose the best person for the job, without turning the other choices into demons?
This country is dangerously close to bankruptcy, and an assertive McCain foreign policy is not what this country needs, but as far as McCain being as bad as Bush goes. When Bush was in college, he accused a college professor of being a Communist for assigning the Grapes of Wrath as a book assignment. Then as President refused Saddam’s offer to leave the country if he could take his money with him and have Bush’s guarantee against the US getting involved in a war crimes trial.
McCain’s proposed bluffing match with Iran, Cuba and Venezuela could lead to the dollar collapse. But it could lead to the US’s opponents backing down like they did for Ronald Reagan. I don’t like brinkmanship with an empty treasurer, but I hope for the best even if he gets to be President.
As a Republican war hero he supervised everyone by opposing corruption, and at first being for gun control, animal rights and against torture, but has been backtracking ever since. He also surprised everyone by supporting Clinton in Bosnia, thus will tend if elected to have a fairer but perhaps far more expensive foreign policy.
One thing that amazes me is how much the other candidates backed down over the years. Obama once organized an anti-apartheid demo and did anti gang work and at first voted for the two state solution to the middle east crisis. Hillary during her radical collage law school days monitored Black Panther trials, then went on to do legal work for kids rather than try to earn a lot of money. Of course she then married Bill who was a first a McGovern organizer. Isn’t there some way to get Hillary to return to her radical legal work?
I wish there was some way to encourage politicians to do their best rather than sinking to their lowest common denominator. And for everyone to look for the good in each other. No one is perfect but we should try to make each other better not worse.
I even tried to appeal to Bush’s better side but as with Cindy Sheehan, couldn’t get near him.
www.delcotimes.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily;jsessionid=kSxCHJghyFWN5X...
XWZMGPwvl5dXj4yy2xnq6HQHyznK4T!966748211?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpa
th=%2FDCT%2FOpinion&r21.content=%2FDCT%2FOpinion%2FHeadlineList_Story_1669363
But in the meantime a future depression will bring out the nastiness in us all, and other than Ron Paul, Obama’s policies are the least likely to lead up to a collapsed dollar.
I too can get shrill:
What Hillary and Obama once were
RichardKanePA
Obama’s progressive past,
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama-church_bdmay04,...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-0703291042mar30,0,...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-0704030881apr04,0,...
Hillary’s days as a radical law student,
http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/panthers.asp
Hillary as a progressive lawyer
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/about/mom/
Bad link in the comment I previously posted
Submitted by Anonymous (no verificado) on Mié, 06/11/2008 - 1:51pmThis is Richard Kane again: I posted long links that were cut off in my previously posted response to Mumia’s article.
Many but not all of them can be reached at my Capital Hill Blue postings,
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/blog/2419
At that websight some of the readers thought I was being too nice to McCain. I fear McCain’s efforts to use persuasion rather than brute force to push the world around, will lead to a currency collapse. But again don’t want to project him as a vicious monster. And believe that Obama and Hillary if they ever get a chance plan to do better.
I’m reposting Hillary’s and Obama’s radical college years again leaving out the http://www.
So maybe they can be copied directly
chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama-church_bdmay04,0,5869938.story
chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-0703291042mar30,0,4252889.story
chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-0704030881apr04,0,4580576.story?page=1
legaled.com/hillaryatyale.htm
hillaryclinton.com/about/mom
nysun.com/national/hillary-clintons-radical-summer/66933
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