Comments on: A Jackie Robinson Moment As Prelude To A Bigger One

By: Miscellaneous Misgivings « The Big City

Miscellaneous Misgivings « The Big City — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:53:22 +0000

[...] Obama is in a similar situation. He is a pioneer in the biggest game of all and playing under a bizarre set of rules that have been imposed on him. It’s one thing for John McCain to shriek and whine like a little spoiled baby – he’s a scurrilous, egocentric, dishonorable, petulant man who has no reason to be President except that he thinks he deserves it. But when other organizations agree with his rules, when McCain saying you can’t vote for the guy because he’s black is okay, but Obama . . . what . . . admitting, revealing (?) that he himself is a black man is playing the race card, then the rules are whatever the winer says they are that moment. And Obama is just going to have to take it, because that’s the way this game is played. It’s not a game, of course, except for a very small group of people. And Obama is trying to get into their game, and they are, at best, reluctant to let him play. Because, like Jackie Robinson, his very presence is demonstrating that the old, white men who have been running the game for so, so long may not actually have been as able as we were led to believe. Obama as President may mean that this idea may actually be broached in polite conversation. This is going to be a lot uglier than it is now, uglier than the climax of “Rollerball“, but the best revenge Obama could have is simply to win. And he’s got a great example to follow, in that of one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)On Hearing the First Foul Tip of SpringMLBuntitled entry’Guitar Hero’ For Real Guitars (Updated) [...]

By: Duros62

Duros62 — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:24:35 +0000

I think it was sad, ashen-faced Bill Clinton…

Ashen-faced? I must have seen a different one, ‘cuz he looked like a sugar beet.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:48:39 +0000

Bloix,

I have never, ever known of a man to button his placket buttons, unless for a movie or suchlike.

It’s clownish.

By: Jodith

Jodith — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:15:29 +0000

Dang…I keep forgetting how totally cute he is. That’s not why I’m voting for him, of course…still, though, he is pretty darn cute.

By: Bloix

Bloix — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:38:05 +0000

Someone should tell him to button the placket buttons on his shirt sleeves.

By: Michael Markman

Michael Markman — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:35:37 +0000

I think it was sad, ashen-faced Bill Clinton standing behind his wife as she gave her “victory” speech in Indiana Tuesday night. That picture was worth a thousand Russerts in conveying, “It’s over.”

By: J. Goldberg

J. Goldberg — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:06:40 +0000

Was it pumpkinhead Tim Russert finally declaring it was over?

Sadly, tragically, that may have been it.

By: I'm a Hick

I'm a Hick — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:24:46 +0000

Gyuss,

See today’s Slate.

By: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle

Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:22:55 +0000

I’m a Hick:
As big of a dick as George Will is, he is probably right about Jackie.

By: Gyuss Baaltar

Gyuss Baaltar — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:17:57 +0000

So what was the turning point the media could finally fit Obama winning it all (which he did weeks ago) into their narrative?
Was it pumpkinhead Tim Russert finally declaring it was over?

By: JoJo

JoJo — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:52:52 +0000

Oh, and don’t forget Jesse Owens. Rubbed it in Hitler’s face in the 1936 Olympics, 11 years before Jackie Robinson made his MLB debut.

By: bryan

bryan — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:43:45 +0000

He showed, like others, the stupidity and futility of the treatment being meted out to him.
Although more persecuted for his communist sympathies, Paul Robeson packing out a theatre in Britain with a tranatlantic radiocast (having been refused permission to leave the USA), was a moment when the persecutors bathed in ridicule.
What’s that saying? Success is the best revenge.

By: I'm a Hick

I'm a Hick — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:28:55 +0000

George Will has said that Robinson was second only to MLK as the preeminent civil rights figure of the 20th century. If you haven’t already, and even if you have, watch “The Jackie Robinson Story.”

By: Sean D. Martin

Sean D. Martin — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:28:26 +0000

The voters have stolen my nomination.

HA! Thanks, Mike.

By: Mike in Iowa

Mike in Iowa — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:32:36 +0000

You’ll love this Oliver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Lstkiexhc

By: jojo

jojo — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:22:17 +0000

Jackie also had to be a “can’t miss” athlete in order to be accepted. For years after baseball was integrated, a disproportionate percentage of black players were all-stars, simply because it was felt that white audiences would find it easier to accept a black star than a black benchwarmer. Much like a similar saying about women, they had to be twice as good to get half the credit.