In one of his summaries of the candidates perceived assets and liabilities going forward, Time’s Mark Halperin citesk this as one of Obama’s liabilities:
Inscrutable/mysterious/different
The McCain version of that would be “white bread, pale, vanilla”. Why doesn’t Halperin just say that one of Obama’s perceived liabilities is that he’s black? Why the code talking. Let’s just say it.
It’s not that Obama is black, it’s that Obama does not conform to THEIR idea of how a black man should be. To them this is “inscrutable/mysterious/different.”
P.S. I’m not disagreeing with you, Oliver.
Inscrutable/mysterious is an apt assessment from people who have not been paying attention or at least been using Google. All of his policy positions are out there for viewing. All of his personal feelings on many subjects have been spelled out in crystalline prose. The fact that Mark Halperin and others can’t comprehend what’s right in front of their eyes may be a liability for Obama, but I don’t know why he should pander to the ignorant.
As for “different,” well, yeah, that’s the “black” thing.
Obama is running on a rather thin resume, and claims he is a different kind of politician, yet Oliver can read between those lines to determine that the adjectives “inscrutable/mysterious/different” are somehow all about race? Here’s a more plausible hypothesis - Oliver Willis is obsessed about race and sees references to it everywhere, even in ridiculous cases like this.
Haplo9: “Obama is running on a rather thin resume, and claims he is a different kind of politician, yet Oliver can read between those lines to determine that the adjectives ‘inscrutable/mysterious/different’ are somehow all about race?”
Different is not a liable when more than 80% of people think the country is on the wrong track. It’s only a liable if ‘different’ is a code word for something else. What could that be? It could refer to race, or it could be part of the ‘Obama is a Muslim!’ rumor the Republicans love so much. Race seems more likely considering how few people think Obama is a Muslim.
>Different is not a liable when more than 80% of people think the country is on the wrong track. It’s only a liable if ‘different’ is a code word for something else. What could that be? It could refer to race, or it could be part of the ‘Obama is a Muslim!’ rumor the Republicans love so much. Race seems more likely considering how few people think Obama is a Muslim.
You can’t think of any plausible way that being “different” might be a liability that doesn’t involve race? Like, say, a politician that claims to be different is vulnerable to criticisms that he isn’t so different from a regular run of the mill politician? Or a politician that is different might be different in that he sucks worse than your average politician? Or perhaps it could be that while 80% of the people think the country is on the wrong track, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they want a politican who is different.
Those don’t seem implausible, and I just made them up. (Amazing, I know.) Must be tough seeing all these code words everywhere!
Mark Halperin is a hack. Pure and simple. How he keeps getting jobs in the TradMed is mysterious.
And different means different race. I rarely see race, but when people use it as a bludgeon I have to note it.
Come on, people. I’m a white lady who’s arguably never been the target of overt racism, yet I can see this. As I said before, part of the attack on Obama is that he is black AND DIFFERENT. He doesn’t fit the mold, the racist stereotype, of the “typical black man.” He is black and Hawaiian, black AND had a white hippie mother, black AND went to Harvard, black AND lived in Indonesia, black AND concerned with issues and concerns of ALL Americans. His middle name is Hussein and he’s going to be the next president of America. How is this possible? The media is having a hard time stereotyping this guy. They can’t define and pigeon hold Obama as much as they try (Rev Wright, Black Panther, Secret Muslim, etc, etc).
Futhermore, Obama is a master of nuance. He (thank god) understands that all Americans share common dreams but that we also each have distinct stories, distinct experiences and that these differing perspectives matter — these differences are what makes America such a wonderful country. The media does NOT get nuance. The media wants to break things down into them and us because it makes for better ratings.
Ok, back to my morning coffee. It’s too early for these sorts of rants.
I’m a middle-aged white woman from Kansas and I agree with Oliver. Every time I hear one talking head say to another “how much do you think race will affect” this or that I want to call (actually I’d like to smack them) and ask them to just say it straight: How many racist voters will go with the white guy/woman because (duh!) they’re racist? “Mysterious/different,” oh for crying out loud! Like Vanessa, I believe Obama is scary for so many because of the differences she lists, but that kind of fear/ignorance/intolerance is no different than racism. There’s no clear demarcation between that and the great things about Obama that scare the GOP, the media, and some Democrats. But racism, even in its lesser levels of simple unfamiliarity, should be labeled as such.
Inscrutable is a word I’ve rarely seen by itself. The few times I recall seeing it has been paired with the word ‘oriental’.
What’d he say?
in·scru·ta·ble (ĭn-skrū’tə-bəl) pronunciation
adj.
Difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable. See synonyms at mysterious.
The only thing inscrutable is the research department of Time magazine and the rest of the TradMed.
I’ve read his book (the second one), I’ve read his web site, I know his accomplishments and positions. He’s the right candidate for our time.
Anyone see American Experience on FDR last night? Fascinating guy, and for all his upper-crustiness, a pretty regular guy. I couldn’t help but see the similarities.
If I may, whatever Halperin intended, Obama is different. He’s smart. And in today’s America, that takes a little getting used to.
Amen, kiril.
He doesn’t fit the mold, the racist stereotype, of the “typical black man.”
I see this as an asset, not a liability.
Well, he’s no Dr. Dre, I’ll give him that.
“You can’t think of any plausible way that being “different” might be a liability that doesn’t involve race? Like, say, a politician that claims to be different is vulnerable to criticisms that he isn’t so different from a regular run of the mill politician?”
Doesn’t make sense in the context. ‘Different’ wouldn’t be his liability, but his false assumptions that he is different would be his liability.
“Or a politician that is different might be different in that he sucks worse than your average politician?”
Again, doesn’t first the context, as ‘different’ wouldn’t be his liability, but his lack of ability would be his liability.
“Or perhaps it could be that while 80% of the people think the country is on the wrong track, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they want a politican who is different.”
This is just plain retarded. There’s no way different can be seen as a liability here. At worst, it is no as strong a strength as it would seem at first.
“Those don’t seem implausible, and I just made them up.”
And you went zero for three.
“(Amazing, I know.)”
No, the fact that you went zero for three is not amazing.
“Must be tough seeing all these code words everywhere!”
It must be nice being too stupid to see the obvious. After all, you seem to enjoy your ignorance.
Re “thin resume”: His resume (as community organizer, civil rights lawyer, professor of constitutional law who was sufficiently highly regarded that a tenure-track position at one of the country’s top law schools would have been his for the asking) is actually a great deal more impressive than those of most candidates. The founders of this country (who had no notion of a professional political class) would be appalled at the idea that experience in being a politician is the only kind that counts. That’s completely contrary to the kind of person they wanted to run for high office.
Also, what Kiril said.
Charging Obama with having a thin resume would carry more weight if Clinton had a substantial one. Instead, she has a few more years in the Senate than Obama, and the only thing of note she did was to vote for the Iraq war. What else can she point to?
Well, you remember how she was First Lady for eight years? A position so integral to our nation’s government that it doesn’t even exist in the line of succession?
His resume (as community organizer, civil rights lawyer, professor of constitutional law who was sufficiently highly regarded that a tenure-track position at one of the country’s top law schools would have been his for the asking) is actually a great deal more impressive than those of most candidates.
Indeed. I would prefer someone who knows what the Constitution says and believes in the Presidential Oath of office.
Again, a feature, not a bug.
Instead, she has a few more years in the Senate than Obama,
What, by one year? Counting the Illinois state senate (which I do), Obama has more legislative experience than she does.