"Conceit is usually an attempt to cover emptiness."
On Nov 6, 9:49 am, Chidi Anthony Opara <chidi.op...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If President Obama looses this election, I would not surprise because
> he started losing the day he was sworn in. The man came as a candidate
> of change; he got the votes and become President of the status quo.
> His constant efforts at proving that he is not a spoiler is not in
> line with the expectations of those who voted for him four years ago.
> If on the other hand he wins, that would be benefit of doubt and
> another chance to live up to the expectations.
>
> ----CAO.
>
> On Nov 6, 4:24 am, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > here is a commentary on this issue of race, obama, the election, by the
> > bbc's u.s. correspondant, mark mardell
> > he makes it clear, from his point of view, how much race figures into
> > americans' views on obama and the election.
> > what he doesn't state, but which is apparent to me, is how much the
> > republican appeal is grounded in stupidity and bigotry. no one wants to
> > state this obvious truth: we want to pretend this is an honest
> > difference of opinion, and not dumb bigots whose appeal is so
> > mind-boggling, so lacking in any substance except bigotry. like the
> > woman he interviews who is afraid that obama will make america like
> > those communist countries with tsars.
>
> > this is what the election poll is haunted by: the measure of
> > intellectual vacuity, and the way the right has to appeal to it today.
> > it doesn't have to be like this, and democrats are not particularly
> > intelligent. but republicans appeal to dumb, biased views, and succeed
> > in large measure. what is that about??
> > ken
>
> >http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20184109
>
> > When Barack Obama was elected, I lived in Belgium.
>
> > Something extraordinary happened around the corner from my home. A
> > favourite local cafe hung out a stars and stripes.
>
> > Looking back from this land where houses, hats and hustings are always
> > draped in the red, white and blue, that sounds commonplace. But it wasn't.
>
> > In my four years as the BBC's Europe editor, travelling to most of the
> > 27 countries that make up the European Union and many outside it, I
> > never saw the American flag displayed apart from at embassies or Kosovo,
> > where Americans were indeed held in high esteem.
>
> > Elsewhere, many considered the US a rogue nation, a bully and a bigot,
> > George W Bush the symbol of its excess.
>
> > The wave of sympathy that engulfed the world after 9/11 had drained away
> > into the sand of Iraq.
>
> > The election of the country's first black president was seen as a moment
> > of huge hope, holding the possibility of great change.
>
> > It was then a surprise to arrive with my family to take up the new job
> > and find a very different mood had seized some Americans.
>
> > Taking a brief holiday travelling down the coast through Virginia, North
> > and South Carolina, discovering the delights of BBQ and the easy languid
> > grace of the south, it was a shock to switch on the TV in hotel room
> > after hotel room to find pictures of over-heated town hall meetings,
> > with people denouncing Mr Obama as though he were a war criminal, not
> > hope made flesh.
>
> > It was a reminder that the idea he had an overwhelming mandate was
> > conjured by the enthusiasm of the world and supporters at home. There
> > are two Americas and only one voted for him.
>
> > A lot of time in my first two years was spent trying to understand what
> > lay behind the anger that I had seen on TV. They are the ones who
> > revitalised their party and made it possible for Mitt Romney to be so
> > close to the White House.
>
> > I talked to people at small Tea Party gatherings in the parks of little
> > towns and at huge rallies in the shadow of the Capitol.
>
> > I chatted at convivial gatherings over coffee and homemade cake, did
> > interviews at serious study groups which seemed like the constitutional
> > equivalent of Bible meetings.
>
> > I've met many who told me they didn't understand how much trouble
> > America was in until they retired and had time to watch Fox News.
>
> > "Start Quote
>
> > Black Americans up and down this huge country tell me Obama didn't
> > create this mess"
>
> > I've met very well-informed people who are worried sick about America's
> > debt and direction. I've met a fair few daft ones, too, like the woman
> > who told me Mr Obama wanted to introduce Tsars "like they have in
> > communist countries".
>
> > Beyond a fairly conventional conservative concern about taxation and
> > debt, there is an inchoate angst that their country is going in the
> > wrong direction, that they need to "take it back".
>
> > Some think this is code for "take it back from the black man in the
> > White House".
>
> > It is not that simple. Nearly all of the people I met were white and
> > most middle-aged or older. But few were racist in the conventional sense.
>
> > The only time I have seen that in the raw, I was off duty, at a dinner
> > party. A woman growing increasingly passionate as the wine flowed called
> > Obama a "monkey" and said "he's trying to give OUR money to THEM".
>
> > Not the poor, not the shiftless, "them".
>
> > US election - the essentials
>
> > "They" are part of a different America, with a different history who
> > want a different path for their country.
>
> > A millionaire in a designer chair in his plush Chicago home, surrounded
> > by modern art, makes the same point as the broken-toothed men perched on
> > smashed-up office furniture outside a beat-up shotgun house in Texas.
>
> > Next to me in the pew of a Florida church, the man with a trim grey
> > beard and a "veterans for Obama badge" tells me the same thing.
>
> > These very different people all had one thing in common. They're black.
> > And that means they share a history and often they also share a
> > perception of the present.
>
> > Black Americans up and down this huge country tell me Mr Obama didn't
> > create this mess, and he needs time to clear it up.
>
> > They know all about patience. They know all about clearing up other
> > people's mess. They know about being shut out of this country's narrative.
>
> > There's a black history month. It rather implies that for the other 11
> > months, it is white history that will have its way. With Mr Obama they
> > feel that has changed, just a little.
>
> > Obama's election in 2008 sparked celebrations among many African Americans
>
> > When a passionate Tea Party member talks about the land of opportunity,
> > where people came to forge a better future, free from the persecution
> > and tyranny of the old world, he rarely reflects that some Americans
> > can't quite see it like that.
>
> > Their ancestors were reluctant immigrants from a better past, dragged in
> > chains towards a land of persecution and tyranny.
>
> > If they do raise their voices, that is seen as having a chip on their
> > shoulders.
>
> > One respected commentator told me a test of my time here was whether
> > "they" would "get over it". Blacks have got poorer, worse off under Mr
> > Obama. But for many, his election was a large step forward in a long
> > march that is far from over.
>
> > There are other histories too. In a patrol car, bumping along a dirt
> > track running alongside a giant fence, I reflected on the difficulty of
> > keeping out immigrants who want to be part of the dream.
>
> > The fence of railway girders and wire just gives out, stops, as if in
> > exasperation at the immensity of its task.
>
> > Latinos here legally are a growing part of the second America. They will
> > make up 29% of the population by the middle of the century.
>
> > Watching Democrats campaign door to door for Mr Obama in Colorado, I was
> > struck by something strange.
>
> > Many of the people canvassed looked Latino, spoke English with a
> > distinctive accent but spoke no Spanish. As one of the canvassers put it
> > to me: "We didn't cross the border. The border crossed us."
>
> > It is true. Until the 19th Century, vast parts of the south west of the
> > US used to be Mexico. Those people too are Americans.
>
> > Mr Obama and Mr Romney both continually stress that they offer a very
> > different vision of America's future.
>
> > You could say that they both have a vested interest in dressing up the
> > musty policy differences that have been at the heart of politics for 100
> > years, to make them appear more heroic.
>
> > "Start Quote
>
> > They see themselves as descendants of pioneers who forged a brash
> > city standing proud on a barren hill"
>
> > But that might be to miss the point that in America, politicians have
> > never made a grand bargain or accepted the mish-mash of compromise about
> > the role of the state that is the stuff of post-war politics in Britain
> > and Europe.
>
> > The two men do see two visions - two different mirages of a future
> > America, shimmering hazily on the horizon. But the trouble is there
> > really are two Americas existing now. And the gulf between them is
> > getting wider.
>
> > Increasingly, what you believe reflects who you are. The alliance of
> > city dwellers and better-off liberals, Hispanics, blacks, many younger
> > people and significantly more women may or may not win this time - but
> > they are the Democratic core.
>
> > They largely agree with both Mr Obama and Bruce Springsteen's bitter,
> > brilliant anthem that America should "take care of its own" and that a
> > government of the people should not be despised by the people.
>
> > But the change Obama is offering would make the US more like the rest of
> > the West, even as Europe's future looks dim.
>
> > He's trying to tame his country's demons when many see ornery cussedness
> > as a founding virtue.
>
> > Republican strength is made up of an alliance too, overwhelmingly white,
> > the well-off, evangelical Christians and much of what used to be the
> > working class, the rural, the blue collar and the deep south.
>
> > But here's an uncomfortable truth, difficult to state - this hinterland
> > of conservatism
>
> ...
>
> read more »
--
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