THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA

An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XII, Issue # 122, July 11, 2010
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
Home Page   Main Menu   Recent Articles   Site Map   Website Index   Issues & Controversies
  Cyberland University   Political Science, Philosophy, & History: Lectures   U.S. Constitution
  American Constitutional Law   American Constitutional System   American Political System
  Conservatism, Liberalism, & Radicalism   How America Goes to War
  World War IV: Islamist Terror War Against the U.S.A. & the West

OBAMA PLAYS THE RACE CARD
By Alan Caruba

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY, THE POLITICAL & CULTURAL LEFT, & THE POLITICS OF RACE IN THE U.S.A.:  A LOT OF PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE BY BLACKS IN AMERICA, BUT THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE, ITS LEFTIST SUPPORTERS & ALLIES, & THE U.S. COURTS COULD SET BACK THE CLOCK FOR REASONS THAT ARE MOSTLY POLITICAL, BUT HAVE A DISQUIETING RACIAL ELEMENT.
FULL STORY:   Frankly, I was surprised when Barack Hussein Obama was elected President of the U.S.A. in 2008. I thought his self-identification as a black American would tip the scales to John Sidney McCain III in a nation that has had a long history of racial enmity towards blacks.

None of this is new. Race was a factor in American life in pre-Revolutionary days and slavery had to be papered over even in the writing of the United States Constitution. It took a Civil War to get added to the U.S. Constitution amendments to end slavery and ensure that the rights of U.S. citizenship were extended to blacks. It took another hundred years to make it real.

It is apparent, in hindsight, that a sufficient number of white Americans wanted to show the world that America could elect a black man President.

Well, they have succeeded and, a year and a half into Obama's term, a lot of them are having some serious buyer’s remorse. In the words of Spike Lee’s film, they were trying to “do the right thing.” Many are beginning to sense that the feeling is not reciprocated.

Obama has benefited from the robotic, ninety-plus percent support of blacks in the Democratic Party. Even so, there are signs of discontent, not just among whites, but among blacks, particularly in light of the disproportionate numbers of blacks who are unemployed. The “Get Out of Jail” card blaming George W. Bush has expired.

I suspect that the Obama administration will be seen by historians as no less racially divisive than its predecessors.

Americans got an initial glimpse of this when Obama deemed the arrest of a black Harvard professor “stupid” in the wake of his resistance when police arrived to investigate what could have been a break-in. That incident required a photo op in which the police officer, Professor Henry Lewis Gates, and the President sat down for a beer together.

The pot really began to boil with the appointment of Eric Holder as the Attorney General. In February, 2009, he said America was “a nation of cowards” who would not address racial issues. A lot of Americans thought we had.

Having lived through the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, I thought that Holder's statement was rather odd, since thousands of Americans, white and black, had participated in sit-ins and marches to achieve the 1964 Civil Rights Act. All displayed courage. Some even gave their lives.

The latest incident, largely ignored by the news media, is the treatment accorded the New Black Panther Party, two members of which were caught on video clearly trying to intimidate voters in Philadelphia. The two were let go locally with a mild slap on the wrist. If, however, a white duo had engaged in similar behavior, it would have been big news as a voting rights infraction.

Eric Holder’s Department of Justice ignored prosecution at the federal level and a staff member resigned in protest. The latter was heard by the Civil Rights Commission, where he offered some very damning testimony about bias within the DOJ and suggested blacks would receive different and significantly more favorable treatment than would whites.

There are two black Republican candidates running for Congress, Tim Scott in South Carolina’s First Congressional District and Allen West, who is challenging Representative Ron Klein (Democrat) in Florida’s Twenty-second Congressional District.

West has been sharply critical of the Obama administration for declining to prosecute the New Black Panther Party on voter tampering charges. “The die has been cast in this election cycle,” said West. “Democrats and their Liberal progressive socialist allies will continue to play the race card when it is politically expedient.”

If either West or Scott is elected, he will be the first black GOP national lawmaker since Representative J.C. Watts (Republican - Oklahoma), who retired in 2003. It is surely lost on no one that Michael Steele is the visible voice and face of the Republican Party these days.

Having lived through a period of rioting in many U.S. cities -- riots that were ignited by racial grievances -- I am hopeful that the recent riot in Oakland, California, is not a precursor to more. A court judgment finding a white police officer guilty of involuntary manslaughter of a black man served as little more than an excuse for looting.

President Obama has just over 900 days to go in his present term in office. Putting aside racial issues, he is failing on most counts and so spectacularly that an entirely new political movement, the Tea Party, has arisen and is independent of both major political parties. The response from the political Left has been to falsely accuse Tea Party members and supporters of being racists.

The undercurrent of divisiveness is being seen, heard, and felt throughout America. It is far less about race and far more about fears that unwanted legislation is being forced on all Americans, that solutions put forth to invigorate the economy have failed, and that the nation is being shamed and embarrassed by the actions of the President.

A lot of progress has been made by blacks in America, but the White House and the judicial branch of government could set back the clock for reasons that are mostly political, but that have a disquieting racial element.

On the blog, WakeUpBlackAmerica, a recent post said:

    “As a black male, it was beyond embarrassing watching blacks in South Central Los Angeles destroying their city over a two bit hood rat drunk (referring to Rodney King in 1992) who was beaten by the LAPD. Now I have to watch black men making fools out of themselves yet again over an incident that wasn't racist in nature.”

    “Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the election of Barack Obama supposed to have ushered in the era of ‘post racial harmony’ or something like that?”

Good question.


LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics, Political Competition, & the Control of
Public Policy: Elections, Political Parties, Political Factions,
Ideologies, & Special Interest Groups

American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership

Ethnic & Racial Politics in the U.S.A.

The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.

The American Political & Cultural Left:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, Marxists, & Other Leftists:
The Democratic Party, Academia, & the Mainstream Media



Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author, commentator and business and science writer, he is the Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about "scare campaigns" designed to influence public opinion and public policy.




Return to Top of Page

Go to the WEBSITE INDEX

Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies


Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles


Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XII, 2010


Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights


Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage

CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION




LINKS TO PARTICULAR ISSUES & SUBJECT MATTER CATEGORIES
TREATED IN THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, U.S.A.:

Africa: Black Africa * Africa: North Africa * American Government 1
American Government 2 * American Government 3 * American Government 4
American Government 5 * American Politics * Anglosphere * Arabs
Arms Control & WMD * Aztlan Separatists * Big Government
Black Africa * Bureaucracy * Canada * China * Civil Liberties * Communism
Congress, U.S. * Conservative Groups * Conservative vs. Liberal
Constitutional Law * Counterterrorism * Criminal Justice * Disloyalty * Economy
Education * Elections, U.S. * Eminent Domain * Energy & Environment
English-Speaking World * Ethnicity & Race * Europe * Europe: Jews
Family Values * Far East * Fiscal Policy, U.S. * Foreign Aid, U.S. * Foreign Policy, U.S.
France * Hispanic Separatism * Hispanic Treason * Human Health * Immigration
Infrastructure, U.S. * Intelligence, U.S. * Iran * Iraq * Islamic North Africa
Islamic Threat * Islamism * Israeli vs. Arabs * Jews & Anti-Semitism
Jihad & Jihadism * Jihad Manifesto I * Jihad Manifesto II * Judges, U.S. Federal
Judicial Appointments * Judiciary, American * Latin America * Latino Separatism
Latino Treason * Lebanon * Leftists/Liberals * Legal Issues
Local Government, U.S. * Marriage & Family * Media Political Bias
Middle East: Arabs * Middle East: Iran * Middle East: Iraq * Middle East: Israel
Middle East: Lebanon * Middle East: Syria * Middle East: Tunisia
Middle East: Turkey * Militant Islam * Military Defense * Military Justice
Military Weaponry * Modern Welfare State * Morality & Decency
National Identity * National Security * Natural Resources * News Media Bias
North Africa * Patriot Act, USA * Patriotism * Political Culture * Political Ideologies
Political Parties * Political Philosophy * Politics, American * Presidency, U.S.
Private Property * Property Rights * Public Assistance * Radical Islam
Religion & America * Rogue States & WMD * Russia * Science & Ethics
Sedition & Treason * Senate, U.S. * Social Welfare Policy * South Africa
State Government, U.S. * Subsaharan Africa * Subversion * Syria * Terrorism 1
Terrorism 2 * Treason & Sedition * Tunisia * Turkey * Ukraine
UnAmerican Activity * UN & Its Agencies * USA Patriot Act * U.S. Foreign Aid
U.S. Infrastructure * U.S. Intelligence * U.S. Senate * War & Peace
Welfare Policy * WMD & Arms Control


This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics, civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.



POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS

POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE

Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.

Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs, International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests, Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy

INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z




THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA

An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis

Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor

Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic, Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues


Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity