The Numinous Negro

[Cy]

A quick response to some of the comments.

1.) It is true, no single theory cannot accomodate every single anecdote. I agree that there are some who simply -- as some have been quoting DeTocqueville (sp?) -- want to vote themselves a chuck of change from the productive guy next door. What I'm looking for is that attitude that has propelled Obama into demigod status. Kerry and Gore or any old run of the mill lib would get the freeloader vote, and any Dem would get the Bush derangement syndrome vote. But a vote for Obama is quite clearly more than a vote against Bush.

2.) Someone asked "what radical positions Obama has taken?" I wonder if he's being ironical, kidding, or just uninformed. He's the most liberal senator in the senate. He has a history of hanging around radical elements, of the black liberation theology camp, of the "rules for radicals" crowd, of the collectivist strain. His language is littered with references to "sacrifice," "community," and "my brother's keeper," which makes fine INDIVIDUAL ethics, until it becomes a prescription for the state, at which time it becomes tyranny of the most perverse kind. (As someone said -- maybe Friedman? -- something to the effect of "I'd rather have a mean tyrant than a nice one...at least it's clearer what the mean one is all about.")

3.) I understand that this is an anti-GOP year...but something way more is going on. And great if you're not guilty about slavery -- either am I -- but I think a great bulk of suburban type, white women, and their senstivite husbands, are the types that are drawn to Obama.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

The most liberal senator is the biggest canard.

Any ranking that has Obama #1 over Sanders is laughable.

Amazing how each time a dem runs for prez he is the most liberal.

[Cy]

4.) Oh, and number four...

Yes, in fact, I have thought of the whole "what if a black conservative ran?" And I have to admit, I'd be pretty psyched. I think the "Numinous Negro" thing runs deep for many people, myself included. It boils simply down to this: Many people want to see some good news coming out of that race other than in entertainment, sports, and thug politics, all of which seem to have the operative paradigm of: Can't get out of the ghetto, let's make the whole culture a ghetto.

You can hear the "Numinous Negro" -- conservative installment -- anytime you're listening to conservative talk radio, and a black American calls, and they will instinctively be given extra time. Why? Because for whatever reason, it "means more" coming from a black conservative than from the typical "Diddos from a Kansas soccer mom, Rush!"

[Cy]

The most liberal senator is the biggest canard.

Any ranking that has Obama #1 over Sanders is laughable.

Amazing how each time a dem runs for prez he is the most liberal.

Not a canard. It's according to the National Journal, which tallies this stuff using ratings from a wide array of groups on the left and the right. In other words, it is liberal groups who rate Obama their friend. The National Journal has been doing this for years and is quite reputable. Here is the ranking for 2007:

Obama, Barack, D-Ill. 95.5 4.5
Whitehouse, Sheldon, D-R.I. 94.3 5.7
Biden, Joseph, D-Del. 94.2 5.8
Sanders, Bernie, I-Vt. 93.7 6.3

Great...I didn't even know that Biden was third. But your Sanders is number 4.

[Cy]

I've been doing a quick study on National Journal scores, vis a vis the comment that whomever the Dems put up is the "most liberal." And in fact it's true...

Kerry WAS the most liberal senator in 2003.

But there's a simple explanation for this. When a Dem knows he's going to run for president, he needs to get the kook, left-wing base on board in the primaries. So he has to tack left.

[hoosier]

Take the blinders off and put the megaphone down. As has been pointed out here before, the US Senate is populated by centrists. If they don't arrive there already centrist, they quickly become centrist when they see it's the only game in town. The HOR, on the other hand, has a big enough playing field for more than one game. But to suggest that Obama's "most liberal" ranking makes him a radical is just partisan hyperbole.

[HowardRoark]

As has been pointed out here before, the US Senate is populated by centrists.

Thanks for clearing this one up Hoosier.

But to suggest that Obama's "most liberal" ranking makes him a radical is just partisan hyperbole.

I do agree with you here Bobby. What makes him a radical is the fact that he's a fucking radical. He wants to change the Constitution via the Supreme Court. The Senate is merely a stepping stone to where he wants to be.

[MJZiggy]

If all these years of Republicans couldn't change the Supreme Court enough to overturn RvW, what makes you think Obama's gonna be able to anything in only 8 years. The justices are bright people, you know and their appointments do have to be approved...

[wist43]

The most liberal senator is the biggest canard.

Any ranking that has Obama #1 over Sanders is laughable.

Amazing how each time a dem runs for prez he is the most liberal.

Bernie Sanders??? Congressman Bernie Sanders??? The Socialist Congressman Bernie Sanders???

Obama isn't liberal... he's a Marxist nut. I don't even have to make the case - he's made it all on his own.

[Cy]

I must be on the same wavelength as with other pundits...

Mark Steyn is the guy who's sounding the warning bell about Europe losing its heritage due to mass demographic changes resulting from low birthrates of Europeans combined with high immigration of Islam elements.

He's also the guy who was charged with hate speech for his book outlining the above in Canada.

He's a canary in the coal mine for what's going to happen in America.

Anyway's, here's his take on the "two dimensional" Barack Obama. He sums up what I've been saying.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjE3OTEzNmI1NTEzOGIzNTU3ZWRmNzdmZmY3MTY5OTA=

[HowardRoark]

I am a little uncomfortable with the word Negro in the title of this thread. Isn't that a hate crime? Or something.

[falco]

I am a little uncomfortable with the word Negro in the title of this thread. Isn't that a hate crime? Or something.

pfft, if "hating" was a "crime" you'd have put more people behind bars than Wyatt Earp or some other notable law enforcement figure in history

[sheepshead]

The most liberal senator is the biggest canard.

Any ranking that has Obama #1 over Sanders is laughable.

Amazing how each time a dem runs for prez he is the most liberal.

HUH?

[BallHawk]

But there's a simple explanation for this. When a Dem knows he's going to run for president, he needs to get the kook, left-wing base on board in the primaries. So he has to tack left.

Or the republican base anticipates who the most likely Democratic candidate will be and skews the stats to make the nominee the most liberal senator.

Because, of course, Obama is more liberal than a self-described Socialist.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

The most liberal senator is the biggest canard.

Any ranking that has Obama #1 over Sanders is laughable.

Amazing how each time a dem runs for prez he is the most liberal.

Not a canard. It's according to the National Journal, which tallies this stuff using ratings from a wide array of groups on the left and the right. In other words, it is liberal groups who rate Obama their friend. The National Journal has been doing this for years and is quite reputable. Here is the ranking for 2007:

Obama, Barack, D-Ill. 95.5 4.5
Whitehouse, Sheldon, D-R.I. 94.3 5.7
Biden, Joseph, D-Del. 94.2 5.8
Sanders, Bernie, I-Vt. 93.7 6.3

Great...I didn't even know that Biden was third. But your Sanders is number 4.

Like i said, any ranking that has Sanders behind Obama is a joke.

National Journal..you mean that bastion of unbiased reporting?

But, like most conservatives you blindly accept what is written. Do you know the criteria for the NJ? Nope. I've gone thru this before...and it is is quite biased.

For instance...Kerry was the most liberal..despite its recent admission that the 2003 ratings were flawed because Kerry had missed a significant number of the votes that the study had analyzed. According to Journal editor Charles Green, the magazine was aware of the issue at the time, but decided to publish the ratings anyway and change its methodology later, rather than "change the rules in the middle of the game ... after we learned Kerry's ranking."

What about Mac? Under the new methodology applied in the 2007 study, presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) did not receive a rating because he missed too many votes. Well, that is a great system.

Let's examine some of those "liberal" votes of Obama's:to implement the 9-11 Commission's homeland security recommendations, provide more children with health insurance, permit federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, and maintain a federal minimum wage.

Please stop with this foolishness. My sides are hurting from laughing.