Turnover

post from Talking Points Memo on 06 November 2008 01:32:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Just now from Dana Perino ...The President and Mrs. Bush look forward to welcoming President-elect Obama and Mrs. Obama to the White House on Monday afternoon. The Bushes will greet the Obamas, and then the President will visit with the President-elect[...]

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Rahmbo Takes Obama Post

post from Firedoglake on 06 November 2008 01:28:40 PM. © Firedoglake

CNN:Illionis Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a former Clinton administration aide, has accepted the position of President-elect Obama's chief of staff, a Democratic aide tells CNN.Cue the whining:After reports that Emanuel had agreed to be Obama's chief of staff on[...]

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Will Whites See President Obama or a Black Man

post from The Francis L. Holland Blog on 06 November 2008 01:27:00 PM. © The Francis L. Holland Blog

In a Yahoo article by Nidra Sidoti and Lizz Pickler, interpreting the messages Obaam sends through his staff picks, I found this curious phrase that seems portends some stereotyping of Barack Obama:

Obama himself brims with self-confidence, to the point that some
people view him as arrogant. But to a greater degree than many presidents, he appears willing to lean on Washington insiders associated with other politicians. (Empassis added.) Yahoo News

I find this assertion that "some people view him as arrogant" to be very peculiar, since I don't understand how a Black man viewed as arrogant could have been elected two days ago. Instead, I think "arrogant" is a phrase potentially applied to every Black man who wields power, and this phrase is simply part of the stereotyping of President-elect Obama.

So, I'd like to know specifically who views Obama's self-confidence as arrogance. I can't and I don't believe that any Democrat would tell the press this in the first two days after Obama's election. So, there must be a right-wing Republican campaign going on to stereotype and isolate Obama before he even begins to govern. In fact, I will predict right now that this phrase is part of a "vast right wing conspiracy" to frustrate and isolate Obama by using somewhat subtle stereotypes to remind American that he is and therefore subject to a boatload of negative stereotypes.

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The Color-Aroused Stereotyping of Obama Begins in
Earnest

post from The Francis L. Holland Blog on 06 November 2008 01:27:00 PM. © The Francis L. Holland Blog

In a Yahoo News article by Nidra Sidoti and Lizz Pickler, interpreting the messages Obaam sends through his staff picks, I found this curious phrase that seems portends some stereotyping of Barack Obama:

Obama himself brims with self-confidence, to the point that some
people view him as arrogant. But to a greater degree than many presidents, he appears willing to lean on Washington insiders associated with other politicians. (Empassis added.) Yahoo News

I find this assertion that "some people view him as arrogant" to be very peculiar, since I don't understand how a Black man viewed as arrogant could have been elected president two days ago. Instead, I think "arrogant" is a phrase potentially applied to every Black man who wields power, and this phrase is simply part of the stereotyping of President-elect Obama.

So, I'd like to know specifically who views Obama's self-confidence as arrogance. I can't and I don't believe that any Democrat would tell the press this in the first two days after Obama's election. So, there must be a right-wing Republican campaign going on to stereotype and isolate Obama before he even begins to govern. In fact, I will predict right now that this phrase is part of a color arousing "vast right wing conspiracy" to frustrate and isolate Obama by using somewhat subtle stereotypes to remind American that he is and therefore subject to a boatload of negative stereotypes.

In the same article, President-elect Obama is quoted as saying,
"I know what I'm good at. I know what I'm not good at. I know what I
know, and I know what I don't know," Obama once told Pete Rouse as he prepared to move up from Illinois state senator to the U.S. Senate. Yahoo News
To me, that sounds like the evidence of humility, not arrogance. In fact, this "arrogance" is an almost entirely new and false Republican meme.

Today, Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune posited the question of how the role of Black civil rights organizations might change in an Obama presidency? I predict that, just as was true when the Clinton campaign began color-arousing the nation against Obama, the role of the Civil Movement will be to identify and defend Obama from color-aroused, color group-directed slander, because defending Obama will be the only way to defend ourselves.

Liz Sidoti reported from Washington on the above Yahoo News article while Associated Press Special Correspondent David Espo and AP reporter Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Beth Fouhy in Chicago contributed to the report. I would suggest that all of them be careful not to allow themselves to be used by their sources to impose color-based stereotypes on Obama just two days after his election.

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ANNALS OF PROFILES.

post from Ezra Klein on 06 November 2008 01:26:00 PM. © Ezra Klein

Noam Scheiber has an excellent profile of not only the two leading candidates for Treasury, Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers, but the intellectual and professional relationship between the two men.[...]

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Palin backtracks on call for Stevens to resign.

post from Think Progress on 06 November 2008 01:25:00 PM. © Think Progress

Soon after a jury convicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) on seven felony charges, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) called on Stevens to resign from the U.S. Senate. “Alaskans are grateful for his decades of public service but the time has come for him to step aside,” she said in a statement. But days later, when asked if she would vote for Stevens, Palin refused to answer. Now, Palin is backtracking on whether Stevens should resign:

Asked Wednesday whether she still believed that Mr. Stevens should resign, Ms. Palin was circumspect, saying only that the people of Alaska “just spoke” on the issue at the ballot box and that “they want him as their senator.” She said Mr. Stevens should decide “what happens next.” (Mr. Stevens could still be forced to step down, and Ms. Palin is widely viewed as a potential candidate for his seat if he does.)

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Day Of Reckoning

post from Talking Points Memo on 06 November 2008 01:22:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Back in June we put together this episode of TPMtv explaining just how the mechanics would work if the Dems decide to give Joe Lieberman the old heave-ho, and how you can apply your own pressure ...[...]

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Larry Summers At Treasury: A Fox in the Henhouse

post from Open Left - Front Page on 06 November 2008 01:21:13 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

Right now, the rumors are that Larry Summers is the choice for the Treasury Secretary post.[...]

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Can We Please Have A Pro-Choice Secretary of
State

Women turned out big in this election -- unmarried women in particular voted 70-29 for Obama. I don't imagine Dick Lugar, Chuck Hagel and Larry Summers were exactly what they had in mind when they turned up at the voting booth.Susan Rice and John Kerry[...]

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Alice Walker: An Open Letter to President-Elect
Barack Obama

This letter was circulated to me via email, but I traced its origins back to The Root. This site "is a daily online magazine that provides thought-provoking commentary on today's news from a variety of black perspectives...[that] aims to be an unprecedented departure from traditional American journalism, raising the profile of black voices in mainstream media and engaging anyone interested in black culture around the world." A truly wonderful site to explore.

Walker's letter is a heartfelt letter from the legendary Alice Walker, and has some simple words of wisdom we'd all do well to heed in our own lives. Read on.

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker