Being THE CHOSEN ONE Barack Obama

"I need you to hate, so I can use you for your energy"

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In the past few days I've had several conversations about Barack Obama. And of course, I've touched on him in one of my recent posts because he's a pretty hot topic right now in American politics. So here's a couple snippets I wanted to share from my convos about Barack. I really suggest reading each article before reading my comments so I don't sound like a raging maniac. LOL.

EXHIBIT #1

After reading this article entitled "Who does Barack Obama think he is?", I had some thoughts. Essentially, she uses Barack's extreme popularity right now to justify her stance that a woman could never receive the same acclaim, popularity, or political impetus at this point in her political career. She even gives examples of several woman in comparable positions to Barack at this point. But that was then, and...Well, you can read my thoughts in a second but I'll just say that the media is far stronger today than it was during the timeframes in which she references the female politicians in her articles. But I'll save all that for another post and just put my thoughts in the air real quick like:

Whoever wrote this #1 sounds like a serious feminist. #2 makes some good points nevertheless. But #3, it's not Barack's fault that he's been catapulted into extreme popularity. The man seems genuine and not seeking the spotlight. The media is firmly placing it on him and he is using it strategically but not excessively.

EXHIBIT #2:

After being asked about what's revealed in this article entitled " Obama to form panel to explore presidential bid", by a friend today, I had some thoughts (in addition to my thoughts from yesterday):

I think that Barack's announcement pretty much says he's going to run. It gives him the ability to start raising funds "under the radar". But most of all, I think it's a smart move because it shows that he is putting a lot of thought into his moves leading up to his announcement as to whether he'll run or not. By doing this, he can gauge public reaction as to what they think he's going to do while raising money just in case he does run and also using his knowledge combined with other people's knowledge (his panel) to assess whether or not he should run.

EXHIBIT #3

Last but not least, after my co-worker sent me this article entitled "Effect of Obama's Candor Remains to be Seen", I had some more thoughts. This one really took the cake though. It's not as scathing as the article in Exhibit #1, but the more I think about it, the more I am disappointed in the fact that people may be searching for a reason to use this man's sincerity against him.

What I don't get is that there has to be an effect because of his candor... A man can't come across as genuine, open, honest, and charismatic in the political world without being questioned. Whereas the effed up [dishonest] politicians come across effed up and they still end up in the oval office for 8 str8 years. This makes no sense! The man should be applauded (if anything) for being as open about his mistakes as he's been. We've had two recent presidents who've lied about having sex with an intern, smoking weed [and/or cocaine], and leading us into a war that we never really needed to be in. On top of that, the latter two took place while the president's occupied the oval office! And yet and still, we seek to either complain or search for potential detrimental affects for a man who's up to this point been honest and given us no reason to think otherwise. GO MEDIA GO!

But what can you expect when a man of minority-blood has received such hype and such great expectations have been placed on him not by himself, but the monster that is the media. I guess this is why my co-worker Todd said he thinks that Barack will be eaten alive by the media machine. I think I get it now Toddler, I think I get it.

EXTRA CREDIT
My co-worker:

"Just because there's political excitement surrounding Barack doesn't mean doesn't necessarily mean he'll get shot. who was the last american assassinated? does lennon in 1980 count? otherwise we're back to what? rfk and mlk in 1968?"

My response:

Dude, Tupac got killed like 10 years ago. That was an assassination for sure! What about Bobby Kennedy? Martin Luther King? Not president's but serious political swag was wielded by these guys.

The shot that will be felt round 'the hood will have nothing to do with political excitement, it'll have more to do with ethnic background and what some people will fear that ethnic background may mean when-and-if he makes it to the oval office.

My perspective right now. We'll see Hillary as President before we see Barack. Why? Because Barack is going to be viewed by most as Black regardless of what his bio says. Why? Because he has dark skin. People may not want to admit it or believe it, but it is what it is and that's how he'll be viewed. With that said, the politicians will fear him because of that. They don't know if he'll get elected and get in the oval office and start having 40s and blunts every week. They don't know if he'll get in there and go either Tupac or Huey Newton on Congress. They just don't know. But, they probably assume/think that if there's a woman in office that (because of the covert machismo in this country) they'll be able to manipulate her, control her, and/or use her as a puppet. Even if it is someone as intelligent and strong-willed as Hillary Rodman Rodham Clinton. So while I may know jack-shyt about politics in the big scheme of things and even less shyt about political posturing and maneuvering, I know he's Black (to most) and she's a woman and people fear women less in this country than they fear intelligent, charismatic, and forward-thinking Black men.

And of course, I have my thoughts in general about Barack that have found their way onto this blog and been engaged in some great conversations over the past few months. Most of you probably already know that I am really a fan of Barack and I hope good things for him. But at the same time, I fear for him because of all that surrounds the current point of his political career. Too much too early could be very detrimental. While not moving while you're HOT could be even more deadly. I am proud of you Barack, but I don't envy your position nor the stress and ridiculous amount of media coverage and personal investigation that comes with it. Thank God you seem to be comfortable with you are, where you've come from, and wherever it is that you decide to go. You've officially made my list of role models!

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I wonder what Mel Gibson or Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf would do to Barack!