John seems totally oblivious to Bush Derangement Syndrome - the Dems bashing Republicans and demonizing them. Also done in 2008 to Sarah Palin, and Kavanagh, but even before Bush 43 it had been done against Reagan, against Nixon, against Goldwater (1980 & '84, '72, '64, even VP Nixon '60).
The Tea Party, after the Bush-Obama bailout of TBTF rich bankers, was the beginning of normal Republicans noticing that the managerial elite Dems & RINOs were not supportive of policies best for normal, working Americans. The commie-sympathizing Dems have been demonizing Reps since ... the McCarthy era & Rep blacklists & censorship. Dem "tax the rich" words have usually been "tax workers more" in practice.
Glenn is totally right - Obama was terrible for race relations. Instead of cooling them, he enflamed them and emphasized the racial, rather than behavioral, aspects of the problems. Plus neither BLM nor Obama seem to care much about the thousands of Blacks murdered by Blacks each year. Hundreds in Chicago already this year.
One big thing that changed was the realization that electing a Black Barak Obama as President doesn't seem to change criminal and immoral Black behavior. Black men commit crimes - and get "excused" because the "Devil / white folk made me do it" (whatever happened to Flip Wilson?*). Black women have sex with men who don't love them, and have babies with men they're not married to.
Uncle Sugar makes a really lousy father - and it's systemic bad Black behavior which is the main cause of Black underperformance. If 70% of Black women are sluts, or more, it's not a surprise that all Black women get suspected of being sluts upon first meeting - it's not exactly racism to assume as a first assumption that the next Black woman you meet has had multiple sex partners they've not been married to.
Black female privilege, especially to claim each and every criticism is racism, is one of the increasing problems in the USA. We all need to be able to call out bad behavior without being accused of being racists. Which, the Dem media was doing to each and every criticism of Obama - the critic is a racist. Don't like his economics - racist. Don't like his pro-abortion stance - racist. Don't like his flip flop on gay marriage - racist AND homophobe.
The Dem accusation of "racist" was very effective - especially against well-to-do White Republicans who are trying hard NOT be racist.
Is it possible to move beyond it? Yes - by focusing on the plight of deserving poor and undeserving poor, and really helping the deserving poor so as, AFTER the help, they are no longer so poor. Poverty itself needs to be more standard and absolute objective: enough food, clothes, sq feet of housing (with running water). Helping all poor people, not just Blacks.
The gov't needs to learn how to offer jobs to all willing to work, and to encourage more poor folk to work. And we need more public documentation about those unwilling to work, or like Jordan Neely, unwilling accept treatment but often behaving too aggressively against innocents. Return to asylums? Yes, but with more public scrutiny to make the experience and help more effective.
I've reduced my reading here, because of a lack of ideas on how to change Black behavior that is bad, and a near avoidance of blaming those who behave badly. We could use more Black fathers like Flip Wilson.
*Flip stepped out of spotlight to be a good father to his 5 kids! That's what more Black fathers need to do. I'm so very disappointed that John M. was unable to find compromises to stay with his wife so his kids would have married parents. My parents were also divorced (3 & 4 times) - but my 4 kids have parents who've vowed to stay together for life, and mean it. Trump's cheating on his first two wives is certainly negative, and in some ways worse than B. Clinton's more frequent cheating but not leaving (like LBJ & JFK as well).
i have been thinking about obama and the greatest damage would be the partnership with the tech oligarchs. it was 2009 the internet was now cemented and trillion dollar corporations a reality , if he had been a true progressive he would have fought to tax and regulate these companies so their power was diminished, instead he consolidated state and corporate power. it will take decades to repair the damage
Sometimes we forget the major progress that has been made.
Years ago Lester Mattox stood in front of his ice cream shop with an ax handle to keep his establishment segregated. Today, the graduates at Harvard University segregate themselves, without a pick handle in sight.
Federal troops were necessary to integrate Central High School, so that blacks could get an education and receive a high school diploma. Today, they can graduate without learning to read or write. Years ago the KKK was terrorizing black people and their neighborhoods. Black people have monopolize this effort, and last year eliminated close to 10,000 of their own, without a white hood in sight.
Rosa Parks was arrested once for sitting in the wrong place on a bus. Today, black people can sit anywhere they want, beat the shit out of anyone they choose and not be charged for the transit fee or the criminal act.
Lena Horne had to contend with singing love songs to segregated audiences with her clothes on.
Cardi B now regales us with songs of her wet ass pu&&y and how she steals Rolex watches from tricks.
Blacks used to complain about being followed in stores and having black beauty products locked up, because of accusations of shoplifting. Today, they just load up that cart and off they go. No questions asked.
Yes my fellow citizens, this must be as good as it gets. How could it get any better?
I don't know how John can claim that it is just a sliver of people that believe in the preference and discrimination mantra on the left and at the same time judge the entire Republican party because of the Tea Party. It is not just a sliver of people. When California voted on prop 16, 43% voted to repeal prop 209 and allow hiring by race in government and other institutions. 43%! That was 2020 before the full impact of Kendi's twisted philosophy had stormed its way through public conscience. The fact is the Democrat Party has become the party of discrimination and racism (some will argue history shows it always has been). John can't own up to this fact. Why? It's a mystery.
Connecticut has openly discriminating laws and program on the books, voted in by party line by Democrat supermajority.
Michael Brown was no gentle giant. AG Holder accepted the police version of the killing of Miichael Brown and that is all well and good (the Law And Order crowd likes that part of Holder's report, the other part outlining the systemic racism of the Ferguson police department not so much). That said anyone who saw Freddie Gray loaded into a police wagon with his legs dangling like a puppet knows he was murdered by thugs in uniform. Anyone who saw Eric Garner an obese asthmatic man who could not get out of his own way being manhandled by 5 (count 'em) thugs in uniform knows likewise. Anyone who saw Loehmann jump out of the police car in point blank range of supposed active shooter knows damn well that there is no way he would have done that if he was not 100% sure Tamir Rice did not have a real gun. The list goes on. In all these cases the thugs in uniform were held blameless. And these were the ones captured on video. No doubt there are countless others not captured on video. Percentagewise the overwhelming number of police are dedicated public servants. We couldn't function as a society if that were not the case. Unfortunately like so many things in life the damage done by that minuscule number outweighs the good. Defund The Police is a foolish overreaction unless we want to be individually responsible for our own security. That being said we cannot lose sight that a criminal element will inevitably gravitate to the perception that by definition you cannot break the law because you are the law.
Glenn and John. First, thank you. American needs you both. Second, I just love Glenn’s intellectual journey from left to right to left to right again. It should be what ever inquisitor into the human condition aspires to. It’s what I aspire to and if anyone asks, “What are you trying to do?” I’ll reply, “Be like Glenn Loury.”
I spent more time than I really should being desperately annoyed at David Samuels interviewing David Garrow so he could bring in his half-baked Obama theories in the guise of questions (I am delighted that Samuels is trying to do a newspaper for the rest of the country because a very small, specific group of New York liberals is the foil for almost everything he does at Tablet). Spouse very sensibly said "Obama had his 8 years". But I was willing to extend an olive branch there that for someone who was elected as community organizer in chief Obama dropped the ball as far as actual organizing. One VERY extraordinary person in so many ways was under pressure to be everything to everybody and could only do so much without getting individual Black and white people civically involved in a common project to make them see that they had common interests. Individuals' disappointment in Obama not doing what THEY had hoped a Black president could do may have reflected back towards their attitudes about race relations in general.
"I’m struck by how much closer we seemed to that ideal in 2007 than we do in 2023."
The operative word here is "seemed", but the reality is this: U.S. race relations--specifically, Black & White--have never been better.
That doesn't mean race relations in America are "great" or "good". It just means they have never been better. If you disagree, please tell me when race relations were better in the USA?
That is to say, based on real criteria? Intermarriage? Biraciality? Multiraciality? We are light years from any previous point in our time line. Culturally? This is as good as ever.
If you think race relations are in the toilet today, you might wanna remember how truly crappy they used to be (just to keep things in perspective).
I recently saw a guy on Twitter espousing how much better it was in the 90s. I assumed he was smoking 90s crack.
Anecdotally, I am amazed at the number of young African-Americans who honestly like country music, and needless to say, hip-hop is a global phenomenon.
We are more blended than ever. Now obviously, there are Americans out there who would rather go to their graves than blend. But people like that will always exist, and they are obviously losing.
That's why they speak and act as they do. They know their utopia is a hopeless wet dream. But in fairness, social media can be very misleading. The incentive structures there can be very pernicious societally, and we may end up paying for it one day.
You guys have been doing that for 16 years? Yeah, I hear you. I didn’t want to love a lie, so I left like Lockner culture dictated I must, and I also stayed that duration of the wars out there - 15 of those 16 years. It’s good to be home. It’s good the wars are over. Drug War ended when some pothead got his head together Aug 2, 2023 in case it didn’t make the news. Woke Cultural Revolution came and went 2016-2022. It’s about time to change the topic of conversation again, isn’t it? Congrats on holding the vision, brothers! You did it!
John seems totally oblivious to Bush Derangement Syndrome - the Dems bashing Republicans and demonizing them. Also done in 2008 to Sarah Palin, and Kavanagh, but even before Bush 43 it had been done against Reagan, against Nixon, against Goldwater (1980 & '84, '72, '64, even VP Nixon '60).
The Tea Party, after the Bush-Obama bailout of TBTF rich bankers, was the beginning of normal Republicans noticing that the managerial elite Dems & RINOs were not supportive of policies best for normal, working Americans. The commie-sympathizing Dems have been demonizing Reps since ... the McCarthy era & Rep blacklists & censorship. Dem "tax the rich" words have usually been "tax workers more" in practice.
Glenn is totally right - Obama was terrible for race relations. Instead of cooling them, he enflamed them and emphasized the racial, rather than behavioral, aspects of the problems. Plus neither BLM nor Obama seem to care much about the thousands of Blacks murdered by Blacks each year. Hundreds in Chicago already this year.
One big thing that changed was the realization that electing a Black Barak Obama as President doesn't seem to change criminal and immoral Black behavior. Black men commit crimes - and get "excused" because the "Devil / white folk made me do it" (whatever happened to Flip Wilson?*). Black women have sex with men who don't love them, and have babies with men they're not married to.
Uncle Sugar makes a really lousy father - and it's systemic bad Black behavior which is the main cause of Black underperformance. If 70% of Black women are sluts, or more, it's not a surprise that all Black women get suspected of being sluts upon first meeting - it's not exactly racism to assume as a first assumption that the next Black woman you meet has had multiple sex partners they've not been married to.
Black female privilege, especially to claim each and every criticism is racism, is one of the increasing problems in the USA. We all need to be able to call out bad behavior without being accused of being racists. Which, the Dem media was doing to each and every criticism of Obama - the critic is a racist. Don't like his economics - racist. Don't like his pro-abortion stance - racist. Don't like his flip flop on gay marriage - racist AND homophobe.
The Dem accusation of "racist" was very effective - especially against well-to-do White Republicans who are trying hard NOT be racist.
Is it possible to move beyond it? Yes - by focusing on the plight of deserving poor and undeserving poor, and really helping the deserving poor so as, AFTER the help, they are no longer so poor. Poverty itself needs to be more standard and absolute objective: enough food, clothes, sq feet of housing (with running water). Helping all poor people, not just Blacks.
The gov't needs to learn how to offer jobs to all willing to work, and to encourage more poor folk to work. And we need more public documentation about those unwilling to work, or like Jordan Neely, unwilling accept treatment but often behaving too aggressively against innocents. Return to asylums? Yes, but with more public scrutiny to make the experience and help more effective.
I've reduced my reading here, because of a lack of ideas on how to change Black behavior that is bad, and a near avoidance of blaming those who behave badly. We could use more Black fathers like Flip Wilson.
https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/flip-wilsons-life-was-no-joke-behind-his-legacy-of-laughter/
*Flip stepped out of spotlight to be a good father to his 5 kids! That's what more Black fathers need to do. I'm so very disappointed that John M. was unable to find compromises to stay with his wife so his kids would have married parents. My parents were also divorced (3 & 4 times) - but my 4 kids have parents who've vowed to stay together for life, and mean it. Trump's cheating on his first two wives is certainly negative, and in some ways worse than B. Clinton's more frequent cheating but not leaving (like LBJ & JFK as well).
Regardless of Obama, whites are in charge of the system.
Glenn's take at the end of the video, is my take. Obama started out great, was corrupted by the machine, and became obsessed over his own celebrity
i have been thinking about obama and the greatest damage would be the partnership with the tech oligarchs. it was 2009 the internet was now cemented and trillion dollar corporations a reality , if he had been a true progressive he would have fought to tax and regulate these companies so their power was diminished, instead he consolidated state and corporate power. it will take decades to repair the damage
Sometimes we forget the major progress that has been made.
Years ago Lester Mattox stood in front of his ice cream shop with an ax handle to keep his establishment segregated. Today, the graduates at Harvard University segregate themselves, without a pick handle in sight.
Federal troops were necessary to integrate Central High School, so that blacks could get an education and receive a high school diploma. Today, they can graduate without learning to read or write. Years ago the KKK was terrorizing black people and their neighborhoods. Black people have monopolize this effort, and last year eliminated close to 10,000 of their own, without a white hood in sight.
Rosa Parks was arrested once for sitting in the wrong place on a bus. Today, black people can sit anywhere they want, beat the shit out of anyone they choose and not be charged for the transit fee or the criminal act.
Lena Horne had to contend with singing love songs to segregated audiences with her clothes on.
Cardi B now regales us with songs of her wet ass pu&&y and how she steals Rolex watches from tricks.
Blacks used to complain about being followed in stores and having black beauty products locked up, because of accusations of shoplifting. Today, they just load up that cart and off they go. No questions asked.
Yes my fellow citizens, this must be as good as it gets. How could it get any better?
I don't know how John can claim that it is just a sliver of people that believe in the preference and discrimination mantra on the left and at the same time judge the entire Republican party because of the Tea Party. It is not just a sliver of people. When California voted on prop 16, 43% voted to repeal prop 209 and allow hiring by race in government and other institutions. 43%! That was 2020 before the full impact of Kendi's twisted philosophy had stormed its way through public conscience. The fact is the Democrat Party has become the party of discrimination and racism (some will argue history shows it always has been). John can't own up to this fact. Why? It's a mystery.
Connecticut has openly discriminating laws and program on the books, voted in by party line by Democrat supermajority.
Michael Brown was no gentle giant. AG Holder accepted the police version of the killing of Miichael Brown and that is all well and good (the Law And Order crowd likes that part of Holder's report, the other part outlining the systemic racism of the Ferguson police department not so much). That said anyone who saw Freddie Gray loaded into a police wagon with his legs dangling like a puppet knows he was murdered by thugs in uniform. Anyone who saw Eric Garner an obese asthmatic man who could not get out of his own way being manhandled by 5 (count 'em) thugs in uniform knows likewise. Anyone who saw Loehmann jump out of the police car in point blank range of supposed active shooter knows damn well that there is no way he would have done that if he was not 100% sure Tamir Rice did not have a real gun. The list goes on. In all these cases the thugs in uniform were held blameless. And these were the ones captured on video. No doubt there are countless others not captured on video. Percentagewise the overwhelming number of police are dedicated public servants. We couldn't function as a society if that were not the case. Unfortunately like so many things in life the damage done by that minuscule number outweighs the good. Defund The Police is a foolish overreaction unless we want to be individually responsible for our own security. That being said we cannot lose sight that a criminal element will inevitably gravitate to the perception that by definition you cannot break the law because you are the law.
Glenn and John. First, thank you. American needs you both. Second, I just love Glenn’s intellectual journey from left to right to left to right again. It should be what ever inquisitor into the human condition aspires to. It’s what I aspire to and if anyone asks, “What are you trying to do?” I’ll reply, “Be like Glenn Loury.”
I spent more time than I really should being desperately annoyed at David Samuels interviewing David Garrow so he could bring in his half-baked Obama theories in the guise of questions (I am delighted that Samuels is trying to do a newspaper for the rest of the country because a very small, specific group of New York liberals is the foil for almost everything he does at Tablet). Spouse very sensibly said "Obama had his 8 years". But I was willing to extend an olive branch there that for someone who was elected as community organizer in chief Obama dropped the ball as far as actual organizing. One VERY extraordinary person in so many ways was under pressure to be everything to everybody and could only do so much without getting individual Black and white people civically involved in a common project to make them see that they had common interests. Individuals' disappointment in Obama not doing what THEY had hoped a Black president could do may have reflected back towards their attitudes about race relations in general.
"I’m struck by how much closer we seemed to that ideal in 2007 than we do in 2023."
The operative word here is "seemed", but the reality is this: U.S. race relations--specifically, Black & White--have never been better.
That doesn't mean race relations in America are "great" or "good". It just means they have never been better. If you disagree, please tell me when race relations were better in the USA?
That is to say, based on real criteria? Intermarriage? Biraciality? Multiraciality? We are light years from any previous point in our time line. Culturally? This is as good as ever.
If you think race relations are in the toilet today, you might wanna remember how truly crappy they used to be (just to keep things in perspective).
I recently saw a guy on Twitter espousing how much better it was in the 90s. I assumed he was smoking 90s crack.
Anecdotally, I am amazed at the number of young African-Americans who honestly like country music, and needless to say, hip-hop is a global phenomenon.
We are more blended than ever. Now obviously, there are Americans out there who would rather go to their graves than blend. But people like that will always exist, and they are obviously losing.
That's why they speak and act as they do. They know their utopia is a hopeless wet dream. But in fairness, social media can be very misleading. The incentive structures there can be very pernicious societally, and we may end up paying for it one day.
But we're a long ways from that.
You guys have been doing that for 16 years? Yeah, I hear you. I didn’t want to love a lie, so I left like Lockner culture dictated I must, and I also stayed that duration of the wars out there - 15 of those 16 years. It’s good to be home. It’s good the wars are over. Drug War ended when some pothead got his head together Aug 2, 2023 in case it didn’t make the news. Woke Cultural Revolution came and went 2016-2022. It’s about time to change the topic of conversation again, isn’t it? Congrats on holding the vision, brothers! You did it!