Sometimes You Just Feel Like A Nut

Castration-gate continues. For the sake of my own amusement, the dreaded clip itself is below. My apologies for inflicting Bill O'Reilly's face on you.



Sooooo... I guess the question is: has Barack Obama actually been talking down to black people on matters of faith? Mickey Kaus over at Slate seems to think yes, but I'm not so sure. I think Kaus makes a good point: candidates should always be careful about seeming like they're lecturing- and I'm forced to admit that it's a little rich for Obama to be exhorting parents to make sure their kids speak Spanish, when he apparently doesn't speak it himself.

But, I have to disagree. I really do. I think he might want to exercise a little more caution with speeches like this, but it doesn't change the fact that in America today, given the large amount of idiocy that can sometimes pass as parenting, pointing out things like this isn't necessarily a bad thing:

"You are probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Lil' Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school," Obama, D-Ill., told a cheering crowd, brought to a standing ovation at a town hall meeting in Powder Springs, Georgia.

And this:

"Which most of you brothas are not," Obama, who played basketball in high school, a sport he continues to play to this day, said jokingly. "I know you think you are, but you're not. You are over-rated in your own mind. You will not play in the NBA."

I think people have to realize that such things aren't necessarily directed at them and injecting a little bit of common sense into a conversation about parenting in this country isn't a bad thing. The fact that it's done in such a blunt manner might offend, but blunt doesn't bother me.

It's also worth noting that it seems his remarks were directed at a mainly (I'm guessing so, anyway) African-American audience. Given the flap over Bill Cosby's comment and his social criticism (check out this article here) I think it's fair to say that such debates in any community (ethnic, gender based or otherwise) are probably inevitable and maybe even necessary. I'm inclined the view this flap as another chapter of that debate for the African-American community and leave it at that. As a white American, I haven't a clue about the ins and outs of what it means to be an African-American in this country, so I ain't gonna act like I do. Only to applaud such remarks and hope that debates keep on coming from every direction. I'm a fan of healthy debate- I think it makes us stronger in the end.

Plus, I get the feeling that the Rev. Jackson might be a wee bit annoyed he's being eclipsed a bit.