Root Causes

Obama tackled the root causes of low wages for unskilled workers during his ambitious Hispandering at last night's debate:

But let's understand more broadly that the economic problems that  African Americans are experiencing, whites are experiencing, blacks and Latinos are experiencing in this country are all rooted in the fact that we have had an economy out of balance.  We've had tax cuts that went up instead of down.  We have had a lack of investment in basic infrastructure in this country.  Our education system is chronically underfunded.

(Applause.)  And so there are a whole host of reasons why we have not been generating the kinds of jobs that we are generating.  We should not use immigration as a -- as a tactic to divide.  Instead we should pull the country together to get this economy back on track.  That's what I intend to do as president of the United States of America.   

I very much doubt that this analysis will play to someone who is standing in an unemployment line with six guys around him chatting in Spanish; it seems a bit like delivering a lecture on the root causes of crime to someone who has just been mugged. But then again, what do I know?  I am not this generation's John Kennedy.

That said, it's hard to see McCain really exploiting this issue.

MORE:  Mickey dredged up Obama '06, who is quite different.

Comments

[Ranger]

From Obama's statement at the link:

...It does appear that undocumented workers have a somewhat adverse effect in depressing the wages of low-skill workers, which is why in the African-American community, for example, there is some nervousness of about the number of undocumented workers that are coming into this country and whether they are systematically replacing or pushing out low-skill, low-wage black workers.

[MayBee]

It was wild pandering. The applause that followed his line about "scapegoating" was frightening, although I'm sure half of the people in the audience have their own version of Spanglish going on at home.

OTOH, what in the world is wrong with the questioner? She asked about "immigrants" not "illegal" or "undocumented" immigrants.

[hit and run]

From the Department of Political Analogies Run Amok

***Content warning, some sexual content may be unsuitable for younger viewers…***

Obama is the girl at the bar who looks pretty with the beer goggles on.

You get caught up in the speeches and the rhetoric. You don't even pay attention to the meaning of the words -- you are mezmerized by the audacious hope they represent, by the delivery and by the man himself. And you think he's kinda hot. So you sleep with him

But when you wake up, you are horrified at the ugliness. You are ashamed at the emptiness you feel at turning what should have been a very profound act of love into a very shallow and transitory experience that lasted only moments.

And in a few weeks, the itching will begin.

------------------

No. Wait!

Obama is the smooth playah who goes to the bar to pick up girls for one-nighters.

He has it all, the looks, the pleasant deameanor, he says all the right things, he listens to you, he "gets" what your saying, everything. So you go home and sleep with him.

But when you wake up, he's gone. He's taken your money and left a note saying he needed it for cab fare and some smokes. He took a dump in your toilet and didn't flush.

And he left the seat up.

-------------------

Obama: the analogical political hermaphrodite

[Ann]

Where's Clarice? We need some thwacking over here! :)

[clarice]

THWACK!!!

[Ralph L]

H&R gives us the voice of experience.

[Bill in AZ]

We'll all be standing in that unemployment line after a few months of his "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" economic strategy.

[hit and run]

I was not experienced.

That's still a hell of a story though.

[Ralph L]

You keep these confession links on-call for later use?
I was being sarcastic--I remember your sex life better than you do.

[Our Paul]

Ann and Clarice:

I presume you wish to hold a thwacking party to straighten out correspondent hit and run. It does not take a world-class psychiatrist to identify the writer as male.

Grading him 1 to 5 on the use of allegory or its spectral brothers and sisters", we will give him a 0.5. Imagery rates a 1.5. Language gets 0.8, but if he had written it in Spanish, we would be forced to give a 4.5 for droll humor.

His vignettes not only point to his sexual preoccupations, but his major his underlining fears. We will give the story lines a 2.0 (0.75 for each parable, and 0.5 for the clever juxtaposition of the two stories, with moral implications, set in a bar). His sexual inadequacy is apparent in his conclusion, but give him a 3.0 for use of a big word.

Thwacking this guy will not prove hard. Resistance will be minimal, for he will only have his left hand to defend himself. Judging by the themes he chooses to degrade Obama, his right hand will occupied with some serious pocket pool.

[Rick Ballard]

No one has ever degraded Obama any more than he has degraded himself. In that respect (and in many, many others) "Clintonesque" is the appropriate adjective.

Hispandering by Obama cannot possibly be seen as further self degradation either. He tapped bottom when Rezko bought him. He's at basalt now and he'll have to blast to get lower.

Charming fellow though.

[Jane]

Charming fellow though.

Tee Hee - as only you can say it Rick.

[Foo Bar]

Kaus writes (sarcastically attempting to paraphrase Obama last night) "it's not that illegal immigration lowers unskilled wages", yet right there in Obama's answer last night he says we need a pathway to citizenship because otherwise "they will continue to undermine U.S. wages". So this hard truth that he acknowledged in May '06 was also acknowledged last night, if somewhat less forcefully.

The questioner asked "How do you propose to address the high unemployment rates and the declining wages in the African-American community that are related to the flood of immigrant labor?". Obama's point was that immigration is hardly the primary reason for high black unemployment rates. Does anyone here disagree?

I don't dispute that there was a bit of shading of his answer given his need to boost Latino support, but it doesn't seem that outrageous a flip-flop to me. In the May '06 quote all he said was that there does appear to be a "somewhat adverse" effect, and he also acknowledged the undermining of wages last night.

[Rick Ballard]

"Does anyone here disagree?"

I certainly don't. The Hispandering was completely understandable considering the locale, and how well he's running in CA. I was waiting for a "Si, se puede!" shout out myself.

I wonder if he'll have a mariachi band in attendance at future campaign stops in CA? Maybe carry some castanets or maracas on stage and wear a sombrero?

Viva Hussein!

[Porchlight]

Obama's point was that immigration is hardly the primary reason for high black unemployment rates. Does anyone here disagree?

No, I don't disagree. However, I think that was only *part* of Obama's point. The thrust of his answer - and the part that got all the applause - was his statement that illegals are being used as scapegoats, presumably for all kinds of problems, not just black unemployment. His implication was that illegal immigration was some kind of strawman, or sleight of hand, used by (racist) Republicans to distract from the real issues at hand.

It was actually quite a skilful answer.

[MikeS]

It all went over my head. I get that a hermaphrodite is a moderate genderwise, but why doesn't he flush?

[Rick Ballard]

Porchlight,

I found him much easier to listen to than Red Witch. I know he's faking it just as much as she is - neither of them have any experience that doesn't involve being paid with a State of Federal Treasury check but I think he's much closer to Bubba in terms of being able to lie effectively enough to attract a large number of the clueless.

Neither he nor Red Witch actually described anything that could be described as a plan but he was much more convincing in peddling the absolute lack of substance for which his party is famous.

He did very well.

[Porchlight]

he was much more convincing in peddling the absolute lack of substance for which his party is famous.

Agreed, Rick. He is increasingly sounding more like an inspired trial attorney to me than anything else. Hillary OTOH is more effective when she is in policy wonk mode, breaking down the issues like a seasoned bureaucrat. Boy, that gal can sure lead a meeting!

[rockdalian]

" We've had tax cuts that went up instead of down."

How on earth do you get a tax cut when you do not pay taxes?

[hit and run]

Our Paul:
It does not take a world-class psychiatrist to identify the writer as male.

Bingo! You, my friend, are good.

Resistance will be minimal, for he will only have his left hand to defend himself.

Bzzzzzt. Too bad. I'm left-handed. If you know what I mean, and I think you do.

[cathyf]

Hillary OTOH is more effective when she is in policy wonk mode, breaking down the issues like a seasoned bureaucrat. Boy, that gal can sure lead a meeting!

But, in fact, the veterans of the hillarycare fiasco explain that she is a terrible bureaucrat, and turns every meeting into a total disaster.

[Our Paul]

My apologies to those who I may have offended. I periodically bring up Just one Minute to take the pulse of the nation. It struck me that when one uses sexually charged vignettes to attack a political figure one stands a serious chance of dicing women, which in this case happened (hit and run, 4:20 PM)

In reply to hit and run return’s (10:25 PM) to my post, I have no idea what Bzzzzzt. Too bad. I'm left-handed. If you know what I mean, and I think you do. means. In my post, the symbolic Right (wing) hand was preoccupied in his pocket, while the much despised, weak and sissified Left (wing) hand would be available for a defending himself from a feminist whacking.

For a long, long time I have I have distrusted the charismatic leader, he who poses the silver tongue. Some, like Lincoln, have shown uncommon wisdom. Others, through out history, have not been the most gentle or compassioned leaders. That Obama is a silver tongued orator of uncommon skills has even been recognized by the http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/01/obama-is-the-democrats-reagan.html>Trident Mass Crowed…

One month ago, I would argue that both McCaine and Obama were road kill. The SUV of entrenched party money and party ideology, acting at opposite poles, would freeze them in their head lights, and steam role them… Does not appear to be happening…

The problem we all face is language. This not your usual Carl Rove, wedge issue, political campaign. What the left and right face is that the raw meat attack is counter productive to engaging and capturing our future generations. “Hispandering” and Islamofacist” will get the juices flowing, but will it open a door to a 16 year old, who has a Hispanic friends, and who is attracted on an intellectual or physical level to a Lebanese/Iranian/Iraqi girl(women) or boy(man)?

In the history of man, political parties and nations, like dinosaurs have become extinct.

[Porchlight]

But, in fact, the veterans of the hillarycare fiasco explain that she is a terrible bureaucrat, and turns every meeting into a total disaster.

True, cathyf. I was just reacting to her ability to sell herself that way to a debate audience. She *sounds* proficient on healthcare and jumps into details whereas Obama mostly stays at cloud-level with generalities. The (need I say liberal?) government bureaucrats I work for love this type of talk and are good at it, but like Hillary, are not all that effective in reality.