That Took Longer Than I Expected

CNN finally gets around to blaming Obama's cool response to the Gulf oil spill on latent white racism:

Why Obama doesn't dare become the 'angry black man'

But scholars say Obama's critics ignore a lesson from American history: Many white Americans don't like angry black men.

It's the lesson Obama absorbed from his upbringing, and from an impromptu remark he delivered last summer. Yet it's a lesson he may now have to jettison, they say, as public outrage spreads.

...

Some of the same people crying for Obama to show more emotion would have voted against him if he had displayed anger during his presidential run, says William Jelani Cobb, author of "The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress."

"It would have fed deeply into a pre-existing set of narratives about the angry black man," Cobb says. "The anger would have gotten in the way. He would have frightened off white voters who were interested in him because he seemed to be like the black guy they worked with or went to graduate school with -- not a black guy who is threatening."

Back in late May Times columnist Charles Blow was exhorting Obama to Angry Up, yours truly had wondered when the Angry Black Man topic would be raised:

Blow, who is the Times other race-grievance columnist, exhorts Obama to be more visibly angry.  But I bet if I reprised the campaign coverage I could find many articles noting that Obama had a special burden to stay cool and avoid the unfortunate Angry Black Man stereotype that lurks in our collective conscious. 

So which is it - should Obama be cool, or angry?  Beats me (although I Boldly Bet that "calm and effective" would trump "angry and impotent").  But I am disappointed that Blow missed this obvious opportunity to blame Obama's seeming detachment on the prejudices of white America.  What kind of race grievance columnists is the Times running out there these days, anyway?  Oh, well - Frank Rich can pick up this slack tomorrow.

Tomorrow?  It took nearly two weeks!

FINGERS CROSSED!  Obama really responded to the calls from the commentariat for visible anger, or at least a facsimile thereof.  What might happen if a surge of pundits suggested that henceforth Team Obama should arrive at their Gulf photo ops in clown cars, with ten or fifteen members of the Administration earnestly piling out of an environmentally sensitive Prius?

A man can dream...

Comments

[Ignatz]

I'd settle for him pulling his head out of his ass regardless of whether he'd angrily kicked any.

[Jeff S.]

"Angry black man" narrative? I'm not qualified to even deliver the newspaper for guys like WFB or VDH, but still...I've never heard of that one.

I thought it was the white males who were supposed to be angry.

[He's almost as angry a man as Rahm is. Maybe they don't scream.]

You know it's all pose, anyway. You think he and Rahm don't scream at each other?
================

[Pofarmer]

Most people could give a shit less about the Presidents emotional state. What they would like, is at least the appearance of something minimally effective being done.

[Janet]

Jeff S. - Because everything is actually opposite of what the left contends, then...

But scholars say Obama's critics ignore a lesson from American history: Many white Americans don't like angry black men.

It is the "scholars" that DO like angry black men. Regular Americans don't use the term and have never created a special category for black men. Regular Americans judge individuals as individuals...I like Pete, don't care for Herbert, Timmy is an ass, Mickey is great,...

[blueshell]

I'd settle for him pulling his head out of his ass regardless of whether he'd angrily kicked any.

[bgates]

Many white Americans don't like angry black men.

Many tv networks call groups of people they hate "angry white men". (You'll have to take my word for it, typepad doesn't like links to Google.)

I clicked through to the CNN article to confirm that the "impromptu remark" that taught Obama this valuable lesson was his "stupidly" comment. Yup. The article describes that statement as "said casually", and a "passionate" "flash of genuine anger". I guess it would be weird if people weren't enthusiastic about casual flashes of passionate anger in a man in control of a nuclear arsenal. But I don't remember any mention of Obama being angry when he made that particular stupid comment. That was back when we were supposed to adore his calm, cerebral nature, wasn't it?

Anyway, I look forward to the coming paeans to No-Drama Obama, Ticking Time-Bomb of Rage.

[narciso]

One recalls the late Peter Jennings, called the 94 elections 'a temper tantrum' I can just imagine the yelling and screaming in November from the left, remember the therapy
to deal with the loss in 2004, was it.

[Danube of Thought]

And with the victories of Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman, Sharron Angel and Nikki Haley, they'd be calling this the "Year of the Woman" if they weren't all Republicans.

[dk70]

His kick ass comment would have come across better if he had used the telepromter. He would have been able to show more emotion with it.

This is getting well past ridiculous and moving towards embarrassing.

[jimmyk]

I'd say Americans don't like

1. Incompetence, especially in a president (see Carter, Jimmy).

2. Presidents who promised one thing on the campaign trail doing exactly the opposite. Presidents that do this are generally only around for 4 years.
(GHWB: "Read my lips: No new taxes")

Now we have the perfect storm of both with BHO. His incompetence is obvious, and it takes half a minute to uncover one lie after another:

"I can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

"To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent."

"We need earmark reform, and when I'm President, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely."

"We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans."

"I don't want to pit Red America against Blue America."

[Ignatz]

Is that Blueshell at 11:35 some new kind of spam that repeats a threads first post?

[bgates]

"Net spending cut".
"That's easy. Close down Guantanamo Bay."
"As president, Obama will not sign any nonemergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House Web site for five days."

[daddy]

Just a reminder for those wondering where Obama's anger went.

Remember when the convicted Lockerbie Bombing Mass Murder was released to Libya by the Brits? Remember how the Press reported it?

Obama was, according to whichever paper or reporter you listened to; outraged, incensed, angry, livid, furious, disgusted. Until you actually listened to the tapes and watched the words coming out of his mouth, and once you actually did that you discovered that he was none of the above. All those adjectives of anger were supplied by the media--he said nothing of the sort whatever and in my view couldn't have given a damn about any of it. It was the Press supplying the anger because they knew the American public needed to see some of their own anger reflected and expressed by their President, so the Press made it up for him and supplied it themselves.

Same with the Jewish American getting his head sawed off: Neither revolting nor abhorrent nor criminally horrendous. Rather "It captured our imagination."

Its the same with this BP Oil Spill "kick ass" thing.

Obama does not give an emotional crap about the Oil Spill, nor about the environment, nor about America or the American people.

What he does emotionally care about, what he does emotionally feel in that horrible heart of his, is defeating those who he considers are his enemies, and screwing with anyone who harms his grandiose view of himself. Other than that, emotionally, he cares about nobody, nor about anything else at all.

Don't know what the proper psychological terms for that are, but in my view that's exactly who and what the miserable human being is.

[glasater]

"kick ass" and "college seminar" were scripted in my book.

It takes effort and motivation to get angry--and Zero's too lazy for any of that.

[Thomas Collins]

Progs are dumber than usual these days. They can't even play the race card correctly any more. I can't think of a worse issue on which to play the race card.

Next think you know prog media will be claiming that people are critizing Spillbama because of the color of oil.

[Thomas Collins]

My, oh my. Prog racecardism seems to be in full swing. See LUN.

[Ignatz]

--Other than that, emotionally, he cares about nobody, nor about anything else at all.Don't know what the proper psychological terms for that are, but in my view that's exactly who and what the miserable human being is.--

Narcissism, daddy.
A complete lack of empathy for others is one of the characterisitcs of the narcissist.
The lack of real emotion is as well, as is the staged behavior and the constant lies.
And to top it off the phony taking responsibility followed immmediately by laying blame everywhere else; they can never be seen as having failed and always have a fall guy handy.
The dude is a walking, talking psychological diagnostic kit.

[Rob Crawford]

Next think you know prog media will be claiming that people are critizing Spillbama because of the color of oil.

Except that oil makes rainbows.

[Barbara]

Oh, for Pete's sake! Now, "cool white racism" becomes the media's explanation for ineptitude and not getting the job done.

This replaces, "The dog ate my homework," excuse.