Courtland Trail Blazer
September 10, 2008 at 8:39 am
You know, to be honest, we really haven’t read Courtland Milloy since, well, the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Only by accident today did we stumble over his Washington Post column. Metro section? Style? Tough to be sure. Regardless, hoooo boy, are we glad we took a look.
Because lo and behold, whom does he take to task? Whom does he get all woodshed on?
None other than fellow Washington Post thought leader Richard Cohen.
Here’s Milloy’s wind-up:
What is Obama to do?
Obviously, it’s not enough to battle your way to the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. You can vanquish a field of primary candidates. You can win campaigns in the far northwest, in places where there are no blacks to speak of. You can raise a war chest that exceeds the annual budget of a midsize town.
You can walk a fine line between being too black for whites and not black enough for blacks. But here you are, just weeks away from the presidential election, being called on to prove that you are man enough — without coming off as an angry black man.
And here’s Milloy’s pitch:
“Barack Obama, as an African American man, has a real challenge,” Estelle B. Freedman, professor of history at Stanford University, said Sunday on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” “Some of the criticism of Obama as being too aloof or not going after red meat enough or not being aggressive enough are really questioning his masculinity in some ways.
“But given the historic stereotypes about fear of African American men’s masculinity and fears of their aggression, Obama has been successful because he embodies an earlier model of black male politicians for whom respectability and reason were tickets into full citizenship.”
But not successful enough, apparently.
On Tuesday, Richard Cohen wrote on the op-ed page of The Washington Post that Obama’s appearance on a TV talk show Sunday “had me wondering if, as a kid, Obama ever got a shot in the mouth on the playground, he’d glare at the bully — and convene a meeting.”
Yowzers! Richard Cohen under friendly fire!
For his column today, Milloy has earned back this wary reader. And for the record books, Milloy has earned himself a six on the Batman fight scale.
Richard of Oregon said,
September 10, 2008 @ 10:31 am
Friendly fire is always fun - when it isn’t your friends.
Tully said,
September 10, 2008 @ 10:39 am
Angry black man? Obama’s starting to come off as a spoiled brat, like the high school kid who cries and bullies because he didn’t make quarterback.
blogbudsman said,
September 10, 2008 @ 10:40 am
You know how you’re reading along and something entirely non-headline jumps out at you?
“You can win campaigns in the far northwest, in places where there are no blacks to speak of.”
Really. The Northwest where people of color abound - hispanics, Samoans, islanders…and yes, blacks. Where anarchists and Greatful Dead era idealists gather en-mass. Is there a point here - or is the writer extablishing a bit of a strawman argument to voice their ungrounded emotional opinion.
Frustration abounds from the fringe left.
submandave said,
September 10, 2008 @ 10:40 am
“[H]istoric stereotypes about fear of African American men’s masculinity and fears of their aggression”
Geez, come off it now, people. As long as the Senator doesn’t flash a gat or physically threaten to have a heavy pimp hand with his hos I think he’ll be OK. Contrary to the popular “all white folks hate, fear and secretly envy black folks” mindset that seemingly dominates some people’s every waking thought, I think most understand the real difference between tough talk and strength and thugishness.
Jim Treacher said,
September 10, 2008 @ 11:21 am
Launching an unprecedented, deeply personal smear campaign against an opponent, who declines to accept the role of victim, and then whining when that opponent makes fun of your public record and rhetoric? Beautiful.
JorgXMcKie said,
September 10, 2008 @ 11:37 am
I doubt if Obama ever got “a shot in the mouth on the playground.” More likely, he got pantsed in the hallway or a swirly in the bathroom or sat on the water fountain.
He may have been a basketball player, but he comes across as a wimp. Probably for the same reasons Jimmy Carter came across as a wimp. If dogs can smell fear, teenagers and many others can smell wimp. He may be losing the youth vote as we watch. (They may well not go for McCain, but just stay home. Wouldn’t be the first time.)
Frank Derfler said,
September 10, 2008 @ 12:05 pm
Shame on you all for picking on Barak and for saying that he is uncertain how to act. He knows exactly how to act… he acts just like Michelle tells him to!
Hey, if I had to live with anyone that perpetually angry I’d spend most of my time on the road too! No damn wonder he doesn’t know how to act in response to happy woman! It’s not his fault… he is under-experienced (in oh so many ways)
justacommenter said,
September 10, 2008 @ 12:31 pm
Obama’s real tightroap is coming off looking like Michelle Obama.
Because Michelle is the epitome of the “angry black woman” in this country; a person of color who believes that all of life’s little problems can be blamed on white people. Would that we had such a crutch with which to bear lifes crosses.
She, not proud of her country for the first time until it nominated her husband (what about the Emancipation Proclamation? Wasn’t that a proud moment? You know, when a White Republican freed blacks who, in some countries, are still slaves even today?)
Barack can’t, for a moment, come off looking like his wife.
That’s the true tightrope he walks.
Jack N. said,
September 10, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
I don’t know about “angry,” but Obama is starting to look greasy with sweat. The guy is exhausted, and perhaps touched with panic. He’s been “President” all summer, now he can’t handle the last sixty days? Man Up, Barry!
Col. Sanders Ghost said,
September 11, 2008 @ 3:24 am
“Some of the criticism of Obama as being too aloof or not going after red meat…”
http://9.media.bustedtees.com/bustedtees/mf/7/e/bustedtees.880ab4e729ce2285a24344fe32f47bbb.gif
Obambi’s kinda like a cannibal: no only does he eat chicken, he is one.