By Manila Ryce
Published Friday, March 14th, 2008, 6:06 pm
Filed under: Terrorism, Videos: Political, Society/Culture: Racism, Society/Culture, Videos, US Politics

11 Responses to “The Daily Show – You’re Not Helping”

1. I agreed with what Reverend Wright had to say, and actually gained a bit of respect for Obama as a result. Whether he actually believes what Wright had to say or not, it’s not surprising the Obama denounced him. In spite of being pretty basic truth, the American masses just won’t find that stuff palatable, and the media keeps playing it up it would cost him the election.

   Not to mention, the scenes of the boisterous singing and clapping in the church just conjure up every black stereotype in existence. Obama has managed to be sucessful so far because most people accept him as some sort of Uncle Tom… He’s a light-skinned black man who acts like he’s white. But bringing out those shots of his church bring out the very real racism that still lingers beneath the surface in most of white America. Sad, but true.

   McCain’s going to win this election and I’m pretty certain that was decided some time ago. Who represents the Democrats is just more smoke and mirrors to distract the masses.

   Andy
   03/15/08 at 2:20 am
   

2. Americans are not going to vote their way out of this disaster. If they did manage to nominate and vote for a sane candidate, the elections are rigged. If they did manage to elect a good man, he would be shot by a lone gunman. No, the best hope for the environment and the poor people of this world is for America to crash and burn, and for Asia and Africa to rebuild their states and set their borders without colonial armies interfering. With communications technologies it is going to be more difficult for any other nation like China or Russia to take over this top dog role to the same degree. The best course is precisely the present course, and it is one that will bankrupt America, destroy its military capability, and set white, black, and hispanic American factions at each other’s throats. What can you suggest that would realistically slow air pollution faster than crashing the dollar or save the lives of more children in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan?

   Luke Powell
   03/15/08 at 10:24 am
   

3. Nice post!

   “We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye,” Wright said. “We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

   I guess that’s too much truth for the human pepsi commercial.

   Sam
   03/15/08 at 12:18 pm
   

4. “America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

   I found Wright’s message to be reminiscent of Malcolm X, and this was a fairly blatant (and powerful) reference.

   Andy
   03/15/08 at 5:58 pm
   
5. 

   Wow, talk about “You’re Not Helping.” From reading these posts, looks like a bunch of Lex Luthor wannabe’s at best. Look, the only reason I don’t support Obama is because he has no real stance on any of the issues, (Yeah I know, such a trifle.) I’d like to think his attitude of optimism and hope nonetheless remain good things. But it’s kind of hard to argue about the “Audacity of Hope” when “Goddamn America” is one of the main points.

   Hey! I have an idea! Let’s forget about God for a while! I mean, it’s not like religiouswackjobiness has ever helped anyone, anywhere, EVER. Are you all with me?

   ….

   Guess it’s the wrong crowd.

   PapaFigue
   03/15/08 at 6:59 pm
   

6. @PapaFigue

   “It’s kind of hard to argue about the “Audacity of Hope” when “Goddamn America” is one of the main points.”

   To be honest, I find comments like “Goddamn America” to be more or less of the same intellectual merit as comments like “God bless America,” i.e., vacuous nonsense. We can get lost in the rhetoric as the mainstream media instructs us to, or we can do as you suggest and focus on the issues.

   Sam
   03/16/08 at 4:14 am
   
7. 

   @Sam:

   I agree with you. That’s why I say we should leave God out of the equation for a while. I’m not saying such a thing doesn’t exist or that people shouldn’t have religion, (which by the way I think they shouldn’t, but that’s just my opinion, and it’s not the point I’m trying to make here at this moment in time right now…) What I’m saying is that as long as people keep waiting for some savior, the longer they will have the excuse to do nothing. It wasn’t God who invaded Iraq, or punched a hole in the ozone, or has depleted the oil reserves for the entire world, or caused the most rapid increase in climate temperature ever recorded. And it won’t be God who pulls the soldiers out of Iraq, stabilizes the economy, creates grain-alcohol fuels, finds alternative industrial energy, and makes the US something to be proud of again.

   So if God is such a non-issue, then why are we even talking about it?

   It’s time to stop giving religious wackjobs of any and every denomination the soapbox and the gravity to come close to anything even resembling credibility.

   That’s all I’m saying.

   PapaFigue
   03/16/08 at 6:48 am
   

8. Not sure if we can leave God at the door in politics. Not if parties pull it out of the hat to show how they support God and the others not. I mean - we should use it and show them how they are breaking their own rules. Show how the Republican Right are breaking their own Commandments. Maybe then they will start leaving God out of politics. But not while they feel this gives them the edge.

   And then there is Obama. Maybe we should remember what the Audicity of Hope is for him. It is about race, America, the world, you and me, and him. He shouldn’t forget the burden that comes with this though.

   What’s the rules of engagement of this blog? I wrote two blogs on these topics. Allowed to make a link or not? I’ll play it safe and won’t!

   Angry African
   03/16/08 at 11:44 am
   
9. 

   As for leaving religion out, there are of course advantages and disadvantages. I think most of us on the Left base our political views on morality. We see health care, for example, as a basic human right regardless of what the economics are. However, many people derive their morality from their religion. Leaders like MLK were certainly instrumental in advancing the cause of civil and human rights from a religiously motivated standpoint, so it’s a bit short-sighted to dismiss religion simply because the Neocons have made their perverted ideology synonymous with theology. The better strategy seems to be knowing Christianity better than they do so you can beat them at their own game. If the Left dismisses religion, religious people get defensive, dismiss the Left, and nothing is accomplished. It is possible to elevate the level of discourse to one of morality without outright dismissing religion.

   @Angry African
   You can post a link, but if you post two or more links then Wordpress will think you’re spam and ask me to moderate your comment before it’s posted.

   Manila Ryce
   03/16/08 at 3:00 pm
   
10. 

    @Manila:
    I love you man, but I have to disagree. I don’t see why Morality must be intrinsically linked to religion. Every example of a historic figure using religion to bolster a positive cause, (MLK, Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, etc.) has at least as many negative counterparts, (Osama Bin Laden, Bill Donahue, Matthew Hale, Timothy McVeigh, Fred Phelps, etc etc etc.)

    In this case, I just don’t see the sense in fighting fire with fire. However, I also concede that using “water,” aka REASON, is equally useless with most of these wackjobs. The best one can hope for is to use this strange thing called Reason to expose these idiots for what they are, at least to other people. I’ve yet to succeed in “converting” one of these morons to the intellectual side, but I have at least succeeded in discrediting them, or more often letting them discredit themselves through their own blathering spew, to any onlookers who happen to be around. It’s basically democracy in action from that point on.

    It’s either that or ignore them altogether. I do suck at this, and besides that, they’re really loud.

    PapaFigue
    03/18/08 at 9:06 pm
    
11. 

    @Papa
    “I don’t see why Morality must be intrinsically linked to religion.”

    It doesn’t have to be, but I don’t dismiss it when it is.

    “Every example of a historic figure using religion to bolster a positive cause has at least as many negative counterparts”

    Yes, but using religion and adhering to it are two different things. We can objectively say that MLK, Ghandi, etc, were adhering to the principles of their religion while Osama, McVeigh, etc, can only justify their actions through a subjective point of view. I’d also disagree with the assertion that “every example” has a bad counterpart. I think the majority of people are good and tend to use philosophy (religious or not) to live justly.

    “In this case, I just don’t see the sense in fighting fire with fire.”

    Just because both associate themselves with religion doesn’t mean you’re fighting ‘fire with fire’. Religious or not, you’re fighting moral truths with subjective opinion. Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough before, but my point is that a moral truth is a moral truth regardless of how it’s presented. For the majority of the world, these same truths are often presented within a religion. As you said, reason can be used to expose people like Osama. However, reason doesn’t need to be separate from religion either. For example, the entire Muslim world was willing to work with us to bring Osama to justice after 9/11 before we fucked that up with our war of terror. You can appeal to most people with reason and morality whether they are religious or not.

    Manila Ryce
    03/18/08 at 9:41 pm
    

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