Nov 5, 2008

Obama Speech 

I think this is a dream.
Atrios 00:02

Liberals in the US and the old European Colonial powers are ecstatic; American blacks are celebrating; immigrants to this country and many former colonial subjects are impressed. Those who could still be said to fit that description: Iraqis, Afghans, and Palestinians (along with their neighbors) are less sanguine. The best description of my immediate response is relief.

The obvious irony is that as Obama moves to the right he'll be helping to ease racial tensions much more than if he remained loyal to his base. But his options in that direction may be limited by the situation itself. George Bush was forced into partial nationalization of the banks –and we're just lucky that wasn't left for a new Democratic administration, which would have been made to pay for such "radical" and "unnecessary" actions– so the Democrats could choose to see their job as being to stabilize the new reality.  They won't choose to see their job that way however, and will lead a retreat. 
But how far? 

The fact that a black man was elected is not shocking. It's a milestone, but a milestone is only a marker. It's not a leap forward, it's just a step, and one that was going to happen sometime soon. It didn't have to happen now, though it did.

Nov 8, 2020

Vice President Kamala Devi Harris 

It s a big fucking deal. One can take the benefits of representation for its own sake too far - while we will not have full equality until horrible women can succeed as easily as horrible men can, I am not sure that Vice President Palin really would have been a step forward for women - but it is still a big fucking deal. 

The big deal isn't just the success, though it is that of course, it's that there's general cultural acceptance that a woman VP is not actually some sort of freakishly weird thing, even if all the barriers to that have not been removed. I grew up in an era when it was. Sure Mondale had Ferraro, but coverage then was always LOOK, A WOMAN! HOW WEIRD! (also, Ferraro was bad).

I have no idea how it would have impacted the campaign, but I was surprised that Trump and associates didn't go full metal racism-and-misogyny on her. Even the conservative C-listers seemed to mostly not go there. I was almost frightened to mention her at times (irrationally), as if one little push could send the whole thing into a dark disgusting place.

Atrios 14:00 

 It's from her Senate run, but he's never stopped being a fan.