Obama turns the racial argument to one of socioeconomics

From the New York Times today, President Barack Obama says he wishes Attorney General Eric Holder would have chosen different language than “nation of cowards” when describing Americans and their ability to deal with race.

I stand by what I wrote earlier, I like what Holder said.  I think he’s a smart guy who gave a speech dealing with the issue in a nuanced way.  He was thinking and communicating.  For the previous eight years we became accustomed to a lot of communication without much thought.  During the presidential race there was even a minor debate among political watchers about whether or not the sort of intellect displayed by Barack Obama and other Democrats would play well with a public grown accustomed to having the world described to them in Bushian ‘black and white’ terms.

I wish Obama wouldn’t have “chided” Holder, as the Times puts it.

The president did take a moment to get at a bigger problem that sometimes gets confused with race: socioeconomic status.  Obama was asked further about the “cowards” comment:

Mr. Obama was asked whether he agreed with Mr. Holder. He hesitated for five seconds before responding.

“I’m not somebody who believes that constantly talking about race somehow solves racial tensions,” Mr. Obama said. “I think what solves racial tensions is fixing the economy, putting people to work, making sure that people have health care, ensuring that every kid is learning out there. I think if we do that, then we’ll probably have more fruitful conversations.”

Eric Holder Declares Rule of Law Back in Force at Justice

From remarks the Attorney General gave today at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs:

… There is no reason we cannot wage an effective fight against those who have sworn to harm us while we respect our most honored constitutional traditions. We can never put the welfare of the American people at risk but we can also never choose actions that we know will weaken the legal and moral fiber of our nation.

The rule of law is not, as some have seen it, an obstacle to be overcome, but the very foundation of our nation. It is the rule of law that has held us together despite our differences, while other nations have faltered, and it is the rule of law that has made the United States a beacon to the world, a nation that others aspire to emulate. …

… While many practices will be subject to review under these executive orders, one in particular will not. As I unequivocally stated in my confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate, waterboarding is torture. My Justice Department will not justify it, rationalize it, or condone it. The sanction of torture is at odds with the history of American jurisprudence and American principles. It undermines our ability to pursue justice fairly, and it puts our own brave soldiers in peril should they ever be captured on a foreign battlefield. …

Eric Holder – Saying What Needs to be Said – Eloquently

For all the time and money the right wing in America has spent since the early 1970s think tanking, waxing philosophical about “conservatism,” and mouthing slogans like academic freedom and free speech, they sure spend a lot of time in the pursuit of distilling well-laid, thoughtful argumentation into lies.

From what I’m seeing on the Nets tonight and hearing from the Father Coughlins on talk radio, Eric Holder will be their next victim.

The Attorney General spoke to employees at the Justice Department today on the occaision of Black History Month.  Holder, being a veteran of a few political slugfests, one might have expected a saccharine speech calling on all the old Civil Rights heroes of the past.  Holder, also being an intellectual, actually added in a substantive way to our ongoing national debate about race.

The Right, tonight, is focusing only on this, however:

Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.

One sentence, incendiary enough within the context of Holder’s broader remarks, is being used to cast Holder as the Right’s latest America-hating liberal pinata.  But perhaps, Holder’s intellectual bravery will trump the Right’s endless intellectual dishonesty.

Here’s what immediately followed “a nation of cowards.”

Though race related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race. It is an issue we have never been at ease with and given our nation’s history this is in some ways understandable. And yet, if we are to make progress in this area we must feel comfortable enough with one another, and tolerant enough of each other, to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us. But we must do more- and we in this room bear a special responsibility. Through its work and through its example this Department of Justice, as long as I am here, must – and will – lead the nation to the “new birth of freedom” so long ago promised by our greatest President. This is our duty and our solemn obligation.

We don’t talk enough about race – one to another – now do we?

Holder speaks too about Americans challenged by racial subjects or issues “free to retreat to our race protected cocoons where much is comfortable and where progress is not really made.”  What I believe he is talking about is our propensity as blacks, whites, latinos, asians to self segregate.

In my own life, I think back to my time in the U.S. Navy.  I thought it was rather cool to be a white boy from white bread Lancaster, Ohio and be thrown onto a ship with people of all races and from all over the country.  In a two-year period the U.S.S. Raleigh spent 10 months in a combat zone in the Persian Gulf of the Iran-Iraq War where we worked our asses off and earned hazardous duty pay.  But, on the mess decks and during liberty ports of call, we self segregated.  When I came home and went to Ohio University, I thought to myself, “Campus will be different.”  It wasn’t.  The darks and the pales separated at every chance – dining halls, fraternities, bars, whatever.

Holder is telling us today that this is understandable to an extent, but odd nonetheless, and counterproductive to be sure.

I would encourage anyone to read Holder’s entire speech and see what you take from it.  Just do yourself a favor and take more than one sentence.

Full Text: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Remarks on Black History Month, ‘Nation of Cowards’

(Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice)

As Prepared for Delivery – February 18, 2009

Every year, in February, we attempt to recognize and to appreciate black history. It is a worthwhile endeavor for the contributions of African Americans to this great nation are numerous and significant. Even as we fight a war against terrorism, deal with the reality of electing an African American as our President for the first time and deal with the other significant issues of the day, the need to confront our racial past, and our racial present, and to understand the history of African people in this country, endures. One cannot truly understand America without understanding the historical experience of black people in this nation. Simply put, to get to the heart of this country one must examine its racial soul.

Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. Though race related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race. It is an issue we have never been at ease with and given our nation’s history this is in some ways understandable. And yet, if we are to make progress in this area we must feel comfortable enough with one another, and tolerant enough of each other, to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us. But we must do more- and we in this room bear a special responsibility. Through its work and through its example this Department of Justice, as long as I am here, must – and will – lead the nation to the “new birth of freedom” so long ago promised by our greatest President. This is our duty and our solemn obligation.

Read more

President Obama: Day One News Roundup

• On First Day, Obama Quickly Sets Tone – New York Times
• Obama halts prosecutions at Guantanamo – New York Times
• Oath administered once again – New York Times
• Clinton approved, Holder delayed – New York Times
• Obama: New era of openness – Washington Post
• Lobbying rules tightened – Washington Post
• Guantanamo closure faces hurdles – Washington Post
• Inauguration head count: 1.8 million – Washington Post
• Obama asks Pentagon for responsible Iraq drawdown – Associated Press

Video: President-Elect Obama Announces National Security Team & News Conference

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Transcript: Obama News Conference Announcing Hillary Clinton and National Security Team | December 1

(Source: CQ Transcripts Wire)

SPEAKERS: PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA; SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-N.Y.; SUSAN E. RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY WORKING GROUP LEADER, OBAMA-BIDEN PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION TEAM; GENERAL JIM JONES (USMC, RET.) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT M. GATES;
GOVERNOR JANET NAPOLITANO, D-ARIZ., ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER, OBAMA-BIDEN PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION TEAM; FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER; VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

[*] OBAMA: Good morning, everybody. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Last week, we announced our economic team which is working as we speak to craft an economic recovery program to create jobs and grow our struggling economy.

Today, Vice President-elect Biden and I are pleased to announce our national security team. The national security challenges we face are just as great and just as urgent as our economic crisis. We are fighting two wars. Our old conflicts remain unresolved. And newly- asserted powers have put strains on the international system. Read more

Obama Transition: Meet the New Team, Same as the Old Team

Progressives and others who backed Barack Obama for president are pulling their hair out a bit as the Obama presidency begins to take shape as … the Clinton presidency.

Here’s what we know and what we think we know:

• White House CoS – Rahm Emanuel – Clinton Alumni
• Secretary of State – Hillary Clinton – Former First Lady
• Secretary of HHS – Tom Daschle – Former Senate Leader from Clinton Era
• Secretary of Homeland Security – Janet Napolitano – Actual Newcomer
• Secretary of the Treasury – Larry Summers – Clinton Alumni
• Attorney General – Eric Holder – Clinton Alumni

Now some are looking at this list and wondering where the change is coming for the top cabinet spots.  Here’s where the benefit of the doubt has to come in.

If you voted for Barack Obama and believe that he means what he says and that he’ll work toward a different Washington, one more responsive to the needs of regular folks and less so to the special interests – remember that he’s not even in office yet. 

When these prospective Cabinet members worked for or in the Clinton administration it was in the heady days when the Democratic Party first fell in love with Wall Street and its money.  They were smitten.  These smart people were tired of ceding the “business” argument to the Republican Party.  Except for perhaps Robert Reich and James Carville every Democrat in Washington during the nineties bent over backwards to deregulate and tear down firewalls because Goldman Sachs and their favorite Republican, Alan Greenspan, said it was good for business.

Here’s what’s different: Obama.  Despite all the crap that John McCain and the Republican Party threw at Barack Obama during the campaign, he stayed on message.  That’s integrity.  That’s steadiness and steel.  I believe the guy when he says things are going to change.

As for the retreads – other things have changed.  The Democratic Party is still heavily funded by the investment class and its economic brainpower is still a little too tied to Wall Street for my comfort, but these people aren’t stupid.  They got caught up in the same high flying economy so many did during the nineties.  The difference was they were in power and we can trace some of today’s financial crisis to the policies they pursued back then.  We can only hope they’ve learned their lesson and the great talent of people like Rahm Emanuel and Tom Daschle will be fully aligned with Barack Obama’s world view and public policy.

One thing I do wish they’d try again from the nineties.  Remember when they deregulated cable TV?  I’m still waiting for the “competition” to lower my cable bills.