Richard Spencer

March 19, 2008

Obama?s big speech was pretty much what I thought it would be. He offered up the standard Obamian deal: ?let me give you a little ?Rev. Wright was wrong? and then you?ll give me a little ?legacy of discrimination? to justify the continuation of all the social programs of the past 40 years.?

The gushing responses by most of the media were also to be expected. A few lines from Andrew Sullivan are enough to give you a sense of the general drift, and make you want to go take a bath??This is a candidate who does not merely speak as a Christian. He acts like a Christian.? OK, let’s look closely at what Obama actually did yesterday. While I guess Obama should be given a few merit points for candor and honesty?that is, for actually detailing his connections with Rev. Wright?this speech hardly amounted to an exercise in Christian humility or self-examination. Obama makes it clear that while his grandmother and Rev. Wright might have their flaws, Obama himself?who stands outside, indeed, above, both the black and white communities?is still the immaculate great transcender.

With regard to what this speech portends for policy, It?s remarkable how Obama, even while acknowledging the concerns of many average Americans, stood his ground, didn?t even budge, regarding the policies that matter. As Sailer points out, the ?path to a more perfect union? is still ?LBJ All The Way,? and one should drop any notion that Obama?s would ever consider criticizing affirmative action, the enforcement of ?anti-discrimination? legislation, and the ?investing? in education that continues to expand with little in the way of results. Obama is remarkable in that he seems to mention these tired old programs of 1960?s as if they were bold new ideas he just came up with while considering how much he loves his imperfect country??hey, did any every think of setting up a program for that inequality thing??