|
Edited on Thu Dec-18-08 12:39 PM by Armstead
From Wikipedia:
"In United States politics, a Sister Souljah moment is a politician's public repudiation of an allegedly extremist person or group, statement, or position perceived to have some association with the politician or their party. Such an act of repudiation is designed to signal to centrist voters that the politician is not beholden to traditional, and sometimes unpopular, interest groups associated with the party, although such a repudiation runs the risk of alienating some of the politician's allies and the party's base voters."
If you recall, that originally occurred when Bill Clinton blasted the rap singer,allegedly in an effort to distance himslf from "the left" during his presidential campaign.
IMO, Obama is having too many of these Sister Soljah Moments.
Okay, look. I'm not just being some whiney lefty complaining that Obama is not the reincarnation of Paul Wellstone (even though IMO that is what we need.) I'm not expecting everything he does to pass some politically-correct litmus test.
Maybe the selection of Rick Warren is merely symbolic. Pastor Rick is a nice enough guy -- But he really is a right wing fundamentalist. Not just on Prop 8, but if you have ever heard his interviews he is a master at giving right-wing Christian platitudes in an unthreatening way.
So why the hell did Obama choose him? Why not one of the many of the more liberal or moderate members of the Christian faith? How about Jim Wallace? Cornell West? Or even some non-political middle-of-the-road pastor?
Instead he chose Jerry Falwell Lite.
This poke in the eye was NOT NECESSARY.
Obama seems to be doing a lot more of this since his election.
Obama's attempts to "unify" and "reconcile" seems to be much more aimed in the direction of the right and in the direction of Business-As-Usual Centrists, while he seems to be engaging in a pattern of dissing liberals/progressives a little too consistently.
Rather than all of these Sister Soljah Moments, he needs a few more "Rick Warren Moments" and "DLC Moments" to even the scale.
|