Stumbling the Walk

Hope Don’t Park Your Mother****in’ Car

By Chris La Tray, 8-29-08

I watched Obama’s acceptance speech last night, and it was actually the first time I’ve ever seen him perform; YouTube clips notwithstanding, of course. The only reason I got to see it is because my friend Rebecca invited my wife, Julia, and me over to watch. It was fun, and I was happy to partake of Rebecca’s fantastic cooking.

I can certainly see why people like Barack so much. He is an outstanding speaker, and brings a verve to his delivery that is lacking in just about everyone else’s stage rap these days. He has a knack for making a person actually believe that hey, maybe this guy is legitimate, and that all the changes he speaks of are possible.

All in all, though, I came away from the speech, and the convention as a whole, feeling about like I expected to: pretty underwhelmed, fairly disgusted, and not particularly hopeful. I’ll vote for the guy, but I don’t know that I’ll put a bumper sticker on my car for him, and certainly won’t do the yard sign thing. I don’t feel strong enough about him, or the Democrats as a party, to really proclaim my allegiance. I didn’t like some of his ideas about energy, and he certainly made nods toward additional drumbeats for war that left me cold. I found the star-struck nature of the majority of commentators in attendance a little off-putting, if understandable, and the “working people” the Dems trotted out for testimonials prior to Obama’s big speech a little too folksy and calculated.

There is a writer named Dennis Perrin who has written some scathing commentary about the convention (he also is the author of a book called Savage Mules: The Democrats and Endless War, which pretty much debunks the idea of the Democrats being any kind of “peace” or anti-war party) that I have been amusing myself with lately. He nails a lot of my feelings in this excerpt from today’s post:

Those who believe I get an erection from writing such “cynical” thoughts either don’t know me or haven’t seriously read my work. I’m saddened by all this bullshit. There’s a younger man in me who wants to believe, but can’t, not when the truth stares us right in the face. As I watched Obama majestically riff, sitting with my 12-year-old son, a part of me wanted to be proud, to share this historic moment with a boy who hasn’t seen the kind of open racism that was casually expressed when I was his age. It would be so easy to do. Look at those faces in last night’s crowd. They crave change so much, desire a different reality, that they simply gave themselves to Obama, gazing upon him as The One who will make it all better. The symbolism was powerful, no doubt about it. Then the camera would cut to Joe Biden, breaking the spell. I don’t care how good Obama is on the stump, Biden’s still a savage pig. God, what a dreadful human being.

Biden pretty much encapsulates all of the negative vibes I have about Barack the candidate. Obama waxes eloquent, but has already acted in ways that seem to fly in the face of his words (his FISA vote for example, which seems even more questionable given the visibility of AT&T at the convention). His running mate is another example; I’m not the first to think that the Senator from Delaware is anything resembling a candidate for change. His selection seems the result of a deal cut with the DNC establishment. Biden is, as I stated more than once last night, a tool. Julia said he looks like a game show host. He is everything I hate about politicians, particularly ones who are ostensibly from “the Left” (the mainstream definition of which isn’t anything like my ideology, it seems). I think he is totally owned by Corporatia, and I don’t feel any better about him being so close to the Presidency than I do McCain. Initially I think plenty of people felt that way when his name was announced, but his ultimate acceptance was, nonetheless, a foregone conclusion. Here is Perrin again:

Whatever liberal misgivings existed when Obama made his pick have now evaporated. Joe Biden has joined the Liberal Pantheon.

Well, we all knew that was going happen, so it’s not too much of a shock. One of the Senate’s biggest corporate whores can rail against corporate influence, inside the Pepsi Center, next door to INVESCO Field, at a convention drowning in corporate money where Party bigwigs are feted by telecoms like AT&T, and liberals obediently applaud and wave their Biden placards. That’s the power of positive thinking. What, you know of a better political system? Then shut the fuck up and clap along.

David Sirota had a piece yesterday in his blog, writing about going out to dinner after Bill Clinton’s speech and having the restaurant invaded by, as he puts it, “The Ruling Class.” He and a couple friends were dining when a crew of folks representing not only big business, but Obama advisors, took to a table. He concludes with this:

The whole scene really summed up the strange oxymoronic forces that collide at conventions like this. Here we were, progressive grassroots activists plotting how to pressure Obama to fulfill his populist promises on issues like trade and corporate power. And right next to us was a dinner party whereby the American Ruling Class feasted on the Obama campaign’s innards.

And that is what it comes down to. For change to happen, politics need to be divorced from big money. There are too many people with power among the Democrats who benefit too much from maintaining the status quo to ever let Obama make good on many of his promises. I’d like to see it happen, but I have my doubts. Stories of security acting heavy-handed – whether it is an ABC producer being arrested for attempting to film Democratic bigshots leaving a private meeting with bigshot donors, or Amy Goodman writing about the press being denied access – concern me. Even the little stuff; the organizers scripting what signs to hold up when during the speeches, as described by Jay Stevens. That isn’t grassroots, or populist. It’s no different from keeping protesters out of earshot of the delegates, nor much different from Bush/Cheney making sure there aren’t any dissenters in their crowds.

I hope Obama wins. I hope he keeps us out of endless war. I hope he delivers progress on things like health care, and education, and all the other social programs that I feel government needs to provide. I hope he’s not afraid to point out that change happens at home, and has the courage to attempt something along the lines of Jimmy Carter’s infamous “sweater” speech. Hell, I hope I get another opportunity to stuff my face on Rebecca’s cooking. But like Jon Stewart said, when talking about Obama urging people to get to Mile High Stadium early, “Hope don’t park your motherfucking car!”

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.