Check out the comments of the Cornerites from National Review and compare them, say, to the rapturous analysis of the center-left anchors and commentators on the cable nets now. Actually, some of the folks there like the speech. So we'll see.
« Personal Reflections On Obama's Speech | Main | Rhetoric! » The Obama Speech That Polarizes Republicans Against Obama?18 Mar 2008 11:53 am Comments (21)
Uh, Marc, that's as rapturous as the Cornerites will ever, ever be about any Democratic candidate. 
PS Scroll down for the INITIAL reactions to the speech which were begrudgingly positive.
A quick check at other conservative sites is about the same as at the Corner. Concessions that it was a good speak, and then a straining to find room to keep complaining. Those guys won't be won over in any case. The key question is about the people who aren't pre-committed to rejecting his candidacy. I have to think this defuses the concerns. And for those of us who were already on board -- it's pure Wow. At least for me. This is why I'm supporting his candidacy. Whether he succeeds or fails, I'm proud to be standing with him.
I see mixed reactions, which given the context, is not that bad at all. Based on this sample, to call it "the speech that polarizes Republicans" is just silly.
It was a work of literature of the highest order, on par with Emerson's "Self-Reliance," from which it is clearly inspired. Every thinking person, including conservatives, will agree about this, though it may take some time. This is something we can get consensus about.
The Corner is where I go to find out the latest smears professional liars are penning on Democrats. It is the center of a movement who's goal is to implode this country economy and foreign policy. Ambinder's consulting them for reactions to Obama's speech really says something significant about his reading -- and thinking -- habits.
Who is John Derbyshire? Is he for real?
Marc's point is sort of fair but ... I agree with the commentariat here. They were intially rosey -- as rosey as they get -- and the putatively fair-minded ones (Goldberg, Lowry, Lopez) said nice things. Than the morons and racists, like John Derbyshire, got into the act. His comment on there now seems to imply that this speech amounts to a black power speech that "blames whitey" and "raises the red flag of communism." I see a lot of (pretty) words in this speech and a lot of possible interpretations but ... Give me a break. False indignation.
Care to identify the "center-left anchors and commentators on the cable nets"??
"""""" That speech was nauseating. Way too many Jedi mind tricks.
I've never heard "anti-semitism is the socialism of fools" brought up as a defense of anti-semitism/racism. Good old Derbyshire.
I believe the circling of the wagons on the Right is a phenomenon, in the last 3 weeks, that has been triggered more by Obama's inevitability as the Nominee--than any particular issue, including the Wright issue. I also believe it's totally within a standard, orthodox, psychoanalytic viewpoint to assert that the Right has been pulling for Hillary every step of the way--though the breakout in that trend really accellerated with Obama's electoral success. Again, this is why you will see the Right speak comparatively about Clinton as one who has tolerable views on policy. Finally, if it hadn't been Wright, the culture would have produced anyway at least one or two challenges to Obama in this process that would be a race-test, if you will. Some sort of crucible wherby the culture and the candidate dance over Race, and the history of Race, in the US. The cultural psyche like the individual psyche, likes to reality-test, illusion-test, and kick up alot of dust in the process of trying to figure out what is going on. If Hillary had been, and wa still now, the Front-Runner--you would be seeing similar fits and panics from the culture as we stepped ever much closer to actually having a woman as President. This is a process, and it ain't over yet. Obama will still be the Nominee, however, and it will be quite a contest in the Fall. But when you consider how much hot n' heavy action we have packed into the first 10 weeks of 2008? November is like 5 Political Lifetimes from now. Lots and lots of deaths and resurrections to come.
To tell the truth, this might be the moment when I stop reading NRO, or giving them any credence whatsoever (ok, maybe Liberal Fascism should've been that point, but whatever). I have to say it: Those people are racist, yo. I know it seems self-evident, but to see it expressed so overtly (those dog-whistles are getting loud!) is pretty impressive.
He seemed to respect the intelligence of the audience, which is so rare in politics these days that it stops us in our tracks when we recognize it.
The one to watch over there is Victor Davis Hanson, who has been conspicuously roused to bile over everything Obama (favorite target? Michelle) since he won Iowa. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I have been reluctant to call it racism but I'm beginning to wonder. He shows no such animus toward anyone, or anything, else. Derbyshire is a hoot. Definitely bigoted but open about it. No parsing necessary. The rest are run-of-the-mill "conservative" drones, who muster up a lot of phony shock! and disgust! at things like Reverend Wright - and that probably already have WF Buckley spinning in his grave.
Pre-apologies for the rant: What you hear at The Corner about Wright/Obama is nothing more than a collective sigh of relief that they *finally* found some stupid, lowest common denominator, artificially inflated, controversial talking point ("Wright hates America - so do Obama and Michelle!") that they can keep alive and inflame and run into the ground until it becomes a part of the collective knee-jerk wisdom out there ("Obama is a Muslim terrorist!"). Obama wasn't giving them much to grab onto other than tired old tropes about him a scary ol' empty suit liberal/socialist. Their giddiness that they can stop grumbling into their gruel in the middle of a GOP meltdown and really get meaty with the slander is palpable. It's disgusting, frankly, that educated, literate pundits that claim the mantle of Jesus and American decency are perfectly fine with getting paid to slime the character of one of the more decent, honest and authentic politicians we've had vie for the Presidency in a long long time, using bullsh**t pop psychology pronouncements about his "real motivations". It was inevitable that Obama had to take on their brand of cynical slimeiness directly at some point, I suppose, but I know I'm not the only one hoping that his winning the Presidency and doing a worthy job of leading this country will drive the teeth-gnashers at The Corner into further irrelevancy (fun as they are to read sometimes).
I am impressed at the nearly uniform correctness of the comments on this thread. If Obama succeeded today, then he is a transcendent figure, and if he is a transcendent figure, conservative pundits will have no clear purpose during an Obama presidency. But conservative pundits can't have no clear purposes (they have car payments to make etc.), so Obama must not have succeeded. That, in a nutshell, is what's happening on the right. Expect them to get louder and more hysterical in the coming days, as Obama gets closer to the nomination and thus to the presidency.
Right before the speech began, I was talking to a very conservative friend on the phone. We agree never to discuss politics, so I hesitated to tell her why I had to get off the phone, but when she asked, I said I wanted to watch the Obama speech live. She said she wanted to watch it too, and hoped he was able to put all this mess behind him. Turns out she totally supports him, loves his message of tolerance and putting an end to divisiveness and will vote for him in the fall. Blow me over with a feather.
If you were a pro-Obama supporter, then the speech was dizzyingly brilliant. If you were not a pro-Obama supporter, then the speech wasn't enough to change your mind but more of an attempt to muddy the water on his overall electability in November, which is increasinly unlikely whether those who adore him want to admit that or not.
One should probably note that the "Cornerites", and in general the members of the segment of the entertainment industry that built up around the "Conservative Movement", are not necessarily representative of Republicans, or indeed conservatives in general. In fact, if nothing else the nomination of John McCain was a pretty stark rejection of that crowd's claimed right to speak on behalf of the GOP.
|
Subscribe to this blog by Email Twitter || On Facebook || QIK Live Channel  Recent Posts
Monthly Archives
|
| 
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
Actually Jonah Goldberg and Kathyn Lopez said it was a good speech. The ones that get in a frenzy are the ones that ALWAYS get in a frenzy. The reaction is much more muted than I expected.
Jim Geraghty also highlighted the pieces he liked.
Remember that the point of the speech was to make the obsession over the Wright details seem petty. I think he will succeed on that count
Posted by Benjamin | March 18, 2008 12:02 PM