The Choice

President Obama quoted from a fundraiser on Sunday:

"Some of you here may be folks who actually used to be Republicans but are puzzled by what's happened to that party. I mean, has anybody been watching the debates lately? You've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change. It's true. You've got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have health care and booing a service member in Iraq because they're gay.

"That's not reflective of who we are. This is a choice about the fundamental direction of our country. 2008 was an important direction. 2012 is a more important election."

One place this was quoted was in the War Room column in Salon, which has an interesting--and not unfamiliar--take on current politics and their effect on 2012 electoral politics.

The Fox thing is a bit interesting, though.  Roger Ailes joined the chorus begging Christ Christie to run against the anti-Christ,  but a panel of Foxists pooh poohed the possibility.  This may be a case when money goes begging for something to buy--i.e. big money GOPers who don't dig Newt Romney and see a great chance for an electable GOPer, but can't buy one because Christ Christie isn't into being crucified first.

 The thing is, Romney is only moderate by comparison.  He's still a Rabid Right thug--he just doesn't seem very sincere about it.  But even though Cowboy Rick is fading, and Foxists seem to have abandoned him, the South may rise again.  I don't know if Melissa is right about white progressives (and I'm not saying she's wrong), but there's no doubt that it's true of white Rabid Right GOPers.  They don't want to just win an election against the black President.  They want to conquer him with one of their own.  Even the Floridians who turned against Cowboy Rick make that point--they evidently did so because he's too liberal on brown immigrants. They are Christians who just ain't into forgiveness, at any level.  That they expressed their racism by picking a black GOPer to support--the anti-Obama?--just makes it all the weirder.

Several of the white progressive shows did run soundbites of President Obama at the Congressional Black Caucus Dinner, especially one sentence very near the end  in which he exhorted them to "take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes."  Lawrence O'Donnell in particular made fun of this.  As often happens with these things, it built on itself, and to their credit, a few reporters said it was unfair to extract this one sentence as evidence of weird or diminished rhetoric (though they did have the quixotic participation of Maxine Waters, who sounded like she wasn't there or wasn't listening), and indeed, having listened to the whole speech and especially the last five minutes, it's clear how unfair it was. He had acknowledged the continuing problems, but talked of substantial accomplishments in addressing them over the past two years.  His repeated refrain of "press on" was a riff on something he had just quoted. (I wouldn't be surprised if the "take off your bedroom slippers" turns out to be a quote, or a riff on one.)  And before he counselled the audience to stop complaining and get to work, he said " I don't have time to feel sorry for myself" or complain.  He said again what neither black nor white fans want to hear, that change is often slow, is often one step forward and two back, and two steps forward and one back. He reminded the audience that though he talked of hope and change, he never said change would be fast.  "I never promised easy."    

By the way, if you missed Lawrence O'Donnell's Last Word about the police riot against protestors on Wall Street--and his assertion that police violence occurs against citizens every day, and is never punished--then here's your second chance. (Although you may have to listen to some nice liar for Exxon first.)  It's pretty amazing, unless I was just having a 60s flashback... And here we are again, back at race.