[lbo-talk] Joseph Massad: Emperor Obama Vs the Arab people

[Chuck Grimes]

``Obama's attempt to deny the hatred that Arabs feel towards the United 
States and Israel because of the actions of these two countries is nothing 
short of the continued refusal of the United States and Israel (not of 
Arabs) to take responsibility for their own actions by shifting the blame 
for the horrendous violence they have inflicted on the region onto their 
very victims. When Obama and Israel call on Arabs to take responsibility for 
the state of the region and not blame the US and Israel for it, what they 
are essentially doing is to refuse to take responsibility for what they have 
inflicted on Arabs'' AJE

Consider this an open letter to the Egyptians. I found the above `take 
responsibility' line particularly amusing coming from Obama. That's the line 
he used in front of the Urban League and the NAACP. In that context the 
responsibility line was used to shift the problems of public education onto 
poor and working parents. He was pushing for the `community' to stop 
resisting NCLB and get behind `our' efforts to turn around the public 
education mess.

This shifting of responsibility game was also used in the financial crises 
to blame homeowners for losing their houses. They were obviously not meeting 
their financial responsibilities.

I am old enough to remember back in the bad old days what liberals like 
Moyinhan were like. Here's a hint about the problems of poverty and the 
Negro Family:

``Moynihan Report was written by then-sociologist and later U.S. Senator 
Daniel Patrick Moynihan and released in 1965. It focused on the deep roots 
of black poverty in America and concluded that the relative absence of 
nuclear (that is, husband-wife) families would greatly hinder further 
progress toward economic and political equality.''

In other words the poverty of black americans was cause by something about 
black american and their failure to take their duties and responsibilities 
as parents and spouses seriously.

I guess they forgot AFDC was structured so that there couldn't be a man 
(18-65) in the family and recieve this benefit.

Of course it never occurred to Moynihan or Obama people who are or have been 
poor, that in the struggle to survive poverty kills families. More of us are 
going to learn this lesson again as thousands loose their jobs, can't find 
work, and break up their families. The women and kids usually move in with 
relatives. The old man is out on the street or living in his car. Then there 
is moving in with your aging parents if you have any... This shit gets grim.

I also love the idea Obama considers his success story the effect of his 
taking responsibility for his own life and working hard to get ahead. I 
guess he forgot about affirmative action and decades of civil rights work by 
thousands and thousands of people who spent their lives trying to make 
things better.

So, in solidarity.

CG