Pres. Obama’s 3,600 Words to the CBC: 15 Million Unemployed? No. Black Unemployment? No. 46 Million Poor? No. STFU? Yes. Yesterday, at the annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference, I was at a session called, Faith Leaders Roundtable: Black Activism in the Time of Obama. Translation: How to address big problems without tossing President Obama under the bus… On the panel were CBC Chair Emanuel Cleaver, Rep. Elijah Cummings Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and Michael Eric Dyson. Rep. Maxine Waters was seated in the front row of a packed room. It was a lively, deep, introspective and pointed session. Perhaps too lively and pointed: At about 45 minutes in, someone decided removing reporters from the room was a fabulous idea. I fought the plan off and remained until the end. Glad I did. Al Sharpton: “We should all be focused on improving the lives of people. If we’re not doing that everything else is theater.”
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr: Jackson used a sinking ship analogy that brought Cleaver to tears… “Some people will sink an entire ship in desperation to kill the Captain… We have a lot of deck analysts who are in very well paid positions who are comfortable… but there is a hole in the hull… the hull is getting crowded and water is coming in… how do we stop the water from coming in? … There is a poison here… and we’re arguing about the deck hands and the Captain… but we’re losing people in the hull. Somehow, someway I suspect the people on the deck will not lift those in the hull… those in the hull have to climb…”
Contrast that with the President speaking to the CBC last night: “Even when folks are hitting you over the head, you can’t stop marching. Even when they’re turning the hoses on you, you can’t stop. (Applause.) Even when somebody fires you for speaking out, you can’t stop. (Applause.) Even when it looks like there’s no way, you find a way — you can’t stop…” There were 3,600 words in all. Yet no mention of black unemployment at 16.7%. Of course he knows the numbers and the White House shows they know the numbers in the President’s jobs plan.
You need to read the speech. It’s at the WH website under the Tab “Briefing Room” He mentioned it early in the speech:
“And we’ve needed faith over these last couple years. Times have been hard. It’s been three years since we faced down a crisis that began on Wall Street and then spread to Main Street, and hammered working families, and hammered an already hard-hit black community. The unemployment rate for black folks went up to nearly 17 percent — the highest it’s been in almost three decades; 40 percent, almost, of African American children living in poverty; fewer than half convinced that they can achieve Dr. King’s dream. You’ve got to be a little crazy to have faith during such hard times. ” …….
It’s really amazing that the Corporatist POTUS Obama is allowed to explicitly insult the CBC conventioners with his ebonic colloquialisms and unmitigated gall to tell Blacks to “stop complaining”. In fact, this imperial president would espouse similiar comments to the Jewish community, the Gay Community, the Latino Community, the Asian Community, only the constituency(i.e., the Black community) that is the most loyal and supportive of his woefully flawed domestic and foreign policies. In sum, we must be mindful that no one person is above the collective interests of the entire group, this include blue dog Democrat President Obama. I can only imagine what his cabal of White advisors and speechwriters are saying amongst themselves, “Obama manages to insult the Black community and yet they still strongly support him, I wonder why? They’re a messiah proned people”.
I’m calling bullshit on your report that Pres Obama didn’t mention black unemployment T 16.7% at the CBC gala. What the he’ll we u listening to. Here’s a transcript of his speect: http://www.thegrio.com/politics/transcript-president-obamas-speech-at-the-cbc-foundation-gala.php. Here’s an exerpt: “The unemployment rate for black folks went up To nearly 17 percent – the highest it!s been in almost three decades; 40 percent, almost, of African American children living in poverty.” also there is a video io on The Obama Diary of him speaking. There’s your facts and there’s your proof. I believe a retraction and an apology is warranted.
The proper response, if this were Barack Obama, private citizen, would have been for everybody there to tell the him to go screw himself and get up and leave the room.
However, Barach Obama is not some guy who lives down the street or in the next town over. He is President of the United States and he’s the only president we have. Right now, the only alternative to him in 2012 is a conservative Republicanl (of course we don’t know who yet). That is too bad. I do not think he deserves to be reelected.
I can’t speak for Lauren but perhaps she doesn’t feel that mentioning a problem is the same thing as doing something about it.
In the President’s “Job Bill” with a cost of around $450 billion, how many billions are going to put people to work?
How many people who have been jobless since 2007, 2008 or 2009 benefit from this bill? Almost none. These people won’t benefit from up to 99 weeks of unemployment because they’ve already received that.
Everybody in Washington decided it was “too expensive” to spend around $17 billion to add another 14 weeks to unemployment so the most desperate of the unemployed could get some more money, at last.