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May 4, 2008 at 14:58:20
Bo Bos in Obambiville: or why media heart Barack by Marilyn Frith Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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David Brooks, author and TV commentator, often engaged in major circular TV chatfests grew curiouser and curiouser regard old leftists with a radical bent and declining youth. He followed some around to their new haunts, found they were comfortably ensconced in houses with "kitchens as big a aircraft hangers, with plumbing.." Thus he described "Bo Bos" to Gwen Ifell on PBS, June, 2000. He was promoting his book, "Bo Bos in Paradise," and found this newly minted term applied to those now living in toney enclaves across the nation, including California's Silicon Valley known for its high-end, upper middle-class suburbs. Brooks noted inventively, "they were half-yippie bourgeois and half-hippie bohemian." So, this is where many Obamaphiles dwell, those skewing the 2008 elector processes in a mad rush to some lost utopia they felt promised for their anti-establishment rants and protests of long ago. Now a modicum of revenge could be visited upon the hated nonvisionaries who deprived them of self-actualization. They find in Barack Obama an anti-hero, a skinny, feckless fawn who will mature into a leader with great, impressive twelve-point antlers, both inspiring and imposing in his simplicity. Children's dreams never entirely outlive the imagination. And they can be infectious running around the society until exhausted. Our American media is showing signs of having been bitten. Many are from the heady, free-wheeling age and remain true to those tenets while professing journalistic distance. Some are merely as susceptible to wrong-headed liaisons as any other segment of the culture. Bob Somerby has defended Al Gore since the 2000 campaign on "The Daily Howler" site. Somerby has a knack for cutting bait that brooks no nonsense and leaves no confusion as to his point of view. He is left to wonder why the vaunted Eastern media denizens were so apt to diss the Clintons and Al Gore. He was not offended by Barack's pastor disaster, rather felt there was some merit to Rev. Wright's summation of our nation character. But he isn't buying an elitist ploy to divide poor white southerners or poor white working class people anywhere from the Bo Bos David Brooks discovered sipping imported wine and snacking on brie; it is an artfully-employed political scheme.
Why do the media cast stones at Hillary, Bill and Al? Why are the wannabes of the press going along in duck step to be counted among their detractors? Somerby thinks it is a snoot factor. Southern whites and the working poor white folk are given their own demographic in these recent elections; they represent the throw-aways who just don't get it. They remain stuck in neutral when the more savvy move on. Where they plan to go is open to speculation as long as you keep moving. Moving is synonymous with progress defined by the maintenance of their status quo. Don't get in their way.
The media see a family resemblance in Obama that seems to go beyond color; it is a meeting of minds and a spirit of new vistas. He is nearer to their generational hopes and dreams. Of course, this image is sheer contrivance but that does not deter the faithful.
In an editorial at "The Howler," Somerby proffers this indictment of the American media which is sinking into its bad habit of manipulating the vote. "You see they {journalists} were sure they knew then, as they're sure they know now, which Dem hopeful had better character. Sadly, we're in Iraq because these dopes were our leaders."
The other Dems he referenced are Governor Michael Dukakis in primaries against Al Gore and Bill Bradley. The press favored Bradley, the existentialist intellectual from New Jersey, and fairly eviscerated Al Gore in the 1988 primary and later in the 2000 general against G.W. Bush. When the question of the Willie Horton ad surfaced in 1988, Gore was said to be the culprit who played the race card; it was untrue and Bradley was no more honest about the issue than the Bush campaign. http://dailyhowler.com/
Somerby believes the reason behind these attitudes is an antipathy for a southern mentality as perceived by northerners in general and the Manhattan media in particular.
It is the snob factor carrying over into political judgments. How odd the leftist liberals find themselves in a counterintuitive position, bashing the underdogs who favor Senator Hillary Clinton.
Of course, we know the long-term consequences of the 2000 debacle when the county fell victim to intrepid journalists who broke the most fundamental law of their profession: do not put yourself between the story and your reporting. If voters in 2008 aren't carefully following these continuous gyrations, they aren't paying attention and will waste their vote again. Let the Bo Bos' illusions go unrequited; it is more important to save our country than to placate the leisure class.
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| 4 comments |
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But for MB...
I had this right wing piece of writing in my article rejection crosshairs. But I chose to sit on it and lo and behold, another editor approved it. Well, we do have a policy of allowing articles supporting Hillary. What's happened though, is that no articles strictly supporting Hillary are published here. Mostly, we see contemptible crap like this-- from right wing democrats who purport to be liberals-- and like this one, they seek to tear the Democratic party asunder. I have to wonder if, based on this article's message, the writer, like other's we've thrown off this site, is really a democrat, really a liberal, as purported.. To hold up Brooks as a positive figure and to attack liberals-- sounds like a shill to me, and certainly not a progressive. But I guess it could be a Hillary supporter, giving this progressive all the more reason that Hillary was, of the nine democratic candidates, tenth on my list, after OTHER. The message this disgusting article sends is aimed at doing the job the Clintons seem to seek, like the DLC org they lead-- the elimination of the progressive side of the democratic party. It ain't gonna happen. The DLC and the right wing dems it solely embraces is fading into obscurity while progressives are getting stronger. Get over it. The Democratic party is going to be run by democrats, not Joe Lieberman, Zell Miller fake democrats. Hillary Clinton is betraying the democratic party by stirring up the ugliest racist, class, elitist sensitivities of the party's base, salting and re-opening wounds that had been healed. The blue collar people who Hillary is turning against Obama are the people who were ready to vote democratic until she and her mercenary campaign managers chose their scorched earth policies. I will be watching to see which candidates work with her people-- Penn, Wolfson, etc., and just for chosing those campaign workers, I will probably find objections to those candidates, just as I would to any candidate who hires Karl Rove. by Rob Kall (956 articles, 4179 quicklinks, 376 diaries, 2094 comments [50 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 3:25:48 PM  (0+)
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Reply: You think Bob Somerby is a right-winger?
Really, Bob, I warned everyone in my bio blurb that satire will uncover the hidden mischief that passes for conventional wisdom. I must say I find two things deceptive about your response: one, that this "outrageous" rant of mine was allowed to air at all; you could have deleted it. And, two, that you used it as a foundation slab from which to mount your own--shall we say diatribe. This is pure leftist tactics that we Hillary supporters have come to recognize as below the dignity of a response. And even more irritating in my estimation is your total lack of appreciation for a little taste of your own medicine. Your characterizations have no basis in fact and are just smoke screens to cover your own poorly-devised political philosophies. Methinks me hit a nerve. Do you recognize yourself in the Bo Bos image? Or are you flacking for some great cause thinking voters have yet to divine? What you said certainly bears no resemblance to the real Obama plan and the usual Hillary hate-mongering is fairly standard issue here on OEN. Any movement so steeped in illusion and fantasy can only be generated from some source higher up the food chain. I predicted long ago Obama will win because the NWO has a role for him to play. It has nothing to do with ethics or race or a grand inclusive scheme; he is simply useful to the coming regime. Enjoy it. And you have my addy if you want to take this any further or you can pull the plug on my "membership" in the community. David Brooks wrote his book long before all these little glitches were put into play. He was making fun of the liberal rad left because they are as phony as the aristocratic right. I tend to agree. On the other hand, Bob Somerby is totally serious and on-target. Read him; you might listen up and learn. Cheers. by Marilyn Frith (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 194 comments) on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 4:50:09 PM (0+)
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Reply: Bo Bos in obambiville
Frankly I don't like either. I feel like the media has chosen who is going to be the democratic candiate. I live in Michigan and I am pretty angry about the whole primary system. The first 2 states are republican and after they vote people have already started dropping out. I am a democrate and have worked hard to get democrates elected in the past. I think both Clinton and Obama have played the race card, one was covert and the other was overt. They have both trashed each other to the point that we have little chance of winning in November. The only fair answer to the questions of primaries is to have all the people vote for their choice on one day Maybe we could have a second run off vote, but if you live in FL or MI you would see how very unfair this whole system is. by beccy (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 87 comments) on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 9:06:31 PM (0+)
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It strikes me as odd...
how almost all the propaganda I have ever seen contains within it a revealing grain of truth, however assiduously the truth was shunned in its production. Holding up David Brooks as a commentator with valuable insights to offer is what reveals the truth here, that truth being that Hillary Clinton is much closer to the neoconservatives who brought us to this pass than to anyone who supports the traditional values of the Democratic Party. by John Sanchez Jr. (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 1799 comments [157 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Monday, May 5, 2008 at 12:48:06 PM (0+)
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