Sistah Souljah

I woke up this morning thinking about Sistah Souljah. Clearly I'm too immersed in politics. I thought, man, I would hate to be her. Everyone is calling Senator Obama's denunciation of Reverend Wright a Sister Souljah moment. I could not remember who she was. I was going to check the internets out and do the google but Real Clear Politics to the rescue! They linked to this story by John Heilemann:

For many months now, the political class has been wondering when Obama would get around to such a moment - an instance in which he loudly challenged a core Democratic constituency on an issue of principle, as Bill Clinton famously did in 1992 when he pilloried a B-list hip-hop act for some incendiary comments she made to the Washington Post regarding that year's L.A. riots. For those whose memories on this topic are incomplete, the comments in question were these: "If black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?" Which prompted Clinton to declaim at a meeting of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition, which had hosted Souljah the night before, "If you took the words 'white' and 'black' and reversed them, you might think David Duke was giving that speech."

To start with, whatever admixture of courage and calculation that one ascribes to Clinton's maneuver, the risk he took in going after Lady Souljah was one that he took voluntarily - it was a risk of choice. The rapper, though every bit as hysterical and inflammatory as the reverend, had not become an issue in the 1992 campaign. Clinton had no relationship to her. Certainly, her comments posed no peril to his nomination. In all of this, Obama's situation was starkly different. His decision to cut his ties from Parson Wright, which might have been construed as brave if it had come a year or even a month ago, was by no means an act of political fortitude. It was an act of political necessity.

Bill Clinton, in front of the Rainbow Coalition (whatever happened to them?), denounced a black woman who said something vile. Yet he still managed to get most of the black vote. He didn't have to, she wasn't his rapper of twenty years. He didn't call a press conference to do it. He stood up in front of Jesse Jackson and said it. Hmmm, I'm going with courage.

So when I hear Obama throw Bill Clinton's presidency in with Bush, Bush and Reagan I get a bit disgusted. When I hear his supporters say it's time to have a President with a brain I get really frosted. Because the last two Democratic Presidents were anything but stupid. One was a successful President, one has had success since. Lest we forget, Jimmy Carter was a nuclear physicist. (Just as an aside - my friend Katy's brother builds nuclear subs. One of the newest ones was named the Jimmy Carter. When they went down to show him the plans he corrected them. Roselyn also got the boys some lemonade. I love that.)

Senator Obama is not a Profile In Courage. He is a calculating politician.

And though I would hate have my name brought up in the context of Reverend Wright I think Sistah Souljah might be proud. Maybe even sell a few records.