Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

I have a theory that as hard as it is to accept a black president, it's even harder to accept a black First Lady. First Lady has always held a beloved sentimental mother/wife of the nation symbolism. Conservatives are not ready to have to lock at this very black woman with her degrees and her fierceness and see her as the epitome of the American mother/wife. Black people have never had an emotional connection to the First Lady to worry about losing. Laura Bush is just another white woman to us. This will be a first for white people.

-- MIRANDA

Heh, back in the day white flight was the worst thing that ever happened to black people. Now it's allegedly reversing (I'm really not convinced that there are more white people who want to live in cities, than those who want to live in exurbs, for instance) and it's still a problem for black people. The Wall Street Journal looks at more whites moving into cities and blacks moving out and concludes there must be a crisis afoot.

. . .Oh no, not our soul! A black church actually trying to attract white members, a white guy actually running for office in Atlanta, and a big city mayor who has to fight to keep black people. Race war, indeed. Sometimes, there really is no way to win with media. Part of the reason cities like Atlanta are becoming white is because black folks (like myself) who grew up caged in cities want their taste of the stereotypical American dream and thus are leaving. But there never is any black agency--to be African-American is to be an automaton responding to either white racism or cultural pathology. No way you could actually have free will. Race war, always Race war. And the whites win. Again.

-- TA-NEHISI COATES

I realize it's not as world-shaking as the caricature of the Obamas on the cover of The New Yorker, which has the high-end media in a total tizzy. It's probably not even as important as the raunchy joke Bernie Mac told at an Obama fundraiser last week, which was bumped from the tizzy list by The New Yorker story. But can't the commentariat take a break from itself and let the world know how much John McCain opposes birth control? Vastly more people rely on contraception than read The New Yorker or know Bernie Mac from mac'n' cheese. In fact, vastly more people use birth control than believe Obama is a secret Muslim. They might like to know that when it comes to contraception, McCain is no maverick.

-- KATHA POLLITT

How did we go from being known as the land of the free, home of the brave, a shining beacon of light and hope to a nation that our staunchest allies believes can't be trusted to tell the truth?

When did it become okay to lie to people and then blame them for the results of listening to to the sweet nothings whispered in their ears?

Racism supposedly isn't a problem in this country and anybody that thinks there is, is supposed to get over it. That sounds all well and good unless you live in a part of the country where it's obvious that racism is alive and well.

--DEB