Monday, January 28th, 2008

2G2K Circus :: Holding On To Things That Are Bad For Us

The convo continues with Ferentz’s latest post here.

So we were in ATL Saturday night after finishing a video shoot for this movie at a great record store called Wax-N-Facts, including an epic digging session there, and having stuffed ourselves afterwards with some really big chili-bison burgers.

We’re sprawled out on the couches about to fall into a long coma when Hillary comes on for about 10 seconds. From Nashville. With nothing to say. And a bunch of bored, sad looking people sitting behind her, as if they were attending a mandatory school assembly.

Thankfully CNN cut it short, and we popped in the Trapped In The Closet, chapters 13-248, the one that ends where (spoiler alert) everyone ends up with the package, the paa-aa–aaa–ckage.

Give us credit, when we do things, we go BIG. I wasn’t just wrong, I was spectacularly wrong. Truth is, I am a wholly a child of the mid-80s to mid-90s. When Billary went into attack-dog mode, I panicked and got culture war flashbacks. Lost my religion, probably.

Look. Some of us who went through Reagan-Bush I and Clinton I have a tendency to get apocalyptic. We don’t do even qualified happy endings, like “Juno”. Feel me? In our movies, things start going bad then everyone dies and the kids get orphaned. We’re only happy when it rains and shit. Like Alicia Keys would be better for us. But we love us our Kells.

Anyway, the fact that Hillary only registered a little blip between bison burger coma and Sylvester’s draaa-ma was kinda telling. Everyone, from SC’s Dem electorate to CNN’s producing team, seems ready to move on. (Suzanne Malveaux even did like a 15-minute interview with Obama that ran all yesterday.)

So…onward to 2/5 and to hope! As my man Danny Hoch might say, thank you blue America or whatever.

The other thing I learned Saturday night is that even Southerners think Edwards is great on paper, but that he is actually, as a person, very full of shit. (But maybe not so full that he’d emerge as a cult fave among older hip-hop gens now that Kucinich is going home.)

Last thing is this: I loved your point about closing the debate on race. The one thing I was personally mad at Obama about this past week is that he had a huge opportunity to lay out a racial justice agenda, and he got sidelined into Clintolitics.

I don’t think SC has to be the last entry point for people of color in this election, but the whole race-gender frame was, as Lisa Duggan might say, just a ruse to hide the real debate–about education, criminal justice, the wealth gap, the true impact of the housing crisis, etc.

So Ferentz, we’ll have lots of time to talk Cali and Barackary later this week. Let’s talk Republicans. Goodbye Rudy!

posted by Jeff Chang @ 9:17 am | 4 Comments

4 Responses to “2G2K Circus :: Holding On To Things That Are Bad For Us”

Anonymous says:

January 29, 2008 at 7:53 am

i disagree with jeff. what about the rest of you. i think he is being a buzzkill. am i wrong? I mean, he actually gave Hillarry props on the Slumlord “gotcha” thing in a previous post. thats not something to applaud bearing in mind her and her husbands history of dodgy dealings.

but this is a democracy and we can agree to disagree, still think jeff is the best hip hop music/politics/history writer out there.

ps, i read an unbelievable statement on the dude;s blog who you are corresponding with. Did he say something about African Americans dont desereve the right to vote on policy issues since they only vote according to race? that is an incredilous statement that if anyone other than an african american said it, would cause disgust. just the fact that obama is in the position he is in is more articulate than any admittedly important policy statements to african americans. whats wrong with voting along pride lines as long as it doesnt stray too far outside of ur own ideals, its not like obama is a right wing fanatic. All 3 candidates are all very similar on issues so naturally its only expected that racial pride will play a part. It was the clintons who turned away african americans, up until then they were polling pretty competitive.

unless i misread his statement. peace.

-Eat My Shorts
Anonymous says:

January 29, 2008 at 8:04 am

Ignore my 2nd paragraph in the above post. I misread Ferentz’s comments and apologise.

-Eat My Shorts
Zentronix says:

January 29, 2008 at 8:15 am

from a debating POV, Hillary killed Obama with that, regardless. on Rezko, the facts are the facts.

now there was a lot of BS coming out of Billary’s camp last week but i spoke to that.

btw: about buzz-killing. to switch up a metaphor my man Toure is fond of, i don’t think my job is to add kool-aid to anyone’s sizzurp.

all illusions, including my own, are there to be burned.

thank you all for putting your boy in check this past week.

let’s keep on arguing…
Anonymous says:

January 29, 2008 at 11:58 am

fair enough, but looking at all the candidates he is in my opinion the best choice, he cant be all things to all people . so i guess he will have to sacrifice some support at the margins.

Debates are overrated, as was proved in the vote, judge people on their records not their ability to fling mud and attempt to smear others. Anyone who decides who to vote 4 based on a single debate needs their heads seeing to.

1st it was links between his pastor and farrakan, now its retzko, there is a pattern here in trying to smear him as a jew hating, slumlord running, trickster taking us all 4 a ride. not falling 4 it personally, i’ll take my chances on him.

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