Ta-Nehisi Coates

"An inadequate black male..."

No seriously, tell us what you really think about us. This is what Ferraro-ism breeds. One good thing about all of this. I didn't see a single person in all of the footage of the protest who looked a day younger than, uhm, thirty. This is like the last stand for the bitter bigots. Jed says he smells Roger Stone.

Obama leaves Trinity

I'm not a Christian, but count me as deeply saddened by this move. I hear a lot of people talking smack about Trinity, mostly the same people that wouldn't walk in the neighborhoods Trinity serves without bodygaurds. I don't always roll with the message, but there's no dispute that Trinity does great work on behalf of the sort of people who I think would benefit most from an Obama presidency. That said, I don't think this equals the vaunted Sista Souljah move which the cynics have been calling for from Obama. The brother held out for as long as he could. And I don't think he thinks that this resignation will when him many votes from people who think he's a Muslim anyway. Still, it's sad.


UPDATE: Video guys. I think it backs up what commenter Matt was saying below

The sexism that is Ta-Nehisi

Uhm, yeah. So I just found out one of my favorite bloggers--Hilzoy over at Obsidian Wings--is a woman. Not that there's anything wrong with it...Of course as someone's who's often referred to as a "she," I should have known.

Black Power

From a truly fascinating analysis of the Obama campaign:

A more subtle change was the distribution of delegates within each state. As part of the proportional system, Democrats award delegates based on statewide vote totals as well as results in individual congressional districts. The delegates, however, are not distributed evenly within a state, like they are in the Republican system.

Under Democratic rules, congressional districts with a history of strong support for Democratic candidates are rewarded with more delegates than districts that are more Republican. Some districts packed with Democratic voters can have as many as eight or nine delegates up for grabs, while more Republican districts in the same state have three or four.

The system is designed to benefit candidates who do well among loyal Democratic constituencies, and none is more loyal than black voters. Obama, who would be the first black candidate nominated by a major political party, has been winning 80 percent to 90 percent of the black vote in most primaries, according to exit polls.

"Black districts always have a large number of delegates because they are the highest performers for the Democratic Party," said Elaine Kamarck, a Harvard University professor who is writing a book about the Democratic nominating process.

"Once you had a black candidate you knew that he would be winning large numbers of delegates because of this phenomenon," said Kamarck, who is also a superdelegate supporting Clinton.

More evidence of the stupidity of a race-baiting strategy. We give the racists too much effing credit. Clinton is going to lose this primary, in large measure, because of some of stupidity that her surrogates seemed intent on spewing. Justice, oh lord. Sweet justice. Peace to Sullivan for the link

Dispatches from the hinterlands

Courtesy of Hilzoy, here's Eve Fairbanks giving us a good look at what Hillary Clinton's most fanatical supporters. Incredible. And they calls us the nuts. Fear not folks. It'll soon be over.

On a much more serious note

Hilzoy--guesting for Kevin Drum-- brings it on Ferraro's latest stupid rant. He points out that she really doesn't give a good reason for "Reagan Democrats" to oppose Obama, leaving one with the distinct impression that it, in fact, is race. Of course there's also the irony of the woman who helped invent the "Reagan Democrats" now giving advice to Obama on how to court them. Anyway it's a great post, and not because he quoted me. Here I am speaking on it, in my last post over at Matt's.

Guess who's back...

Back on the block with the O, taking on Geraldine and foes
Don't make me relapse, and air-out BET Negroes
Cause the street talk is all I know....

Anyway, Scarface and Jigga fans will get it. To everyone else, it's good to be home. Props to Matt for hosting me for a week. But seriously, it's good to be back. Miss me much?

Today And Tomorrow

Guys I'm mostly posting over at Matt's. Gotta couple interesting threads going over there. Please feel free to hop in. Things will resume as normal this weekend, and next week.

Is The Criminal Justice System Racist?

Crossposted from Matt again, guys.


The news that Virginia has performed it's first execution in two years got me thinking about a topic that seemingly fallen off the radar this season--criminal justice reform. The death penalty, sadly, seems here to stay. But one of the reasons I so emphatically fell for Jim Webb (before Kathy took him apart) was because in addition to being outspoken about veterans issues, he's probably the most prominent senator i've heard speak on reforming our prisons. I could be wrong on that, and would love to be corrected. That said, I have heard very little about this issue out on the campaign trail. Frankly, this is as it should be--you don't win elections by talking about shortening the sentences of criminals.

Still, I hope this issue is a priority, should Obama win. Indeed, to me, one of the promises of an Obama administration would be that he could (hopefully) deracialize certain issues that really occur to me as matters of basic fairness and justice. Heather Macdonald has had a field day dismantling those who claim that the criminal justice is racist. But I think that's a strawman. Frankly, I don't much care about whether the law was intended to hurt black people, nor do I care whether it's called racist or not. To the extent that the "racist" label is a distraction, it should be jettisoned. It seems like the real question should be, Does our drug policy make sense? Are we helping or hurting the situation in our inner cities?

The Chronicles Of Epic Fail: The Clinton Henchmen Edition

Heh, shorter, and less lame, Lanny Davis: How dare Barack Obama defeat us in the primary!