Barack Obama, Political Chess Master II (Special Commentary)

Last night, I watched as this historic healthcare reform passed. There was much drama and action. The procedure itself has the making of a very good movie: the Tea Party members spitting on members of Congress and calling them racial/sexual epithets, Jessie Jackson Jr. having to bang that gabble and raise his voice to call for order during a very heated verbal exchange, John Boehner invoking scripture trying to shame a few more Democrats away from the "Yes" box. I tell you. I was on the edge of my seat.

The highlight came when a cool President Obama, standing in front of a very emotional and passionate Vice President Biden said, "This is what change looks like." As cool and as calm as expect any Black man to be, he looked square into the eyes of his political adversaries and he said in so many words, "Checkmate."
I bubbled over with laughter. My eyes brimmed with tears as I remembered the Lion of the Senate, a rich man who devoted almost his entire career to attaining healthcare for those less fortunate than himself. Then, I became uncontrollably angry because the public option/expansion of Medicaid for everyone is not in this bill. Why in the Hell would they take out such a huge victory for the American people? I mean, it's such a big bill that includes....

Then, exactly ten minutes after Barack Obama declared "checkmate," I realized that I don't know what is in this bill. Yes, I am a political junkie who watches at least four hours of political commentary every day, and I don't know what the heck is in this bill. I know if I don't know what's in it, all of those fanatics out there yelling about socialized medicine don't know, either.
So far, the coverage of this historic change has not been on the specifics of this bill. We saw the sausage making process, but not the ingredients of the links. Media focus has been on the strategy of the game, the coaches' game plays on each side, rather than what was happening on the field. Who wins? Who loses? Who's going to suffer at the polls? Who's going to benefit? What's Obama going to do next? How have the Republicans been so effective at controlling the message? What message? Aside from scaring the hell out of folks about death panels and "socialized medicine," there hasn't been a message.

So, the public option is out, but what's in? I don't know. The opposers of the bill don't know. This factor, including the ramping up of the rhetoric of fear and the constant referral to this bill as "Obama care", further affirms my view that this whole ordeal has been more about fear of what this Black man, leader of the free world, can do than about policy-making. Inciting violence against Barack Obama and the Democrats smacks of the jealous jouissance of Southern lynch picnics. What was that dark day in America's history all about? Power play dynamics and phallic authority. Just listen to Rush Limbaugh...you don't have to take my word for it.

Sadly, our public discourse is stil informed by white supremacy and jealous sexual projections. Sadly, those people who were out there spitting on lawmakers and taunting them probably need that help the most. Sadly, those people out there probably cannot even define the very words that very rich, white men like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh told them to use. Sadly, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh know exactly what they are doing. Sadly, those folks do not know that they are being used in a powerful class war and a fear of redistribution of wealth and elitism. They are no better than those young, poor white boys who died in the Civil War to enrich the pockets of wealthy plantation overlords, a class they could never belong to. Sadly, those people and their children will also benefit the most from the passage of such a bill, in spite of their manifest hatred.

So, even though President Obama cannot directly say it to his adversaries, I will. Check mate. "On to the next one" in the words of Jay-Z.

Some advice for all political pundits -liberal and conservatives - get used to a new, cooler style of leadership. We are dealing with a very calculated political genius, not someone prone to egotistical, masculine posture. There's actually some substance behind his exterior, and nobody can rush him. He's the chess master. You don't rush a chess master before he makes his move. He must study the board from every angle. He must study his opponent's peices from every angle, anticipate his move, and be prepared to counter it. That takes more than posturing. That takes brains. And brains is what we have back in the White House after an eight year vacuum.

President Obama, the Political Chess Master

President Obama has occupied his current post for about 15 months now. For 14 of those months, he has aggrevated his base to no end...even myself, an African American woman who is a Southerner to boot. He has made me regret voting for him, and left me wishing that I'd voted for Hillary Clinton instead. As the "birthers," including Lou Dobbs, questioned his citizenship, we asked, "Why doesn't he do something?" As the Tea Party members showed up to his rallies with loaded weapons, we asked, "Why doesn't he say something?" As the antireform factions interrupted town hall meeting after town hall meeting, we shouted, "When are you going to take the lead?" As we watch Republicans controll the healthcare debate message, every one from Chris Matthews to Bill Maher challenged President Obama by telling him, "Lead, damn it Lead! You are the president of the United States! Act like it and lead."

Which is exactly what Barack Obama, current president of the United States, wanted us to do. Barack Obama the candidate played down race. He ran as an American man, not a Black one. He quoted Abraham Lincoln as his favorite president, and failed to mention the works of Frederick Douglass (an "overlooking" that garnered him criticism from some in the African American community). He stayed out of sight as Republicans and Conservatives concocted fake Kenyan birth certificates. He sat "idly" by and let the Democratic Congress and Nancy Pelosi mop up after the "death panels" windfall. Like a political chess master watching a three-dimensional chess board, he let everyone say what they wanted to say when they wanted to say it, and when everybody ran out of steam about everything, he moved. He went directly to a Republican meeting and took unscreened questions with no teleprompter, and had it televised -a first for our nation. He held a boring, seven-hour press conference on healthcare, calling out Republican incentives and naming names. When he'd done all of that, Daddy came back home and gave Congress a deadline for a bill, giving them the go ahead for reconciliation. To date, no Republicans have made an effective rebuttal.

Check mate.

Though Barack Obama the candidate played down his race, he has conducted himself like the level-headed Black man that he has to be in order to operate in America. He gave us the old ideological rope-a-dope as long as he had to in order to obtain a signed permission slip to lead (Right now, the letter supporting a public option in the Senate has up to 40 signatures). He knows that as a Black man, he's always already perceived as an angry Black man. He is always already perceived as less than capable of being in a position of leadership. As a Black man, he is always already perceived as someone more interested in chasing tail than chasing enemies. As a Black man, Barack Obama could not come out swinging and jabbing. Like Richard Pryor's character on Harlem Nights, he had to play it smooth and he had to play it sweet.

Now we're begging him to lead. Lead damn it! We're begging him to cease being a Black man, and be our president. Exactly what he wanted to hear. To his opponents I say:

"Check mate!"