Acting white vs. Acting French

Here is billionaire Hillary Clinton jihadi,  Lynn Forrester on Obama:

"We're not going to win by pretending problems with Barack Obama don't exist. He has a huge problem connecting with ordinary Americans, who think, 'He doesn't understand me.' He is not modest; he is arrogant. He radiates elitism."

This was Forrester conclusion after Obama compromised on the roll-call. But there's more:

"Barack Obama can use the words 'the American dream', but they don't resonate," she said. "He magnified the problem by going to Berlin and calling himself a citizen of the world."

This from a woman who lives in New York and London. Negroes, after this election I don't want to hear anything about "acting white." This whole election has been code for "Acting French." Truly xenophobic anti-intellectualism at its highest. Props to Leon Panetta for putting the idiots in context:

"There is a sense of entitlement that almost seems to be inbred," Panetta said. "They are convinced Hillary is the one who should be assuming the mantle and it's tough to crack that."

The brothers have a name for an inbred "sense of entitlement." But we are in polite company. Come see me on 125th if you wanna be down.

Comments

Shorter version of Lynn's recent pronouncements:

"Barack Obama is not in touch with ordinary Americans. And he didn't erase Hillary's campaign debt." --Baroness de Rothschild, billionairess and leading London political hostess.

Posted by Deborah | August 18, 2008 3:10 PM

Obama, uh, schooled Clinton in my native North Dakota. But then, North Dakotans are not, as is commonly believed, actually ordinary Americans. We are extraordinary Americans.

But, still.

Posted by Moff | August 18, 2008 3:10 PM

"The brothers have a name for an inbred "sense of entitlement." But we are in polite company. Come see me on 125th if you wanna be down."

Word.

Lovin the blog Ta-Nehisi.

Posted by MikeCee | August 18, 2008 3:11 PM

@Moff: Actually, that should be Obama's counter to this talking point: "I don't connect with ordinary Americans. Because I have never met an ordinary American. All of the Americans I have met are truly extraordinary."

CAN YOU FEEL THE HOPE?!?

Posted by Moff | August 18, 2008 3:13 PM

As an older white woman I couldn't agree with Panetta more. I also know that these so called feminists have set back the women's movement far more than any male ever could have.

Lynn...shut.the.hell.up.

Posted by G Davis | August 18, 2008 3:17 PM

If Lynn Forrester met one of the 'ordinary Americans' she drones on about on the street, she'd cross to the other side.

Posted by Persia | August 18, 2008 3:22 PM

I don't know how many people know this but when Lynn Forrester married old dude Rothschild in the late 90's, they spent their honeymoon in the Whitehouse as guest of clintons. They donated millions to clinton library/foundation and were looking forward to a good return on their investment when HRC would become president. Now they face the prospect of 'ZERO' return on their investment. I completely understand where she is coming from.

Posted by JG | August 18, 2008 3:29 PM

Boojy?

Or am I mixing up my terms for inbred senses of entitlement?

Posted by Jaybird | August 18, 2008 3:38 PM

Ta-Nehisi,

Can't speak for the brothers up in your neck of the woods, but down here if we were going to talk about someone with an inbred sense of entitlement, we'd either say "they think their shit don't stink" or we'd call them "cheeky n**gas."

Gotta admit, I'm curious about the phrase you would use...

Posted by One Drop | August 18, 2008 3:46 PM

So Lynn Forrester would sell the reproductive rights of ordinary American girls in a pique because she doesn't get a chance to be the Ambassador to the U.K.?

GENERATION. OF. SWINE.

Posted by Shine | August 18, 2008 3:51 PM

She tells us she'll vote for McCain as if we'd give a rat's ass. If we go ahead, will she STFU.

Posted by asl | August 18, 2008 3:59 PM

wait, is this a guessing game?

Is it.... HONKY!?

or WHITEY

Ok ok, one more guess. JIVE-ASS.

(Note: I do not have a flow-bee haircut)

Posted by dbt | August 18, 2008 4:04 PM

dbt- You're an idiot. Yeah, every name we have for your "sense of entitlement" must reference your whiteness and not the privilege that whiteness results in. Yeah. Like I said, idiot.

I was thinking more "Miss Anne" with Lady Rothschild, but since she's now living in London mostly maybe "Lady Anne." That Jersey girl is so full of shit. She has no problem with the war criminal Henry Kissinger, but Obama is just not up to snuff. Really? It say more about her character than anyone else's.

Posted by Michael's Mom | August 18, 2008 4:31 PM

“I think the roll-call will be a cathartic moment,” said [Lady]Rothschild. “There will be a lot of people who will say, ‘Oh, what might have been’ and will vote for Obama but there will be a lot of tears.”

OK, first. Any US American who allows anybody to call her "Lady" should just move to England and wear a hat every day.

Second, "catharsis," from the Greek for "purge," which is what the Hillary Moonies make me want to do. Not just in the gastrointestinal sense, but in the Stalinist sense, too.

And finally, I am embarrassed for my fellow menopausal females. In 2000, did Al Gore demand an opportunity for "catharsis" after being the victim of outright theft? Or John Kerry in 2004? And, yes, in 1980, Ted Kennedy did take the fight all the way to the convention, but he didn't do it for "catharsis."

We're not picking the prom queen here. We're searching for the best person to assume the job of the most powerful person on earth. Let's act like grown ups. For this one, limited occasion, let's heed the advice of Marion Barry and "get over it."

There! I feel better. Just needed a little catharsis myself, I guess.

Posted by Lady Wesley | August 18, 2008 4:32 PM

While I doubt I will be voting for Obama, I have to defend him on this crap. A comparison between Lady Forrester and Sen. Obama on achieving the American Dream is stark. One rose from humble beginings to a high level of office through decades of hard work and attained the title of Senator as an American politican.

The other gained her status by sleeping with someone old enough to be her father, lives in London, and took the title of the foreign government. Hardly the version of the American Dream that I will be teaching to my daughters.

We have names for her type of behavior in my parts as well, too bad we are in polite company, or I would let loose with a few.

Posted by DougEFresh | August 18, 2008 4:46 PM

"I also know that these so called feminists have set back the women's movement far more than any male ever could have.

Lynn...shut.the.hell.up."

Posted by G Davis

I cannot wait for more people to discuss this. So many of these embittered Hillary supporters are perpetuating every negative stereotype about women with their antics. I am a man I feel for women in politics.

Posted by Michael | August 18, 2008 4:54 PM

"I cannot wait for more people to discuss this. So many of these embittered Hillary supporters are perpetuating every negative stereotype about women with their antics. I am a man I feel for women in politics."

Posted by Michael

This is my fear about the next time a woman runs for President, that too many will remember the drama queen showing out of some of Hillary's supporters and unfairly tag the next woman with their behavior. I hope I'm wrong.

Posted by Kat | August 18, 2008 5:19 PM

The brothers have a name for an inbred "sense of entitlement." But we are in polite company. Come see me on 125th if you wanna be down.

Coates, Please expound...I dare you, free black man

FAMU Grad wants to know what those Howard brothers are made of. lol

Posted by mesq | August 18, 2008 5:35 PM

Yes, basically, what Lynn is trying to say is "Barack, is not American enough to be President." They can't say "He's not white enough" w/o losing independents. They tried to mask it with the "He's not rural enough", but who knows how well that worked since it wasnt like a majority of people in Appalachia was going to vote for him anyway. And we already know that the whole "He's not black enough" failed miserably.

Posted by John Henry | August 18, 2008 5:42 PM

Disgusting pigs like this woman are a part of the reason why HRC lost the nomination.

Of course, not only are >they

"Your" candidate lost because their campaign was tone-deaf and pathetic, ergo you have to "punish" the candidate who won that you actually agree with politically or you take your toys and go home.

I have to remind myself that people like this harridan are in the vast minority of the party. Thank God.

Posted by Dave | August 18, 2008 6:02 PM

I think Obama is the first politician in a long time that doesn't dumb down his public persona. That's probably necessary--I don't think a black guy could win a presidential election if he came off as being as anti-intellectual and dumb as the current president does. (And the current president's good-ole-boy routine is an act.) But it exposes him to charges of elitism.

And those charges are true. Obama is honestly a lot smarter than nearly all the voters, and a lot better educated. He's almost certainly better read, has better taste in music, etc. While he's faced problems, he's never faced the problem of living in a world that's too complicated for him, because he's very smart. The same is true for Hillary and McCain (if age-related decline in mental function hasn't caught up with him), and is also true for all the people any sensible person would ever want as president.

Coming off as too smart, educated, literate, etc., turns off a certain fraction of voters. This seems absolutely nuts to me (you want *stupid* people running the country?), but it's true.

Posted by albatross | August 18, 2008 6:35 PM

I know for a fact that not all the de Rothscilds suck. Some of them are really wonderful people.

This one really really does. Blech. Way to set the womenfolk back. Ugh.

Posted by T Harris | August 18, 2008 6:54 PM

"The brothers have a name for an inbred "sense of entitlement." But we are in polite company. Come see me on 125th if you wanna be down."

And what would be the name for an (ivy league?) educated black who frequently feels the need to make cliched references to black culture (come see me on 125th st? Really?) and speak only to his black audience in order to show that he is truly "down" with fellow blacks despite his education and acceptance amongst whites?

No offense intended Mr. Coates. I'm a loyal reader and I appreciate many of your perspectives on race (I even agree with some). But I don't like to be excluded either, and I find your cultural "coded" references to your black audience to be unnecessary and really just silly.

You're trying too hard. I know your black. Your black audience knows our black. Let's get on with it.

Posted by laborlibert | August 18, 2008 7:17 PM

"And what would be the name for an (ivy league?) educated black who frequently feels the need to make cliched references to black culture (come see me on 125th st? Really?) and speak only to his black audience in order to show that he is truly "down" with fellow blacks despite his education and acceptance amongst whites?

No offense intended Mr. Coates. I'm a loyal reader and I appreciate many of your perspectives on race (I even agree with some). But I don't like to be excluded either, and I find your cultural "coded" references to your black audience to be unnecessary and really just silly.

You're trying too hard. I know your black. Your black audience knows our black. Let's get on with it."

You sir, have offended my honor. How dare you infer that I am educated. And by the Ivy League, no less.

Posted by Ta-Nehisi Coates | August 18, 2008 7:40 PM

Laborlibert,

There are a lot of things wrong with your ignorant statement. If you'd spent any time around black people you would know that making "cliched references to black culture" is not the way to demonstrate that you are "down" with us. That's just what white people think is happening when they see stuff like this. What you are essentially saying is that it is widely accepted among blacks that the only way to connect with us to make said "cliched references". This is not true.

PS,
I think TNC went to Howard. That's not Ivy--not that it even matters.

Deleted that last little bit. Thanks for the defense. But fair is fair.

T.

Posted by dragnet | August 18, 2008 7:44 PM

I think you are all being unfair the to fair Lady Rothschild. She is well tuned in to the common man, why every day she inetracts with them: she talks to her maid, her gardner, her driver, her doorman, her cook, her husband's butler, and so on:-)

Posted by Eric k | August 18, 2008 7:52 PM

"The other gained her status by sleeping with someone old enough to be her father, lives in London, and took the title of the foreign government."

Isn't that grounds for losing one's citizenship under the Constitution? I thought that was why Colin Powell couldn't be officially knighted.

Posted by Reality Man | August 18, 2008 7:58 PM

I object vehemently to calling Forrester a pig. Pigs are highly intelligent, make a useful contribution to society's well-being, and have little apparent sense of entitlement. What's Forrester ever done compared to that?

Posted by morzer | August 18, 2008 8:28 PM

When I read the line about 125th St. I thought, "What's this 'cred' flair tacked on to the end?"

How's that? Less ad hominem than laborlibert?

Posted by CB | August 18, 2008 8:45 PM

I can't imagine how a kid raised by his grand parents and single mother in a middle class home could ever dream of becoming the president of the United States? Why, it would defy the American Dream of...of...

Posted by carsick | August 18, 2008 9:00 PM

Oh I've just begun to establish my "cred." By the time I'm done all posts will be written in red, black and green. The background will be mudcloth. There's a reason this site is called the Atlantic and not the Pacific.

Posted by Ta-Nehisi Coates | August 18, 2008 9:27 PM

I never thought my first post on TNC's blog would be to disagree with him, but here I am. I don't believe that it's necessarily wrong to think of this blog like your living room. The fact that there is discussion justifies the occasional misunderstanding. In fact, that is the whole point of talking about issues here.

There are always going to be things that readers take the wrong way, but as long as we continue to have civil dialogue about it, things will work themselves out naturally.

Let's play nice so the teacher doesn't kick us out of the sandbox.

Posted by Guy from indy. | August 18, 2008 9:52 PM

Hi.
Just wanted to alert Ta-Nehisi that a Dungeons & Dragons constituency story has broken out. I imagine you could make more sense of it than Ben, though perhaps not more than Ace. But I may underestimate you there.

Posted by Deborah | August 18, 2008 10:05 PM

Dragnet:

It's amazing how much you know about my life from my comment. I know; I must not understand anything because I'm white (you actually said: "That's just what white people think is happening when they see stuff like this."). You must win many arguments this way.

The truth is I've spent a great deal of my life around blacks, which is one of the reasons I feel at liberty to be open with my criticisms and views on black culture.

It's also one of the reasons I wrote the post in the first place. I have known many blacks, particularly professionals, who very obviously overemphasize their street cred. This was how I read Ta-N's comments regarding coming to 125 street to ask him about some finer point of black culture. In retrospect, my comment probably went a bit too far (it was not ad hominem CB because I was not even addressing the author's argument). I wrote it quickly on my way out of the office, and when I passed 125 street on my way home to that ultra-white bastion known as the Bronx, I wished I had not phrased the comment as I had.

That being said, I don't retreat from my underlying point about the overemphasis of street credibility, and I was amused by Ta-N's mocking of my post.

I do wish Ta-N would post that "last little bit" of your comment. I really hope it just wasn't more on me being ignorant because I'm white. That would be disappointing. I hope you at least called me a cracker ass cracker so I can get a laugh out of this whole thing.

Anyway, I apologize to the host for the uncivility and harshness of my entirely unprovoked earlier comment.

Posted by laborlibert | August 18, 2008 10:58 PM

OK, OK, for the benefit of the readers who are not in the USA, the code word is...

Posted by the puzzled one | August 19, 2008 12:28 AM

Reality Man: "Isn't that grounds for losing one's citizenship under the Constitution? I thought that was why Colin Powell couldn't be officially knighted."

Nah, it's just that the US government itself can't grant titles under the Constitution.

Still, it's totally un-American.

Posted by guyminuslife | August 19, 2008 2:16 AM

laborlibert, thanks for telling us about your black friends. Keep this up and I'll get bingo!

Posted by Persia | August 19, 2008 9:25 AM

I've mentioned before that I was a Hillary supporter during the primary. I denounce and reject Lynn Forrester's statements about Obama.

Some crazies may do funny things during the convention, but I have no doubt that Hillary herself will do her best for Obama.

Posted by Doctor Jay | August 19, 2008 10:41 AM

I cannot comprehend how someone would be offended by "come see me on 125th". Somehow this rural white guy who never really talked to a black person until college wasn't offended or even mystified. Not that I know just which word TN is referring to, I can think of several.

If I had said, "come spend the night on a gillnetter" would that have offended you? You can definitely hear some coarse language on fishing boats.

Posted by Doctor Jay | August 19, 2008 10:49 AM

Great post. My message to Lynn Forrester:

Shut. Up. You do not speak for "ordinary Americans". You are just a privileged trophy wife whose husband helped grease the wheels to put the Clintons into power. Accept that your side lost and go back to beating your servants and kissing the Brits' asses while they laugh at your shitty Jersey accent.

Posted by SpottieOttieDopaliscious | August 19, 2008 12:03 PM

Regarding Lady Glen Livett or whatever the hell her Swanky English Name is, given where she actually comes from, all I can say to her is this:

Jersey, please...

Posted by One Drop | August 19, 2008 12:23 PM

Yeah I knew I was going to get the "thanks for telling us you have black friends" line.

But when you are accused of not being exposed to black people, when in fact you have, you can either except this untrue statement, or say that you have black friends. Sort of a catch-22.

Yes. I have black friends and clients. And I've had black enemies. How do I tell you this without sounding like the "I have black friends" guy?

Posted by laborlibert | August 19, 2008 12:26 PM

i vote for giving laborlibert his "ghetto pass". Anybody who knows and understands "cracker ass cracker" is cool with me.

- not ivy educated, but still got my letters: PhD -

Posted by DocDre | August 19, 2008 5:10 PM

"Isn't that grounds for losing one's citizenship under the Constitution? I thought that was why Colin Powell couldn't be officially knighted."

Don't know anything about how the US constitution regards these things but only subjects of the Queen can receive knighthoods and thus be called "sir". It's actually not that unusual for US citizens to receive honourary knighthoods (or indeed other foreigners of mixed reputation - Mugabe's was recently revoked) and as far as I am aware Bush senior is a Knight Commander of the British Empire as is Shwarzkof (whatever the spelling is, the commander in Gulf War 1) and Bob Geldof. None are entitled to be addressed as "sir".

Posted by iolanthe | August 20, 2008 4:53 AM

My mistake, not I suspect that anyone cares, Powell and Schwarzkopf are Knight Commanders of the Bath and Bush senor is a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath. If any of them subsequently becomes a British subject (unlikely but it has happened with other honourary knights et Yehudi Menuin) they then get to be called "sir".

Posted by iolanthe | August 20, 2008 5:00 AM