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I feel like suddenly Dave Matthews has crawled out of nowhere to peddle his influence in the political sphere. Now, honestly, I thought we'd gone beyond this nonsense. Unlike more reputable celebrties with less of a commitment to mediocre elevator music, Dave Matthews seems inequal to the task of really getting into the meat and potatoes of politics. Sure, he might have been on the Rock the Vote tour in 2004, and sure he might now be an expert in environmental policy after he dropped all that waste from his tour bus off the Kinzie Street bridge onto a Chicago tour boat, but, yeah...
First, it became abundantly clear that not only is he John Kerry's choice for campaign band, but he's Kerry's running mate, John Edward's choice for a wedding band. Or, at least that's what he promised his mistress. Danielle Crittenden at New Majority has the details and a playlist he should request.
Leaks from a tell-all book by a one-time aide to John Edwards reveal that Edwards and his mistress, Rielle Hunter, made plans for a wedding to be held after Elizabeth Edwards died. These plans included a rooftop location in Manhattan and, for dancing, the Dave Matthews Band.
“Pig,” “What Would You Say,” “Too Much,” “I Did It”
And then, perhaps given that introduction, decided to wade into the debate over whether disagreement on Obama's policies is motivated by a deep-seeded racial prejudice.
CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.
Dave Matthews:
Of course it is! I found there's a fairly blatant racism in America
that's already there, and I don't think I noticed it when I lived here
as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it's sort of
thrust in your face, and then came back here -- I just see it
everywhere. There's a good population of people in this country that
are terrified of the president only because he's black, even if they
don't say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say
it.
And that's where it really went off the rails.
Repeatedly over the last few weeks, conservatives have had their views classified as "racist," stealing any legitimate points from their arguments before they even have the chance to make them. It seems that, despite a long history we have in this country of vocal opposition to our elected leaders (a history that Reason Magazine chronicled in an article today), particularly those who have just started their terms, opposition to President Obama is immediately classified as racism.
Are the people opposed to universal health care and massive new government programs that spend the taxpayers money at a time when they have a lot less racist? I don't know. I can't possibly know what's in everyone's mind. But racism is a hefty charge, and there are plenty of other viable explanations to be exhausted before you make the Jimmy Carter Jump, an event that the New York Times Kate Phillips recently discovered has set off a war of words across the blogosphere and the country.
By stepping
into the debate in such an explicit way, Mr. Carter used labels that
the White House and others have clearly tried to avoid in the wake of
Mr. Wilson’s remarks and last weekend’s angry demonstration on the
Washington Mall. White House aides and some lawmakers had earlier
deflected or dismissed questions centered on whether a racially tinged
prism was underfoot, in what seemed a concerted effort to try to stay
above the fray.In a television interview on Sunday, Mr. Wilson, who was officially rebuked by the House on Tuesday,
dismissed suggestions that his actions were racially motivated. One of
his sons sprung to his defense after Mr. Carter’s remarks were
publicized, saying his father didn’t have a “racist bone” in his body.
President Obama has not followed in the footsteps of past Presidents in making himself seem more moderate than the programs he proposes, substantiating some fears that he's more liberal than he let on during the election. He's assuming the office of President at a time when the population is terrified of economic collapse, unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and honestly scarred by a previous administration that, according to most Americans, overstepped nearly every one of its bounds in relentless pursuit of its own goals. The Office itself isn't the same as it was before Bush and Clinton took control; Americans have seen what it can do. And as Reason Magazine observes, "He took over
