Thankful Thursday: Imperfect People

Sullivan on "THE DURHAM DEBATE"

Andrew Sullivan comments on last night’s democratic presidential candidate debate. I especially liked his comments about Moseley-Braun and Sharpton.

“Moseley-Braun is a complete embarrassment. She has nothing to say except ‘I'm a black woman.’ She is, of course, an insult to black women, most of whom do not respond to life's problems by reiterating ancient boilerplate about helping kids and moving forward.”

“As for Sharpton, he had a few good lines. And he destroyed Ted Koppel at one point. But he's a buffoon, another insult to black voters' intelligence. He's not a serious candidate for high office or any office. It seems absurd that real potential presidents have to stand on the same stage. It's not a racial thing. He's no crazier than Kucinich.”

I’m glad that someone finally realizes that these two are not the best examples of black political involvement and has the guts to say it. Unfortunately many still hold them up as examples of what genuine black folk should believe and how they should act politically. And people wonder why the black vote is consistently taken for granted in politics. It’s because we continue to let these characters speak for us. People don’t take you seriously when you are always painting yourself and your people as the beleaguered victims of never ending racism. Especially when you do it with an ivy league education while wearing an expensive suit standing in some exclusive restaurant or hotel.