I’ve been following the Democratic convention, and I’ve been struck by several things: the high quality of the speeches; the impressive depth of the Democratic bench; the unusual unity on display; and especially the hopefulness (and yes, joy) that have been absent from our politics for a very long time.
I’m one of those old people who can’t stay awake for speeches that begin after ten (I rarely make it past nine…), so I’ve watched selected speeches on YouTube, and I was reminded why I–along with millions of other Americans–so admire Michelle Obama.
Despite her popularity, Michelle Obama has firmly rejected suggestions that she run for office. Instead, she has carved out a special niche in the political world: that of truth-teller. And in her convention speech, she didn’t hold back. She delivered one of the most succinct–and accurate–takedowns of Donald Trump, and she did so without resorting to the third-grade name-calling that characterizes virtually every speech and social media post from Trump.
Heather Cox Richardson quoted that take-down.
“No one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American,” she said. “No one.” “[M]ost of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward,” she said. “We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt a business…or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third, or fourth chance. If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead…we don’t get to change the rules so we always win. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top. No, we put our heads down. We get to work. In America, we do something.”
And then Mrs. Obama took up the mantle of her mother, warning that demonizing others and taking away their rights, “only makes us small.” It “demeans and cheapens our politics. It only serves to further discourage good, big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all. America, our parents taught us better than that.”
In a few short sentences, Obama described the Trump character flaws that distress normal people (flaws that especially annoy those of us who have produced and raised the children whose births are the evident obsession of JD Vance). I don’t know about billionaire parents, but the rest of us taught our children the difference between civility and nastiness, between arrogance and healthy self-regard. Bullying others, making fun of disabled people, and name-calling earned severe punishments in our homes, along with lectures on why such behaviors could not be tolerated, and why they were seen by well-balanced people as evidence of inadequacy and deep-seated feelings of inferiority.
And in my house, at least, there was a “no whining” rule. If things didn’t go your way, you dealt with it. You didn’t blame your mistakes on your siblings or on others–you owned them.
Trump’s behavior reminds me of the occasional “entitled” students who couldn’t accept a bad grade, the ones who were shocked–shocked!–by a B (or an incomprehensible C), and were certain it was attributable to professorial error or bad teaching, never to their own performance.
Actually, Trump’s rants on social media remind me of that Tom Lehrer song “Be Prepared,” in which he advises boy scouts not to write “naughty words on walls that you can’t spell.”
I especially loved Obama’s entirely accurate labeling of generational wealth as affirmative action. It is. Privileged White guys with inherited wealth who begrudge any effort to correct the systemic disadvantages other people face never seem to recognize the extent of their own unearned “edge.”
Philip Bump said it best in the Washington Post.
Obama used a phrase that succinctly and elegantly reframes the ongoing debate over inequality in the United States and how it might be addressed: “the affirmative action of generational wealth.”
It’s concise, centered on two familiar concepts. The first is “affirmative action,” the term used to describe programs generally focused on ensuring that non-White Americans have access to resources and institutions they might not otherwise have. And the second is “generational wealth,” the transition of economic (and social) power through families and, at times, communities….
Generational wealth really is a form of affirmative action.
Because generational wealth presents opportunities to people who might otherwise not have access to them: legacy admissions at Ivy League colleges, tutors and training, vehicles and housing that make entry-level jobs or internships more feasible. These are benefits that derive from social and economic class — a form of affirmative action.
It was a great speech.
I feel the blue wave swelling. I think it’s going to wash away some pockets of filth. It has to happen periodically because dirt builds up. The beauty of a free society is that it allows the cleansing to be done by ballots instead of bullets.
Once you experience a personality who exudes healthy spirit, mind and body; goodwill fills our soul energized to share with others around us. Goodwill becomes spontaneous. DNC. Bring it on.
Tha Obamas bring again the same vision as in 2008.will this vision today become another wall street peddler tommarow?Hope was Obamas signature, it failed. we aquired affordable care only to fight for it time and again. I had hopes Obama would be someone who would unmask wall street and the billionaire class, (fallout 2008,did we forget)and how their riches only shut down main street.gave away homes and bankrupted other nations. did anyone notice Obama got his key to wall street? hopefully this isnt a repeat. unless some intelligent words and a damn finger shoved into the faces of wealth that has made the working class a always near poverty class. were doing the work, to make said wealth,for others. when does this mass hoarding of money start to change where main street and the majority,the working class again can sleep soundly.vote blue,cool wheres the words (at the DNC)that we need a majority again (that Obama wasted) in congress to succeed?
trumps rehetoric is a 5 year old, telling other 5 year olds they can piss their pants and sit down for,dinner,anywhere. (try mara lago) I raise the subject in conversation with these trumpers, do you tollerate being talked down to as a 5 year old? seems thats all agent orange can manage. reality check bud. im defending some what the intelligence in the working class,(ya go ahead and laugh,be in my spot) seems these magas are like little spoiled brats who didnt get something..all they had to do was make sure the other guy got it too.
In trucking we have a motto, ya cant fix stupid.. and polls show 85% of truckers vote trump. im the 1% who vote progressive. im watching,not particpating in social media WTFs. everyones got a opinion, few have real answers. the demos at the DNC talk intelligently,and precise,a relief for us. but it makes waves in the maga bunch when their idea of hearing (includes yelling and screaming)one line crap which has no context and something which includes a playskool toy shaped like a gun…ya cant fix stupid. time to take the damn toy away. and put trump in jail… hes earned it..
Being born on third base is as American as apple pie. Even George Washington was well off and married a rich plantation owner. Much of their wealth was their slaves. Ironic, huh?
The US’s roots lie in plutocracy, a system that held sway until FDR’s era, when he took on the large trusts during the Gilded Age I. The Obamas, who were expected to challenge the banks and the plutarchs upon their election, ultimately disappointed by siding with the elite over the people.
I’ve not wasted much time watching the DNC Convention live or wasting any time on the GOP convention. They are performative appearances for the media. Based on the passing of the torch from Biden to Harris, was there a reason for having a convention this year?
Instead of talking about the plutocracy, the Democrats need to take them on directly since we are clearly in a Gilded Age II, which started in the 70s and 80s. Sadly, Bernie and AOC have done nothing but capitulate to DC power. We know plutarchs own the Republicans, and seeing that Soros’s son has taken the golden nest egg to help the Democrats, they’ve also stopped working for the people.
We need another FDR badly, or the people may begin thinking about revolution.
Jacobinmag.com
Obamas DNC speech was the same ol technocratic liberalism
Ben Burgis.. today..
Todd, you lost me when you mentioned FDR taking on the large trusts during the Gilded Age. I think you confused him with another Roosevelt, Teddy.
Michael,
You are correct, thank you. It was TR, not FDR. However, FDR saved capitalism for the existing plutarchs of his time later, but he also reduced their wealth. Can you imagine the direction the country would have taken without FDR?
The unions were huge during FDR and could have taken FDR even further.
Thanks again for the correction.
Yes, the Obamas did what they do best. And yes, President Obama didn’t use his Congressional majority adequately. Maybe he was trying too hard not to get killed by some lunatic right-wing strap hanger.
It seems that Harris and Walz will be the next iteration of the New Deal. After all, they have the tough job of unscrewing everything Republican Congresses and Presidents have done since 1980, so it will require a super-majority in Congress. Two major accomplishments will be to overturn the Dobbs decision by codifying legal women’s health issues. The other is reversing the idiotic (Scalia, Thomas, et. al.) Citizens United decision. Add Justices to the SCOTUS, one for EACH Federal district. That would be a good start.
Thank you Sheila.
As an elderly “cat lady” with no self born children, who supported and nurtured someone else three children for 17 years, I am finding the DNC Convention offerings to be working better than valium or other methods to counter My Own dispondancy and depression due to the negativity and selfcenteredness of our current society.
Just what the MAGA crowd, and their fearful leader do not want to encourage:”good, big-hearted people.” To tfg, these are just the sort of people to lock away in his new concentration camps.
I liked both Obamas speeches, and Bernies. But, yes, Obama’s presidency was disappointing. I’m guessing that he was, indeed, trying to tread on the ground softly, not wanting to feed the crazies with easy “See what you get?” commentary.
” I think it’s going to wash away some pockets of filth. It has to happen periodically because dirt builds up.” — Hey, Sharon, isn’t this what the MAGA faction does – dehumanize their opponents? Pretty harsh.
Just remember, the MAGA folks aren’t going away even if there’s a Blue Tsunami. They’ll just retreat, hopefully, to their caves, lick their wounds and began to strategize their return for another day. You don’t kill ideas — you just wait for them to die out or to become so unpopular (like the notion of a flat earth) that almost no one believes in it anymore. (And, YES, there are still people who say they believe the earth is flat, although I suspect they just say that to annoy everyone else.) Hatred unfortunately is a part of the human condition and will always be something to be struggled against. Some folks are just built that way.
🙁
Kathy M. What I meant by filth is the greed, corruption and shameless dishonesty exhibited by Trump. And yes, you are right that MAGA type folks will always be in the picture. Hence my point about periodic cleansing being necessary. I’m not proposing genocide, but reform. It doesn’t seem at all harsh to me to call for cleaning up a dirty mess.
Several of the speeches were gems. Michelle O’Bama’s, of course; AOC’s; and Coach Walz’s. Unfortunately, too many lesser lights ignored the limits of their time slots and thus pushed the air time for the headliners too late for many people, like me. That’s a shame because – to answer a question above – the function of a national convention is as a television event to showcase the party and its best representatives. And yes, that’s important. And I would have liked to hear James Taylor.
The seeds of MAGA were planted about 100 years ago with the rise of the Klan, not only in other states, but especially in Indiana. Those seeds went to ground to fester and remain relatively dormant, stored in the cellars to come to light and flourish with the emergence of a malevolent, greedy con artist who told the seed hoarders that it was time to bring the seeds of hate to light again.
Hate is taught most often around the kitchen table, quietly and insidiously taking root in young minds. I don’t know how you interrupt the cycle. So far, 400+ years of racism and bigotry have always managed to come to the top.
To the people who insist of a perfect candidate/office holder, if you ever find one, that person is likely a liar or you are a rube, ready to believe whatever confirms your opinions.
I will act on Michelle Obama admonition, not complaining but DOING SOMETHING.
If you do nothing more than put a sign in your window, that is doing something.
VOTE Democrat all the way down the ballot, even if there are few of them to vote for due to gerrymandering. Changing the top matters but changing the local and state offices give us a chance to make life a littel better for everyone.