Obama Suddenly on Receiving End of His Own Bogus Style of Discourse

After 7+ years of responding to any criticism by labeling it as "racist", President Obama is now tasting his own medicine as Elizabeth Warren's camp accuses Obama as being "sexist" for criticizing her.

I must admit this gives me a healthy does of Schadenfreude, but really, where does this end?  What prominent person is finally going to stand up and say that playing the race, gender, class, sexual preference, or whatever else card does not constitute discourse?  This is not discourse, it is anti-discourse.  It is the negation and preemption of argument and discussion by attempting to avoid dealing head-on and substantively the the actual issues raised.

13 Comments

  1. Don:

    Better question: Where the hell has this hypothetically sane person been for the last 8 years, back to when even Teflon Billery couldn't criticize Obama without being called racists? And the answer is it doesn't matter, because nobody is immune to the game.

  2. J_W_W:

    Obama truly believes that no one can actually hold an opinion that differs from his. His opinion is always right, others only ever oppose him for nefarious reasons.

    Perhaps we should change the label from Narcissism to Obamasissim, he appears to have Narcissus beat.

  3. Arrian:

    Wait, "Obama referred to Warren, who is a Democrat, as 'Elizabeth' and 'a politician.'"

    Obama never refers to a member of Congress by first name? That may be true, but I would be kind of surprised if that was so. Using first names makes you sound more convivial and less formal, after all, and what do Americans want from a politicians but conviviality?

    I could be wrong, of course. But I just can't imagine him _never_ referring to other politicians by first name.

  4. Daublin:

    Before you find that unicorn, you first need to find the la la land of a major U.S. politician who wants to have a candid discussion about what would be good to do.

    All I see is a lot of "my party needs to win".

  5. vikingvista:

    Politicians are never about reason, only persuasion. Why would you expect more?

    That being said, some bizarre double standards people use in their policy arguments are hard to attribute to anything other than such group valuations, even though such people I'm sure treat every individual they personally meet with equal respect.

  6. SamWah:

    Heaven forfend they should EVER have to discuss issues!

  7. Thomas Pauli:

    From Goethe's "Faust": "Die Geister, die ich rief, die werd' ich nicht mehr los" - "The demons I called, I cannot get rid of"

  8. johnbr:

    Soon, only a black woman will be electable

  9. Dave Boz:

    The "first name" thing is dragged out for one purpose: in order to avoid any substantive discussion, a charge of "sexism" is lodged. It is hoped fervently that this will trump a charge of "racism."

    The speaker must hope he/she knows what is trump, at least for today.

  10. Nehemiah:

    Lesbian black woman you mean.

  11. MJ:

    Maybe, but Elizabeth, err....Ms. Warren, err,....Sen. Warren could give him a pretty good run for his money.

  12. MJ:

    I'm waiting for someone on Warren's staff, or maybe even Sherrod Brown, to tell him to "check his privilege".

  13. bigmaq1980:

    "Live by the sword, die by the sword"

    Also...

    "Too little, too late"

    Nice to see it turned around on Obama, but this is probably more a one off, and have no lasting effect.