For me Obama is THE canidate of Codependency. Codependency is an habitual living outside of oneself. Ortega y Gasset’s name for this was “Otheration” but the idea is the same. There was plenty of evidence of Codependent thinking in Obama’s speech. For example in his excuses – someone else is to blame (Whites); and his solutions – someone else has to fix it (Big Government). It is most unfortunate that both the Left and the Right were so quick to either dismiss or distort what the Family Systems people offered. But there’s no use in crying over spilt milk. So, if one is interested in really getting to the bottom of what makes Obama and his supporters tick (though in fairness, not just them), then their purposes would be better served making an in-depth study of the nature and history of Codependency and apply it to him and his candidacy.

For all that, I’m surprised that he allowed himself as much candor as he did. He didn’t need to bang on for 5,000 words about his Vision; he didn’t need to make strained moral equivalences; he didn’t have to reveal his full membership in Americans for a Nanny State. The only thing anyone listening to his speech was tuned into was what he would have to say about God’s Angry Man.

Obama could have simply said, “My wife and I have a strong emotional bond with The Reverend Wrong, and that has kept me in his congregation despite my strong political disagreement with him. I can understand why many find his statements distasteful, and I share that distaste for his words. But the man means a lot to me.”

That wouldn’t have totally silence criticism, but it would have been a pretty good defense, putting his critics in the apparent position of attacking a man for his friendship. (And maybe I’m naive, but I don’t think it would have driven his black supporters away. Or if very large numbers of American blacks think along the lines of The Reverend Wrong, then we are in even more serious trouble than I imagine, and I imagine we’re in a lot.)

But he didn’t — apparently couldn’t — leave it at that. He had to show his true, uh, color: he is first, last, and always going to put black interests first, while tossing out the odd bone of condescension for unfortunate whites.

He is one cool cat, no doubt about it. But this time, he tried the usual soft-soap routine and couldn’t quite pull it off. Under the strain, he let too much come out.

The mainstream media will do their best to smooth it over for him, calling attention to his well-attested oratorical skills, his likeable demeanor, distracting us from his first substantial revelations of his true belief system. But the public’s infatuation with him may have ended yesterday, and for the first time he’s given his opponents a target.

Obama is trying to bridge the gap in some way.

This black-white racial divide is literally the biggest issue facing the USA. Many great men have noticed this, white and black. It’s not enough to say, “Who cares about those blacks. They are stupid, they are poor, they are troublemakers.” Because they are Americans too. It is not good enough to delegitimize the black experience and point of view, no matter how incompatible it sounds with traditional white viewpoints.

There is a Liberal answer that dates back to the ideas of the abolitionists and even some of the Founders. What is the Paleocon answer, especially if you do consider that underachievement cannot be fixed by pouring money into urban schools?

Someday we have to build some kind of bridge where we all can meet.

Obama’s really messed up and his whole campaign seems to follow some dynamics of resentment against whites going back to his teenage years.

Someone should clue him in:

Black children from the wealthiest families have mean SAT scores lower than white children from families below the poverty line.

Black children of parents with graduate degrees have lower SAT scores than white children of parents with a high-school diploma or less.

Not to mention the behavior problems, e.g. the epidemic of black illegitimacy.

You know something? You convinced me. Obama should be the Dem. candidate. I want to see this issue out in the open.

Sunlight. Democracy.