Once again there’s a fuss about words. Last week the words were “bitter” and “clinging.” Truth is, some people are bitter and some people use their religion to amplify and justify self-righteous attitudes about “others.” I think it’s dangerous to see any group of people, ie small town folks, as of one mindset. Anytime we do that we dehumanize a group just a little and that moves us in the opposite direction of reconciliation. I know that every time I hear blanket descriptions of the personalities and values of inner city populations my back goes up. Obama made a mistake with this one. And perhaps not only what he said but where he said it and why he he said it. I think it is an overly simplified answer to the question, “why don’t they like me?” I believe this will be a hurdle for him in November.

The other word causing trouble is “boy.” And we find it used in a couple different contexts.

“That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button.” – Representative Geoff Davis, Kentucky

Wonder boy

The last few weeks have not been kind to Hillary, but the endless endgame has not been kind to the Wonder Boy either. Obama comes across less like a candidate in Pennsylvania than an anthropologist in Borneo. Maureen Dowd, Eggheads and Cheese Balls

Boy. Or should I say, gee.

Davis was obviously insulting, pulling out a Jim Crow era racial slur to, at least verbally, put Obama in his place. Davis apologized, so whatever. But Wonder Boy? Is it a problem? Not for me really, just snarky. Obama is no “superhero” just a talented, perhaps gifted politican, who we will have to watch carefully and make accountable once he is president. “Wonder boy” is not a big deal. Given the kinds of pejoratives tossed around about all of the candidates at one time or another, it’s almost positive…kinda. But any moniker in the constellation of “boy” does Obama no favors because it highlights the very shortcoming that Hillary Clinton has fairly emphasized about him: national political inexperience.

Is it November, yet?