The media's obsession with Obama's "cool" - and the racial undertones of it - is longstanding:

[Empowerer]

As evidenced by this rather bizarre and blatantly racially-tinged line of questioning that George Stephanopoulos subjected candidate Obama to on This Week in May of 2007. And, interestingly, Obama's response is completely consistent with his behavior since then:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You have a very cool style when you're doing those town meetings where you're out on the campaign trail, and I wonder, how much of that is tied to your race?

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: That's interesting.

STEPHANOPOULOS: One of your friends told "The New Yorker" magazine that the mainstream is just not ready for a fire-breathing black man so do you turn down the temperature on purpose?

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: You know, I don't think it has to do with race. I think it has to do with when I'm campaigning I'm in a conversation, and what I don't do when I'm campaigning is to try to press a lot of hot buttons and use a lot of cheap applause lines because I want people to get a sense of how I think about this process, I want them to have some ability to walk through with me the difficult choices that we face.

In other words, to use a paradigm from my old logic class - All black men are fire-breathers. Barack Obama is a black man. Therefore, Barack Obama is a fire-breather. If Barack Obama does not appear to be a fire-breather, it must be because he is HIDING this characteristic because, as we've already established, Barack Obama is a black man and all black men are fire-breathers and, therefore, Barack Obama is a fire-breather who is "turning down the temperature on purpose."

The fact that Stephanopoulos even THOUGHT such a thing, much less felt perfectly entitled to ASK Obama a question premised in such blatant racist stereotypes speaks volumes.

Make no mistake about it. Much of the media obsession with Obama's "cool" demeanor is about three things: race, race, and race.

[earthside]

1. Oh, brother. n/t

[Cha]

3. Thanks for kicking the OP..it's a valuble historical

reminder of how the mediawhores operate.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

11. TAUGHT BY MADISON AVENUE

[Cha]

12. Mediawhores Corporatewhores.

[Cha]

2. Excellent reminder, Empower.. stephenopulous

doesn't make any bones about dragging "race" into it.. And, of course, Obama gives him his cool answer.

Pres Obama never wanted to make this about race and mediawhores like steph were frothing at the bit to jump on it.

[Merlot]

4. "SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: That's interesting."

OH, just imagine what he's thinking....

hey georgie, stupid line of questioning.

[Empowerer]

6. "Good grief, not THIS sh*t again . . . "

The pundits who act surprised and disappointed that President Obama is not jumping up and down like a crazy man should step back and remember what Candidate Obama said three years ago - had they been paying attention, they would have seen that he clearly stated exactly how he planned to govern.

We need only subsitute "campaigning" with "governing" and this quote could have been delivered by the President this morning:

"{W}hat I don't do when I'm governing is to try to press a lot of hot buttons and use a lot of cheap applause lines because I want people to get a sense of how I think about this process, I want them to have some ability to walk through with me the difficult choices that we face."

But, of course, they weren't listening to that part - they were too busy trying to figure out how to make his fire-braething black man come out.

[O is 44]

5. I just saw Spike Lee on Anderson and he is even

calling on the President to get angry, he said this is the right time to do so. I do not believe this has anything to do with race, I think it's the media's need for drama. When one remains calm it does not get much traction with our infotainment media types.

[Cha]

7. I can't even believe that

shite. You'd think Spike Lee would know that a person has to be who he is.

I saw the President's press conference and I could tell he was upset. Just because he didn't pound the podium doesn't mean a damn thing.

[Empowerer]

8. The fact that a black person says he should get angry does not obviate my point

And the fact that Stephanopoulos said what he said, in plain English, that Obama's demeanor is inconsistent with his race speaks much louder to me than anything that Spike Lee - who is consulted for his opinion about once a year while Stephanopoulos and his colleagues bloviate about this on a daily basis - has to say.

[EffieBlack]

9. A fire-breathing black man would have shot back:

George, you've got a lot of damned nerve to ask me such a stupid question. Where do you get that kind of nerve? Does it have anything to do with you being so short?

[jonnyblitz]

10. are there "any" adjectives used to describe an African American

that AREN'T considered racist? if you comment on any emotion he might be displaying folks claim you are implying "angry black man". Now YOU come out with this crap that folks that call him cool are racist when a good chunk of his supporters on DU who ARE NOT racist even use a photoshopped pic of him essentially celebrating his cool demeanor. i need a LIST so i don't offend because outside of the obvious racist adjectives all these new ones keep popping up.

[Empowerer]

13. You obviously have much to learn, but let's start with this very simple thing:

If you ask anyone about a particular emotional, behavioral or intellectual characteristic and say, "how much of that is related to your race?" or suggest that their failure to evidence a particular characteristic that you claim somehow applies to other members of their race is proof that they are "turning down the temperature," you are probably stepping into some pretty shaky territory that leaves you open to legitimately having your views on race questioned.

In short, if you don't want anyone to have concerns about your racial views, it's not a good idea to ask a black man who has never shown any indication of being overly passionate if he's not behaving like a "fire-breathing black man" because he's hiding something.

It's probably about as offensive as if I asked you, "You seem to be a little clueless about racial dynamics. How much of that is tied to the fact that you are white?"

I hope this is helpful.

[Number23]

15. "I hope this is helpful."

You madam, are a GODDESS of grace and restraint. :rofl:

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[uponit7771]

20. Good analogy

[Cha]

30. Perfect answer..nt

[Bobbie Jo]

14. You need a list?

Really?

[uponit7771]

21. Some people aren't exposed enough

[EffieBlack]

19. Calling him "cool" isn't racist. Assuming he's an angry black man who's only pretending to be cool

based on absolutely no evidence whatsoever other than that he is black is.

[uponit7771]

22. Yeap, especially since this "angry" request wasn't placed on passed presidents

[treestar]

23. If a black man were to be passionate or even angry about something

Would that be no different from a white man? As for judging the man in question, that is.

But we're talking about the media here, and they want to stoke those fires. So they probably are aiming at that stereotype of the angry black man. They are disappointed that Obama won't play into it. Because if he showed all the anger they demand, they would not be satisfied. They'd be hinting at the Angry Black Man stereotype.

[Tarheel_Dem]

16. The media would love for this president to be an Al Sharpton knock-off.

What they fail to take into account is that this president grew up in Hawaii, not the mean streets of the inner city, and was raised by his white grandparents. We are all products of our environment. The Hawaiian people I've known just behave differently than the rest of us. They seem to take life as it comes, and they don't stress themselves out the way we do on the mainland.

If this president were to suddenly start pounding his fists, and flailing about, they'd call him a phoney, and I probably would too. I think his "coolness" under fire is to be commended, not questioned.

[EffieBlack]

17. I understand your point, however . . .

The fact that the president wasn't raised in the inner city or that he was raised by white grandparents does not explain his inner calm since such a trait is not limited to those who come from such circumstances. There are plenty of people who were raised in the inner city who are not fist pounders and no shortage of people who were raised by white people who are raving lunatics under pressure. (John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, James Carville - all of whom were raised outside of the inner city by white parents - immediately come to mind). And, while I'm at it, I can't help but note that Al Sharpton is one of the coolest customers around, hardly the screaming nut he's portrayed to be.

I'm sure you don't mean to do it, but please don't perpetuate the stereotype that urban blacks are hot-headed while suburban whites are cool and collected.

That said, I do think your general point is well-taken and that many in the punditry want to see Obama go off because: 1) it makes for good television and 2) it justifies the stereotypes they've been pushing.

[uponit7771]

25. The US media is damn near worthless....

[Tarheel_Dem]

27. I stand chastened & rebuked. You're absolutely right.

I should know better since I'm AA myself. However, I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and Lexington, NC. I have to say that there was a huge environmental difference between my experiences in the city of Pgh, and life in small town NC. That being said, I probably should have worded my post differently. :hug:

[Ikonoklast]

32. As an aside...

In your own personal experience, did you experience more or less overt racism in Pittsburgh compared to small-town NC?

Just curious.

[Tarheel_Dem]

35. Honestly, I'd have to say Pgh. I know that's not the way it's supposed to be, but.....

I absolutely love both places, but the more overt racism was definitely experienced in Pgh. In small town NC, everybody knew your family (black & white alike), and there was just a feeling of extended family. I had as many white friends as black, back in the day.

[treestar]

24. Exactly, could the media be more obvious?

They didn't question bush about this, and when did Bush get angry?

[uponit7771]

26. Bush giggled a lot or did his side ways 'heh heh' a lot...that kept him from looking angry

[Tarheel_Dem]

29. Walter Cronkite's kind of media is not the media we're dealing with today.

Everything is ratings driven. No depths are too low to sink. Even the few progressive voices we have in the media seem to follow whatever trends evoke the most emotion, instead of just reporting the damned news. I don't need my president to perform on command, or to "display emotion", I know he has them, and I admire his ability to keep them in check. Can you imagine the headlines...."PRESIDENT BECOMES UNHINGED"; "PRESIDENT GOES ON A WILD RANT".

If I wanted a raving red-faced lunatic for president, I would have voted for John McCain.

[treestar]

18. He wants people to get a sense of how he thinks

That says it all right there. The media does not want any thinking going on. We can't have that!

[Ter]

28. I'm super cool and I'm white

In fact I'm cool dude extraordinaire. :)

[EffieBlack]

33. LOL! n/t

[VMI Dem]

31. Now this is funny. The double standard here is laughable at times.

[prolesunited]

34. I thought this was from the Onion at first