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Monday, January 5, 2009

Politics David Remnick on the Gaza Strip, Obama, and the Impossible

Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 12:25 AM

The first three sentences:

Slaves—men of West African origin branded with Christian monikers like Tom, Peter, Ben, Harry, and Daniel—helped build the White House. Three were on loan from its chief architect, James Hoban. Construction began in 1792, and slaves worked as sawyers, quarrymen, carpenters, stonemasons, brickmakers. Such was the fabric of the new republic: twelve American Presidents owned slaves, eight of them while in office.

There rest—"As if the hydra-headed economic disaster and the heightened tension between nuclear Pakistan and nuclear India were not enough to quicken the pulse, the Bush era is ending, and the Obama era is opening, with yet another conflagration in the most intractable, faith-dazed, and history-inflamed spot on earth"—is here.

Comments (13) RSS

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does "blame whitey" ever get old?

Posted by mb on January 5, 2009 at 5:03 AM

@1 History matters, stupid.

Posted by Jude Fawley on January 5, 2009 at 5:32 AM

Hope, at least, is alive.

Posted by Vince on January 5, 2009 at 5:39 AM

@2, condemned to repeat it, yeah? for how long?

gonna file claims against fishies or dinosaurs or cro-magnon? gonna go down to the science center to give lucy a proper ethnic tribal burial? gonna suck some my dna to assess the damages i owe your hurt affirmative-action pride? boo hoo, wah wah.

@2, perpetual guilt much?

Posted by mb on January 5, 2009 at 7:14 AM

But the buses aren't running on schedule - get to the important stuff!!!!!!

Posted by McG on January 5, 2009 at 7:20 AM

America was built by slaves, waaaah. Anybody who hates living here because of the past can go live in some paradise utopia in Africa.

Posted by Go Live In Africa! Everyone is SO nice there on January 5, 2009 at 7:38 AM

"There rest"?

Posted by uhh...? on January 5, 2009 at 7:45 AM

How do you spell relief? R.E.P.A.R.A.T.I.O.N.S. Hand over some of that whitey money and all will be forgiven.

Posted by Cat in Chicago on January 5, 2009 at 8:29 AM

descendants of many of those slaves live in DC today and STILL don't have equal voting rights to other USA citizens.

inequality is tolerated still.

as DC mainly African American, it seems pretty racist.

Posted by PC on January 5, 2009 at 9:08 AM

@4,

We're condemned to repeat it if we don't remember it.

Posted by keshmeshi on January 5, 2009 at 9:28 AM

8
you round up everyone who spent even one second as a slave and I'll round up eveyone who ever owned a slave and confinscate every last cent they own and you can give it to your folks.
ready?
there.
all done.
that was easy.

Posted by Reparate this on January 5, 2009 at 10:05 AM

Lol!

Obama's family owned slaves back in the day! So it's a good idea to keep Ivy League educated slave owners in the White House.

I think it's cool that Obama's ancestors owned slaved, and now Obama can order people around like a slave master.

Kaballah teaches history is a circle, PI is the circle of sacred circumcision, and gentiles have dark souls of evil.

As Jews in Seattle we must support Obama and make sure Israel wins the war!

Posted by issur on January 5, 2009 at 11:03 AM