DETROIT - MAY 31: A hand of a large sculpture extends near the General Motors world headquarters on the eve of a possible GM bankruptcy filing May 31, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson is expected to make an announcement tomorrow in New York concerning his company's future. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) (2009 Getty Images)
The Trayvon Martin speech of Barack Obama is the greatest symbol of his style of governance and the focus of his administration. Detroit became the largest city to declare bankruptcy last week, but Obama chose to stir the flames of racial division and give America a lecture on racism rather than address the factors that led to the Motor City's demise.
This exemplifies how Obama perceives his office – it's more of a celebrity post than a seat of governance. There are countless examples. He preached on the necessity of Obamacare, but left the details of the law to Congress. To capitalize on the immigration debate, he announced an Executive Order that was mostly composed of vague recommendations for an immigration law. He waited until the Egyptian uprising looked to be successful before speaking out against Mubarak. He dragged unwilling parents of the Newtown tragedy to push a gun bill that would not have stopped the massacre. He talked about punishing bank executives for the global financial disaster, but instead prosecuted more journalists than any other administration. He takes credit for the killing of Osama Bin Laden, but refuses to call the Fort Hood attack terrorism. After four Americans died in Benghazi, Obama flew to Las Vegas with his pals Jay-Z and Beyonce.
For Obama to impose himself on the Trayvon Martin case as if African-Americans are threatened by a rash of neighborhood watch murdering “white Hispanics” is the height of this celebrity hubris.
Obama puts all his effort into keeping up the celebrity front of his presidency and neglects the governing part of the job.
The example of Detroit is especially poignant and instructive.
During the 2012 election, the Obama administration made Detroit a centerpiece on its argument contrasting what this country would look like under Mitt Romney. Over and over, Obama said to different crowds, “I wasn't going to let Detroit go bankrupt... I bet on American workers.”
Does it matter? The administration has promised that it would be the most transparent in history, but what it has been is the most unchallenged administration by a media industry mostly composed of those who lavish praise and admiration on Obama.
The news media is complicit in aiding Obama's celebrity administration – Detroit won't be a threat to his image as long as they keep self-flagellating over Trayvon. And yet, Detroit should serve as an example of the true threat to all Americans, whatever shade of color.
In terms of debt, depending on who you listen to, Detroit is in debt for $16 to $20 billion dollars, with a gross metropolitan product of $200 billion. They're not completely comparable, but Detroit is going bankrupt owing 10 percent of what they produce and the United States owes more than 100 percent of what it produces, with absolutely no signs of abating.
For Obama to impose himself on the Trayvon Martin case as if African-Americans are threatened by a rash of neighborhood watch murdering “white Hispanics” is the height of this celebrity hubris. African-Americans are murdered at a much greater rate than any other ethnic demographic, but the vast majority of those (something like 94 percent) are by other African-Americans. The real threat to the Black community is not white or Hispanic racism, but a host of problems which would be significantly lessened by a focus on family, not gun laws or racism.
But these are difficult solutions to problems that have arisen over many decades. It's easier, and more politically expedient, to blame racism than to tell a flailing community the truth – more government spending won't solve issues arising out of a culture of victimhood and absent fathers.
As long as Obama perpetuates this racist myth, he is a greater threat to the black community than any George Zimmerman.
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