“Confused, blind, shrouded with hate, anger,racism, mommy issues”
by digby
That’s how President Obama described our country at the moment:
Obama, speaking at the Obama Foundation Summit on Monday night, said the answers already exist to solve many of the problems facing both the U.S. and the world, but that the nation was not making progress “because we are still confused, blind, shrouded with hate, anger, racism, mommy issues.”
The crowd laughed following Obama’s remark, which came as he was explaining why he thought less was being done to combat climate change.
“We are fraught with stuff, and so if that is the case, then the single most important thing we have to invest in is … people,” Obama continued. “We have got to get people to figure out how they work together in a cooperative, thoughtful, constructive way.”
I think he’s right, don’t you? I have no ideas about how to fix this, however. Racism and misogyny are pretty primal and clearly difficult to change. I think we assumed we were a lot further along on those things than it turns out we are. And it’s not just us. This is a global problem. But his diagnosis is clearly correct.
And can I just say how much I appreciate his noting the “mommy issues” part of it? I don’t hear too many people willing to point out just how much hostility toward older women there is in this society. I always understood the issues surrounding younger women and sexual harassment and discrimination. I lived it. But the mommy issues thing is new to me and not just because I’m older. It’s because it took women like Pelosi and Clinton until they were later in life to achieve power that it’s become obvious. There’s something visceral and primitive about the burning anger some people feel toward older powerful women and Obama’s description of it is as good as any.
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