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“Obama Invokes Jay-Z”: An Update

By SusanUnPC on April 20, 2008 at 11:05 AM in ABC News, Bamboozling, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Hoodwinking, Howard Wolfson, Jay-Z

We know that — at a rally in Raleigh, N.C., the day after his disastrous performance in the ABC debate — Barack Obama gave Hillary his middle finger (reported here and here).

Then, we — particularly those of us (ahem, like me) who don’t know hip-hop music and culture — learned about another gesture Obama made in the same speech, when he swiped his hand over his shoulder. Laluchasigue’s fascinating article here at No Quarter explained the gesture, and its origin: “Obama Invokes Jay-Z: ‘Stab the Ladies…Middle Finga To The Law’.” Laluchasigue quotes Jay-Z’s lyrics:

[Chorus: Jay-Z]
If you feelin’ like a pimp nigga, go and brush your shoulders off
Ladies is pimps too, go and brush your shoulders off
Niggaz is crazy baby, don’t forget that boy told you
Get, that, dirt off your shoulder

Now, get this Obamabot’s reaction to the gesture:

Dude, I nearly swooned — SWOONED, I tell you — when I saw that. That’s one of my fave Jay-Z joints of all time. HUGE SWIRLING VORTEX OF LOVE. I could not pink-fuzzy-heart Barack one iota more.

Violet Socks posted a diary about that “swooner” over at the terrific new blog, HillarysVoice. She found the report at Corrente Wire, another excellent blog (and refuge where they haven’t drunk the KoolAid).

So I popped right over to Corrente Wire, and checked its “Department Of The Missing Media Critique.” First, the writer Lambert cites the delusional Obamabot reactions:

Of Barry’s latest awsum speech, full of “pretty cool” “dogwhistles” [SEE VIDEO BELOW] — one of which was giving Hillary the finger — Spencer burbles:

Starting at 2:20, bear witness to perhaps the coolest subliminal cultural reference [to this extremely presidential Jay Z tune] in the history of American politics.

Then Corrente Wire’s Lambert hits a home run with this quote from — guess who — at The Manchester Guardian:

interestingly, there’s been a version of what Spencer’s saying out there for some time, albeit a longer one. The source will surprise you:
From the Manchester Guardian:

In the words of that Clinton adviser: “If you have a social need, you’re with Hillary. If you want Obama to be your imaginary hip black friend and you’re young and you have no social needs, then he’s cool.”

Well, that Clinton adviser (Howard Wolfson?) turned out to be right on the money, didn’t he? Because I don’t really know how to categorize what Obama must be to Our Spencer, and his swooning acolyte, than an imaginary hip black friend. Of course, in reality, he’s a Chicago politician with one national election under his belt where his opponent imploded. But let that pass. Ponies for everyone!)

But at the time, Oh the humanity! …

I’ll leave you hanging. Go read the rest at Corrente Wire — in Lambert’s “Can We Say “Imaginary Hip Black Friend” Now? Since The Boiz Just Did?.”

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Here is Vet Hill’s “mash-up” of Obama’s post-debate whining and excuse-making:

If you missed Obama’s sorry performance and his whining about the debate, here’s the video, which his own campaign put up at YouTube:

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P.S. That bitter columnist at the NYTimes has written about the shoulder brush-off today.