Barack and crabbiness

I don't envy what Barack Obama has to go through. Here's an excerpt from a passionate letter about the attitudes of black intellectuals gathered on Tavis Smiley:

But then it happened . . . my enthusiasm came to a screeching halt! Here we go again . . . that same gratuitous question mainstream media outlets across America seem to be commissioning ambitious black folk to answer and justify: Is our brother, Barack Obama, down enough with the cause to deserve our support?

I just knew this panel of amazing minds and deep souls would once and for all stop the madness and give a resounding, "we're not falling for another Rove-ian mindtrick to sidetrack us from the substantive issues at hand to debate your historical lies and give credibility to your ignorance." I just knew this conscientious crew would cite to Obama's academic excellence and obvious intelligence, his outstanding achievements, his proven commitment to our community through his life's work, his impressive legislative record, his coalition-building skills and political experience. But instead, Malcolm's proverbial crabs started grabbing, pulling, pinching and reaching for dear brother Barack's neck. I was mortified.

Two observations:
1. From my uninformed perspective, I'd guess that lack of monolithic support from the "black community" (whatever that means) will probably play in Obama's favor in the broader population.

2. The tendency to "eat their young" is certainly not limited to African-American intelligentsia. A lot of groups, political, ethnic, cultural, scrutinize those closest to them more harshly than others, perhaps reflecting deep-seated insecurities, or the human tendency to magnify differences with those near and dear to you.

Whatever the outcome, I think Obama's is by far the most exciting campaign happening now, both because of who he is, what he says, and how he connects with people.