It is my great good fortune to know a lot of fun, smart, interesting people, none more so than Roger Simon, novelist, Hollywood scriptwriter and CEO of Pajamas Media. Roger was a civil rights worker in Mississippi when that was still a dangerous thing to be. One of his best friends from elementary school was murdered there, and Roger himself lost the use of a finger in an encounter with a Mississippi cop. Although, based on the way Roger told the story one memorable night in 2004, I think that may have related mainly to his lack of facility with a tire jack.

In any event, Barack Obama's speech on race moved Roger to poetry for the first time in many years. You can read Roger's poem here. A sample:

Barack, I made excuses for the Black Power Movement even though I knew it was turning racist.

Barack, I didn’t do it for this.

Barack, your speech was bullshit.

Barack, this isn’t about generations.

Barack, this isn’t about the black church.

Barack, this is about a pathological minister whose uncontrolled anger wounds his own people and keeps them down.

Barack, this is about a man who ignored that rage for his own political gain and even now won’t admit a huge mistake and looks for nuance and excuses.

Barack, this [is] about a woman who went on scholarship to Princeton and Harvard and still hates America.

I don't think Roger will mind if I say that it's better political commentary than poetry, but it's worth reading the whole thing.

UPDATE: In another art form, Ryskind comments on Obama and his spiritual mentor; click to enlarge:

Posted by John at 10:30 PM  |    |