Barack Obama: The Perfected and Perfect Instrument of Identity Politics

On this edition of Parallax Views, rabble-rousing, gadfly academic Norman Finkelstein joins us to discuss his new book I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom. Norman is probably most well-know for his work on Israel/Palestine, but in his latest work takes on the question of what's alternately been called "cancel culture", "woke culture", or "identity politics" while also addressing his own cancellation as an academic over his work on Israel/Palestine and asking whether or not it was justified. In this conversation Norman and I discuss a number of topics including the issues of gender and sex, the identity politics of White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo, Ibram X. Kendi and Kendi's fascination with Black Panther turned Republican Reaganite Eldridge Cleaver, the ruling class and identity politics, the cult of personality around President Barack Obama, the weaponization of identity politics on both the left and the right, bourgeois democratic values, Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, Obama's white speechwriters and the presentation of Obama to the public, the brushing aside of class issues in media, and more!