Previewing Obama's Speech
If You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't Say Anything At All
By Mark I Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Democratic Primary | Liberals | religion | Rev. Jeremiah Wright — Comments (137) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Sen. Barack Obama is about to deliver a major speech in response to the controversy surrounding the recent revelations of the teachings of his church's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. While the press, which has largely ignored the entire controversy, is destined to praise whatever Obama says and declare the matter settled, it is worth a look at what Obama could possibly say that would accomplish that end.
UPDATE: Drudge has the text of the speech posted. Snipets below.
Read on...
I find it hard to believe that Obama will come out in this speech and denounce Rev. Wright. Obama has been a member of Trinity Church for 20 years. Wright married him, baptized his children, and has served as a spiritual mentor, a self described "Uncle," for all of that time. Furthermore, in Obama's few comments on the controversy, he has hinted that the statements, "God damn America," "riding dirty," "America is a nation controlled by rich-white people," and "Hillary ain't never been called a ni**er," are taken out of context and are not representative of the long history of Rev. Wright's teachings.
In other words, Obama has tied himself closer to Wright since the scandal broke, not distanced himself. To do so now by denouncing him, or publicly announcing his resignation from membership in Trinity would be an obviously politically motivated act, and one not worthy of the Senator from H.O.P.E™, the non-political candidate.
At the same time, Obama certainly cannot come out and embrace Wright's commentary on America. To the extent that this new examination of Wright's beliefs, and by extension Obama's concurrence with them, has damaged him, it has been because Obama has assured the voters that he has matured beyond the racially-tinged sniping of characters like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton. He has to distance himself, without looking like he is distancing himself.
It is for that reason that Obama's speech today is most likely to be unremarkable. The safest course for him to take, as well as the least impressive and newsworthy, is to decry the whole scandal as part of the politics of the past. This is the theme of Obama's entire campaign. He bills himself as a non-politician, unconcerned with petty attacks and baseless charges even as he responds to the kitchen sink campaign being waged against him by Sen. Hillary!™ Clinton.
Obama may seek to straddle the fence, subtly defending the experience of the black church while not specifically embracing Wright's rhetoric. But if he remains true to his campaign thus far, he will decide that sometimes it is better to say nothing than to take a side. The speech is set to begin at 10:15.
UPDATE: Looks like Obama will try to be all things to all people. The speech contains elements of distancing, condemnation, explanation and embrace of Wright and his comments.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all. [...]
But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS. [...]
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
There's much more. I encourage you to read the whole thing.
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Previewing Obama's Speech 137 Comments (0 topical, 137 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
I predict that the moment the speech ends, the bulk of the reporters watching will turn to the cameras and talk about what a fantastic speech is was and how this resolved everything and probably even brought in some new converts to the Cult of Obama.
John S. McCain III
Eric Cantor for VEEP
He could literally read the Philadelphia phone book in his speech and various "pundits" would be fawning, crying, and having heart palpitations.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
any sounds emanating from the mouth of Hope. The Butt changed things permanently.
20 years has a way of doing that.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
The hairs would be standing on my neck in vexed anticipation if this were all not so much MSM-driven hype. Suggestion to the great copycat Obama for president campaign, new motto:
KEEP HYPE ALIVE!
The preview and campaign news release spin: "he stayed up all night writing the speech and he did it all by" his lil' ol' self. I guess Ivy-league grads can set a pretty low bar for themselves if they truly try. Props for not having a "team" write it for you Barack, like Gov. Huckabee did with his juvenile Foreign Affairs article he could not retract or recall.
I'm going to enjoy my MSM delivered morning comedy now, his highness should be at the podium by now. I opined more over at the Stand Strong America blog site:
http://standstrongamerica.novahost.org/index.php?topic=167.0
~Hammer
~~~~~
So much more could get done if no one gave a damn who got the credit.
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashos.htm
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
him dance his way out of this. I don't think I have been this angry since Bubba told us HE WAS NOT HAVING SEX WITH THAT WOMAN.
This speech is nothing but a feel good campaign speech that he is now getting to give to the American people. It tells us nothing new, it just confirms what we already knew.
Barack Hussein Obama is nothing but a race-baiting liar that has surrounded himself with those that think America is responsible for all the evils of this world.
I want John McCain to have equal air time to give his clarification of "100 years in Iraq." That is only fair, right?
this is crap....it's all becasue of slavery.
When will his end?....makes me sick.
" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised
As Obama gives his closing benediction, a light would shine from above and a booming voice would announce "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Then the dove would fly around a little.
Then Chris Matthews would go "SEE!!??"
Ah, if I were a rich man....
...and the ability to shout out "SO, DID WHITE PEOPLE CAUSE AIDS?" at the moment that Wright's work with HIV patients was mentioned.
But that would be mean.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Accusing The US Government of infecting Black men with HIV was stupid and idiotic of Wright.
However, I do believe he's basing his accusations on the US Government leaving black men with Syphilis untreated and intentionally keeping them from getting treatment from anyone else. The study continued into the 1970's ensuring that anyone the men married and their children also acquired Syphilis.
Having the US Government perform one horrifying experiment will generate suspicion and distrust. After all, if they're willing to do something like that once, why not again with something like HIV?
---
"The bass, the rock, the mic, the treble, I like my coffee black, just like my Metal." - MSI
...I want Senator Obama's. For a supposedly hopeandchange sort of fellow, it's amazingly hard to get yes-or-no answers out of him. :)
Moe
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
if Crissy had another tingle go up his leg?
--------------------
Vista really sucks!
getting by being late to his own party.
Obama fails to Get It™; steps on sword while kicking bucket. Film at 11.
Drink Good Coffee. You can sleep when you're dead.
But when the end comes in the weeks or months ahead, I think we will be able to point to this speech today and say; 'this is where the end began.'
This was always to be a lose/lose/lose speech... and I think that Obama made the worse of it. NOBODY will be happy... well other than the MSM. Blacks will not be happy... whites will nto be happy... Hispanics will not be happy.
Parts of it are great. Like most of his speeches, this one is very good. But I am on vacation and completely out of the news cycle. All I have is the transcript of his speech. I see this speech is Clinontesque in this sense: he is wanting- demanding- a free pass on examination of of 20 years involvement in a racist organization. And he seems to believe that dissmebling is the way to get that free pass. Part of that dissembling is on a personal level. He thinks we should simply not think about the implications of 20 years of acceptance of being a part of a racist organization, sort of like accepting Sen. Byrd and his KKK past. But then Obama uses the lefty trick of equivalizing to dissemble further. He seeks to make equivalence between people concerned about illegal immigration and his church's racism. He seeks to make equivalence between rich corporate corruption and his Church's racism. And he goes on in this vein throughout his speech. It is a good technique, but ultimately does not fill. And I do not think it ultimately will let him close the deal.
On the one hand he's saying that blacks basing everything on legacy of slavery needs to have limits, but then he's saying that we need to accept it as being okay. Then he says whites have some racial concerns, but then dismisses them as irrelevant - fodder for conservative talk radio and exploited by politicians.
In trying to be all things to all people he failed to convince me of anything.
The crux of it that I think troubles many white people is that nothing will ever be good enough to overcome this legacy of slavery. Everyone knows some people are racist, but it doesn't help to endlessly cram down people's throats what happened 40 or 140 years ago. If that's how we'll argue, then we should hate the British from back in the Revolutionary War days, hate the Germans and Italians and Japanese from WWII, and people in the south should hate everyone in the north.
The way to "move beyond" racism isn't to use it as a club on a daily basis. We've managed to move beyond all these previous wars; can't we move beyond slavery?
He equates his grandmother's occasional insensitivity (unspecified) to 20 years of racist paranoia.
And effortlessly tosses grandma beneath the taxpayer-funded, union-conducted, symbol of white oppression CTA bus.
--
Gone 2500 years, still not PC.
Contrary to what all the enlightened pundits have been telling us for the past year, Obama's candidacy is not going to "heal the racial divide" in this country. It is going to make it worse. Much worse, I fear. And lo and behold....it's the DEMOCRAT PARTY that is doing it!!
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
I see him now, more than ever, as on the same level as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, even Cynthia McKinney.....pathetic.
" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised
Sure, this is cannon fodder for the white bigots who won't vote for a black candidate. There are bigots in the country, there is racism, there is prejudice.
This is an even bigger slap in the face to the limousine liberals who have participated side by side with this fiery anti-American sentiment for years. Apologists who thought they were partners with the black community in righting racial wrongs, tried to make up for problems in the past by pushing the pendulum past equilibrium to compensate for the sins of out fathers.
It is a tremendous insult to any white person who has done all they can to make sure there is equality. Wright has lumped all whites into the same category - wannabe slave owners who invented aids to kill black people, terrorists who deserved what we got on 9-11, vigilantes whose sole desire is to lynch blacks whenever possible.
Obama can make the excuse all he wants that these were Wright's words - not his. He sat in this church for 20 years and gave money to support this hate-filled "ministry". Guilt by association? You betcha. Associate with hate, support hate, and you are part of that hate.
The Obama defenders say this is proof of racial bigotry in America. I agree wholeheartedly with this. The trouble is, they won't admit that bigotry comes in black and white. Wright and the congregation that supports him - which included Obama until it became an embarrassment to a candidate for president, are bigots and hatemongers.
Wright has every right to say whatever he wants - even preaching hatred from the pulpit. The country that he has called on God to damn gave him that right. The white people he has told his flock to hate gave him that right.
This controversy has opened the skin on a swollen and festering boil. The fact that Obama's defenders have stated that this type of hate is preached from pulpits all around this country has provided a wake-up call to many who have seen great strides in racial equality over the past 40 years. Racial hatred is color-blind.
The boil has been lanced. Whether the puss oozes out or comes out in a violent stream depends on how it gets squeezed either in August or in November if Obama loses either the primary or the general election.
I like how he put his grandmother into the same boat as Rev Wright because she sometimes said some non-PC things in her life. Really classy, dude. You have one grandma living in a shack and you just threw the other one under a bus with a hateful bigot.
John S. McCain III
Eric Cantor for VEEP
I'm not sure that's fair. I loved my Grandmother, and I never saw her mistreat anybody, black or white, at least as long as I knew her.
Yet, while she had learned to temper her earlier very racist language that she used before I was born (so I'm told), she occasionally let some things slip that were WAY out of line (she once told me, without flinching, that Mexicans were lazy and stupid, for example). I mean, I don't think if I were to say "I love my Grandmother but I strongly denounce some things she's said," is all that classless.
"I ain't never votin' fo another Democrat so long as I can draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
My Dad, a WWII vet, was quite capable of using racist language and growing up I heard a fair amount of it from him. It was his one big flaw, in my opinion. I suspect that many people have this experience from their parents or grandparents. But nothing he said (and I suspect nothing Obama's Granny said) rose to the level of pure hate that Rev. White spits out. That was my only point.
John S. McCain III
Eric Cantor for VEEP
as Wright writing a weekly speech and delivering it in order to convince a crowd to give him money.
Oh, and serve Jesus.
Forgive my cynicism, Lord.
--
Gone 2500 years, still not PC.
name within the sentence of racial division.
John McCain has never been anything but gracious to him.
He is giving us the "I am the ONLY one that can heal us" rhetoric now.
Gaw-this man must be stopped.
metioned in passing how American had progressed that now a black woman had succeded a black man in one of the very highest offices of state, but I guess that's the wrong sort of change for him.
The first half of the speech is great as is his explanation of his relationship to his pastor and church.
But his diagnoses of America's problems, what causes them and the prescription to fix them are all the same old cliches of the far left.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
Agreed. I liked the first half to 2/3rds of his speech a lot. Then he jumped the shark in a major way.
"I ain't never votin' fo another Democrat so long as I can draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
He could have a made it a speech for the ages if he'd left his politics aside for a day. The part about race was truly outstanding.
--
We would also like to know your advice for somebody like my daughter, who's going to graduate in two years, advice that you would give a young person.
SEC. RUMSFELD: Advice for a young person. Study history.
I didn't puke until the "questionable accounting practices" reference.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
demand equal time to clarify anything "controversial" that comes their way.
The fact that he has gotten so much free airtime today is totally unacceptable.
He is their darling however. Excuse me while I go puke somewhere.
the bad guys, the dividers. This includes conservative talk radio, we know who they are.
Obama is making a big bet, he has thrown down the gauntlet and burned the bridges behind him. The tapes still exist and Hillary waits in the wings.
And the media will finally discover the Wright controversy, if only to bury it.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
I think it plays very well to the Obamites. Decent to the Clintonistas, good to independants and poorly to Republicans. Unfortunately I think he may pull it off.
so when I say "good" I'm not advocating his positions but I think it accomplishes what he wanted which was to put the Wright thing behind him.
that leaves it "behind" lost some of his behind. He is not the same him now.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
"part of the American family".
Obama, like the dem party, learned nothing from Clinton's victories. The far left has returned, blaming America first abriad and hanging onto blaming whites for Black pathologies. Independents resent that.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
White liberals: Good enough for us. We agree that it's always been about slavery and finally someone (an articulate liberal charistmatic black leader) has the moral authority to say that we white liberals have always been supportive of black issues....Unity....Hope....Change....Unity....Hope....Change...
Black liberals: Obama is the man. He brought our hopes, concerns, issues and history into the public forum in a way no one has ever done. He didn't apologize for repeating what we have always known and rehashing our grievances and most importantly he gets a lot of white people to agree that we have legitimate historical issues.
Independants: We like the self help bone. I may not agree with Wright but in some ways I admire BHO for sticking by him even when its an unpopular decision. This proves he has some backbone. I think he may be a strong president after all.
White Liberals: Were never really affected by Rev Wright in the first place. Many of the "enlightened" white, wealthy liberals probably agreed with much of what Rev Wright said.
Black Liberals: Rev Wright never affected this group one iota.
Independents: Probably didn't watch or read the speech, however most have heard Rev Wright, and that is what will be the memory.
Where Rev Wright is going to hurt Obama is the blue-collar lower/middle class white Democrats, and low income/less educated women, aka Reagan Democrats. I don't know that these folks are going to swoon over Obama because of this speech.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
could ride this to the dem nomination, but even there, its 50/50. No way this repairs the permanent damage that makes his election as president impossible. In fact, after 20 years in that church and given his far left views, he is a McGovernite disaster for the dems waiting to happen. He can't repair himself for that "it".
I think
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
obviously he will in the MSM and the blogosphere will get tired of it as long as Wright stays out of the limelight.
I don't really think it hurts him too much on the Dem side. And while I think he is still damaged vs. McCain I hate to think that racicst Dems will swing the election to us. I'd take it but it would make me feel a bit queasy. /snark
the dem party will swing the election to us.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
How did this help him in PA? Or IN, WV, or KY? :)
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
nomination. so I agree with you
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
even if you disagree with the content. Gotta give him that.
“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15.”
-Ronald Reagan
I was just kidding before, it's totally about race.
absentee
-----------------------
Damn the Obama! Full speed ahead!
and you do understand our hate because you caused it. Hate is a part of us and we will keep close to us so we can use it against you.
Obama is done, I hope. He just drove the wedge between races even deeoer by trying to explain why blacks have hate and why we should accept it.
Obama just laid his cards on the table and it is not a pretty site. He just re-enforced what so many feared, he is an angry black man, angry about what he has heard, lived with and experienced even from his own Grandmother. White Community YOU are Responsible for blacks problems and I will turn my back on MY Brothers.
Obama justified Wrights words , even when he DID sit in the church (so much for not EVER hearing anger from Wright) but worst, Obama justified Wright because of his "works" and we should forget his "Words". Sorry Barack, they go hand in hand and you cannot seperate the tow. Hate against everything Not Black, is just plain wrong and if you embrace a person who says as much, you ARE guilty by association.
need you to do, friend.
You need to dig deep down and get on board with John McCain. He is not perfect and I have my issues as well, but he is head and shoulders above this tool we just watched. We must defeat Obama and the dems. And we need your help to do it.
it when the man admitted that he had lied to the American people on Friday?
If not, here is another example of him admitting that he is nothing but an opportunistic liar.
"In a speech this morning at the National Constitution Center, Sen. Obama said he had been present when Rev. Wright made some of his "controversial" sermons."
Lie like a rug!
After reading the speech, I feel he was trying to appease to his black electorate by not disassociating himself with the racist Wright, just admonishing his statements, and then spitting rhetoric that appeals to the populist. He also feels the need to address his hardcore lib supporters with what's really wrong with America, not affirmative action, or how Dems were the enactors of the "Legalized discrimination" he speaks about, but how conservatives who believe this self help ideal hasn't helped whites who see their jobs shipped overseas, pension dumped etc. Obviously I haven't heard the speech so maybe the oratory of it is going to be Obama-esque, which will make it sound better than it is, but from reading it I'm not overly convinced this answered any questions regarding leaving this church lead by a hateful preacher, him being able to transcend above the race issue, if anything i think he still believes this isn't a huge issue at all and will spin it to state that those who continue to bring this up are the racists and divisive people.
Before you get to heaven, you must go through hell, which in my case is the People's Republic of Massachusetts.
And I'm not surprised.
McCain can take this ball and run with it. In one paragraph, Obama showed his belief that the Reagan coalition was built on racial resentments that grew out of Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy" (he didn't mention it, but that wasn't far from the surface).
McCain could make a scholarly, unifying, conservative defense of Reaganism, knocking down Obama's racist cant. Reaganism rose because of Democratic weakness overseas and inflation at home. It is as if the loss in Vietnam, the Soviet expansion, and the Iranian hostage crisis never existed. For Obama, the Reagan Coalition is all race based.
This was a huge error on Obama's part.
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it"-Winston Churchill
it too.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
...made one of the first major speeches of his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and made a point of mentioning his belief in "states' rights"?
I'm not arguing that racism played a large part in Reagan's election, but to think for a second that Reagan didn't build on Nixon's "Southern Strategy" is naive, at best.
... terminal.
Do you actually know anything about the Neshoba County Fair, which is held in Philadelphia, MS? Do you know how important it is in MS state politics? Do you know that Mike Dukakis campaigned there in 1988? Do you know that the very next day, Reagan delivered a long scheduled speech to the Urban League?
Exactly how stupid do you think Southerners are that Reagan would supposedly appeal to their supposed inner Nazi and then speak before the Urban League the next day without them noticing that he is not actually promising them the return of Jim Crow?
Why do liberals need to assume that vast swathes/regions of the American public are stupid moral reprobates?
PS: For the non-idiots. The so-called Southern Strategy is more myth than reality. Once you study the Congressional and state level voting patterns of the South, party registration numbers, Presidential votes versus the rest of the country and the demographic changes, you'll pretty much have to conclude that it's really more of Democratic fable to explain away their loss of the South.
Yes, I'm familiar with that fair and its political reputation.
The use of the "states' rights" phrase was, in my opinion, quite calculated. Right or wrong, Reagan knew his audience and played to it. That's just the way it is.
My WWII-veteran grandfathers - both Southerners and long gone now - would have something to say about your "inner Nazi" comment.
Roll Tide.
Last chance.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
"chrome plated" is probably gone, but for the rest of y'all ...
I cannot emphasize this enough ... It really would have to take a person of extreme bad faith to listen to this or even just read the full quote where Reagan said the phrase "States' Rights" - once and only once in a wide ranging speech - and conclude that he was appealing in any way shape or form, to hatred and prejudice.
What we have to do is bring back the recognition that the people of this country can solve its problems. I still believe the answer to any problem lies with the people. I believe in state's rights and I believe in people doing as much as they can for themselves at the community level and at the private level. I believe we have distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended to be given in the Constitution to that federal establishment.
As for "chrome plated" ...
My WWII-veteran grandfathers - both Southerners and long gone now - would have something to say about your "inner Nazi" comment.
No, I don't think so. In fact, I think they (part of that "audience") would be more offended that you, their own grandchild, think they would respond to a two-word phrase in its most positive political context like Pavlov's dogs, thinking they're being promised a return to a past where black people, like me, were less than second class citizens.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
...from a homework assignment; in fact, you just burned up all your accumulated goodwill getting this warning not to try that again. Understood?
No, I didn't ask for an excuse or explanation.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Reagan MUST have played to baser instincts.
15% interest rates. High unemployment. Skyrocketing inflation. Soviet adventurism in Aghanistan and Marxists on the march in Central America. The fall of the Shah and the embassy seizure in Iran.
What was not to like?
Yes, that g-d Reagan played to people's prejudices to get elected.
/snark.
You white people don't agree with everything your priest or rabbi says, right?
The problem is, mainstream Christians and Jews are almost always born into their religion and have gone to church or temple their whole lives. Obama, by contrast, chose, as a sentient adult who had graduated from Harvard Law School, to attend Wright's church, and to make this man his spiritual advisor and make him very close to his own family. It shows what his instincts are and where his heart truly lies. By not rejecting him in toto, Obama in essence has accepted Wright and his hateful, bigoted comments.
Yes, I'm sure Wright has done many nice things - just like I'm sure KKK Grand Wizards were very nice to their families and performed charitable works for whites.
Obama is nothing more than the latest version of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
If my pastor said anything of the kind, I would leave the church.
If my pastor said anything against blacks or any other race, I would leave the church immeadiately.
If my pastor said that America was a terrible country, I would leave the church.
Has my pastor ever criticized America's focus on money ... sure ... and their focus on sex, etc, but if he ever got into blatant anti-Americanism, my family and I would be out the door much less if he started tossing out racial stuff.
That line right there is a load of crock.
There is a big difference between what Wright said and the things I have "strongly disagreed" with my pastor about (my pastor has bought somewhat into global warming which is probably my biggest disagreement. It's not a major focus of his so it doesn't bother me too much).
Reminds me of MLK, Jr., WITHOUT the prose. A HISTORIC speech!
http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2008/03/heres-obamas-speech-on-race-relig...
With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see right.
for the WORK he has done in his community. This problem has not gone away and even though he is a effective speaker, he did not lay this issue to rest. It is alive and kicking because he supports Wright in what he does but maybe not what he says.
Obama thinks we do not know there is a divide along racial lines. WE do not need Obama telling us, and trying to justify, there is hate among some, we know that. We do not need Barack to tell us blacks came here as slaves, we know that. Obama just told White America, I am Black, I have hate for you (as my pastor does), but I want your vote so you can feel better about the way you have treated blacks all your life.
The story lives on!
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
responsibility for sitting thru that hate speech for 20 years. Juan thinks Obama tries to shift blame to the racial divide. Sees a great character flaw in Obama.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
So do you still think Clarence Page would be better than Juan Williams in a republican Administration?
Sorry, I couldn't resist bringing that old one up.
By the way, I have not seen Obama's speech firsthand -- too many impotant things to do that I am trying hard to avoid -- but from the little I've taking in on it, it sounds like a racial "bait and switch." "Yes, Wright has said some bad things but he's done some good things and it's all your [Whites, conservatives, whathaveyou] fault any way because of racism. I'm not responsible for sitting quietly in the pews for 20 years."
I hope to catch a recording of it later.
I like them both even if both are too liberal on many issues, but I'll never forget Juan's interview with Brit in 2002 when Juan explained why he was fired from CNN for darung to challenge Jesse Jackson and defend Clarence Thomas.
Obama still wants all whites to live in white guilt. Juan doesn't, see his "Enough". I know much more about Juan than Clarence but have found many of his columns to be consevative.
I do think that with a McCain that we could attract many moderate blacks.
but I do say to you
touche'
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
I was referring to an old thread I had with someone who was saying that Clarence Page would be a preferred Press Secretary in a McCain Administration, even preferrable over Juan Williams. It was some time ago and it might nt have been you.
Regardless, I only make my comments above vis-s-vis Page vs. Williams in jest. I must get back to work.
He's blaming others for interpreting his relationship the way it's been interpreted.
But, really, what choice does he have? He can disavow Wright entirely if he wanted to. Some say that his problem in doing so is making black voters mad. I don't think that's the problem in doing that. The problem is that it'll look phony.
This isn't some ephemeral, hard-to-understand relationship -- such as the Tony Rezko thing. This is the man's pastor. And Obama's a religious man.
He's stuck with him -- and he just has to hope that people will accept that he's the post-racial man he says he is...the last 20 years of his actions notwithstanding.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
Beyond that,
I think he's trying to make the argument that this is a generational thing. That people who were a generation or two older than him have a deep suspicion and distrust because of the experiences they've had.
It seems if you're Under 50, you're much more likely to 'Get' What he's saying, and if you're Over 50, you're much more likely to view it in the prism of the prior generation experience.
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"The bass, the rock, the mic, the treble, I like my coffee black, just like my Metal." - MSI
Barack, for bring the racial divide to the fore front. He kept the line connected to Wright because it is a part of him. He put his heart out there for America to see and America will decide.
White Reporters are not as positive in that he did not seperate from Wright and his Works, just his words. He tried to lay the blame on the Social Structure in America and not personal responsibility.
Barack seems more like Pastor Wright than MLK Jr.
The superior oratory skills of Obama are on display in what is a rather open and forthright speech and yet fails to address Obama’s 20 year membership in a racist church. Here is the meat of the “black wash”
“And occasionally it[anger/racism] finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Is this recognition of black fantasy white world? Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. and what be Imus'd out of a job in what was otherwise known as impolite shock radio? But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. TWIST/LIE – so it must be the fault of those racist Reagan voters Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. How about the routine actions of Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson? Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed
Ahh --- so rather than squarely face your own complicity in your condition of a 20 year attendance in a racist organization it is all the fault of those big bad corporations.; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.”
Yet Senator Obama you fail to address your 20 year membership in a racist church that adhered to this Black Value System that measured “worth and validity of all activity in terms of positive contributions to the general welfare of the Black Community and the Advancement of Black People towards freedom.” So Senator Obama after 20 years of seeing no value or worth in the doctor who saves the life of a white child, or the person who starts a business but has no black employees has no value or worth because neither action advanced black people you can now move us forward to address the problems of all Americans?
Senator Obama under this Black Value system your white grandmother and grandfather only have value and worth because of the actions they took in raising you – but any contributions that they may have made toward the futures and well-being of their non-Kenyan grandchildren have no value or worth. Please explain why?
M Penny
Obama has a Leftist view of the world.
I would suspect that that is why so many people, even here on this site, like at least the first part of speech. Having only read brief transcripts, that is were he (seemingly genuinely) denounces racism. But then he goes into a Leftist diatribe and that is where his entire argument falls about.
I like your quotes and your analysis, M Penny. What I think they highlight is that Obama is a Leftist, and not the racists that his pastor is. The danger for conservatives, and all Americans in general who oppose him, is to fight him with as a "racist" instead of the "Leftist" that he is.
He *could* have been the "post-racial" candidate. However, Obama is held hostage by the leftist worldview, and that is what is unraveling his candidacy.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
It really doesn't matter what he says because he will say whatever he thinks he has to say to fool people into supporting his candidacy. He is to be the great symbol for warmed over failed New Deal policies.
What fools some people are.
You are correct.
Racism lays the blame for all of life’s problems at the feet of a perceived persecutor. Racist is the cry of the liberal victim. The liberal victim sees no personal responsibility or accountability. They are not poor because they failed to study and stay in school and obtain a basic education and skills that would lead to a living wage. Nope, they don't have jobs that provide a living wage because society is racist. They are raising their children in poverty not because they became pregnant too young and usually out of wedlock and thus do not have the support of a two parent household of older adults. No they are raising their children in poverty because society is racist. The liberal always looks to lay blame for the ills of society at organizations and groups. Either governments are not doing enough to help the individual, or corporations are not stepping in and covering for the poor decisions of the individual, or a nameless collective group -- talk radio commentators, rich privileged whites, Republicans -- are responsible for holding beliefs and pursuing agendas contrary to liberalism.
M Penny
" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised
Racism is a belief (and the practive of that belief) that one's particular race provides moral, intellectual, or physical superiority over another's race. In that, racism is neither inherently liberal nor conservative.
Yes, Jeremiah Wright is a racist -- although, again, I do not think Barack Obama is, he is a Leftist -- but by that same token I know of white conservatives who are racist, too.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
Did he actually say his white grandmother admitted to using racial slurs? Did she ever do it in public on videotape? If he can throw his own grandmother under the bus, I can see him holding up a baby to protect from a gunman much like Martin Sheen did in the "The Dead Zone".
He had an opportunity to close the book on his pastors Hate for America, but what he did was not only leave the book open but he has opened up his book for all to see.
The reference to OJ... is a prime example of what he really feels and his words ring hollow, unless you have been through the troubles he and "his" people have. That means there is more than 1 America. So much for the President of All America.
He has laid the ground work to claim racism is the reason he did not win, NOT his liberal ideas, stance on the War, Health Care, Social Idealism... Yes it can now be all about Race! Something he sdaid he has worked to stay above. So much for uniting America when there is more than one.
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The Red Sox Republican: Burkeanism, Baseball, and Sundri
It's not over until Hillary says it's over.
After all, it's the most effective strategy against Obama, so far. Sure,the 3 a.m. phone call helped against Obama, but it helped McCain more than Hillary.
Since the next big primary is PA, and Gov. Rendall is sure that the bigoted Democrats in PA won't vote for a black man, Hillary will do everything she can to keep this one going. And then we have a string of bigoted Dem primaries coming up, like NC.
The bottom line is residual damage. Will removing this issue from the news change everyone's opinion about Obama's association with Wright? And will it reassure those supers who are on the fence?