Obama's speech on race

[Karen Kraft]

This whole thing was more than likely generated from the Hillary for President folks.

Obama is dead in the water and Hillary has soiled herself doing it to him, IMHO.

Never underestimate the power of the Clinton machine.

 

[Drixxx]

If this is the way Obama handles himself under extreme pressure, for that alone his deserves the job. Cool, calm, thoughtful, eloquent.

 

[phrodeau]

Can't be any clearer that he lied.



Direct quote on March 14, 2008
On My Faith and My Church
Barack Obama

"The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign."

Direct quote on March 14, 2008
During Major Garret interview
Barack Obama
"None of these statements were ones that I had heard myself personally in the pews. One of them I had heard about after I had started running for president, and I put out a statement at that time condemning them. The other statements were ones that that I just heard about while we were -- when they started being run on FOX and some of the other stations. And so they weren't things that I was familiar with."



Direct quote on March 18, 2008

On Racism and Politics
Barack Obama

"Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course.
Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes."

If there's any confusion (denial) about statements Obama claims he never heard while sitting in the pew are the same that "started being run on FOX and some other stations, see the previously quoted excerpts from Jim Davis article, a freelance correspondent for Newsmax, attended services along with Obama.

In his sermon that day, Wright tore into America, referring to the “United States of White America” and lacing his sermon with expletives as Obama listened. Hearing Wright’s attacks on his own country, Obama had the opportunity to walk out, but Davis said the senator sat in his pew and nodded in agreement.

That was in fact the subject matter of the recent video aired on FOX.

Apples and oranges.

You have no way to prove that Obama heard anything at all on a particular day. Church services are social events, and they don't have exams afterward to make sure everybody was paying attention. They also don't have belts on the pews to keep people from going off to the john.

There's a claim that the Secret Service was there with Sen. Obama and Rev. Wright on 7/22. I assume the church wasn't otherwise empty. Where are the witnesses?

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Very eloquent indeed, but the controversy still has legs. In addition, he ought to forget the platitudes and come up with some details on his proposals for change.

He has. He's relayed them in his stump speeches, in the debates, in interviews, and on his web site.

 

[RightField]

Don't pay attention to that man behind the green curtain!

-Wizard of Oz.

 

[Cade Is Here]

Will Jesse step up?

 

[Problem Child]

If only Wright had said "Goddamn George Bush!" then everything would be chilly.

Well, actually, I think that this will damage Obama much more than Hagee/Parsley/Dobson will damage McCain, because the press is going to hold Obama to a higher standard and give McCain a free pass.

And because Wright is black, and Hagee and the others are white.

 

[HB1965]

Can't be any clearer that he lied.



Direct quote on March 14, 2008
On My Faith and My Church
Barack Obama

"The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign."

Direct quote on March 14, 2008
During Major Garret interview
Barack Obama
"None of these statements were ones that I had heard myself personally in the pews. One of them I had heard about after I had started running for president, and I put out a statement at that time condemning them. The other statements were ones that that I just heard about while we were -- when they started being run on FOX and some of the other stations. And so they weren't things that I was familiar with."



Direct quote on March 18, 2008

On Racism and Politics
Barack Obama

"Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course.
Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes."

If there's any confusion (denial) about statements Obama claims he never heard while sitting in the pew are the same that "started being run on FOX and some other stations, see the previously quoted excerpts from Jim Davis article, a freelance correspondent for Newsmax, attended services along with Obama.

In his sermon that day, Wright tore into America, referring to the “United States of White America” and lacing his sermon with expletives as Obama listened. Hearing Wright’s attacks on his own country, Obama had the opportunity to walk out, but Davis said the senator sat in his pew and nodded in agreement.

That was in fact the subject matter of the recent video aired on FOX.

Jesus Christ are you listening to yourself? One reporter claims he was there, and there is a video on FOX, the RIGHT WING new channel. You're nuts.

Gimme a break

 

[MechaBlade]

If this is the way Obama handles himself under extreme pressure, for that alone his deserves the job. Cool, calm, thoughtful, eloquent.

Agreed. And that is (partly) why I'm rooting for Obama and will vote for him if he gets the nod.

I watched the tail end of this speech, and I gotta tell ya, I got a hard-on for Obama. A big, dark, veiny sucker.

 

[Succulent-one]

There is only one racist running for president. We need a president the serves the whole population not just promoting the black community. I found Rev. Whright so very offensive. Obama was married in that church, baptised his kids there and has kept the Reverend as a close friend and advisor, and we are not supposed to believe that he hasn't surrounded himself with the same spewing hatred of our country, and the rest of the citizens living here. I have been a strong democratic supporter for years, but this takes the cake.

 

[Drixxx]

There is only one racist running for president. We need a president the serves the whole population not just promoting the black community. I found Rev. Whright so very offensive. Obama was married in that church, baptised his kids there and has kept the Reverend as a close friend and advisor, and we are not supposed to believe that he hasn't surrounded himself with the same spewing hatred of our country, and the rest of the citizens living here. I have been a strong democratic supporter for years, but this takes the cake.

Oh fer chrissakes. How many times has Rev. Falwell been to the Whitehouse?

 

[phrodeau]

There is only one racist running for president. We need a president the serves the whole population not just promoting the black community. I found Rev. Whright so very offensive. Obama was married in that church, baptised his kids there and has kept the Reverend as a close friend and advisor, and we are not supposed to believe that he hasn't surrounded himself with the same spewing hatred of our country, and the rest of the citizens living here. I have been a strong democratic supporter for years, but this takes the cake.

Does the word "knee-jerk" mean anything to you?

 

[moana15]

I thought his speech was remarkable and very good. I thought it went beyond just addressing the issue with Wright, but also elevated the discussion that has long been overdue in this country.

Even Bay Buchanan said that the speech was not only excellent, but also that it demonstrated that Obama was a "class act" for addressing the issues very directly, but then also not shoving Wright under the bus.

All you all that are calling for him to separate himself from Wright...I just don't think he should. Knowing that your pastor is controversial and then dispensing with him for political expediency would be appalling.

Liberation theogy, if that's what this is, is neither easy or gives anyone a free pass. Obama didn't give anyone a free pass in his own speech either.

Jerry Falwell and PAt Robertson ALSO said that 9/11 was the fault of the US but for our sinful ways. The idea of it was ridiculous. People wave them off because they are crazy. BUt they look...uhm....familiar. They deliver, or delivered, their words in a way that wasn't fiery or confrontational.

Obama didn't do the political thing. He did the right thing. Lots of pundits say he's hit one out of the ball park.

 

[breakwall]

Hardly.

A retraction from William Kristol citing an article by Ronald Kessler (the actual author who attended the service) hardly trumps the clarification by Kessler standing by his statements.

Did you happen to notice that secret service agents were also there? They have attended each and every sermon that Obama was present for.

Not too hard to corroborate.

I repeat, why do you think Obama's answer was "yes" in today's speech.

HE LIED PREVIOUSLY.

Actually, Kessler wasn't there either. HE was citing Jim Davis from Newsmax.

Mr. Davis stands by his story that during one of the services he attended during the month of July, Senator Obama was present and sat through the sermon given by Rev. Wright as described in the story. Mr. Davis said Secret Service were also present in the church during Senator Obama's attendance.

There's a lot of backpedaling going on. Why wouldn't a journalist, who witnessed such a concerning event, not note something as fundamental as the date? And then, without corroboration, merely choose one at random?

 

[MeeMie]

You're right. Here is the full, original article by Jim Davis:
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/8/194812.shtml


Obama's Church: Cauldron of Division
Jim Davis
Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007


Presidential candidate Barack Obama preaches on the campaign trail that America needs a new consensus based on faith and bipartisanship, yet he continues to attend a controversial Chicago church whose pastor routinely refers to "white arrogance" and "the United States of White America." In fact, Obama was in attendance at the church when these statements were made on July 22.

Obama has spoken and written of his special relationship with that pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. The connection between the two goes back to Obama's days as a young community organizer in Chicago's South Side when he first met the charismatic Wright. Obama credited Wright with converting him, then a religious skeptic, to Christianity.

"It was ... at Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago that I met Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who took me on another journey and introduced me to a man named Jesus Christ. It was the best education I ever had," Obama described his spiritual pilgrimage to a group of church ministers this past June.

Since the 1980s, Obama has not only remained a regular attendee at Wright's services in his inner city mega church, Trinity United Church of Christ, along with its other 8,500 members, he's been a close disciple and personal friend of Wright. Wright conducted Obama's marriage to his wife Michelle, baptized his two daughters, and blessed Obama's Chicago home. Obama's best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope," takes its title from one of Wright's sermons. Because of this close relationship, questions have been raised as to the influence the divisive pastor will have on the consensus-building potential president.

Obama and Wright appear, at first blush, an unlikely pair. Wright is Chicago's version of the Rev. Al Sharpton. It was no surprise that Sharpton recently announced that with Wright's backing, he was setting up a chapter of his New York-based National Action Network in Chicagoland. The chapter will be headed by Wright's daughter, Jeri Wright.

Minister of Controversy

Obama was not the only national African-American figure to cozy up to Wright. TV host Oprah Winfrey once described herself as a congregant, but in recent years has disassociated herself from the controversial minister.

A visit to Wright's Trinity United is anything but Oprah-style friendly.

As I approached the entrance of the church before a recent Sunday service, a large young man in an expensive suit stepped out to block the doorway.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I came to hear Dr. Wright," I replied.
After an uncomfortable pause, the gentleman stepped aside.

On this particular July Sabbath morning, only a handful of white men — aside from a few members of Obama's Secret Service detail — were present among a congregation of approximately 2,500 people.

The floral arrangements were extravagant. Wright, his associate pastors, choir members, and many of the gentlemen in the congregation were attired in traditional African dashiki robes. African drums accompanied the organist.

Trinity United bears the motto "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian."

Wright says its doctrine reflects black liberation theology, which views the Bible in part as a record of the struggles of "people of color" against oppression.

A skilled and fiery orator, Wright's interpretation of the Scriptures has been described as "Afrocentric."

When referring to the Romans, for example, he refers to "European oppression" — not addressing the fact that the Egyptians, who were also a slave society, were people of Africa.

The Trinity United Web site tells of a "commitment to the black community, commitment to the black family, adherence to the black work ethic, pledge to make all the fruits of developing acquired skills available to the black community."

"Some white people hear it as racism in reverse," Dwight Hopkins, a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ, tells The New York Times. Blacks tend to hear a different message, Hopkins says: "Yes, we are somebody; we're also made in God's image."

Controversy Abounds

Several prior remarks by Obama's pastor have caught the media's attention:


Wright on 9/11: "White America got their wake-up call after 9/11. White America and the Western world came to realize people of color had not gone away, faded in the woodwork, or just disappeared as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns." On the Sunday after the attacks, Dr. Wright blamed America.


Wright on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway: "Black women are being raped daily in Africa. One white girl from Alabama gets drunk at a graduation trip to Aruba, goes off and gives it up while in a foreign country and that stays in the news for months."


Wright on America: He has used the term "middleclassness" in a derogatory manner; frequently mentions "white arrogance" and the "oppression" of African-Americans today; and has referred to "this racist United States of America."

Bush's Bulls--t

Wright's strong sentiments were echoed in the Sunday morning service attended by NewsMax.

Wright laced into America's establishment, blaming the "white arrogance" of America's Caucasian majority for the woes of the world, especially the oppression suffered by blacks. To underscore the point he refers to the country as the "United States of White America." Many in the congregation, including Obama, nodded in apparent agreement as these statements were made.

The sermon also addressed the Iraq war, a frequent area of Wright's fulminations.

"Young African-American men," Wright thundered, were "dying for nothing." The "illegal war," he shouted, was "based on Bush's lies" and is being "fought for oil money."

In a sermon filled with profanity, Wright also blamed the war on "Bush administration bulls--t."

Those are the types of statements that have led to MSNBC's Tucker Carlson describing Wright as "a full-blown hater."

Wright first came to national attention in 1984, when he visited Castro's Cuba and Col. Muammar Gaddafi's Libya.

Wright's Libyan visit came three years after a pair of Libyan fighter jets fired on American aircraft over international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, and four years before the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland — which resulted in the deaths of 259 passengers and crew. The U.S. implicated Gaddafi and his intelligence services in the bombing.


In recent years, Wright has focused his diatribe on America's war on terror and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

For a February 2003 service, Wright placed a "War on Iraq IQ Test" on the Pastor's Page of the church Web site. The test consisted of a series of questions and answers that clearly portrayed America as the aggressor, and the war as unjustified and illegal. Marginally relevant issues regarding Israel received attention.

The test also portrayed the Iraqi people as victims of trade sanctions, but Saddam Hussein's propensity for using "oil for food" proceeds to build palaces rather than buy medicine was never mentioned.

At the end of the test, the pastor wrote, "Members of Trinity are asked to think about these things and be prayerful as we sift through the ‘hype' being poured on by the George Bush-controlled media." Obama's campaign staff did not respond to a NewsMax request for the senator's response to Wright's statements.

In April, however, Obama spoke to The New York Times about Wright, and appeared to be trying to distance himself from his spiritual mentor. He said, "We don't agree on everything. I've never had a thorough conversation with him about all aspects of politics."

More specifically, Obama told the Times, "The violence of 9/11 was inexcusable and without justification," adding "It sounds like [Wright] was trying to be provocative."

Obama attributed Wright's controversial views to Wright being "a child of the '60s" who Obama said "expresses himself in that language of concern with institutional racism, and the struggles the African-American community has gone through."

"It is hard to imagine, though, how Mr. Obama can truly distance himself from Mr. Wright," writes Jodi Kantor of The New York Times. On the day Sen. Obama announced his presidential quest in February of this year, Wright was set to give the invocation at the Springfield, Ill. rally. At the last moment, Obama's campaign yanked the invite to Wright.

Wright's camp was apparently upset by the slight, and Obama's campaign quickly issued a statement "Senator Obama is proud of his pastor and his church."

Since that spat, there is little evidence, indeed, that Sen. Obama has sought to distance himself from the angry Church leader. In June, when Obama appeared before a conference of ministers from his religious denomination, Wright appeared in a videotaped introduction.

One of Obama's campaign themes has been his claim that conservative evangelicals have "hijacked" Christianity, ignoring issues like poverty, AIDS, and racism.

This past June, in an effort to build a new consensus between his new politics and faith, Obama's campaign launched a new Web page, www.faith.barackobama.com.

On the day the page appeared on his campaign site, it offered testimonials from Wright and two other ministers supporting Obama. The inclusion of Wright drew a sharp rebuke from the Catholic League. Noting that Obama had rescinded Wright's invitation to speak at his announcement ceremony, Catholic League President Bill Donohue declared that Obama "knew that his spiritual adviser was so divisive that he would cloud the ceremonies."

He noted that Wright "has a record of giving racially inflammatory sermons and has even said that Zionism has an element of ‘white racism.' He also blamed the attacks of 9/11 on American foreign policy."
Donohue acknowledged that Obama may have different views than Wright and the other ministers on his Web site, but "he is responsible for giving them the opportunity to prominently display their testimonials on his religious outreach Web site."


Political pundits have suggested that Obama's problems with Wright are not ones based on faith, but pure politics. The upstart presidential candidate needs to pull most of the black vote to have any chance of snagging the Democratic nomination. Obama's ties to Wright and the activist African American church helps in that effort.

But the same experts same those same ties may come to haunt him if he were to win the nomination and face a Republican in the general election.

The worry is not lost on Wright.
"If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me," Wright told The New York Times with a shrug. "I said it to Barack personally, and he said 'yeah, that might have to happen.'"







Clarification: The Obama campaign has told members of the press that Senator Obama was not in church on the day cited, July 22, because he had a speech he gave in Miami at 1:30 PM. Our writer, Jim Davis, says he attended several services at Senator Obama's church during the month of July, including July 22. The church holds services three times every Sunday at 7:30 and 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Central time. While both the early morning and evening service allowed Sen. Obama to attend the service and still give a speech in Miami, Mr. Davis stands by his story that during one of the services he attended during the month of July, Senator Obama was present and sat through the sermon given by Rev. Wright as described in the story. Mr. Davis said Secret Service were also present in the church during Senator Obama's attendance. Mr. Davis' story was first published on Newsmax on August 9, 2007. Shortly before publication, Mr. Davis contacted the press office of Sen. Obama several times for comment about the Senator's attendance and Rev. Wright's comments during his sermon. The Senator's office declined to comment.

http://www.newsmax.com/kessler/Obama_hate_America_sermon/2008/03/16/80870.html

 

[Ulaven_Demorte]

I've said it over and again.

The only people who give legs to this "scandal" are those who weren't going to vote for Obama in the first place (read Republicans, "not Republicans", and staunch Hillary supporters) and the people so stupid not to see how they are being manipulated by those opposed to Senator Obama.

I listened to the "offensive" sermons. Wright didn't say anything that a thousand preachers before him hasn't said about social injustice and racism in the United States.

Preachers, especially evangelicals, deal in hyperbole and inflammatory language nearly every single day. Some even call for the assassination of world leaders and call out for the deaths of the "homosexshuals" that have visited the plague of AIDS upon themselves. Some make reference to other religions as "The Great Whore" and false religions based on a "Demon spirit". Rhetoric designed to provoke emotion within the audience and backing for their particular bent.

I don't really give a fuck what Obama's ex-pastor says, I'm interested in what Barak Obama says.

 

[MeeMie]

Jesus Christ are you listening to yourself? One reporter claims he was there, and there is a video on FOX, the RIGHT WING new channel. You're nuts.

Gimme a break

The point made about specific anti-white/anti-american rhetoric the reporter witnessed was also one of the same sermons aired on FOX, which Obama referred to when he claimed he never heard, or had any knowledge of until just recently. (see original article above).

Previously, some posts questioned if he was talking about something else when he said he didn't hear them from the pulpit, or have any knowledge of them. His admission on March 18th was not more specific than to say he knew of and heard in the pews, etc.

 

[MeeMie]

The only people who give legs to this "scandal" are those who weren't going to vote for Obama in the first place (read Republicans, "not Republicans", and staunch Hillary supporters) and the people so stupid not to see how they are being manipulated by those opposed to Senator Obama.

Quite the contrary.

It will make no difference to the star-gazing liberals who worship at the shrine of Obama, as evident here, but it very well may have decided some conservative democrats and independent/unaffiliated voters minds.

 

[busybody..]

Of course this will only ENDEAR

BAM

To LIBZ

Who also HATE JEWS

ELECTION 2008
Racists endorse Obama on candidate's website
New Black Panther Party condemns 'white men,' Jews, praises candidate
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=59326

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: March 18, 2008
9:33 pm Eastern


By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily




Sen. Barack Obama addresses controversy over his pastor in Philadelphia speech today

Just as Sen. Barack Obama sought to distance himself from controversial racial remarks made by his pastor, an anti-American government, anti-white and virally anti-Semitic black supremacist party has endorsed the presidential candidate on Obama's own website.

"Obama will stir the 'Melting Pot' into a better 'Molten America,'" states an endorsement from the New Black Panther Party, or NBPP, which is a registered team member and blogger on Obama's "MyObama" campaign website.

The NBPP is a controversial black extremist party whose leaders are notorious for their racist statements and for leading anti-white activism.

Malik Zulu Shabazz, NBPP national chairman, who has given scores of speeches condemning "white men" and Jews, confirmed his organization's endorsement of Obama in an interview with WND today.

"I think the way Obama responded to the attack on him and the attempt to sabotage his campaign shows true leadership and character. He had a chance to denounce his pastor and he didn't fall for the bait. He stood up and addressed real issues of racial discord," stated Shabazz.

Shabazz boasted he met Obama last March when the politician attended the 42nd anniversary of the voting rights marches in Selma, Ala.

"I have nothing but respect for Obama and for his pastor," said Shabazz, referring to Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor of nearly 20 years. It is Wright's racially charged and anti-Israel remarks that were widely circulated last week, landing the presidential candidate in hot water and prompting Obama to deliver a major race speech in which he condemned Wright's comments but not the pastor himself.

Speaking to WND, Shabazz referred to Obama as a man with a "Muslim background, a man of color."

Shabazz's NBPP's official platform states "white man has kept us deaf, dumb and blind," refers to the "white racist government of America," demands black people be exempt from military service, and uses the word "Jew" repeatedly in quotation marks.

Shabazz has led racially divisive protests and conferences, such the 1998 Million Youth March in which a few thousand Harlem youths reportedly were called upon to scuffle with police officers and speakers reportedly demanded the extermination of whites in South Africa.

The NBPP chairman was quoted at a May, 2007, protest against the 400-year celebration of the settlement of Jamestown, Va., stating, "When the white man came here, you should have left him to die."

He claimed Jews engaged in an "African holocaust" and he has promoted the anti-Semitic urban legend 4,000 Israelis fled the World Trade Center just prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

When Shabazz was denied entry to Canada last May while trying to speak at a black action event, he blamed Jewish groups and claimed Canada "is run from Israel."

Canadian officials justified the action stating he has an "anti-Semitic" and "anti-police" record, but some reports blamed what was termed a minor criminal history for the decision to deny him entry.

He similarly blamed Jews for then-New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani's initial decision, later rescinded, against granting a permit for the Million Youth March.

The NBPP's deceased chairman, Kalil Abdul Muhammad, a former Nation of Islam leader who was once considered Louis Farrakhan's most trusted adviser, gave speeches referring to the "white man" as the "devil" and claiming that "there is a little bit of Hitler in all white people."

In a 1993 speech condemned by the U.S. Congress and Senate, Muhammad, lionized on the NBPP site, referred to Jews as "bloodsuckers," labeled the pope a "no-good cracker," and advocated the murder of white South Africans who would not leave the nation subsequent to a 24-hour warning.

All NBPP members must memorize the group's rules, such as that no party member "can have a weapon in his possession while drunk or loaded off narcotics or weed," and no member "will commit any crimes against other party members or black people at all."

The NBPP endorses Obama on its own page of the presidential candidate's official site that allows registered users to post their own blogs.

The group labels itself on Obama's site as representing "Freedom, Justice, and Peace for all of Mankind." It links to the official NBPP website, which contains what can be arguably referred to as hate material.

The NBPP racked up 396 Obama campaign points, which purportedly are points given to users who raise funds, sign up other supporters or score high user ratings.

While it appears anyone can initially sign up as a registered supporter on Obama's site, it isn't clear whether the campaign monitors the site or approves users. There is a link on each blog page for users to report any abusers, such as those who post controversial entries, to the administrator.

Obama's campaign did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment on Monday and today.

Obama 'less biased' on Israel

Speaking to WND, Shabazz said aside from promoting black rights, he also supports Obama because he may take what he called a "less biased" policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"I have hopes he will change the U.S. government's position toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because our position has been unwarranted biased. Time and time again the U.S. vetoed resolutions in the U.N. Security Council condemning [Israeli] human rights violation...I hope he shifts policy," Shabazz said.

But the extremist added he doesn't believe Obama could change America's policy regarding Israel very much since, he said, "other, powerful lobbies" control U.S. foreign policy

 

[busybody..]

The New Jimmy Carter
By Bruce Walker


Thirty two years ago a Democrat politician with very little experience "transcended" politics as usual and was lifted on waves of good will to the White House. It seems to be happening again. Jimmy Carter is unknown to most young Americans. Most Americans do not remember how Carter magically seemed to appear on the American political scene. Perhaps a history lesson is in order.


"I'll never lie to you," Carter famously told American voters in 1976. His smile was all embracing. Carter seldom got angry. He talked about his evangelical Christian faith often. Carter promised change and hope. He told us that the mean and cynical government that we had come to expect from Washington was a thing of the past.


Millions of Americans, many of them who had remained uninvolved in American politics, listened. They trusted Carter to be "different." His carefully crafted words led people to believe that Jimmy Carter was something very different from the typical sort of Democrat. Carter would try something new. He was an idealist who was not wedded to failed ideals of the past.

Then Carter won. It became painfully apparent that four years as Governor of Georgia was poor experience for the leader of the Free World.

Carter supported on "human rights" grounds the overthrow of the Shah of Iran (our friend) and its replacement by the Islamic theocracy which still rules Iran to this day (our enemy.)

He pursed domestic policies which called for privation instead of growth. Carter lied about the firing of U.S. Attorney David Marston, who had been investigating corrupt Pennsylvania Democrat congressmen.

When America faced a genuine crisis, the illegal capture of our embassy staff by the Iranian Islamic militants, Carter was utterly at a loss. He tried to talk to negotiate their release, but the regime with whom Carter tried to work with had no interest beyond utterly humiliating America.

Carter, after the Soviets assassinated our ambassador in Afghanistan and then invaded that nation, was "surprised" that Communism was aggressive and malignant.

His response was to try to exert diplomatic pressure on the Soviets as well as trade sanctions.
Jimmy Carter, well into the middle of his presidency, seriously seems to have considered that Marxist-Leninist regimes were somehow like another form of socialist democracy, that Moscow was no threat to America, and that the proliferation of virulently anti-American dictators around the globe was in our long term best interest.

All of this sounds very much like Barack Obama. Carter was "magic" because he was the first nominee from the Deep South, the first nominee who talked a great deal about his religion.
Obama is "magic" because he is the first black candidate and because he speaks very well. Carter was all smiles and civility, just like Obama is all niceness and calm. Pointedly, neither man speaks about political philosophy much at all.

Yet Carter was obviously a stark Leftist. What was not shown in his brief presidency has been shown in his long ex-presidency. When has Carter ever had anything to say good about America?
More pointedly, what American ex-president has been so viciously partisan in his comments? His contempt for every Republican president since him certainly belies the toothy smile and meek words of 1976. Jimmy Carter is a bitter, angry man - a man who hates his country and blames America for the problems of mankind.

Barack Obama seems cut of identical cloth. Carefully scripted, Obama quickly corrects statements which show how he truly feels. He rejects anti-Semitic, anti-American supporters only when nudged to do so. His wife "misstates" when she says that she has never been proud of America until now, but Michelle corrects the error only belatedly and without apparent concern for misinterpretation.

It certainly seems as if Obama feels that the problems of America have been her moral shortcomings, which is very much what Jimmy Carter thought. It seems as if Obama feels himself morally superior to those in politics today, much like Carter did thirty years ago. Obama, like Carter, invites Americans to trust him with the most beguiling claims of spiritual elevation. Obama, like Carter was an utter and complete Democrat partisan, although he promised to be just the opposite.

Jimmy Carter never tried to "govern from the center" or "seek bipartisanship." He could easily have passed tax cuts or defense spending increases. He did not want to. Barack Obama has never sought bipartisanship. He embraces Leftism completely. They are the same: Barack Obama is our next Jimmy Carter.

 

[busybody..]

Speaking to WND, Shabazz referred to Obama as a man with a "Muslim background, a man of color."

Shabazz's NBPP's official platform states "white man has kept us deaf, dumb and blind," refers to the "white racist government of America," demands black people be exempt from military service, and uses the word "Jew" repeatedly in quotation marks.

 

[busybody..]

You can tell alot about a man


BY THE COMPANY HE KEEPS


I know, cause you LIBZ screamed that during 2000 when Bush merely SPOKE at B Jones Uni

 

[busybody..]

More LIES

By the KYING COLORED CANDIDATE

Obama and "Making History"


Also from that AP story mentioned immediately below:

During an interview with ABC's "Nightline" for broadcast Tuesday night, Obama said he always expected he'd have to give the race speech, but that he didn't anticipate the subject would come up in the way that it did.

"This is a big leap for the country," he said. "Even me being the nominee is a big leap and then, obviously, actually being the president is a big leap. ... What I want to do is to make sure that we understand that my campaign is not premised on that, it's not premised on making history, but that, whoever is president, this is always going to be an ongoing issue that we have to struggle with and that, perhaps, I can lend some special insight into." [Emphasis Added]

Barack Obama's campaign is not premised on making history? Could have fooled me. Let's go to the tape.

Barack Obama, Sept. 28, 2007:

"It is because of these victories that a black man named Barack Obama can stand before you today as a candidate for President of the United States of America. But I am not just running to make history. I'm running because I believe that together, we can change history's course."

Barack Obama on Jan. 7, the day before the NH primary:

"I hope all of you are not only going to the polls yourselves tomorrow," he said, "but also that you're going to be grabbing some people and telling them we are about to make history here and you want to be a part of it."

Barack Obama, Jan. 31:

"We have the opportunity to make history because I think one of us two will end up being the next president of the United States of America," Obama said, sitting next to the former first lady."

Etc, etc. — I could go on. In fact, there's only 563 mentions of the phrase "make history" on barackobama.com and another 1,750 mentions of "making history" on the candidate's website alone. How on earth could anyone have gotten the idea that Barack Obama was suggesting that a spectrographic analysis of his skin color proves that his mere election as president would be a positive historical event? In fact, one might say that "making history" was a successful campaign theme for Obama precisely because it used race to his advantage, making the subtle suggestion that electing a black man would make Americans feel better about the state of race relations. And isn't this exactly what Geraldine Ferraro was eviscerated for pointing out?

 

[busybody..]

The Politics of Hope Spin


From the AP:

Obama advisers said he wrote the deeply personal speech himself. They said it was delivered in Philadelphia because of the city's historical significance, not because it is the most populous black city in Pennsylvania, site of the next primary vote on April 22.

Uh-huh. Color me (well, actually DONT color me) skeptical about that claim.

 

[Ishmael]

The speech was NOT a particularly good one.

He did frame the quesiton properly, and then avoided answering the question. He then went on to play a game of 'bait and switch.'

Here's the bait;

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. 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. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. 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.

And here's the switch;

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; 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.

This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

Racism is now the fault of corprate america?????

He does acknowledge the resentment on the part of those that see one group recieve favor. He neglects to mention that the latino and Asian communities resentments towards favrotism are just as legitimate.

And he seems unable to understand that those that are the beneficiaries of that favrotism haven't been as blessed as they might think. The programs were abysmal failures on virtually every level and by any metric you want to measure them by.

On the schools he makes the point that they suck. And they do. What he fails to articulate is that in any given school the drop out rates are as such, the blacks have the highest drop out rate, the latinos are second, whites come in a distant third, and is virtually non-existant in the Asain community. This is on a school by school basis, not across the entire district (although, not surprisingly the stats reflect the school by school basis). No matter how good, or bad (the more likely instance), it is obvious that there is more at work here than the mere fact that the schools suck. The numbers indicate that a cultural attitude towards education in general is the more likely obstacle to obtaining any education, good or bad. Just how does his implications of greater spending plan to address that issue? Criminal penalties for dropping out? Just who is going to suffer for that? The fact remains that the greater the federal governments interference in the local school systems, the worse they've become.

Regarding corporate america. The problems endemic there can also be laid directly at the federal governments doorstep. From tax policy to direct interference such as Sarbanes-Oxley. The thought that he wants to increase corporate taxes is going to be an incentive to bring those jobs back is pretty much insane. Government has a role in making sure the playing field is level for all competitors, however when government interferes directly with the management of the various companies nothing good can come of it. It is the equivalent of having the referees at a football match call the plays. A policy that would eventually lead to the death of the game.

Obamas speech was NOT about race or an answer to the quesitons regarding his association with Rev. Wright. While he mentioned both issues, he answered neither. It WAS all about the justification for even greater social spending based on the presumption that we can spend our way out of these peoblems. A policy that has never worked anywhere.

Ishmael