if people can be found guilty by the actions of their associates, then all of us are guilty. the actions of ron paul's associates helped sink his campaign. when the ron paul newsletters were unearthed from a dusty early 90s trash heap, the left (and much of the right) couldn't stop harping on the vile racist rants found therein. ron paul repudiated those messages. the left (and much of the right) were unconvinced.
since what goes around comes around, the left now has to deal with the vile anti-american and racist rants of obama's close personal associate (his pastor) that were made much more recently. should obama's campaign be tossed aside as well?
sorry, but something about all of this just makes me cynical.
i don't give a crap about what geraldine ferraro says. i don't give a crap about what jeremiah wright says. and come to think of it, i don't care what the ron paul newsletters said during a time when i wasn't even old enough to have a driver's license, even though this retraction comes a little too late. there, i said it. i was thinking this all along, but it wasn't "proper" for me to admit it.
the "glass houses" idiom comes to mind right about now.
stick with the issues. don't get distracted by the rants of lunatics.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
obama and his pastor. and ron paul.
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9 comments:
I think Rev. Wright is a little less reprehensible than the stuff in the Ron Paul Survival Report (haven't seen any statements inferring racial inferiority of any group), but that's just me.
Rev. Wright blamed the 9/11 attacks on "U.S. terrorism" and called on his congregation to sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
About Katrina, "This storm called Katrina says far more about a racist government than it does about the wrath of God."
"Barack knows that it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture controlled by rich white men. Hillary can never know that."
No, there isn't really anything saying an entire race is inferior. However, his sermons fuel racial hatred by blaming white people and America. It's divisive, inflammatory, and irresponsible.
But my point is that Obama is not Jeremiah Wright. Rev. Wright is not an extension of Obama, and all this nonsense in the news is merely a distraction.
sorry, but i seriously need to disagree with you. there's nothing coming out of those sermons that is as hateful as the crap that white fundie-fuck preachers say all the time.
About Katrina, "This storm called Katrina says far more about a racist government than it does about the wrath of God."
so, are poor black people supposed to just keep quiet about katrina? are you seriously implying that the horrendous government response to that tragedy has nothing at all to do with the low value our society places on poor black people?
i don't see what is divisive and hateful about telling the truth. if it makes some white people feel uncomfortable because they equate a statement like this with being personally blamed for it, then they need to take their pampered narcissism and shove up it their asses.
"Barack knows that it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture controlled by rich white men. Hillary can never know that."
this is true. hillary can't know. how is this divisive, racist or hateful?
Rev. Wright blamed the 9/11 attacks on "U.S. terrorism" and called on his congregation to sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
this is about as hateful as it gets and frankly, i find this really tame.
it sounds like the same type of emotional right wing radio nonsense designed to get people to froth at the mouth.
it puts a certain demographic (white people) on the defensive. when people are put on the defensive, THEY. STOP. LISTENING.
you want to hear a great speech on racism in america? listen to barack obama's! fucking brilliant. race is a tricky and touchy subject in america. it takes a sensitive approach to unite people and get them to listen. only when people listen does change occur.
anyway, during an election season when you are an ADVISER to a candidate and you want him or her to rise above and win, you have a duty not to engage in divisive politics (and especially when your candidate is running on a platform of being a uniter! um hello... FAIL!). that is why geraldine ferraro and jeremiah wright had to go.
that being said, i'm not going to hold hillary clinton or barack obama responsible for their associates' foolhardy rants. they can go on with their bad selves! :)
there is nothing wrong with telling the truth. however, if the delivery is wrong, it will only hurt.
There's a universe of difference between what was going on in the Ron Paul reports and what happened with either Ferraro or Wright. Ron Paul benefited personally from those reports--well over six figures most of the years they ran--and it takes a high level of incredulity to believe that he didn't know what was going into them. Factor that in with his personal connections to people like the founder of Stormfront, and his denials seem even less reasonable.
i guess i'm playing devil's advocate. i am a vocal obama supporter, and i guess i just want tips on how i'm supposed to explain away a 20-year relationship with a black nationalist to people who were already a little skeptical of obama. i successfully explained away that idiotic farrakhan smear. i successfully explained away the muslim rumor. this one is going to be a hard one to explain away to skeptical white people who are sitting on the fence. how do you explain away a 20 year relationship with someone who, through his fiery rhetoric, brings out (whether it is fair or not) the fears of white america?
i've been trying to change the minds of others, and my ranty post is the product of the frustration i feel.
"if it makes some white people feel uncomfortable because they equate a statement like this with being personally blamed for it, then they need to take their pampered narcissism and shove up it their asses."
i wish. but wishing it won't make it so. i'm used to living in a bubble in nyc, but what i hear in suburbia (when i am forced to go) just makes me want to cry. i've been lucky to have lived in bubbles of liberalism my entire life, and whenever i leave those bubbles, i am shocked each time. there are a lot of resentful white people out there (as obama acknowledged in his speech), and in order to turn hearts and minds, you have to approach people with the type of language that obama is using - language that unites. obama explained the reason for black anger without getting, you know, angry.
it is just unfortunate that some people tuned out and wrote obama off and never listened to obama's message in his speech.
see this post by andrew sullivan. that just depresses me. (and it isn't just "the right" - it's regular, basically apolitical or sorta-leaning-democrat white people i'm hearing it from too.)
you and i know that obama isn't the extension of wright.
but how do we bring these people back? how do we quell their fears? and how can an obama supporter explain something like this away to people who aren't too keen on nuances?
(yes, i know the comment i just wrote brings up some uncomfortable truths, and it isn't perfectly articulated, but i think you get the gist of what i'm saying.)
p.s. here's a look into the minds of "resentful white people" (hereinafter "RWP"). and they have law degrees. depressed yet?
anyway, i'm interested in seeing what was on that jeremiah wright youtube video that was removed. i also heard a rumor that FOX bought a set of jeremiah wright tapes.
get ready for a shitstorm.
*sigh*
[grrr... the coworker next to me is on the phone trying to bring someone back to the obama camp who was scared away by jeremiah wright. she failed. note: i'm in manhattan. ugh. ugh. ugh.]
i knew the comparison would bubble up somewhere else...
andrew sullivan
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