Blago Exploiting Blacks For His Own Selfish Purposes

And like Swiss Clockwork, The Congressional Black Caucus shows up and Blacks Fall For It. Have Black folks lost their minds?

Not only is Blago using race as a wedge, but so-called “Black Leaders” appear to be enablers and co-conspirators in the game he is playing.

I don’t know which is worse - Blago using race as a wedge to gain political leverage and to thumb his nose at us, or the fact that Blacks (at least a vocal minority) are falling for Blago’s nonsense and appear to be enabling him. The attempted appointment of Roland Burris was a crude political move on the part of Blago to create conflict and division within his Party and to punish those who have called for his resignation. But it’s the fact that Blago chose to use race…. Blacks in particular…. that makes this so disgraceful. Hopefully this will be the final desperate act from this man before he is forced from office.

But what is even more annoying than the Governors attempted appointment is the way that some Blacks have fallen for the ploy. You can bet that Blago was counting on such a reaction from the so-called “Black Community”. Blacks are so knee-jerk and predictable when it comes to the way they react to race…. Especially in a situation where they see a Black applicant or affirmative action pick being rejected. It doesn’t matter to them if there are conflicts of interests, ethical questions, or if dirty politics are involved. Black politics is known for being so sleazy & corrupt that “The Black Community” sees nothing wrong with crooked politicians. It’s sad and embarrassing to me as a Black man. And I find it ironic that after Blago was arrested, Burris himself stated that he didn't believe that Blago could do his job and seemed to back the calls for Blago to step aside. But when he is offered a Senate seat...all is well... I guess it's now o.k. for Blago to carry out his duties as Governor. Burris is not only an ego-maniac, but he appears to be a hypocrite too.

Are Blacks so unsophisticated that they don’t understand when they are being used for the benefit of someone outside of their own ethnic group? Are they so unsophisticated that they don’t understand when they are being exploited by their own? I hope this is not the case. But the so-called “Black Community” has a tendency to support those who look like them over other candidates, simply because of a shared racial identity. They are typically less concerned about policy and getting actual results. This is one of the reasons why America’s big cities are all too often run down and barely livable… Black politicians have helped to run these cities into the ground… year after year… but the “Black Community” keeps re-electing the same characters. Meanwhile it’s not safe to walk to the grocery store or to the bus stop.

One explanation for this behavior is the fact that Blacks are often blinded by ethno-centrism. When this happens (and it happens all the time), moral compass’s, values, integrity, and often common sense go out of the window. It’s all replaced by a sense of entitlement. Sometimes warranted, but more often than not, it’s unjustified entitlement. Feeling that they have been deprived of power for such a long time, having had doors shut for such a long time, and feeling that they may miss a golden opportunity that may not present itself again….they are willing to have a Black politician representing them in the Senate, even if it’s an appointment made by unclean hands and even under such a dark cloud. It is this fear and frustration among Blacks that Blago is trying to exploit for his own benefit (and for no one else’s). Blago knew that if he could just create a situation where Blacks felt that they were being deprived of something or that “their Senate Seat” was being taken away by Whites…then all Hell would break loose. And because the so-called “Black Community”, the “Black Leadership” and the Civil Rights Industry are so predictable… Blago got the scenario he wanted. Mission accomplished. In fact, I think this all worked out even better than he anticipated. Now he is sitting back and enjoying the chaos as his narcissism is fed. He will be headline news for the next month. And he loves it. This is an example of Race-Baiting both at its worst (in terms of its crudeness) and at its finest (in terms of execution).

The CBC is also engaging in this blind ethno-centrism…. Mostly for their own selfish purposes as well. Finally, they will have an “authentically Black” Senator who will play by their rules…rules that they couldn’t get Obama to play by. But they are unable to see the big picture… that playing this game of enabling Blago is more damaging to their interests in the long run….and hurts what little reputation they have left. But they are choosing to play the game anyway…and it defies all logic. Bobby Rush and his CBC should be ashamed. They have aligned themselves with this crook and are enabling him to not only damage their reputation and that of the Democratic Party, but they are enabling and assisting Blago in his effort to use Blacks as a wedge for his own purposes. That is inexcusable!

The Black establishment is so predictable. This just shows the corrupt nature of Black politicians and the Civil Rights industry in this Country. I have a feeling that they aren’t bothered by embracing Blago…because they themselves aren’t strangers to corrupt politics. They feel at home around this man. They have no moral standing whatsoever. Rush and the CBC had to have conspired with this crook before the announcement of the appointment, otherwise, why would Rush show up and give such a statement at the circus of a Press Conference last week? Not only have they aligned themselves with Blago…. But they have now aligned Black folks with Blago. This is an example of why I am so embarrassed when these Black politicians & groups claim to represent all Black people or even imply that they do. Bobby Rush, the CBC, and the rest of the corrupt Black political establishment does not represent me, and never will.

And I’m tired of hearing about the “Black Community” and what they want.…and I’m tired of hearing that Obama’s U.S. Senate seat is somehow a Black seat. It’s interesting that these are some of the same folks who thought of Obama as not being Black enough or not really being Black at all when he was in his Senate position. Now that he has left the seat…. These same people are characterizing the seat as a Black seat that should be filled by an affirmative action choice. The opportunism is glaring. The fact is… U.S. Senators of course have to represent the interests of the people throughout their entire State. Blacks represent 15% of the Illinois population, yet Black political figures feel a sense of entitlement… that the seat belongs to a Black candidate. Blacks have no more of a right to this Senate seat than any other group in Illinois. But Blacks don’t seem to mind if Burris would be an affirmative action quota. Embarrassing. Why not stand for election under these circumstances? Could it be because Burris has lost every major election he has run in for Congress?

If Burris wants to represent the “Black Community” then he should become an alderman for Chicago’s South side. That would be fine with me. But don’t try to hijack Obama’s Senate seat on the basis of race. The race path taken by Rush, and other Black political figures in Illinois, and in the CBC is not the same path that has been taken by Obama. It’s annoying when “Black Community” folks claim that this is the case when it’s not. Obama won his State Senate seat in a mixed district. Building on that success, he won his U.S. Senate seat by doing better in parts of downstate Illinois than other Black candidates in the past. Obama had a much wider appeal. The idea that this Senate Seat is a Black seat is ridiculous.

If Illinoians wanted Burris to represent them in Washington DC, they would have sent him there. But they didn’t. So now there are certain “Black leaders” who want to run an end-around… to get him into the Senate, even if the appointment is tainted?

Blacks seem to be losing the concept of integrity. I don’t know exactly when this trend started, but it is definitely noticeable. Perhaps the corruption in Washinton D.C., Detroit & Chicago have become so common that it is no longer seen as shameful or deplorable. From Marion Barry to William Jefferson… Blacks have become more willing to accept crooked politics and are less likely to embrace the idea of accountability. Corruption now has a measure of acceptance… as long as people can get their trash picked up and have their roads paved. But ironically, in some “Black neighborhoods”, Black politicians aren’t even taking care of the basics very well. I can drive through North St. Louis right now (American Baghdad) and I will see the same number of liquor stores per block that existed 20-25 years ago…. In some cases there are even more. In the meantime, the police department has shrunk, the schools have worsened, and little has been done to clean up the crime. Criminals continue to terrorize the “Black Community” in St. Louis. And of course, without taking care of the crime, property values remain depressed and there continues to be no investment in these areas. Yet there are City Aldermen who have been on the City’s legislative board for 10, 15, 20 years, and there have been two Black mayors and two Black police chiefs over that same period. No change in conditions. No accountability. Although I think most of the blame lies with Black families, and parents in particular… the Government can’t really make up for the lack of value systems and parenting skills. But they have not done their part as political leaders either. For the “Black Community” the attitude is - “By hook or by crook, let’s just get what we can”. And they see “getting what they can or what they want” as meaning that they have to have a Black politician representing them…. never mind what he or she stands for…. that is of much less importance than skin color. Therefore there is no taboo about their political representatives being crooked, or being appointed by those who are tainted.

But this gives a huge amount of ammo to Conservatives and weakens arguments against Dick Cheney and the corrupt and questionable behavior of the Bush administration. That kind of double standard won’t work and will only hurt so-called “Black interests” in the long run.

Burris and his supporters like to tout his integrity. But I have to question the integrity and judgment of a man who would take part in this kind of ploy. The fact that Burris would seek & accept an appointment from Blago really makes me doubt his character. I don’t have much respect for a man who would allow himself to be used as a pawn like this…. especially as a racial pawn. Blacks should be offended by this nonsense… the fact that they are being used for divisive purposes as race pawns and the fact that Black participation in politics is once again knocked down a notch or two…and that such participation often seems to be associated with corruption or some questionable motive. This is why Blacks often aren’t taken seriously…. Whether it’s in politics, in the justice system, in the workplace, or the pulpit. With this move, the joke is on Black folks once again.

I am glad that Sen. Harry Reid is finally showing some backbone. It’s about time. I wanted to shake Reid’s hand when I heard that he instructed Senate Staff not to allow Burris into the Senate Chamber when and if he shows up this week to be sworn in. Beautiful! I just hope that Reid and the Democrats stand their ground. Burris should be arrested for trespassing just for showing up. And I wish there were laws against Black Buffoonery so that he could be charged with that too. I wish I could be there to lock his *** up myself. The man is a damn fool for this.

I hope the Illinois Lt. Governor Pat Quinn (once Blago is sent packing) chooses Tammy Duckworth for Obama's Senate seat. She is my #1. candidate. Nope... no racial litmus test for me. She's a bona fide hero. I think Duckworth would demand a certain kind of clout and respect that Burris or Jackson could not.... not even if they were squeaky clean. As a result, she could accomplish much more for the State... even for Blacks.

More Race Nonsense from the Christian Values Folks

The Republican Party’s Latest Attempt at Restoring Their Relevance - Play Up the Racial Divide - also known as... The Southern Strategy

It turns out that the good people at the RNC have been caught peddling racial nonsense targeting President- elect Barack Obama. Not the KKK, not the Skinheads, not the Nazi’s or any other hate group. Nope… this is the official governing body of the Republican Party.

Chip Saltsman, former head of the Republican Party in Tennessee and leader of Mike Huckabee’s Presidential Campaign, apparently distributed a Christmas CD to RNC members featuring the song “Barack the Magic Negro”. Rush Limbaugh must be proud.

At a time when the Country faces a perilous economic situation, with another wave of home foreclosures on the horizon and more layoffs coming, with a health system that only works for a privileged few, and with their Party in shambles, this is how they have been spending their time? Where is their plan for the Country? And Saltsman is someone who is running for the RNC chairmanship.

They can’t lie and say that it wasn’t meant to be an attack on non-Whites, because that was the whole theme of the CD, which also contained material mocking Mexican immigrants. (see the New Yorker Article below). Apparently Mexican immigrants are fine for the wealthy GOP corporate elites and business owners who need cheap labor… but once they are of no use to them, they become evil aliens who have to leave.

Saltsman’s response was typical…. He didn’t have any regret for sending out the CD… and he didn’t admit that it was boneheaded… instead he reacted to the backlash by releasing a statement saying:

"our party leaders should...refuse to pander to the media's desire for scandal."

What? He distributes a racially targeted song to commemorate “Christmas” and that’s supposed to be ok?

Needless to say, Obama supporters (and even a few non-supporters) don’t find this to be very amusing. Is there any wonder why Republican events are almost exclusively White….with the exception of a few symbolic token minorities? And they always try to say that they are genuinely interested in reaching out to other groups…that they want their Party to be diverse. Nonsense. They have never been genuinely interested in diversity. It’s been a White Party for the last 30-40 years…. as Blacks really began switching their support during the late 1960's. This is why Republican events look nothing like the actual ethnic and cultural make-up of America.

Here is the reaction from MSNBC news host Tamron Hall, as Republican minion Kate Obenshain attempts to rationalize & sanitize the song as a legitimate parody.



See more from ThinkProgress

As expected, the GOP trotted out one of their Black representatives for damage control… Ken Blackwell quickly defended Chip Saltsman:

"When looked at in the proper context, these concerns are minimal," he said. "All of my competitors for this leadership post are fine people."

But Jim Greer, the Chairman of the Florida Republican Party, had a different response according to CBS News:

"As the GOP Chairman in one of our nation's most ethnically and culturally diverse states, I am especially disappointed by the inappropriate words and actions we've seen over the past few days," he said. "I am proud of those party leaders who have stood up in firm opposition to this type of behavior."
"Actions such as the distribution of this CD, regardless of intent, only serves to promote divisiveness and distracts us from our common goal of building our party," added Greer.

This just shows how far out in the wilderness the Republican leadership is… they remain tone deaf. It particularly shows how out of touch Ken Blackwell is, when many of his White Republican colleagues saw Saltsman’s comments as inappropriate, racially insensitive, and not in the best interests of the Party.

____________________________

Also See Article from the New Yorker Magazine

Palin Supporters Now Calling For The Assassination of Barack Obama

I knew it wouldn't be long before the racism and fearmongering started. Now things seem to be going way beyond the usual Republican Conservative echo chamber discussion. Now we have two desperate Republican candidates whipping up the most extreme elements (actually their base) of their Party. Yet another example of McCain's recklessness.

I actually saw the video of the comments discussed in this post, courtesy of the Daily Kos. (Also See Here). I believe Keith Olbermann covered it on The Countdown on Monday, Oct. 6th. It confirms...and reaffirms for me the idea that the supporters of people like Palin are willing to do anything under the Sun to see their candidate in the White House....or to put it another way.... they are willing to do absolutely anything to make sure Barack Obama does not win the election.

And it was disturbing to see the clip of the Florida Sheriff- Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott- cheerleading at a Pro-Palin rally. What in the Hell is a Sheriff doing at a political rally (as participant)? That seemed odd to me. I understand that some Sheriffs are politicians, and they themselves (in many cases) are elected officials. However, they typically steer clear of partisan political events....especially a rally during a particularly intense phase of a campaign. And notice that he also injected xenophobia and race into the event with his emphasis on Obama's middle name. This appears to be part of McCain's new strategy. Now this is a man who will have his deputies working at or near polling stations throughout his County on election day. His deputies may also be responsible for assisting voters and guarding ballots. What kind of message does this send to voters? What kind of message does this send to the world about American elections? Everyone is fixated on Obama's middle name... but the real story here that is being missed is the fact that a County Sheriff was speaking at a partisan political rally (less than a month before election day...not that this really matters- because he should not be a participant at such an event, period!).

This development can't possibly provide any comfort to minorities in that County who will want to vote on November 4th.... no comfort at all that their rights will be protected, that they won't be intimidated by authorities, etc. In fact, if I were at the top of the food chain in the Obama camp, I would file a complaint with the Federal Court....urging extra vigilance in Lee County and in Counties throughout Florida where Sheriffs are under the complete control of politicians. Whether they are influenced by politicians or not...whether they view themselves as politicians or not should not matter.... their duty to protect the rights of citizens comes first; and frankly I don't see how Mike Scott can be trusted with that responsibility.

This can be remedied by having U.S. Marshals, and extra voting rights attorneys (monitors) in Lee County on election day.

Will this happen? Absolutely not. I think folks completely missed the conflict of interest here. But it's just one example, in a long list, of why the U.S. election process needs to be overhauled.

This is why I don't believe that the U.S. election process/political structure is legitimate nor Democratic.

The Racist Dogwhistle Is Working Overtime in Michigan

I had a feeling that this would be a tactic used by Rethugs. This is why Mr. Hip Hop pissed me off with his antics, especially since they were right around election time. I knew it would be an issue.

When it comes to Black politicians... there is always supposed to be this magical connection, just by virtue of the fact that they are Black (no real substantive connection is necessary). But with White politicians, it's not so easy to make such an assumption. You actually have to tie the white guys (or gals) together with some sort of connection...with facts, evidence of involvement, etc. Whites don't have the same burden of representing an entire group based on their race. They represent businesses, Parties... but they aren't usually held accountable for every !%#$-up who happens to be of the same racial/ethnic group.

That's why I say that Black politicians who reach any level of National status represent more than just themselves, their cities, their States or their district constituents. They represent an entire group....although that status may be forced upon them. It is what it is. This is what made the Hip Hop thug Mayor so damaging...and I knew that it would somehow find its way into the General Election. Let's face it... Race is at the heart of this strategy. If the Democratic candidate had been White, I don't think the commercial would have been made.

Whenever I would read or hear a story about the latest antics of Kwame Kilpatrick, I would always cringe for Obama.

Who Is Nikki Tinker and Why She Needs to Lose

Our fellow blogger, Skeptical Brotha, has done an excellent job outlining the harm that a candidate like Nikki Tinker would do if elected.

I was first alerted to Ms. Tinker through this post of Skeptical Brotha:

Nikki Tinker, Corporate Mammy

Ms. Tinker is in the news as of late for a vile, hateful, racebaiting commercial that she has put out against Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee. Cohen, who is White, took over the Congressional Seat that Harold Ford, Jr. gave up to run for Senate.

The commercial was so offensive that it earned her a spot on Keith Olbermann's ' Worst Person In The World'.

If you need more information on the commercial, you can go to Talking Points Memo - here:Nasty Ad Hits Jewish Congressman

Another source of information on Ms. Tinker is Thad Matthews. Just go to his blog and put 'Nikki Tinker' into the search engine. Mr. Matthews' local eye on her has been very informative indeed.

And, here is the latest from Skeptical Brotha, Aunt Nikki.

Key quotes:

Longtime readers of this blog know of the animosity I have for Harold Ford Jr and his demagogic brand of corporate prostitution that masquerades as political centrism. Everything he touches turns to shit and the same could be said of his protégé.

I didn’t think it was possible to be more repellent than Ford, but Aunt Nikki is the willing overseer on Pinnacle Airlines corporate plantation as Vice President for Labor Relations and General Counsel. Aunt Nikki is representative of the lowest form of human life and is the worst kind of counterfeit Negress imaginable. As an employment lawyer, she specializes in destroying employee rights to collectively bargain and be free from workplace racial discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

Her campaign report is full of two kinds of people, acquaintances from her home state of Alabama and her motley collection of crooked contacts in the business world.
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My colleagues at Black Agenda Report, in their former incarnation as the writers behind Black Commentator, came up with the nifty moniker of Trojan Horse to describe Black Democrats backed surreptitiously by Republican money and the corporate and right-wing foundation elite. They highlighted BET’s Bob Johnson and politicians Cory Booker and Harold Whore, Jr. Speaking of the Whore, he has used his new wife, Emily Threlkeld Ford, to funnel more than $3300 to his protégé. The Trojan Horse moniker definitely fits Nikki Tinker to a T because as her campaign finance report shows, she is a a member in good standing of this right-wing club.

As the moniker from Greek mythology implies, Aunt Nikki is a stealth weapon of the right-wing that optimally would be used to destroy progressive black representation and the social, political, and economic viability of Black Memphis. Unfortunately for our corporate enemies on the right, Aunt Nikki’s campaign exploded today like an IED in a war zone when it released an ad which strikes a note of false religiosity and implies that Steve Cohen is a Jewish interloper unwelcome in black churches and alludes to a bill to protect “religious freedom” and the unfettered right of religious organizations to discriminate against gay and lesbian people. This is the culmination of her clumsy attempts to make inroads with the black ministerial community by pandering to the homophobia of a select group of black pastors.

It looks like the wounds are fatal. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of cynical operators and puppet masters—especially Harold Ford. As of this afternoon, Emily’s List was forced to denounce the ad with egg on their faces. Finally, with the entrance of Black state representative Joe Towns in this race and the loss of prominent civil rights leaders like Maxine Smith, Aunt Nikki’s fantasy of being the power structure’s corporate mammy in Washington is just 24 hours from a lethal rejection by the voters from which there will be no appeal.

Click on the post and view the vile commercial. This isn't anything the African-American community, nor any Democrat, should be associated with under any circumstances.

McSame and his Race Card Claim

The Field Negro tackles McSame's Race card assertions...in classic Field Negro fashion.

The Attempt to Dehumanize Michelle Obama

I struggled with writing this piece, because I thought for awhile that I should just let it go. That I shouldn't spread this filth, but then I realized that not confronting it was a problem.

When I first saw this over at TheRoot.com, my mouth went open. Not that I didn't expect it, I did. I've said from the beginning that the entire Obama candidacy would be a Racial Rorschach Test for the country, and that a whole lot that had been bubbling beneath the surface would surface in this campaign.

The problem with this horrific picture is that it was published on DailyKos without someone going, ' um, I wonder if I should post this?'

See, this is what I feel is a residual effect of the active racebaiting brought on by Camp Hillpatine.

It's not that I didn't expect this kind of horror.

It's just that I believed it would be coming from the GOP.

There is NO WAY that any logical person would have posted this picture of Michelle Obama.

I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the White Feminist Establishment to defend Michelle Obama. The better assumption, until proven otherwise, is that Michelle's on her own, and those of us out here, of all colors, who admire and respect Michelle - well, we're going to have to do our best to defend her, which is why I'm speaking out.

The image is wrong because it is diminishing, disrespecting, dehumanizing.

Tied to a tree? With the KLAN around her? In a RED DRESS? With a BRANDING IRON honing in on her back?

Just ONE of these images would be enough.

All 4 is sensory overload.
1. Tied to a tree
Do I need to go over what Black folk and trees means? The history of this country is littered with the violence against Black Men and Women who were treated as sport as they were hung from trees. Didn't Jena teach you anything that it's just not acceptable?

2. The KLAN
I don't even believe I need to explain why the image of the Klan is upsetting.

3. In the RED DRESS

Red is the color for harlots. Red is the color of a loose woman. Once again diving back into that stereotype that the only use a Black woman has is ON HER BACK as some receptacle for when the White Slavemaster strolled down to the slave quarters. The vulnerability that the Black woman not only had no virtue that a White man was to respect, but that she didn't have ANY VIRTUE PERIOD.

4. The BRANDING IRON

We brand ANIMALS in this country. In this image, any thoughts that Michelle was HUMAN is gone. She's no better than the cow grazing in the field, who is also branded.


But, Michelle Obama IS a human being. She is a woman. A loving wife. A devoted mother. A successful professional. Intelligent. Smart. She is all this, and more. And, it seems as if she's going to be under attack from now until the election, so those of us who support her, have to continue to be vigilant. I do believe we wouldn't be as weary; that we would have been more rested for the General Election, IF we hadn't of had to fight the RACEBAITING IN A DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIMARY.

I've said it before,and I'll say it again...

It's not that I expected Obama to go through this campaign without having to deal with racebaiting on some level.

It's just that I didn't expect it to COME FROM ANOTHER DEMOCRAT.

The GOP never pretended to be Black folks' friends.

So, we were just supposed to roll over and let Camp Hillpatine racebait Obama from one end of the country to another without speaking up?

HELL NO.

But, for those of you who were SILENT as Obama was being racebaited during this time...

Just continue to keep your mouths SHUT when the GOP does it, because you no longer have any moral credibility. Your SILENCE spoke volumes and now has rendered you SUSPECT.

I thought about, on the off chance, that Malia and Sasha saw that image of their mother- my chest tightened. I thought about my 8 week-old great-niece; as a Black woman, will she STILL have to be subject to such foul and racist imagery when she matures? Imagery designed to strip her of her dignity and self-respect. I say no. We will have to confront these foul images when they come up. We cannot let them pass. We must label them UNACCEPTABLE on all levels. We must expose them for the ugliness that they are, and continue to have the Obamas' backs.


UPDATE: In the comments over at JJP, some have pointed out to me some of the other work of the poster. I'm coming down on the image. Do you realize that IF I had actually seen that on DailyKos, I wouldn't have been able to read the diary, because I just would have been stopped in my tracks? It might have been the best diary in the world, but that image would have stopped me from reading it.

And, I believe the poster would have been better off just posting the picture - as is.

Without a diary.

That would have been more powerful.

I don't think he understood the true extent of his imagery.

The image alone was a diary.

But, I can't get past the belief that the racebaiting during this campaign has lowered the bar. The same way I believe the Hillpatine South Dakota comments on Friday relate to the 'Obama Assassination' talk later on Fox. All part of the same cesspool.

Obama's Campaign Trail Not Paved With Gold

The Washington Post came out with a story yesterday describing several incidents of racism encountered by Obama campaign staff and volunteers. It's a story that's not being told by the national TV news media. The Washington Post story describes the sickness that I referred to in the post "Obama's Fading Hope". Parts of the WAPO article made me feel like I was reading an old microfilm report from the 1950's or 60's. I have increasing doubts about Obama's safety.

Is this kind of behavior as isolated as the Obama camp wants observers to believe? I really doubt it. It has just been under-reported. White Americans all across the country share similar feelings as the bigots in the report, but they may not be as brutally honest as those folks. Although I will say that the Reverend Wright fiasco has played differently in different parts of the Country. Certain regions are reacting more strongly than others to the media hype.

I believe that Obama was in trouble even before the well orchestrated Rev. Wright propaganda campaign against him, led by Clinton's people, her allies in the corporate media, and by the Conservative news pundits who Clinton has aligned herself with. But it is clear that the Rev. Wright matter has had an impact, despite all the hopeful Obama supporters who say it was no big deal. But then again, I believe that the Rev. Wright propaganda was a convenient excuse for Whites who really didn't want to vote for Obama anyway, because of their bigoted reservations about voting for a Black person. I knew from the outset that there was a certain segment of White Americans who would not vote for Barack Obama no matter what....due to his race. It is this same kind of racist sentiment that is largely behind the reason for so many Clinton supporters saying that they won't vote for Obama if he's the Democratic nominee...they will vote for McCain instead, or they'll stay home. Interesting how Hillary Clinton hasn't come out against this. On the contrary, she attempted to take advantage of it. She understands the racial dynamics that are in her favor.

But the propaganda has been damaging. Obama had been doing quite well with White voters up until a few days before Ohio when the Clinton camp decided to use racist gutter politics. Actually e-mails about Obama's religion had been circulating for some time before that, and there was clearly an attempt by the Clintons to inject race into the campaign long before Ohio. But the really nasty gutter politics began in the week leading up to Ohio, particularly with the ambush at the debate and the release of the photo of Obama in traditional African tribal dress....suggesting he was Muslim, a terrorist, would sympathize with terrorists, etc. From that point on, the racist politics have been relentless...and it is therefore no surprise that his support among certain segments of White voters has suffered ever since.

I have been amused by the corporate media talking points over the last few weeks. Hillary Clinton...along with the same White pundits who participated in the campaign to destroy Obama's character, weaken his electability, and swiftboat his campaign are the same jackasses who have most recently asked... "why can't he close the deal?", "Oh....looks like he's struggling with White voters", etc... NO S__T!!!! Of course he's going to lose some of his support from White voters.

After the swiftboat job that the media has done on Obama, it is an absolute miracle that he is still standing at all. In my opinion the media (and Hillary) have been relatively successful with accomplishing 2 out of 3 of the items I mentioned above... destroying Obama's character, and weakening his electability in the General Election. But they have not been able to completely swiftboat him just yet.... perhaps they are leaving that job for John McCain.

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See the Washington Post Article Below- What impact will this social/political climate have in the General Election....or looking even further ahead (probably too far ahead) what impact will it have on a possible Obama Presidency? Will he be scrutinized more than other Presidents? Will the media and voters look for the slightest mistake as an opportunity to pounce? I say that the double standard will certainly be in order... it always is for us.....no matter what the job is. Life experience has taught me that. And it will be no different for Obama if he reaches the Presidency. It's ironic to think that the media will probably scrutinize Obama more if he makes it...analyzing every little move he makes...yet the reporters & the networks were absent when we needed the media most to be more skeptical, inquisitive, and aggressive over the past 20 years or so....especially over the last 8 years. From Iran-Contra, to Yugoslavia, the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Oil Prices, etc etc...the list goes on. Where were they then?

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Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause

By Kevin Merida
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

(for photos see the Washington Post Report via the link at the bottom)

Danielle Ross was alone in an empty room at the Obama campaign headquarters in Kokomo, Ind., a cellphone in one hand, a voter call list in the other. She was stretched out on the carpeted floor wearing laceless sky-blue Converses, stories from the trail on her mind. It was the day before Indiana's primary, and she had just been chased by dogs while canvassing in a Kokomo suburb. But that was not the worst thing to occur since she postponed her sophomore year at Middle Tennessee State University, in part to hopscotch America stumping for Barack Obama.

Here's the worst: In Muncie, a factory town in the east-central part of Indiana, Ross and her cohorts were soliciting support for Obama at malls, on street corners and in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and they ran into "a horrible response," as Ross put it, a level of anti-black sentiment that none of them had anticipated.

"The first person I encountered was like, 'I'll never vote for a black person,' " recalled Ross, who is white and just turned 20. "People just weren't receptive."
For all the hope and excitement Obama's candidacy is generating, some of his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed -- and unreported -- this election season. Doors have been slammed in their faces. They've been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.

The contrast between the large, adoring crowds Obama draws at public events and the gritty street-level work to win votes is stark. The candidate is largely insulated from the mean-spiritedness that some of his foot soldiers deal with away from the media spotlight.

Victoria Switzer, a retired social studies teacher, was on phone-bank duty one night during the Pennsylvania primary campaign. One night was all she could take: "It wasn't pretty." She made 60 calls to prospective voters in Susquehanna County, her home county, which is 98 percent white. The responses were dispiriting. One caller, Switzer remembers, said he couldn't possibly vote for Obama and concluded: "Hang that darky from a tree!"

Documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, said she, too, came across "a lot of racism" when campaigning for Obama in Pennsylvania. One Pittsburgh union organizer told her he would not vote for Obama because he is black, and a white voter, she said, offered this frank reason for not backing Obama: "White people look out for white people, and black people look out for black people."

Obama campaign officials say such incidents are isolated, that the experience of most volunteers and staffers has been overwhelmingly positive.
The campaign released this statement in response to questions about encounters with racism: "After campaigning for 15 months in nearly all 50 states, Barack Obama and our entire campaign have been nothing but impressed and encouraged by the core decency, kindness, and generosity of Americans from all walks of life. The last year has only reinforced Senator Obama's view that this country is not as divided as our politics suggest."

Campaign field work can be an exercise in confronting the fears, anxieties and prejudices of voters. Veterans of the civil rights movement know what this feels like, as do those who have been involved in battles over busing, immigration or abortion. But through the Obama campaign, some young people are having their first experience joining a cause and meeting cruel reaction.

On Election Day in Kokomo, a group of black high school students were holding up Obama signs along U.S. 31, a major thoroughfare. As drivers cruised by, a number of them rolled down their windows and yelled out a common racial slur for African Americans, according to Obama campaign staffers.

Frederick Murrell, a black Kokomo High School senior, was not there but heard what happened. He was more disappointed than surprised. During his own canvassing for Obama, Murrell said, he had "a lot of doors slammed" in his face. But taunting teenagers on a busy commercial strip in broad daylight? "I was very shocked at first," Murrell said. "Then again, I wasn't, because we have a lot of racism here."

The bigotry has gone beyond words. In Vincennes, the Obama campaign office was vandalized at 2 a.m. on the eve of the primary, according to police. A large plate-glass window was smashed, an American flag stolen. Other windows were spray-painted with references to Obama's controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and other political messages: "Hamas votes BHO" and "We don't cling to guns or religion. Goddamn Wright."

Ray McCormick was notified of the incident at about 2:45 a.m. A farmer and conservationist, McCormick had erected a giant billboard on a major highway on behalf of Farmers for Obama. He also was housing the Obama campaign worker manning the office. When McCormick arrived at the office, about two hours before he was due out of bed to plant corn, he grabbed his camera and wanted to alert the media. "I thought, this is a big deal." But he was told Obama campaign officials didn't want to make a big deal of the incident. McCormick took photos anyway and distributed some.

"The pictures represent what we are breaking through and overcoming," he said. As McCormick, who is white, sees it, Obama is succeeding despite these incidents. Later, there would be bomb threats to three Obama campaign offices in Indiana, including the one in Vincennes, according to campaign sources.
Obama has not spoken much about racism during this campaign. He has sought to emphasize connections among Americans rather than divisions. He shrugged off safety concerns that led to early Secret Service protection and has told black senior citizens who worry that racists will do him harm: Don't fret. Earlier in the campaign, a 68-year-old woman in Carson City, Nev., voiced concern that the country was not ready to elect an African American president.
"Will there be some folks who probably won't vote for me because I am black? Of course," Obama said, "just like there may be somebody who won't vote for Hillary because she's a woman or wouldn't vote for John Edwards because they don't like his accent. But the question is, 'Can we get a majority of the American people to give us a fair hearing?'"

Obama has won 30 of 50 Democratic contests so far, the kind of nationwide electoral triumph no black candidate has ever realized. That he is on the brink of capturing the Democratic nomination, some say, is a testament to how far the country has progressed in overcoming racism and evidence of Obama's skill at bridging divides.
Obama has won five of 12 primaries in which black voters made up less than 10 percent of the electorate, and caucuses in states such as Idaho and Wyoming that are overwhelmingly white. But exit polls show he has struggled to attract white voters who didn't attend college and earn less than $50,000 a year. Today, he and Hillary Clinton square off in West Virginia, a state where she is favored and where the votes of working-class whites will again be closely watched.

For the most part, Obama campaign workers say, the 2008 election cycle has been exhilarating. On the ground, the Obama campaign is being driven by youngsters, many of whom are imbued with an optimism undeterred by racial intolerance. "We've grown up in a different world," says Danielle Ross. Field offices are staffed by 20-somethings who hold positions -- state director, regional field director, field organizer -- that are typically off limits to newcomers to presidential politics.

Gillian Bergeron, 23, was in charge of a five-county regional operation in northeastern Pennsylvania. The oldest member of her team was 27. At Scranton's annual Saint Patrick's Day parade, some of the green Obama signs distributed by staffers were burned along the parade route. That was the first signal that this wasn't exactly Obama country. There would be others.

In a letter to the editor published in a local paper, Tunkhannock Borough Mayor Norm Ball explained his support of Hillary Clinton this way: "Barack Hussein Obama and all of his talk will do nothing for our country. There is so much that people don't know about his upbringing in the Muslim world. His stepfather was a radical Muslim and the ranting of his minister against the white America, you can't convince me that some of that didn't rub off on him.
"No, I want a president that will salute our flag, and put their hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office."

Obama's campaign workers have grown wearily accustomed to the lies about the candidate's supposed radical Muslim ties and lack of patriotism. But they are sometimes astonished when public officials such as Ball or others representing the campaign of their opponent traffic in these falsehoods.
Karen Seifert, a volunteer from New York, was outside of the largest polling location in Lackawanna County, Pa., on primary day when she was pressed by a Clinton volunteer to explain her backing of Obama. "I trust him," Seifert replied. According to Seifert, the woman pointed to Obama's face on Seifert's T-shirt and said: "He's a half-breed and he's a Muslim. How can you trust that?"

Pollsters have found it difficult to accurately measure racial attitudes, as some voters are unwilling to acknowledge the role that race plays in their thinking. But some are not. Susan Dzimian, a Clinton supporter who owns residential properties, said outside a polling location in Kokomo that race was a factor in how she viewed Obama. "I think if it was somebody other than him, I'd accept it," she said of a black candidate. "If Colin Powell had run, I would be willing to accept him."

The previous evening, Dondra Ewing was driving the neighborhoods of Kokomo, looking to turn around voters like Dzimian. Ewing, 47, is a chain-smoking middle school guidance counselor, a black single mother of two and one of the most fiercely vigilant Obama volunteers in Kokomo, which was once a Ku Klux Klan stronghold. On July 4, 1923, Kokomo hosted the largest Klan gathering in history -- an estimated 200,000 followers flocked to a local park. But these are not the 1920s, and Ewing believes she can persuade anybody to back Obama. Her mother, after all, was the first African American elected at-large to the school board in a community that is 10percent black.

Kokomo, population 46,000, is another hard-hit Midwestern industrial town stung by layoffs. Longtimers wistfully remember the glory years of Continental Steel and speak mournfully about the jobs shipped overseas. Kokomo Sanitary Pottery, which made bathroom sinks and toilets, shut down a couple of months ago and took with it 150 jobs.

Aaron Roe, 23, was mowing lawns at a local cemetery recently, lamenting his $8-an-hour job with no benefits. He had earned a community college degree as an industrial electrician, but learned there was no electrical work to be found for someone with his experience, which is to say none. Politics wasn't on his mind; frustration was. If he were to vote, it would not be for Obama, he said. "I just got a funny feeling about him," Roe said, a feeling he couldn't specify, except to say race wasn't a part of it. "Race ain't nothing," said Roe, who is white. "It's how they're going to help the country."

The Aaron Roes are exactly who Dondra Ewing was after: people with funny feelings.
At the Bradford Run Apartments, she found Robert Cox, a retiree who spent 30 years working for an electronics manufacturer making computer chips. He was in his suspenders, grilling shish kebab, which he had never eaten. "Something new," Cox said, recommended by his son who was visiting from Colorado.

Ewing was selling him hard on Obama. "There are more than two families that can run the United States of America," she said, "and their names aren't Bush and Clinton."
"Yeah, I know, I know," Cox said, remaining noncommittal.

He opened the grill and peeked at the kebabs. "It's not his race, because I got real good friends and all that," Cox continued. "If anything would keep him from getting elected, it would be his name. It might turn off some older people."
Like him?
"No, older than me," said Cox, 66.
Ewing kept talking, until finally Cox said, "Probably Obama," when asked directly how he would vote.
As she walked away, Ewing said: "I think we got him."
But truthfully, she wasn't feeling so sure.

Link to Washington Post report

Report also mentioned on Salon.com

Through The Looking Glass.......

Yesterday, it was Mike Barnicle.

Today, it's Peggy Noonan.

Sometimes, this campaign has been through the looking glass.

From the Wall Street Journal:

DECLARATIONS
By PEGGY NOONAN
Damsel of Distress
May 9, 2008

This is an amazing story. The Democratic Party has a winner. It has a nominee. You know this because he has the most votes and the most elected delegates, and there's no way, mathematically, his opponent can get past him. Even after the worst two weeks of his campaign, he blew past her by 14 in North Carolina and came within two in Indiana.

He's got this thing. And the Democratic Party, after this long and brutal slog, should be dancing in the streets. Party elders should be coming out on the balcony in full array, in full regalia, and telling the crowd, "Habemus nominatum": "We have a nominee." And the crowd below should be cheering, "Viva Obamus! Viva nominatum!"

Instead, you know where they are, the party elders. They are in a Democratic club on Capitol Hill, slump-shouldered at the bar, having a drink and then two, in a state of what might be called depressed horror. "What are they doing to the party?" they wail. "Why are they doing this?"

You know who they are talking about.

The Democratic Party can't celebrate the triumph of Barack Obama because the Democratic Party is busy having a breakdown. You could call it a breakdown over the issues of race and gender, but its real source is simply Hillary Clinton. Whose entire campaign at this point is about exploiting race and gender.

Here's the first place an outsider could see the tensions that have taken hold: on CNN Tuesday night, in the famous Brazile-Begala smackdown. Paul Begala wore the smile of the 1990s, the one in which there is no connection between the shape of the mouth and what the mouth says. All is mask. Donna Brazile was having none of it.

Mr. Begala more or less accused the Obama people of not caring about white voters: "[If] there's a new Democratic Party that somehow doesn't need or want white working-class people and Latinos, well, count me out." And: "We cannot win with eggheads and African Americans." That, he said, was the old, losing, Dukakis coalition.

"Paul, baby," Ms. Brazile, who is undeclared, began her response, "we need to not divide and polarize the Democratic Party. . . . So stop the divisions. Stop trying to split us into these groups, Paul, because you and I know . . . how Democrats win, and to simply suggest that Hillary's coalition is better than Obama's, Obama's is better than Hillary's -- no. We have a big party, Paul." And: "Just don't divide me and tell me I cannot stand in Hillary's camp because I'm black, and I can't stand in Obama's camp because I'm female. Because I'm both. . . . Don't start with me, baby." Finally: "It's our party, Paul. Don't say my party. It's our party. Because it's time that we bring the party back together, Paul."

In case you didn't get what was behind that exchange, Mrs. Clinton spent this week making it clear. In a jaw-dropping interview in USA Today on Thursday, she said, "I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on." As evidence she cited an Associated Press report that, she said, "found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

White Americans? Hard-working white Americans? "Even Richard Nixon didn't say white," an Obama supporter said, "even with the Southern strategy."

If John McCain said, "I got the white vote, baby!" his candidacy would be over. And rising in highest indignation against him would be the old Democratic Party.

To play the race card as Mrs. Clinton has, to highlight and encourage a sense that we are crudely divided as a nation, to make your argument a brute and cynical "the black guy can't win but the white girl can" is -- well, so vulgar, so cynical, so cold, that once again a Clinton is making us turn off the television in case the children walk by.

"She has unleashed the gates of hell," a longtime party leader told me. "She's saying, 'He's not one of us.'"

She is trying to take Obama down in a new way, but also within a new context. In the past he was just the competitor. She could say, "All's fair." But now he's the competitor who is going to be the nominee of his party. And she is still trying to do him in. And the party is watching.

Again: amazing.

Who can save the situation? The superdelegates.

You know them. They're the ones hiding under the rock, behind the boulder, and at the bar.

They are terrified, most of them. They want the problem to go away. They want it handled, but they don't want to do it. They don't want to tell Hillary to stop, because they would likely pay a price for it, and not just with her.

They are afraid of looking as if they're jumping on a train that's speeding down the tracks and is about to roll over the damsel in distress.

Which is how Hillary -- and her supporters -- will paint it. Even though she's no damsel, and she causes distress.

Some insight from a superdelegate I spoke to Thursday:

It's not math anymore, it's psychodrama. If she can't have it, no one can have it. If she has to tear the party apart, she will.

Rest of article at link above.

Like I said....Noonan gets it, Barnicle gets it....we're through the looking glass, people.

Hillary " Tonya Harding " Clinton Continues to Racebait

You think the Clintons have learned their lesson?

Um, no.

From USAToday.com:

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.

Clinton's blunt remarks about race came a day after primaries in Indiana and North Carolina dealt symbolic and mathematical blows to her White House ambitions.

Yeah, she learned her lesson...NOT

And people believe folks should be gentle on this race-baiter?

HELL NO.

It's all about her, and her continuing to insult the most loyal base of the Democratic Party....pathetic.

How bad, blatant and obvious is the continued race-baiting of the Clinton Campaign?

When the likes of Mike Barnicle can see it and will acknowledge it, you know it's as obvious as you think it is. Not at all a part of your ' imagination'.
Barincle's latest column:Race Is All the Clintons Have Left

Black Voters Did It

From Andrew Sullivan tonight:

Black Voters Did It

Here's what now seems obvious: African-American voters killed the Clinton candidacy. It is a fitting end to the Clintons' campaign and an almost Shakespearean coda to their career. The Clintons were exposed in their long-running exploitation and reliance on minority votes. No group was more loyal to them than African-Americans; and in the end, like everyone else, African-Americans realized that the Clintons are frauds, disloyal to the core, cynical to their finger-tips, and finally, finally, returned the favor. A reader writes:

I found it striking that Clinton did not even pretend to be courting African Americans in North Carolina. Had the tables somehow been turned and had Obama's soul been implanted in her body, he would have made a show of at least organizing one major African American outreach event there or in Indiana. Obama went bowling in Altoona, after all. I kept expecting Hillary, ever since South Carolina, and certainly since Louisiana, to give her own major speech on race to a black audience in which she expressed sincere regret for Bill Clinton's Jesse Jackson and related comments by her surrogates. She could have done that while still stressing that her and Bill's mistakes were innocent in their intent, but that she is someone who looks not only at intentions but effects and regrets the rift.

Instead, she let Ferrarro rub salt in the wound. Don't get me wrong. Obama is such a talented candidate and such a symbol of hope to African Americans that he was going to get 80% of the black vote no matter what. But 92% and even higher than that in Gary! She got numbers in the past few states worse than Nixon and worse than Reagan.

After what the Clintons did in this campaign, and what they've revealed about themselves, and their alliance with Fox News and Bill Kristol and Pat Buchanan, this couldn't be more appropriate.

This will be history's verdict: in the end, the Clintons were defeated not by Republicans, but by African-American Democrats. How wonderful. How poignant. In the end, the karma gets you. Maybe it had to be this way. But this final coup de grace against these awful, hollow, cynical people is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

WORD.

Obama & The Right Wing: Is it All About Race, Or Not?

I enjoy surfing the net to find interesting articles, and I came upon one that I thought was pretty good. I don't know if I completely agree, but it has its merits.

This is from Brian Francis at PoliticalInaction.com, and I yield the floor to him:

Saturday, March 22, 2008
All About Religion NOT Really About Race

In the wake of the pastor Wright faux-controversy....the guy said some crazy stuff, but he is preacher and it wasn't uttered or affirmed by Obama....I think that we on the left need to determine and investigate The Right's motivations for pushing the Wright storyline. In the era of dog whistle and just the surface media coverage, every network and even the major papers have called this a problem of race. That Obama goes to a black church with a black pastor and they discuss black issues and America isn't ready for this. America is taken aback by what these black people say in their churches. Do they hate America? Do they really believe that America is a bad place....etc., etc. It is all utter non-sense.

They have a total of 60 seconds, or there about, of Wright saying some very crazy and off the wall things...and they were crazy. Obama has said he believes what Wright said is reprehensible and he doesn't agree with it, as well as he doesn't believe or support a lot of Wright's political views. Obama had to give a major, and brilliant, speech on race on Tuesday about this issue because of how bad the media coverage has been of this issue. Obama distanced but didn't disown Wright or leave the church. He had to do this to try and ease the fears of working class white people. To that end, by the end of the week, the media coverage in the papers and most of the network news casts had shifted...but not Fox News and Right Wing Radio. The clips of Wright continue to play endlessly on Fox News and Right Wing Radio. "How can a man be trusted who goes to that church?" they're saying. "What, exactly, does Barack Obama believe?" followed by "What kind of Christian is Barack Obama, anyway?"

The Right is assuredly happy as hell to use race against Obama. They were going to do it with or without Wright. The Right is happy as hell to use patriotism against Obama. The Right desires to portray Obama as less American, and they would have done this regardless of Wright because of the lapel pin and pledge controversies they already created. But what they have never attacked until Wright, and what they fear the most, is Obama's Christianity. This is why the Muslim smears started the moment he entered the race in February 2007. The Right is deathly afraid of Barack Obama, not because he is a liberal, not because of his policies, not because of his race, but because of his religion, and his ability to recast the democratic party as faith-friendly. Barack Obama threatens the stranglehold that The Right has on the moral high ground in this country...a stranglehold they achieved by portraying the left as hostile to religious freedom, religious values, and the institution of religion. They have used this moral high ground to stack courts and school boards, as well as get us into an ill conceived war, which McCain's spiritual adviser says will help bring about Judgment Day. The left has been openly hostile to Christianity in many ways...which plays directly into The Right's hands and perpetuates this cycle and the same old arguments/divisions about morals in this country.

Some on the left are uncomfortable with Obama's Christianity. It makes them suspicious of him because of the abortion and gay marriage battles of the past, as well as how religion has been used to demonize liberals and the left. But 80% of Americans call themselves Christian, and just because you disagree with the fringe/fanatic elements of the Christian religion, who seem to dominate the discourse on The Right, doesn't mean you antagonize, nor write off, this electorate. It is bad marketing and just plain dumb to ascribe the views of the far far right of the Christian religion to Christians as a whole. The most reliable bloc of democratic voters, black people, have some of the highest proportions of Christianity in the country. It is a mistake to discount those who call themselves Christian because the views/statements of others. We can't argue on one hand say that you can't demonize Obama for pastor Wright's views/statements, but then say all Christians are intolerant because 10% of the Christians on the right make intolerant and inflammatory statements...READ: Hagee, Robertson, Dobson. That makes us no better than Fox News, Right Wing Radio, and The Right. I'm not trying to say that democrats should all the sudden find religion and tailoring their message, as that would be empty and easily spotted by Christians. What I'm saying is that if we have a candidate that can cast the widest net possible, and break open the electorate in ways that bring new groups with widely ranging, and some diametrically opposing, views together, we as democrats should embrace that as it will be good for the party's long term health as well as improve Democratic performance in election after election yet to come.

Barack Obama means the end of The Right's dominance in the religious arena. He is the first openly and unapologetically Christian democrat on a national level. He refuses to run from his Christian faith. He speaks the language of the Christians who have ushered in Republican dominance in the south and in the swing states like Ohio and Missouri. By using the Christians and issues like gay marriage and abortion, Republicans employing Rovian tactics have won election after election, not on real issues like healthcare, the economy, trade, energy, etc., but on social issues. We all know the terms: west-coast liberalism....liberal morals....San Francisco morals. Liberalism became a dirty word because of spineless democrats as well as The Right's successful campaign to make the cause of every controversial issue a social and religious issue. Liberals are cast as hating religion and being amoral. Christians on the right actually fear that democrats, if in power, will take away their right to worship freely. This is how successful The Right has been.

But Obama represents the convergence of two things in politics: Obama's unique abilities to inspire which we all know are unparalleled in recent memory and talk the language of Christians but also the fact that Christians aren't getting what they voted for when they voted for The Right. To quote pastor Wright..."The chickens are coming home to roost". The issues Christians on The Right have with their own party, not taking into account Iraq, the economy, and issues that affect everyone, are threefold in my estimation(these affect everyone too): Ethics; Conservatism; Poverty and Hate. These three issues represent things Christians thought they were voting for but have been disappointed by The Right at every turn. If a candidate comes around who can recast the democratic party as Christian-friendly, this large voting bloc is back up for grabs. Obviously, there will be certain Christians who demagogue the left for everything and will never be convinced that the democrats are faith-friendly, but the people who are fed up with the issues below are listening.

Ethics:

Corruption scandals like Tom Delay

Sex scandals like Larry Craig and Senator Vitter

Lying to the American people about Iraq and other issues
Torture
Hypocrisy

Conservatism:

Christians are by nature conservative...they avoid excess and waste
The budget and spending and debt are enormous and have increased exponentially under Republican leadership of the Senate, House, and White House
Conservative principals have been trampled on with regard to energy as well as individual rights

Poverty and Hate:

The Christian faith prides itself on helping those in need....Katrina, Healthcare, The Poor, etc. all have shown The Right to manage the country contrary to these principles.

Believe it or not, Christians on the right don't want to hate democrats. They're just as sick of the infighting and the division as we are.


All of these issues make this key electorate ripe for the picking. All it takes is the right candidate to speak their language and crystallize what they're already feeling as issues that democrats care about and will manage the country by. Not to demonize them as fanatics, as democrats do with ease, but to say we disagree on gay marriage/rights and abortion, but here is where we do agree.

John McCain is also an issue here which leads to The Right's motivation to push the Wright storyline. He is viewed as a hypocrite and Christians on the right are deeply skeptical of him. Back in 2000 he was openly critical of them. Now, he is seeking them out. They don't trust him.

So to recap, The Right recognizes their base of Christian voters is getting jittery because of their nominee and the Republican track record of conduct and management. Barack Obama, to them, represents a real threat to make Christians on the right question their unflailing commitment to the Republican party. So why push Wright? Because it makes Obama look like a fanatical Christian and not part of mainstream Christianity. They are trying to diminish his Christian credentials. They are trying to suggest, clip after clip, segment after segment, that he isn't really Christian like you but part of some American-hating fringe religion. They will continue to remind the American Christian populace over and over and over that Obama is a Christian, but not a real one and certainly not one you can trust. His church hates America, and by extension that means he does too. You CANNOT trust Barack Obama.

No one doubts Obama's ability to speak to the majority of Americans on complicated issue and at least get them to listen. Fully 70% of people thought he gave a good speech on Tuesday on race and that he sufficiently explained his relationship with his pastor. The remaining 30% of people split between not likely to vote for him to more likely to vote for him. I highlight this to say with the hottest of political potatoes, Obama threaded the needle and pulled it off. Now imagine him talking about issues that Christians care about...poverty, ethics, coming together, and not wasting tax payer money or intruded into people's personal lives. A common quote you hear from Christians and Republicans in general is that they feel when Obama speaks he doesn't hate them for their views...which is the feeling they always got from democrats and why they aligned with The Right. So here comes an intelligent, unthreatening, Christian democratic leader who is going to speak to them using speeches sprinkled with bible quotes and reframe Left v. Right issues in terms of Right v. Wrong issues. Given that, you can see why The Right has an interest in making Obama as threatening as possible, either as a black man who may be a Christian, but who hates you and America.

The right is deathly afraid of Barack Obama, and they're only hope for survival in November, at the presidential and in each of the down ticket contests, is to make him as unpalatable as possible to Christians on the right. They are trying to protect they're flank. The question is will they succeed?

posted by Brian Francis at Saturday, March 22, 2008

Agree? Disagree?

Well, I think he sees in Obama what Andrew Sullivan does:

I have never felt more convinced that this man's candidacy - not this man, his candidacy - and what he can bring us to achieve - is an historic opportunity. This was a testing; and he did not merely pass it by uttering safe bromides. He addressed the intimate, painful love he has for an imperfect and sometimes embittered man. And how that love enables him to see that man's faults and pain as well as his promise. This is what my faith is about. It is what the Gospels are about. This is a candidate who does not merely speak as a Christian. He acts like a Christian.

From David Kuo:

One of the biggest problems in modern American Christianity is the "church-hopping" phenomenon. People stay in churches for a certain period of time, get bored, find someplace new and repeat.
......................................................................

We've had this discussion with two of our dear friends who are also part of the church. They understand the issues but they have taken a different approach. They have jumped into the middle of the church. This church, they've said, is their home. And the Bible, they say, calls them to be vibrant, vital parts of their church home, not people hovering on the outside.

They are right. Our church isn't perfect. No church is. But it is our spiritual home and we are blessed by it and we understand our job isn't to take and take and take from it but to give and give and give.

Barack Obama understands this approach. That is why he didn't just rip the church wily nilly. Lots of American Christians should use his faithfulness to his church as an example in their own lives.

He didn't forego his spiritual home for political convenience. Whether or not that is good politics is yet to be seen. That it is good spiritually should be applauded.

Blogging Light

I may be missing in action for the next week or so. I have some issues to deal with.

I'm a little tired of blogging at the moment anyway. It is beginning to drain me.... with all the negative news. There is George Bush with his usual stupidity, and the (s)election campaign and the Swiftboating of Barack Obama (I knew it was coming... But I wish they would have gotten it over with earlier before our "hopes" got too high). Then there is the beast Hillary Clinton with her race baiting tactics.... where she has now turned everything around to make it Obama's fault. This adds a whole new meaning to "blaming the victim".

It's amazing that Obama's "Blackness" will end up being his downfall afterall.... even though he tried his damndest to run a smooth, clean, race neutral campaign that tried to put a focus on the issues. He was smeared anyway. Clinton's aim was to brand him with the "Black candidate" label, and with the help of her allies in the White Corporate media, she has now been successful. Gravity will take over & do the rest now. That says a lot about the United States of Amerikkka....when you are a Black or minority political figure and you try to deal with the merits of issues... they still find a way to use race against you. But it should be no surprise in one of the most racist nations in the World. It just confirms all many of the reasons why I hate being a Black man in this Country.

How do you have all of this scrutiny aimed at Obama regarding his former Pastor Reverend Wright.... and there is no one asking John McCain to denounce, reject, etc... a known bigot and hate monger who's endorsement McCain happily and publicly accepted? This is so ass backwards that I can't even begin to rationalize it... It raises my blood pressure too high.

And what about Hillary Clinton? This woman virtually has a goddamn Cemetery in her closet. David Axelrod is either too stupid or too weak & spineless to find any of the bodies buried inside. It wouldn't be hard to find any.... that scene from Hotel Rwanda comes to mind when Paul Rusesabagina steps out of the car on one of the main roads...and ends up tripping over bodies stacked two deep.

When will someone ask Clinton about her relationship with sweatshop tycoon Willie Tan...ask her to explain everything and ask her if she returned his money...& if not, why not? Mrs. Pro-Labor Rights my ass!!!

When will someone in the White corporate media corner Hillary and ask her about her true involvement in all of the fraud surrounding her Senate Campaign? When will they ask her to talk about her involvement with her finance director David Rosen, who was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury?

When will someone in the White corporate media ask Hillary "The Feminist" Clinton why she violated her feminist principles and defended a brutal wifebeater when she was at the Rose Law Firm?

When will the White corporate media go back and talk with the folks at the Rose Law Firm about Hillary? (The Rose Law Firm = The Rose Cemetary for Clinton).

When will the White corporate media look into Clinton's background at Wal-Mart and her work fighting AGAINST labor rights?

When will the White corporate media investigate Clinton's relationship with Healthcare Industry lobbyists leading up to...and after the absolute failure of her Universal Healthcare campaign?

And there are still a lot of questions left unanswered regarding Travelgate....and a whole host of other issues.

There are enough Skeletons in Hillary's closet to keep a team of good investigative Journalists and Campaign chiefs busy for months.... IF THEY WOULD ONLY LOOK.
And the above is barely the tip of the iceberg.

On top of all of this... The Country seems to be going broke... although it has been broke for a long time. But now it may trickle down to the entire Country. I posted a couple of times...back in 2006 and 2007 on the fact that the American system, as it is today, is unsustainable. Just last year people thought that $90 per barrel oil was a problem, but now it is at $110.00 per barrel.

There has been some more recent analysis on the U.S. economy, but I have not gotten around to posting that information. I am hoping that this is a normal financial correction....and not a global recession...or worse. But the dollar could tank any day now.... it has been on shaky ground for some time. The nation's leaders had a long time to do something about it....but due to a lack of leadership... no action was taken to fix fundamental problems in the nation's economy and with the currency in particular.

On top of all of that, I have issues at home to take care of.... including my own lack of funds. It's one problem after another.

Blogging, usually cathartic, has recently become a drag on the psyche.

______________________________________

On another note... I lost a co-blogger last week. Liberal Arts Dude (Redante) decided that he could no longer contribute. I would like to add another blogger... and my choice will be made with diversity in mind.

I am looking for ways to improve the blog. I am considering scrapping the site and starting over from scratch, because I am not satisfied with the readership situation, or participation (although that has grown by leaps and bounds from what it was a year ago). The bloggers here work hard....

It's annoying to see blogs of lesser quality with much higher readership.
I also find it hard to blog as a "Black" blogger. It's like having a weight attached to your leg when you are trying to sprint (Barack Obama knows a little something about that)....and it never goes away. Bolt cutters can't set you free. It's hard posting the right balance between so-called "Black" issues, and other broader issues that interest me...and issues that we should all be concerned with. Furthermore, there is just so much going on that it's hard to narrow things down...although I have it down to a science.

But I am calling out to anyone who has suggestions on improving the blog (in fact, I am always open to suggestions).

*What kinds of topics would you like to see discussed?
*How could we diversify and broaden the readership? (which is a long term goal of mine)
*More videos/multi-media....less...or just right?
*More original writing? (My time is limited....and so is Rikyrah's i'm sure).

Well... it's time for me to go....

If you have any complaints... contact Rikyrah. Whatever it is... it will probably be her fault anyway.

Good Night ...and Good Luck!

Special Comment From Keith Olbermann - Ferraro, Clinton & Race Baiting

About Hillary's 3am Fear Commercial

You can't make this stuff up.

A Bloggers Bleak But True Assessment of the Political Situation- I Agree

The blogger sums up much of what I am feeling. See the blog entry from the DailyKos.

New Study Reveals Media Bias Against Obama

Folks who have been paying attention should already be aware of this.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism just released the data. See Report from The Daily Kos.

It has been clear for weeks that the media has been attempting to help Hillary Clinton.

And unfortunately if looks like the dirty politics are paying off for Clinton. According to reports, many observers believe that Obama's momentum may have been blunted. Americans tend to respond more to negative politics than to positive politics. So it's no surprise that Clinton decided to go negative. It's the same reason why Republican strategists choose dirty tricks, and lying, over a more positive message.

Clinton Launches Nasty (racist) Nuclear Attack on Obama

I am unable to type... I'm afraid I will write something that will get me into big trouble. Just follow the link.

But I will say that it's time for Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel, Harry Reid, Clyburn, Durbin, Hoyer and all the rest, to get off of their butts and intervene to bring this to an end. I can't imagine that they will wait much longer, especially after this.

This is worse than anything that I can recall from even the Republicans.

At least with the NAFTA dispute.... IT WAS A DISPUTE ABOUT THE ISSUES. And Clinton cannot run from the past, when she has been qouted supporting NAFTA. (I will get to that later today). But in response, she turns around and goes outside of the actual issues, and counters with a racist, fear based smear campaign, to attempt to play on fears of White voters in Ohio and Texas...fears based on race and religion.

Pelosi, Reid and others should ask her to step aside. In fact, all of the Superdelegates should show their disapproval by abandoning her right now. By sticking with her after this attack.... Clinton's Superdelegates are indicating that they are co-signing this smear effort.

Should I start making a list of who these people are? The world should know who supports Clinton's Smear tactic.

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