A Whole Deck of Race Cards
The Issue That Dared Not Speak Its Name is now on everybody’s lips, including John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s own. Is this good or bad? Maybe both.
On the positive side, it’s healthy to drag prejudice into the open (fresh air as a disinfectant and all that). Those who vote against Obama because of race should at the very least be made to squirm for it, if they have the capacity for being embarrassed, instead of hiding behind euphemisms.
But we are now involved in a more convoluted debate that threatens to diminish all sides. Let’s review the bidding:
After the Jeremiah Wright YouTube rants, Obama made his Philadelphia speech about race, was almost universally applauded for it and prepared to move on.
But Hillary Clinton’s sudden enormous popularity with “working-class voters” in the late primaries showed that millions had a wee problem seeing a black person in the White House, and it was inevitable that Republican swiftboaters would notice and act accordingly.
18 Responses to “A Whole Deck of Race Cards”
Unfortunately, a few of the press who still believe McCain is the old maverick and not a Rovian candidate now, are blaming Obama like the brain dead duo on CNN, Bash and King (john).
The feigned surprise from the McCain camp is so disingenuous. Create a situation, then deny it, and try to turn the tables. Obama was right when he predicted they would try to make him appear the scary choice, and it's clear McCain is trying to tap into the Archie Bunker mindset. Of course racism today isn't paraded around the way Archie did it, but it would be naive to suggest it isn't there to be exploited. I know many of us would like to think we as a country are beyond this… too bad it isn't so.
I imagine that the people complaining about “the race card” consider themselves profiles in courage for doing so.
I agree that's it better to discuss this topic openly.
Robert Stein: Is this good or bad? Maybe both.
I'd say it's both. On the one hand Obama's candidacy makes it clear how far we've come, and what is possible. On the other hand, Obama's candidacy makes it clear that we have a ways to go.
Maybe I'm a little too sensitive, but one of the sadest moments in my life occurred back in the early 70s when I brought a “very special girlfriend” home to meet the family. She was a beautiful person in every way you could name. She was exceptionally attractive, exceptionally bright, exceptionally kind and friendly, and exceptionally gregarious — the kind of person who could light up a room just by entering it. She was also Catholic, which was another plus (we both attended a Jesuit-run college). She was, in short, the kind of woman that you would assume parents dream about as mates for their number one son. That's what I thought anyway. The problem was, I neglected to inform my mom of a certain detail — a detail that my mom drummed into my head over and over for years wasn't supposed to matter (which is a story n itself). The detail that supposedly didn't matter was… my girlfriend was black.
Dinner and subsequent conversation was cordial. The night went well, I thought. Dena was her ebullient self. All I had to do was bask in her afterglow. Or so I thought. The next morning my mom asked me how I really felt about the woman — was I thinking about getting married? I told her the truth: maybe, but it was too early to tell. Sadly, that was enough to freak her. The ensuing conversation is imprinted in my memory as if it was yesterday. I love my mom, I even understood her point of view. But I never felt more disappointed in her before or since.
The foregoing is a very short snapshot of a very long, very convoluted story — one that left several different flavors of very bad tastes in my mouth. It wasn't just my mom, she was a small part of it. And it's not like it's completely ended to this day. It hasn't. I'm a white guy, and as such I can't intimately know what it's like to be anything but. But I know enough to realize that not being a white guy is still a completely different experience. I'm just saying.
Am I a racist? Because I think the democrat candidate is shallow, unqualified, inexperienced, elusive, evasive, untruthful, too liberal for me, and a racist himself.
No, I am a 65 year-old white male. On the other hand I would vote for JC Watts without a single hesitation…. Is he back or white, I can't remember.
What makes JC Watts qualified to be President?
JC Watts is more qualified than Obama? He served in the House for 3 terms, I believe. Before that he was a college football star.
The only reason you say you'd support JC Watts is that he's a black conservative and you want to say that you have no problem voting for a black person.
If you think Barack Obama is a racist, you are an idiot.
George, just google him or Wiki him and you will find a biography that dwarfs Obama's. Different leagues involved here, MLB vs. college ball.
Obama is the scary choice. Not because of his race. Geeze. The guy is brilliant when it comes to intellect. I think most everyone on the right or those who would reject his candidacy does not think Obama is an ignorant black man from the projects.
He is the scary choice because he is a MAN……..with very little national experience on the political stage. Governors have to deal with issues all over the state. State representatives deal with inter state issues and thus are desensitized to the many facets of other states and the issues facing them.
He is scary because he voted lockstep in tune with his democratic colleagues in the Senate and he has little or no record to show just where he stands on most issues. He is scary because he ran as a left of Hillary candidate during the campaign and then the minute he secured the nomination he raced to the center only to fall back time and again to the far left with things such as his family plan and his 1000 dollar tax credit for those facing high prices of gasoline.
He is scary TO THOSE WHO OPPOSE HIM for many reasons and I suppose their are still those in America who think his race is scary too but perhaps that can be said of both blacks and whites. Perhaps their are as many blacks who would vote for Obama because of the color of his skin as opposed to whites who will vote against him because of the color of his skin.
Is race an Issue? Absolutely. We are not beyond it yet in this country.
I wonder too how many blacks would have voted for a ticket that consisted of Colin Powerl and Condi Rice vs. Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton? My guess is about 15 percent. So buried deeply in that race card is another thing we dont like to talk about. Blacks are democrats. Just like conservatives are Republicans. Thats not a bad thing. Its part of what makes them who they are.
Just Google JC Watts?
You can't defend your own choice in your own words?
One of the reasons I tend to overlook race is my own history. I'm 50, born of a white man and Cherokee woman in Tennessee. Obviously my father had no problems with my mother's ancestry, but one aunt constantly referred to us (the kids) as “half-breeds”. Amazingly, though, when I was about 8 or 9, I had a young black girlfriend over to play. When my dad got home from work, he made me send her home because she was a “n…….”. 42 years later, I still remember that as if it were yesterday. When I think of it now, the irony strikes me that a man married to an Indian was prejudiced against a black girl. I was determined to raise my children to be respectful of all people and think I have mostly succeeded. I do not tolerate intolerance. It's not that I don't see color, I just don't think it's the defining element in a person's character. There are still people out there like my father, but I am encouraged that there is an opportunity for race to become a back burner issue in a campaign. Obviously it's going to rear it's ugly head because it's what Republicans do best and something the media grabs onto because it creates headlines. The biggest shame is the real debate is being shoved to the side.
Neocon, I'll buy your argument and agree that Obama is a scary choice. In fact I haven't seen any wannabee candidates who aren't scary choices. GWB was certainly a scary choice, and turned out to be a scary president. McCain is certainly a scary choice. So sure, we are faced with a bunch of scary choices. None of these people seem really capable of providing the leadership needed to head up a breaking free of this downward status quo we have been riding on for so long (even though it would be fun to think it was possible). So when it comes down to scariness, who isn't scary? As usual it's a choice of the degrees of scariness (among other considerations of course) and the candidates absolutely must be compared. None of these candidates can be looked at in a vacuum, even though the McCain camp (and the Obama detractors) would prefer us to do so. Btw, I think it's clear the word, “scary” isn't being used here in it's classic sense.
I agree with showmeles,
The assumption this article makes is “all working class people are racists.” and by broader association (since overwhelming numbers of them supported Clinton) “all Clinton supporters are racist”.
You know, like I said before Obamabots, if you keep playing the race card over and over and over every single time you want to deflect interest or inquiries into your demigod's qualifications, or background, you're going to wear out it's potency on listeners.
And I warned you before about being racists yourselves. If you keep insisting on keeping the focus of Barack Obama in his skin, if he makes it to the Oval Office and flops horribly because of his lack of experience and general inability to effectively govern, you will put the focus of his failure on his skin color as well.
In other words, you will make people think it is because of the color of his skin that he failed, when in fact it will be the level of his incompetance, his innate nature, that made him fail.
You people just don't see the double edge of the sword you're waving around. A sword whose edge just keeps getting duller and duller with each swipe.
We will look into Barack Obama as fit or unfit for the office of President Of The United States. We will do background checks, we will question his details on important issues. We will ask probing and direct questions about his fitness for office. And we will do so without fear of being labelled “racist.”
Yes, we will.
and the MSM will continue to be in the bag for McCain-proved by a study that compared positive and negative stories against both mccain and obama.
If you believe that the government should have one standard for all Americans, then it is easy to call Senator Obama a racist. He has consistently supported government programs that treat blacks differently than other Americans for education, employment, and contracting. Senator Obama calls for criminal justice to be administered on the quota system (see his remakrs on racial profiling and too many black men in jail.
Even though many of the programs that SEnator Obama supports have been struck down as unconstitutional and that they violate individuals civil rights, he still supports them.
And on top of everything else, after accusing whites of being afriad of blacks, Senator Obama sends his children to a private school that is 10% black and 3% Hispanic. He demands that whites act one way and then acts the opposite way himself.
Silhouette: “We will ask probing and direct questions about his fitness for office.”
Absolutely, that is required for any candidate, and nobody is suggesting these questions shouldn't be asked. The people who are taking issue with the McCain smear strategy (you know, the people you so cleverly refer to as, “Obamabots”) want the comparisons to be on issues and positions, not on BS that tries to paint pictures which have nothing to do with reality.
He should've said nothing at all about race to deflect inquiries into minor issues of his qualifications and instead saved them all for this bombshell preamble released last month.
Just in case any of you were still left with lingering doubts about what conservatives have in store for Obama just after Denver:
From The Conservative Voice: http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/331…
An excerpt: from the conservative viewpoint (read: strategy):
*****
“The Main Stream Media has taken a huge shopping spree, buying up everything offered in the Obama Cover-up Store! They have bought into the lies and smears, lock, stock and barrell, without looking into the facts, without asking a single question, or showing a modicum of respect to an American, Larry Sinclair, who bravely asked that the truth be told. The Main Stream Media is as guilty as Obama when it comes to the cover-up of this story! Shame on them!
Over the 4th of July, I saw a program on an Italian fireworks master and how those displays were created. I saw the Boston barge loaded with the show, ready for the celebration. It is amazing stuff. Couldn't help thinking about the explosion that is going to happen when a decent Investigative Reporter takes all the information that Larry Sinclair has made available and writes, really writes, this story.”
******
This is the conservative side of the story, that Larry Sinclair is a brave american willing to tell the truth. And if you think they cannot paint it that way, think again..
This story has been known and “in play” since at least last February. It has been held back to ensure Obama nudges out Clinton. Now it's preambles are being sung, the lights are being dimmed and the stage is set. Opening acts will begin just before the November election, my guess is just after all the ballots are officially printed sans Clinton.
Obama should've saved up every race card he has in his deck for this mammoth-inquiry heading his (the democrats) way.
Really, at this point, anyone who still supports Obama for our candidate is actually guitly of supporting McCain/the GOP. Refusal to examine the Sinclair issue is no longer an excuse. It will be aired.
Well, here's the scenario as it would play out in the bizzaro world: 1.) The MSM take Larry Sinclair seriously (which basically means they would talk about it in front of millions of viewers – not that they would actually say anything significant or relevant) or 2.) the McCain camp decides to make a crossroads type deal and use the Larry Sinclair “thing” in anti-Obama ads (which isn't so far-fetched the way they are operating so far). So… the fear factor works, enough foolish Americans freak out to throw the election to John McCain. After about a year or so, Sinclair admits he fabricated the whole story, but of course it no longer matters becaues the election is a done deal. I guess the question is, just how much do we really live in the bizzaro world? More than ever before would be my answer, but I think our collective connection with reality is still holding… for the most part.