In a recent analysis, "Was Barack Obama a Muslim?" I surveyed available evidence and found it suggests "Obama was born a Muslim to a non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father." In response, David Brock's organization, Media Matters for America (MMfA), which calls itself a "progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media," has criticized one of my sources of information.
MMfA contends in "Daniel Pipes relied on disputed LA Times article to revive Obama-Muslim falsehood," that "key aspects" of a March 16, 2007, Los Angeles Times article I quoted were later challenged by another newspaper account, "History of schooling distorted," by Kim Barker in the Chicago Tribune on March 25.
Falsehood? That's a strong word.
To assess MMfA's claim, let's review its preferred article and examine what Barker has to say on four topics related to Obama's Indonesian years, 1967-71:
His attendance at a Catholic school;
His attendance at a public school;
His step-father, Lolo Soetoro; and
His friend, Zulfan Adi.
To start with, about the Catholic school, Fransiskus Strada Asisia, which Obama attended 1967-70 (words in square brackets are added by me):
Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia, despite being listed as a Muslim on the registration form for the Catholic school, Strada Asisia, where he attended 1st through 3rd grades. At the time, the school most likely registered children based on the religion of their fathers, said [Israella Pareira] Darmawan, Obama's former [1st-grade] teacher. Because Soetoro was a Muslim, Obama was listed as a Muslim, she said.
The enrollment form from the Catholic school, which has been cited as evidence that Obama was a Muslim in Indonesia [including by the Los Angeles Times], also was rife with errors. It listed Obama as an Indonesian, listed his previous school incorrectly and failed to list his mother, Ann, at all.
About Obama's time at a public elementary school, 1970-71, variously known as the Sekolah Dasar Nasional Menteng No. 1 or the Basuki school, Barker writes:
When Obama attended 4th grade in 1971, Muslim children spent two hours a week studying Islam, and Christian children spent those two hours learning about the Christian religion.
During a recent visit to this public school, Barker found that
Weekly religious classes are required for all students, whether Muslims, Christians or Hindus, under the government curriculum. A new shiny mosque is in the corner of the courtyard. "The Muslims learn about Islam, prayer and religious activity," said Hardi Priyono, the vice principal for curriculum. "And for the Christians, during the religious class, they also have a special room teaching Christianity. It's always been like that."
About Obama's step-father, Lolo Soetoro and his religiosity, Barker writes:
In their first neighborhood, Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers, a few neighbors said. But Soetoro usually was too busy working, first for the Indonesian army and later for a Western oil company. "Sometimes Lolo went to the mosque to pray, but he rarely socialized with people," said Fermina Katarina Sinaga, Obama's 3rd-grade teacher at the Catholic school, who lived near the family. "Rarely, Barry [a nickname for Barack] went to the mosque with Lolo."
Barker learned from his friends and family that Lolo Soetoro, who died in 1987, was "much more of a free spirit than a devout Muslim" and "hardly the image of a pious Muslim."
His nephew, Sonny Trisulo, 49, said Soetoro always liked women and alcohol. One of his health problems was a failing liver. "He loved drinking, was a smart and warm person, the naughtiest one in the family," Trisulo recalled.
As for Zulfan Adi, cited in the Los Angeles Times piece:
Zulfan Adi, a former neighborhood playmate of Obama's who has been cited in news reports as saying Obama regularly attended Friday prayers with Soetoro, told the Tribune he was not certain about that when pressed about his recollections. He only knew Obama for a few months, during 1970, when his family moved to the neighborhood.
Does any of the above information from the Chicago Tribune article refute my analysis, as MMfA contends? It raises questions about two details in the Los Angeles Times account (the accuracy of the Catholic school's registration form and the reliability of Zulfan Adi as a source on Obama). But on the larger issue of Obama's religious practices during his Jakarta years, it confirms the Times account. Note in particular three excerpts from Barker's article:
"Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia" – implying he was an irregularly practicing Muslim.
"Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers, a few neighbors said" – confirming that he did pray in the mosque.
"Obama's 3rd-grade teacher at the Catholic school, who lived near the family [said that] ‘Rarely, Barry went to the mosque with Lolo'" – confirming that Obama attended mosque services.
All this matters, for if Obama once was a Muslim, he is now what Islamic law calls a murtadd (apostate), an ex-Muslim converted to another religion who must be executed. Were he elected president of the United States, this status, clearly, would have large potential implications for his relationship with the Muslim world.
In sum: Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim who rarely or occasionally prayed with his step-father in a mosque. This precisely substantiates my statement that he "for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father."
Therefore, what MMfA calls the "Obama-Muslim falsehood" is in fact confirmed by both articles as truthful and accurate.
Calling this a falsehood is in itself a falsehood.
The Republicans did it with far fewer than 48 states. McCain clinched the Republican nomination after only about twenty states had held their primaries for that party.
OBAMA, eat lunch with me in Miami and peet my pig and eat a delicious pork sandwich, and if you do so-ONCE AND FOR ALL, YOU WILL PROVE THAT YOU ARE NOT MUSLIM.
Take the challenge!
Proof? here is my website take a look and see for yourself!
30 cents of your tax dollar goes to provide aid and comfort to criminals<
TRUTH: Federal gas tax is $0.184/gallon, Georgia gas tax is $0.26/gallon (source), for a total of $0.444/gallon.
The illegal and ever increasing immigrant population. They've drained many city and county public food assistance budgets, education budgets and putlic health care budgets
TRUTH: Illegal immigrants are not eligible for most public assistance programs. (source)
the rate of crime among illegals is the highest in America
TRUTH: Truth is this is just FALSE (source)
you can't continually feed, clothe, educate and absorb the daily living expense of upwards of 50 million people everyday
TRUTH: The true number of illegal immigrants can not be known, but it's estimated to be between 7-20 million (source). Furthermore, I'm not paying to feed clothe or absorb their living expenses - One minute you people are complaining that immigrants have stolen all our jobs, then you complain that they are all on welfare (which they are not entitled to); can't you at least pick one false premise and stick to it?
you have TONS of bodily waste from diseased immigrants dumped into your public water system everyday, somebody..maybe you or your children, will suffer the consequences
TRUTH: If someone with a disease using a toilet has the potential to taint your drinking water you may want to be more concerned about your local water utilities processing procedures than scary brown people looking for a better living in your town.
.
.
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You xenophobic crybabies are clueless about economic and social issues. Immigrants are good for the country, they DO contribute to taxes: local, state and federal and they are not lazy, unlike many Americans.... which is why they can find jobs when they come here; it's also why farms are left with rotting crops in the fields when illegal crack downs occur and there are no local residence willing to do the work. Raise your kids with some work ethics and maybe their generation won't see as much immigration.
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The LA Times Top of the Ticket blog reports that Obama stated at a campaign stop in Oregon yesterday that over the last 15 months he¡¯s visited ¡°57 states¡± (via Memeo):
But first the freshman senator had to go through all the¡.
¡obligatory delighted to see you, delighted to be here part of stump speeches that also require that you actually know where you are.
Obama pulled that off O.K. But then he drifted away from the text a tad, as rookies are wont to do sometimes, forgetting how exhausting this primary process is and should be. And trusting in their instincts, their very tired instincts.
¡°It is wonderful to be back in Oregon,¡± Obama said. ¡°Over the last 15 months, we¡¯ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I¡¯ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.¡±
The Times¡¯ conscientious Robin Abcarian thought she heard something different there. She checked her tape recorder. It had captured what he had actually said ¡ª 57 states now. A new Louisiana Purchase that¡¯s gone unannounced so far? Was he channeling his inner John Kerry-Heinz 57 personality?
(UPDATE: At a later stop Obama was talking with reporters and expressed concern he¡¯d also mis-stated the number of potential cyclone victims in Burma. He said, ¡°¡±I hope I said 100,000 people the first time instead of 100 million. I understand I said there were 57 states today. It¡¯s a sign that my numeracy is getting a little, uh.¡± At that point, an aide cut him off and ushered journalists out. Before he could mis-speak again?)
Oh, and as far as Hawaii voters are concerned, they¡¯re probably delighted to learn that Obama¡¯s campaign staff doesn¡¯t think that tiny state can justify an appearance by his eminence, even though he did a lot of growing up there. Or maybe because he was there.
Let¡¯s see what they do with that in the Honolulu media, which the Republicans have probably already notifed.
Maybe it¡¯s Obama¡¯s age. He¡¯s getting up there in his forties, you know.
Here¡¯s the video:
He made these gaffes almost one year to the day after he claimed ¡°10,000¡å had died from the Kansas tornadoes, when it was actually only 12.
John Hinderaker at Powerline points out that the media won¡¯t even come close to treating their Golden Boy like they did Dan Quayle¡¯s gaffes.
Or President Bush¡¯s, for that matter.
Marc Ambinder correctly points out that if McCain had said any of this:
[¡] the media would be all up in his grill, accusing him of a senior moment. Just saying¡.
Yup, but maybe just for laughs McCain should strike back at Obama¡¯s accusation of him ¡°losing his bearings¡± by referencing Obama¡¯s flubs and suggesting that the inexperienced, rookie Senator from Illinois apparently isn¡¯t getting in enough daily naps.
Tom Elia quips:
Personally, I don¡¯t think it was a ¡®tired mistake¡¯ as much as this is just how Chicago Democrats are used to counting during elections and election campaigns¡
Tigerhawk suggests:
Of course, there is another explanation beyond the steak sauce theory or the traditional lame excuse that he was ¡°tired¡± (yeah, right, like Winston Churchill used that excuse) or that he¡¯s ¡°lost his bearings¡±: Barack Obama is an imperialist! His mistake was not in counting the states properly, but in failing to say that he wants to visit 57 states. And who doesn¡¯t? Why didn¡¯t he say that he wanted to bring back ¡°manifest destiny¡± a little earlier in the campaign? That would have helped him with the Reagan Democrats. For sure.
Heh.
"St. Anthony Police said they were notified of the young girl's pregnancy by medical personnel after she went in for treatment at a doctor's office," KIFI-TV reports on its website.
One day later, the ABC affiliate says the young mother delivered a 6-pound girl at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Idaho.
KIDK-TV says Guadalupe Gutierrez-Juarez, a suspected illegal immigrant, is being held at the Fremont County Jail. He's due in court next week to face rape charges.
Allow me to clarify first things first. I do not personally endorse Barack Obama for our nation's presidency. However, there's some clarification on his part that probably should be examined.
First of all, I'd say that Obama has been "familiar" with Jeremiah Wright and Trinty United Church of Christ for over twenty years, and indeed became a member of that church. Sadly, if truth be told, he's been blindly promoting himself as being a moderate Christian so the more conservative of the party would swing his way. But it's back fired, and here's how. Obama, like many other "christians" may indeed be -members- of a particular church, but have very little attendance record or personal involvement in it's weekly or monthly activities. Coupled with that is the fact that many, many churches through out our nation rarely purge their membership rolls (not attendance records, but membership or parish rolls).
Secondly, clarification is needed on Trinity United Church of Christ and the actual denomination labeled or called United Church of Christ. By race, Trinity is not predominantly white. It is, by it's own account, 90% black. The denomination that Jeremiah Wright and his congregation called Trinity affiliate themselves with is the United Church of Christ, which by race, is predominantly white, by 90%.
In case you missed it, John Murtha said John McCain is too old to be president. Of all the lines I’ve heard during this political season, that’s the one I enjoyed the most. If you’re wondering why, it’s because of all the consternation it must have caused many of Mr. Murtha’s Democratic colleagues. There are, by actual account, 21 Democrats in the House as old or older than 71-year-old McCain. Charles Rangel is coming up on 78 and John Dingell is 81. I bet they gave Murtha an earful in the men’s room.
As for the Senate, although Obama and Clinton are younger than McCain, 11 Democrats are older. Some are much older. Warner is 80, Inouye and Akada are each 83, Lautenberg is 84 and Robert Byrd is 90. I can just imagine what Ted Kennedy, 76, and Dianne Feinstein, who’s just shy of 75, said when they got wind of Murtha’s crack.
John Murtha, by the way is 76! He’s just immature for his age.
In my lifetime, I have been aware of just a few cults that attracted major media attention. Mainly, they garnered a lot of ink because all of their members ended up dead. The first was the one led by Jim Jones down in Jonestown. That was the cult that managed to put Kool Aid on the front page. Next was David Koresh and his gang of wackos down in Waco. Third in line was Heaven’s Gate, as big a flop as the movie of the same name. They were the folks who believed that if they dressed all in white and killed themselves, they’d be collected in a spaceship and be flown off to a better place. And who knows? Maybe they were. At least they saved themselves all that packing and standing in line that I associate with space travel. Still, inasmuch as all of these cultists managed to wind up as dead as doornails, it’s hard to see the attraction. These days, we have the biggest cult yet -- the one led by the great and wonderful wizard of Oz, Barack Obama.
His followers would probably take exception to being regarded as cultists, but that’s certainly how they strike those of us who are on the sidelines watching them file by like mindless zombies. The things that Obama says are so out of sync with reality that the only explanation for his having a following is that they’re caught up in fanatical fervor.
For instance, he insists that he’s the one person who can bring Democrats and Republicans together, but during his two years in Washington, not only hasn’t he proposed a single bi-partisan measure, but he has the most liberal voting record in the Senate. Next, he claims he’s the fellow who can bring blacks and whites together, but he attended a black separatist church for 20 years, soaking up 1,000 Sundays worth of Rev. Wright’s verbal sewage.
But mention any of this to one of Obama’s worshippers and you either get one of those blank looks popularized by the Stepford wives or you’re called a racist.
That leads me to second a motion proposed by my wife. She thinks the word “racist” should be banished from the popular lexicon, along with the likes of chink, yid, wop, Polack and queer. People -- generally blacks and liberals -- toss the word around with impunity, labeling anyone who is opposed to affirmative action, entitlements based on pigmentation or even the prospect of Obama’s being elected president, as a racist. I say that in the future anyone caught using the r-word should be treated exactly like someone who uses the n-word. If it means that liberals will be tongue-tied for a while until they learn to expand their vocabulary, so be it.
While checking out the ages of 535 senators and representatives in Washington, I made a discovery that saddened me as a Jew. What I found was that of the 13 Jewish people currently in the Senate, 10 are Democrats and one, Bernie Sanders, is a self-described Socialist. As bad as that is, the situation is even worse in the House, where 28 out of 29 Jews are Democrats. All I can say is, Eric Cantor, of Virginia, must be one lonely guy at the annual Jewish Republican mixer.
Just six weeks ago, Sen. Barack Obama said he could no more disown his former pastor than he could disown his own white grandmother.
Until, of course, he did.
Obama finally (and firmly) disavowed the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright this week. But the moment came only after sensing his presidential bid could be undone by the simmering controversy.
In March, in his eloquent speech on race in America, Obama defended his pastor as a man of otherwise good deeds. While poignant, his original defense of a man he's known for two decades made Tuesday's political stiff- arm reek of desperation politics.
Obama's handling of this mess not only calls into question his judgment, but eventually could strike at the core of whether he's fit to be president.
As late as Monday, after Wright again suggested the U.S. government invented AIDS to eliminate minorities and defended the bigotry of Louis Farrakhan, Obama seemed to shrug it off. But by Tuesday, after video of Wright's new rants played in what seemed like an endless loop on 24-hour news channels, Obama the politician finally emerged.
"The insensitivity and the outrageousness of the statements shocked me and surprised me," Obama said. Wright's rants, he continued, contradict "everything that I'm about and who I am. . . . The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago."
Does Obama really expect Americans to believe that it was Wright, and not the prevailing political winds, that changed overnight?
He could have diffused the situation had he been more straightforward at the very beginning. Instead, the senator has struggled to explain away his relationship with Wright for months, and it's only raised more questions for voters about who Obama surrounds himself with and who might have his ear as president.
Both Obama and Wright have dismissed the notion that the reverend was his "spiritual mentor." Yet Wright officiated at Obama's wedding, baptized his two children, and one of his sermons inspired the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope." Knowing the fiery reverend was a political liability, the senator uninvited him from the official launch of his presidential campaign. Yet he prayed privately with him moments before his announcement.
Now we're supposed to actually believe that Obama was surprised by Wright's views?
This dust-up got personal Monday when Wright implied Obama quietly believes in Wright's views and suggested that Obama's speech on race last month was nothing but politics.
Obama, trying to win over some of the white, working-class voters who have been casting their ballots for Hillary Clinton, was just doing what politicians do, Wright said.
The senator may not have been doing what politicians do with his artful speech on race last month. But when Obama tossed his one-time friend under the bus Tuesday, he was definitely doing what politicians do.
Our parents teach us at an early age that we will be judged by the company we keep. That's true in life, but especially in politics.
-city of seven hills (honolulu hawaii-obamas birth place)
there are only 2 on earth, rome and honolulu
-the a/c will have no sons
-he will come on a white horse (his mother a white whore)
-he will appeal to masses (they call him the messiah)
-master orator (even though he has his teleprompter)
-he was sworn in by the koran q'ran qu'ran (w/e i tried for all you liberal shitlicks that i kno will RE: the fuck outta this)
-brings message of peace, but in reality has war in his heart (duh, hes islam)
What do you call a candidate who wins 90 percent of the African-American vote, between 30 percent and 50 percent of the Hispanic vote and 40 percent of the white vote in a tight Democratic primary race?
A general election loser.
Apply those percentages to the general election, and the candidate will bomb. In 2004, President Bush won 43 percent of the Hispanic vote, 58 percent of the white vote and 11 percent of the African-American vote. That means that John Kerry did better among Hispanics than Barack Obama has done in the Democratic primaries; better among whites than Obama has done in the Democratic primaries; and almost as well among African-Americans. Obama's coalition is Kerry's, but weaker.
In a general election, candidates must appeal to the broadest base of support in order to win. Relying on small coteries of like-raced voters simply will not do it. And the simple fact is that Barack Obama will gain the Democratic nomination by winning intellectual centers, black voters and just enough whites to beat a deeply flawed Hillary Clinton.
This is not a winning coalition. It is, in fact, a recipe for disaster against John McCain.
The black vote counts for a far greater percentage in the Democratic primaries than it does in the general election; McCain can lose virtually the entire black vote and still win handily (Bush did it in 2000 and 2004, Bush's father did it in 1988 and Reagan did it in 1984 and 1980).
McCain will do far better among whites than Hillary did. Obama cut especially into Clinton's main base of support -- whites -- by exploiting her gender, winning 40 percent of white males in Indiana and 45 percent of white males in North Carolina. McCain is far more appealing to white men than Clinton. Hillary is perceived as a shrew -- most men find her unpalatable. If Obama could not win more than 45 percent of white men in North Carolina running against Clinton, how can he hope to beat that percentage against McCain?
And then there's the Hispanic vote. For a Democrat, Obama is shockingly unpopular among Hispanics -- he won just 32 percent of California's Hispanic vote in the Democratic primary. McCain, by contrast, is incredibly popular among Hispanics -- he routinely wins 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in his Arizona Senate contests. Such percentages will not translate directly to the general election, of course -- there are more registered Hispanic Democrats than Hispanic Republicans. But those percentages bode ill for Obama, who will struggle to overcome racial barriers, as well as an immigration-friendly Republican like McCain, who also shares many family values with Hispanic Catholics.
These numbers are not likely to change significantly before November. This is because Obama has established himself as a candidate -- he is a mixed-race Adlai Stevenson carbon copy with better rhetorical skill. His association with Jeremiah Wright will not win him additional white votes; his elitism will not win him additional lower-class votes; his racial appeal does not have the same appeal to Hispanic voters.
This leaves McCain in the unexpected position of November front-runner. He will almost certainly win Florida and Ohio, and he will challenge in Pennsylvania. He will retain the states President Bush won, as well.
She doesn't appear to be racist, nor does she seem to hate this country. Fact is, we DO live in a multicultural country, and lots of people value their cultural heritage and the communities they came from.
Not really much more to it than that....although I did find this funny:
But rather than celebrate, she is horrified that black alumni identify with our common American culture more than they value the color of their skin.
“I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility.”
See....when Michelle Obama wrote it, she HOPED that black alumni would still maintain a level of identification with the black community (a fairly harmless idea...)
But, once the right-winger gets ahold of it, he decides that instead of testing out her hypothesis, only to find that the facts didn't support it, he decides that she is HORRIFIED. Suddenly Michelle Obama is HORRIFIED, even though there is nothing at all to indicate anything even close to that in her own words.
You see, this is the kind of distortion and dishonesty that right-wingers live in every day.
They read this distorted crap from their right-wing sources, and then take it as gospel because.....well....they're kind of stupid.
I guess conservatives just hate America....that's why they lie so much.
For months during the nominating process, Michelle Obama’s graduating thesis has been under lock and key at Princeton University. The university stated suspiciously that it would be available to the public after the general election. Nobody knew why until now.
The sequestering of an academic thesis was unprecedented at Princeton, a liberal university that prides itself on open access to scholarly information. Despite repeated attempts by media organizations to view the document, Obama’s alma mater would provide no explanation for hiding it.
The thesis written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn, is titled “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community.” You can download it here.
Politico.com received a possibly redacted copy from the Obama campaign recently. The excerpts show that Obama identifies with black militancy, utterly obsessed with race in America and her own blackness. It is a fundamentally racist document, shocking when considering that this scholarship is the product of a presidential candidate’s wife at a great university.
She mourns that she will face “further integration and/or assimilation into a white cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becoming a full participant.”
Obama’s thesis is full of paranoid claims and overtly racist feelings. She cannot accept the idea of a diverse student body working together in a melting pot. Others worry about her black militancy here.
“I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don’t belong. Regardless of the circumstances under which I interact with whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be black first and a student second.”
Not only does she see separate black and white societies in America, but she elevates black over white in her world.
“There was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the black community, I was somehow obligated to this community and would utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit this community first and foremost. “
What is Michelle Obama planning to do with her future resources that will elevate black over white in America?
Most alarming is her use of the terms “separationist” and “integrationist” when describing the views of black people. She clearly identifies herself with a “separationist” view of race.
“By actually working with the Black lower class or within their communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better understand the desperation of their situation and feel more hopeless about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to their plight.”
Here is another typical passage that is uncomfortable for its poor writing, but nevertheless ominous in meaning:
“Attending Princeton has probably forced [black alumni] to compete intellectually with Whites more than with Blacks and, thus, they have probably become more familiar with Whites intellectually, but in other activities they are likely to have gained familiarity with Whites if they did not spend time with Whites in other activities besides intellectual ones. “
Is it no wonder that most black alumni ignored her racist questionnaire? Only 89 responded out of 400 who were asked for input.
The following passage appears to be a call to arms for affirmative action policies that could be the hallmark of an Obama administration.
“Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of their enrollments.”
The conclusion of the thesis is alarming. Michelle Obama’s poll of black alumni helps her understand that other black students at Princeton do not share her obsession with blackness. She laments that only 1/3 say they are more comfortable around black people than white people.
But rather than celebrate, she is horrified that black alumni identify with our common American culture more than they value the color of their skin.
“I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility.”
Michelle Obama does not look into a crowd and see Americans. She sees black people and white people eternally conflicted with one another.
That is a very divisive view for a potential first lady that would do untold damage to race relations in this country in a Barack Obama administration. Michelle Obama’s intellectually refined racism should give all Americans pause for deep concern.
Throughout his campaign Barack Obama has mocked his critics, noting that they just don't get what a novel figure and consistent unifier he has been for his whole life. "They say: We don't know enough about him. His pastor once said something. He's got a funny name, sounds Muslim."
But of late Obama's pastor has been saying a lot, and finally Obama has been forced to denounce him. For the first time Obama has called the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's views "ridiculous" and even accused him of being a purveyor of "hate."
To which one might say: better late than never. Maybe Obama never really knew how radical this guy is. But how likely is this? Let's remember that Reverend Wright is the one who has been consistent over the years. He used to believe that the U.S. government manufactured the AIDS virus and deliberately spread it in the black community, and he still believes it. He thinks America may have conspired to bomb itself on 9/11, and he's never wavered in that conviction. Now, and before, he thinks that "God Bless America" is better expressed as "God Damn America!"
Obama has been hearing such messages for more than two decades, packaged in an incendiary racial ideology which surpasses anything that Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton have ever said. And yet Obama selected this man for his mentor and even called him "family." By contrast with this white grandmother, Obama actually chose to make Wright part of his intimate circle.
Even six weeks ago, having heard all the controversial comments by Wright, Obama was standing by his man. He distanced himself from some of Wright's views while refusing to repudiate Wright. He said he could no more repudiate Wright than he could repudiate his own family. This by the way is the speech that many pundits hailed for its originality and brilliance. I think it will go down as one of the biggest blunders in American political history.
What Obama should have said in that speech: "Once upon a time this man rescued my spiritual life. A long time ago when I was spiritually and emotionally at a low point, he was there for me and he helped me get over the hill. So I owe him big time. I know that he's said some crazy things, but I've overlooked them, because of what he did for me." Instead Obama tried to sound like W.E.B. Du Bois. He impressed the liberal intelligentsia, while shooting himself politically in the foot.
Now Obama would have us believe that, as far as Wright is concerned, he's had just about enough. But why? What has Wright said that has finally caused his disciple to end their relationship? While Wright has been pontificating a lot lately, he has not given us any new bombshells. But he did suggest that, in his beliefs like the one about the U.S. government and AIDS, Obama agrees with him.
Wright noted that of course Obama is now saying something different; that's because Obama is now running for president. So he has to say something different! Translation: what we see with Obama is not what we get. And Wright is in a position to know. He's nursed Obama intellectually and spiritually over the years. It is Obama himself who has given us this man, and assured us of his integrity and reliability.
We are a race of people, due to slave masters’ separating families, who can't trace our family tree. We have no sense of a home land. By this I mean, you can say that my family is Ireland. You say well duh, you’re from Africa. Africa is a continent made up of lots of countries, which have different languages, traditions, and cultures. So being from Africa tells me little to nothing about my ancestors.
As a black person in America I can totally understand why blacks have a subconscious sense of racism that we just can't shake. But I don't understand why some whites have such a strong since of racism. Why hate us? What have black people as a whole ever done to you?
I have heard white people say that blacks have ruined this country. How? You can't just make such a powerful statement without facts to back it up. Through out history blacks have been murdered, lynched, beaten physically and mentally. Laws have been written to keep up down, but still we rise. How can you not see the power in that? From slaves to Senators, how can you deny our strength.
As blacks we have to let that slave mentality go. Everything is not the "white mans" fault. At some point we have to take responsibility for our own actions. The "man" may be bring dugs into the country, but it is you who sell them for him. The "man" is not in our community doing drive buy shootings. At one time the "man" may have been killing us, now we are killing ourselves. We know the system is not fair by design, but there is a way to change it. Stop giving all your economic power away to people that do nothing for us.
Why is it that white Americans are the most hated group of people in the world? Not white people, white Americans. Why is it that blacks are only hated and looked down upon in America? Is this like the bully syndrome that we tell our kids about? You know, bullies have low self esteem and self hatred issues, that's why the pick on those they feel are weaker than them.
It could even be that white Americans are so disappointed in what they have allowed this country to become and need someone to blame. It is always easier to blame others than yourself.
My people, please stop thinking that your self worth is measured by how much "stuff" you have. Stop being a walking billboard for companies that don't even value you as a consumer. Your car should not cost more than your yearly salary. I know this is going to piss some people off, but if you make $35,000 a year you should not drive a $45,000 car.
If as a planet we could just understand that we don't have to all be the same to live together, we could accomplish world peace.
We can agree to disagree, without being disagreeable.
The gov't is not your friend. Wake up to the truth about the many wars(on drugs, terrorism, your freedom...etc). Learn about how the Federal Reserve is not even a gov't entity and how it is ripping us all off, along with it's good buddy, the IRS!
Did you know that the taxes you pay out of your hard earned pay check doesn't go to support gov't services? It goes straight to the Federal Reserve to pay those PRIVATE BANKERS interest on the money it prints and loans to our federal gov't. Investigate it yourself. Learn all about it!
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Wake up!!!]]>