I don't know about you, but if I seriously doubt that President Obama would BE President Obama if he didn't love this country. Remember when he was the first candidate (that wasn't a previous First Lady) to get Secret Service Detail during the election? That was when he was still a LONG SHOT, he could have said "you know what, it's not worth it" and walk away, but he didn't.
With all of the bullshit this President is dealing with on TOP of the regular BS Presidents have to deal with, I wonder how anyone could question his love for this country. I could see if he just up and QUIT in the middle of his term. . .
Not to mention the fact that his EVERY MOVE is recorded and blogged about on the Internet. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a site out there monitoring how often he went to the bathroom. Seriously, you'd think those Republicans would admire him for giving up so much personal privacy. Then again, maybe not.
Literally, EVERYTHING the man does is criticized. This may as well be his theme song. Remember when Chicago lost the Olympics and conservatives CELEBRATED?
And yet he's still there, he's still fighting, he's not giving up. He continues to work so even those who hate him can have a better life, and only 27% of Republicans believe he loves America?
No wonder only 20% of the country identifies themselves as Republicans.
. . . and heads explode all over the place. I just ran into this crap:
The last thing Barack Obama needed at this moment in his presidency and our politics is a prize for a promise.
Right, this is the absolute WORSE thing that could have EVER happened.
At this moment many Americans are longing for a president who is more bully, less pulpit.
Really? We just gleefully left that behind when we voted for President Barack Hussein Obama over McCain. I think we like having a President that can take over the pulpit when necessary, and knows when to be a bully. Just because he's not STEAMROLLING over all of his opponents all the time, doesn't mean all he does is TALK. He's actually gotten a lot accomplished in just 9 months considering the children he has to deal with in Congress.
Compare this to Greg Mortenson, nominated for the prize by some members of Congress, who the bookies gave 20-to-1 odds of winning. Son of a missionary, a former army Medic and mountaineer, he has made it his mission to build schools for girls in places where opium dealers and tribal warlords kill people for trying. His Central Asia Institute has built more than 130 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan — a mission which has, along the way, inspired millions of people to view the protection and education of girls as a key to peace and prosperity and progress.
Ah, so there we have it, did the author of that piece lose some money in a bet or something? President Obama didn't ASK for the award, he didn't lobby for it. He had nothing to do with the decision.
And of course the idiots on Morning Joe freak out:
The cast of "Morning Joe" Friday tried valiantly to find any possible good in President Obama's receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. They failed, but they did offer the president some tips on how to move past what they saw as the awful embarrassment of winning an international award.
"The upside is the European community is embracing this president and saying we like the direction that he is taking this country in and it's drastically different," suggested Mika Brzezinski. She was quickly shot down.
"The upside is the Nobel Prize committee that has had suspect selections in the past has just befuddled a lot of people across the world," said host Joe Scarborough.
"I predict right now that he will find a way to basically turn it down," Time's Mark Halperin added . "I think he is going to say, I share this with the world or whatever. I don't think he'll embrace this. Because there is no upside."
"The damage is done," Brzezinski responded.
The Nobel committee recognized Obama’s efforts to solve complex global problems including working toward a world free of nuclear weapons.
“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said.
Jagland said the decision was “unanimous” and came with ease.
He rejected the notion that Obama had been recognized prematurely for his efforts and said the committee wanted to promote the president just it had Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 in his efforts to open up the Soviet Union.
“His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population,” it said.
THAT'S a bad thing? Seriously? Well, haters are gonna hate. Have we fallen so damn far that winning a prize for PEACE is a bad thing? It's not about fucking Europe, it's about President Obama bringing the same Hope to the World that he brought to most of America. Ugh, I'm over the haters, and they are not going to bring me down. Hell, I think he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for not cursing out the idiots in the GOP and the (supposedly liberal) media (MSNBC is terrible right now, I don't even want to know what they are saying on FAUX and FAUX-lite).
So I'd like to dedicate this song to Pres. Obama, just keep on shaking the haters off Mr. President:
Just think, exactly a week ago today President Obama was allegedly a failure because Chicago didn't get the Olympics, now the man is a Nobel Peace Prize winner!
In an uncomfortable interview on "Meet the Press," the embattled Democratic Governor ducked and dodged a barrage of questions over a report that the Obama administration had pushed for him to step aside in 2010.
"I'm blind, but I'm not oblivious," said Paterson. "I realize that there are people who don't want me to run."
"All right," said host David Gregory, "but let's be very clear here about what happened. The president's team -- and others speaking on their behalf -- said to you, 'You should not run.' Isn't that right?"
"I can't say that, David," Paterson responded. "There are people who have told me not to run. There are a lot of people who told -- have told me not to run."
Gregory pushed: "But the White House specifically said, 'Don't run.'"
"I don't know that," Paterson replied.
YOU DON'T KNOW? You and your wife and supporters have been running around letting people think President Obama threw you under a proverbial bus, and YOU DON'T KNOW if he told you to get out of the race? Typically when people don't KNOW if someone said anything, they don't go around perpetuating the rumor that the person said it. Well, people do, but people with CLASS don't. All President Obama did was express concerns to you through someone else in PRIVATE, he didn't put you on front street, and now you're sitting up on Meet the Press looking like your SNL character talkin' bout "I don't know if President Obama told me to get out of the race."
Gov. Paterson, you are exemplifying one of the big problems in politics right now, it's all about the games and the truth be damned.
He is a notorious ladies' man and has spent the summer battling a series of sex scandals.
So when Silvio Berlusconi turned on the charm in the presence of Michelle Obama, it's no surprise the US president was instantly on his guard.
Attending a dinner for the wives of world leaders alone, the Italian prime minister looked thrilled as America's First Lady entered the room.
He threw his hands up in a delighted gesture, pulled a rather alarming expression and for several seconds, appeared to be contemplating taking Mrs Obama in a passionate embrace.
But a handshake - and a filthy look from Obama - were all he got.
Was it only yesterday I was pointing out how incompetent Gov. Paterson is, and how he hasn't done anything to inspire loyalty from President Obama? Well Paterson just keeps on digging that hole:
Paterson chalked up Obama’s intervention to Washington politics.
“I understand the president’s concern and I understand concern of staff members at the White House. If you look at it from their perspective, they haven’t exactly been able to govern in the first year of their administration in the way that other administrations have, where you would have, theoretically, a period in which the new administration is allowed to pass the needed pieces of legislation.”
One of the things that has made the White House angriest at Paterson is his linking his woes to the president's. The last time was about race, of course, which made it worse.
Every state accepted stimulus money – some said they weren’t, but all accepted stimulus money – it was shocking that the vote on the stimulus money for the ARRA went along party lines. Here, with the healthcare legislation, they’re talking about negotiating to get one Republican senator to vote with them – they can’t get one Republican?
Paterson really just needs to shut up, I'm pretty sure he's not even on Obama's radar right now, so why he'd go and essentially pick a fight with Obama (and Rahm for that matter) is just dumb. Paterson is trying to play with people that are many levels above him. This isn't even about "black on black crime" so to speak, this is about a Governor who apparently has no TACT at all, looking at how he handled the Caroline Kennedy situation, and how he's handling this now. I guess he's taking the Sarah Palin route, that any publicity is good publicity even if it makes you look like a complete asshole.
Just ran into this on the web, and I think we need to make it viral and pass it around. It's Obama laying out his plan for health care in a relatively short video that is easy to understand.
So now, when people say they don't know President Obama's plan, we can just show them this video. Even if they can't hear it, they can read the bullet points conveniently placed on the right.
We have to be vigilent now because the "GOP" is continuing to spread lies about the plan, the latest of which being that the health care will be rationed by RACE (who's not racist again? Sounds like playing on people's racist fears to me).
Bullet points in the video:
1. If you like your insurance, you can keep it 2. No more denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions 3. No dropped coverage when you get sick 4. Eliminates yearly and lifetime caps on coverage 5. Caps out-of-pocket expenses 6. Required coverage for preventative care
If you don't have insurance: 1. A new insurance marketplace, the Exchange 2. New tax xredits for individuals and small business 3. Low-cost coverage for all individuals and small businesses 4. A public health insurance option
For All Americans: 1. Won't add a dime to deficit and paid for upfront 2. Independent medical experts to identify waste, fraud, and abuse 3. Required coverage for preventative care 4. Eliminates the prescription drug "Donut Hole" 5. Immediate medical malpractice reform projects
Video ends with: "The time for bickering is over, the time for games has passed. Now is the time for action. Now is when we must bring the BEST ideas of both parties together and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on HealthCare!"
Since when does Obama have to support someone in a position he doesn't think s/he should be in simply because s/he is Black?
The economy is still in the toilet and many states have Govs that are acting like fools right now or have ruined their state's infrastructure. Take one Mark Sanford. Take one Arnold Schwarzenegger. I don't see Obama asking them to go away. Oh yeah I'm supposed to dismiss them because they're Republicans. Does that mean I'm also supposed to ignore the fact that Paterson is African-American? He's not half-African and half-white like our president. He's not a post-racial crossover politician either. He's part of the bonafied black elite in fact. His family is well-established along with the Dinkins, the Suttons and many others. So am I expected to ignore the blatant disrespect the Obama administration (or is it the "Rahm & David Show") have shown by PUBLICLY doing this? I don't think so. Two wrongs don't make it right.
No, you don't see Obama saying anything about the Republican Governors because he's not a Republican. He doesn't care if Republicans get re-elected or not. Wrong or right, that's the truth of the situation. No one can ignore the fact that Paterson is an African American, but the fact that he's an African American doesn't mean Obama shouldn't feel free to voice his own opinion (if he even did, because there is some evidence that Obama himself hasn't spoken on the matter). Also, no one with any sense is claiming Obama is a post-racial anything. Simply because most Blacks are proud that Obama has been elected as President doesn't mean we think racism is over. A non-elite Black man couldn't have done what Obama did with his campaign.
And crying about "disrespect" considering how Paterson and his administration treated Caroline Kennedy (whether he was actually considering appointing her to Clinton's seat or not).
Governor David Paterson can’t catch a break from registered voters in New York State. Only one-fifth thinks he is performing well in office while 34% say he is doing a poor job. Paterson has had no luck climbing out of the political basement. In Marist’s June survey, the governor garnered a 21% approval rating. One month prior, he chalked up 19%.
He's getting close to Bush 2008 territory with those poll numbers.
And while the author of the Obama Hates Black People post I'm responding to is talking about Obama disrespecting Paterson, President Obama had every intention of keeping the conversations private:
The decision to ask Mr. Paterson to step aside was proposed by political advisers to Mr. Obama, but approved by the president himself, one of the administration officials said.
“Is there concern about the situation in New York? Absolutely,” the second administration official said Saturday evening. “Has that concern been conveyed to the governor? Yes.”
The administration officials and the Democratic operative spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions with the governor were intended to be confidential.
Unfortunately, President Obama doesn't have time to make sure random "democratic operatives" keep their mouths shut. Even if Obama had taken the time to call Gov. Paterson himself, it would have been leaked. That's the nature of politics these days.
This latest move by Obama gives me the creeps. If he wanted to humiliate Paterson this very public chastisement should do that. It has the air of a personal beef and Obama thinks it's okay to treat Paterson poorly in retaliation but rewarded Hillary Clinton with the Secretary of State position?!!! SMH. What of the unforeseen ramifications of such an action? While it's true that blacks are not a monolith and not in lockstep with each other on every issue this is still a bad look. Obama is very calculated and cautious in his moves. He's trying to deny he's black right now so this obvious lack of faith gesture is especially galling to me. Yet I already hear the deniers discussing how he "needs" to do this because of blah blah blah.
Personal beef? If President Obama has a personal beef with Gov. Paterson, he STILL wouldn't do a "very public chastisement", in fact, he didn't do a "very public chastisement" in this case. I'm not understanding what Acts of Faith in Love is trying to prove with her post. It seems to me (based on this blog post) that she has a beef against President Obama and is hardly looking at this through a non-biased lens.
What good does it do the Black community to have people in high positions that are performing poorly? Should we just continue to try to get these people elected because it's better to have a Black person in the position doing a bad job than it is to have a Whtie person in the position doing a good job?
It's a betrayal plain and simple. Oh wait...I retract that. It can't be a betrayal because Obama is not a real ally of blacks to begin with. Not the collective anyway. I could mention that black voters are a fickle bunch who don't exercise any discretion or build coalitions to wield power effectively. I could mention too many focus on pulling a lever or punching a hole during a national election and remain silent and uninvolved the remainder of the time. I could mention too many have treated this president as some sort of prized calf where any criticism is taken as an invitation to fight. There's a huge lack of discernment in effect. He's not going to hitch himself to a wagon that could very well fall off the side of a cliff. Yet it's still a slap in the face with the relative ease by which Obama abandons those blacks who are not "useful" to him but says nothing of the blatant disrespect heaped upon him by the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, Dobbs, etc.
How exactly is President Obama NOT a real ally of Blacks? What has he done to show that he doesn't care about Black people? Sounds to me, what I just block quoted is saying that Black people aren't real allies of themselves. They go vote, but they don't stay involved? They don't know how to build coalitions or wield power? That doesn't sound like something Obama can fix. And no SANE person will hitch him/herself to a wagon that "could very well fall off the side of a cliff." And Obama DOES talk about the blatant disrespect heaped on him by Right Wing Smear Artists, but as the President of the United States of America, he can't spend all of his time complaining about people who don't like him. He calls out FOX all the time, and just slapped them in the face yesterday by refusing to give them an interview when he gave one to everyone else (even Univision). if Obama called out all of the people we'd like him to call out by name he'd only given them "credibility" which wouldn't help his case at all. Sometimes it's really just better to ignore the ignorant people and continue trying to reach those who approach debate respectfully and make arguments in good faith.
The situation in New York isn't a "black vs white" situation, it's about electoral viability. Looking at that blog post the author seems to be a resident of NY, well instead of whining about some perceived disrespect being heaped on Gov. Paterson by President Obama, maybe she should go volunteer for Paterson's campaign, since he's probably going to get primaried since he's determined to run for a full term.
Also, based on this NYT article, Gov. Paterson hasn't done much (if anything) to earn any "loyalty" from President Obama:
Mr. Paterson, who was elevated to governor from lieutenant governor in March 2008, in the wake of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s resignation after a prostitution scandal, announced in October that he would seek a full term.
But in the intervening months, White House officials have watched the deteriorating political fortunes of Mr. Paterson with growing alarm, as his popularity plunged and he committed a series of missteps that raised questions about his ability to govern.
In addition, the relationship between Mr. Obama and Mr. Paterson has been shaky, dating to the governor’s selection of a replacement for Hillary Rodham Clinton, who resigned from the Senate to become secretary of state. White House officials had received assurances from Mr. Paterson that he would not pick Kirsten E. Gillibrand, then a little-known Democratic congresswoman from a heavily Republican district outside of Albany, according to a prominent Democrat who discussed the matter with a senior White House official.
The White House and Democratic House leaders were concerned that her sudden departure from the House would give Republicans a prime opportunity to reclaim the seat. Aides to the president conveyed those concerns to the governor, according to Democrats who have discussed the matter with Mr. Obama’s aides.
In the end, Mr. Paterson selected Ms. Gillibrand anyway, infuriating White House officials and Democratic leaders in Washington. Making matters worse, the governor also publicly snubbed Caroline Kennedy, a close personal friend and ally of Mr. Obama’s, who announced in December her wish to be chosen as Mrs. Clinton’s replacement, but then withdrew her name from consideration in January, citing personal reasons.
The concerns of Obama aides deepened last month, when the governor, speaking on a radio talk show in New York, suggested that criticism of him was racially motivated and that Mr. Obama would soon suffer similar attacks. Mr. Obama’s advisers, who have long sought to defuse the issue of race, found the comments inflammatory and expressed their displeasure directly to the Paterson camp.
Dr. Dyson tried to teach them and they just weren't getting it. No one is claiming it's ALL about Racism, but there is a lot out there that is based on racism. For them to cite poll numbers to back up their claims that there's no racism at all involved is disingenuous at best. I've stated repeatedly that I think it's more ignorance than anything. Sure, some of it is just because he's a Democrat. If they thought they could get away with claiming Obama is a murderer they would, in fact they do call him a "baby killer." But there are a lot of images being used by the "tea baggers" that are racially motivated.
Then Joe Scarborough tries to act like Rush Limbaugh has never said anything racist. He said this just YESTERDAY:
You put your kids on a school bus you expect safety but in Obama's America the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering 'yeah, right on, right on, right on.' Of course everybody said the white kid deserved it he was born a racist, he's white.
And he's been saying crap like that since Obama was inaugurated, and probably before then. "Obama's America" as if it's not the United States of America. As if suddenly by virtue of having an African American President everything is going to change and White people will suddenly be oppressed, and Black people are going to take over. It's sickening.
Dr. Dyson tried his hardest to get through to the other people in the conversation, but judging from their dumbstruck looks through most of it, they didn't get it.
Since when it is 'breaking news' that someone actually tells the damn truth about something? Earlier today, Pres. Jimmy Carter had the following to say:
So basically he said that a lot of the vitriol against President Obama is based on racism. And people are SHOCKED by this? He told the damn truth. Sure, there is some opposition out there that is just based on the fact that Obama is a Democrat, and there may even be some who are seriously against his policy, but to claim that race isn't an issue when you see signs like:
>
Some Conservative TV Talking Heads would like to say that these same protests were taking place when Bush was in office giving out Tarp money. Really? I don't recall seeing people carrying Bush= Hitler signs? Hell, at the health care rally on Sunday there were a LOT of signs there that had NOTHING to do with any of the current health care proposals? I stated a couple of days ago that it's ignorance, and I still think that's what most of it is, but I also think a lot of it is flat out racism.
President Obama has been in office all of 8-9 months. He hasn't done ANYTHING to warrant people showing up at his rallies with guns just because they can. He's done nothing to warrant the hatred coming from the right. He's done nothing to be called a racist on a popular (unfortunately) 24 hour news station.
I am reluctant to say it's ALL racism, but to pretend that a LOT of the people you see going to those rallies aren't racist is deluding yourself. And instead of the Republican Party calling these people out and trying to distance themselves, they are holding on to them because they are pretty much what's left of their party. They are embracing the hatred against the President of this country in a way that is disturbing, and the level to which they condone the lack of civility is evident by the outburst by Congressman Joe Wilson during President Obama's joint address to Congress last week. As it turns out, Wilson has a history of doing racist things.
The election of an African American President did nothing to eradicate racism in this country, if anything it made the "hardcore" racists more bold. They no longer even TRY to hide it, they like to revel in their hatred, and that is truly disgusting. There are policy arguments that can be made against what President Obama is doing, but the arguments actually being advanced are based on lies that center around making President Obama scary.
I do not deny that a lot of the flack that President Obama is getting from the right is from racists. However, I don't think we should get into the habit of blaming ALL of the vitriol from the conservatives on Racism. Most of it, I think, is just plain ignorance. We'd be hearing the same exact arguments against Obama's policies if he were White instead of Black, the signs just wouldn't be as racially hinged. The problem is, people don't seem to be thinking for themselves. Instead of going to many different sources to get their news, they watch only one channel (the right wing typically watches FOX News (or as I say it FAUX News) and the left is more inclined to watch MSNBC after 8 PM) and all they get is a skewed idea of the issues of the day and the President's stance.
As an African American, I am tired of seeing racist being synonymous with policy criticism. Is racism there? Yes. But it's not everything, and people these days tend to say "racism" before they label it for what it really is-- pure ignorance. We can't just keep throwing "racism" around when sometimes that's not what it is because it makes it less likely that people will believe it when it really IS racism. Why do you think President Obama and his team never play that card, even when it's warranted sometimes?
I didn't like George Bush. I may have felt a little pity for him sometimes, but I didn't like him. That being said, I still showed the necessary respect for his office when he was the President of the United States. I don't recall ever hearing about mass protests and school districts refusing to allow him to speak to school children, and we wouldn't have heard it.
With that being said, the blatant disrespect shown to President Obama by Republicans is really starting to piss me off. First I read this crap yesterday:
"What you're seeing is folks on my side anxious to see what the president has to say tomorrow night," Chambliss said. "I think he's gonna have to express some humility based on what we've seen around the country this August and that's not his inclination."
I don't recall any Republicans (or even Democrats) saying that BUSH needed to show humility, and that guy had an ego BIGGER than the whole damn state of Texas even when he was wrong as hell. We simply disagreed and tried to press our logical points (of course, there's always the fringe, I'm talking about elected officials).
The Arlington Independent School District in Texas decided not to show President Obama’s address to students live yesterday because it reportedly didn’t want to interrupt its regularly scheduled lesson plans. However, the district has now decided to bus its students off-campus on Sept. 21 to hear President Bush speak:
District officials said it’s part of a Cowboys Stadium field trip that the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee invited 28 fifth-grade classes to attend several months ago.
In addition to hearing from Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, the students will hear from legendary Dallas Cowboys players and North Texas business and community leaders. The event launches the Super Bowl committee’s largest-ever youth education program.
What. The. FUCK!?!?!?! So they couldn't SIT in the school and listen to President Obama talk about education, but they can be BUSED to a fucking stadium to listen to Bush? The same Bush who has never shown any particular like for education, learning, science, or anything that will make someone smarter? To be fair, it's not former President Bush's fault, I'm sure HE didn't tell the school district to not show Obama's speech. Hell, I'm sure if his daughters were still in school, he'd have let them watch the speech.
But seriously?
Barack Obama WON the election fair and square.
Let me say that again, BARACK OBAMA WON THE ELECTION FAIR AND SQUARE.
EVEN if you didn't vote for him, even if your state went MORE "red" than it was before, even if you dislike or even HATE his policies, HE'S THE FUCKING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!
I don't know what it's about, although I'm very much inclined to say the fact that he's African American AND a Democrat doesn't help, and I really don't care. He's the President! If you don't like the fact that he's the President soooooooo much that you can't show him the basic respect that the office demands, you are more than welcome to leave the country.
The irony is, the President who actually respects these assholes is the one getting treated like shit constantly. EVERY DAY the Republicans and their cohorts do something to show disrespect, whether it's refusing to allow school children to hear a fucking pep talk about school or talking shit about his policies overseas, and I'm sick of it. If Democrats treated a REPUBLICAN President the way the Republicans treat Obama, they'd have a conniption.
To clarify, I'm largely talking about people in positions of power, not teabaggers (although the teabaggers are BACKED by people in positions of power), even though the every day citizens are pushing the envelope too. And yes, I realize our side has its fringe too, the difference is, the fringe isn't the mainstream. Cross Posted @ DailyKos
Look, we all like the idea of bipartisanship, it's a lofty goal. However, I think when it comes to health care, bipartisanship needs to go out the window. Stop worrying about Repubicans and get the Blue Dogs in line. Besides, we all know when health care passes and starts working for folks, the Republicans will take credit for it anyway so maybe people will believe it was a bipartisan effort down the line. Yesterday, you had this to say about Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa:
Now, I think that there are some of my Republican friends on Capitol Hill who are sincerely trying to figure out if they can find a health care bill that works -- Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Olympia Snowe from Maine have been -- (applause) -- yes, I got to admit I like Olympia, too. (Laughter.) They are diligently working to see if they can come up with a plan that could get both Republican and Democratic support.
So imagine my surprise when I read "'Grassley Endorses "Death Panel" Rumor: 'You Have Every Right To Fear'" on the Politics page as the headline on the Huffington Post.
WINTERSET — Americans should be scared of provisions in a health care bill currently in the U.S. House because it will allow the government to have a say in end-of-life decisions, Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley told a crowd of more than 300 Wednesday morning.
“In the House bill, there is counseling for end of life,” Grassley said. “You have every right to fear. You shouldn’t have counseling at the end of life, you should have done that 20 years before. Should not have a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma”
Really? Like seriously? THIS is the guy you cited as really "sincerely" trying to work out something on healthcare? Forgive me if I'm not convinced. And this isn't the first time he's shown a willingness to promote the talking points of the far right that are being used to derail ANY type of health care reform:
This isn’t the first time Grassley has used debunked rumors during the health care debate. Last week he said Democratic U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts would not receive quality care for his brain tumor under President Obama’s health care plan because the care would go to a younger person who can “contribute more to the economy.”
So President Obama, I implore you, please stop wasting your time and effort on these people. We may not like Blue Dogs, but at least they aren't endorsing BS rumors like the "death panels"
Sincerely,
Muzikal203
P.S. Maybe you should watch this video from the Colbert Report, Johnathan Cohn does a good job of dealing with the "deather" crap:
P.P.S. I get that you needed to at least make the effort, the sane people in this country saw you make the effort, it's safe to move on and get something passed now without them.
P.P.P.S. Give my love to Michelle and the girls :o) Cross-posted at DailyKos
I know lots of you disagree with me, but I am not afraid for President Obama's life. I have never been afraid for his life. Yes, I realize there are crazy people out there and there are "more" threats against Obama's life than any other recent President. The only thing that surprised me when I heard that was that it's only 30 a day. But still I'm not afraid.
Yes, I'm Black, but I never even entertained the thought of not supporting Obama because I was afraid someone would kill him.
Yes, I know he had to get Secret Service protection earlier in the campaign than anyone else who didn't already have it.
I know these things. I know racism is still alive and well. But I am not afraid.
Perhaps it's because I'm part of that younger generation who has largely gotten this far in life without being subjected to outright racism. We came about when the racists were the minority, not the majority. Racism wasn't the law of the land when we were born. Perhaps it's because I never thought my own life was in danger because I'm Black.
I agree that racism is alive and thriving in some areas of this country and among some racial groups, but that group is largely becoming even more of a minority than it was before. Most of the country watching what's going on are appalled, they aren't cheering these wackos on. Those racists who are so proud to be racist are the MINORITY. Obama's election did not create any racists who weren't already that way. Maybe before his election those people were doing a better job of "hiding" their racism, but they were still racists. There are some people out there who just hate Obama regardless of his skin color, just like there were people out there who hated every president. That's just life.
I trust the Secret Service to keep him safe.
Racism is a real problem in America, mostly because no one seems to want to deal with it. People complain about it constantly, but don't really want to do anything to remedy it because it may not be politically expedient.
She called on another supporter, whose voice quivered and broke with barely contained emotion as she explained how important it is to her, personally, that our country change course. She explained that she had just returned from Oregon where she campaigned for Obama and attended the 75,000-person rally by the river. She had noticed, she said, that the Secret Service had increased security dramatically for Barack Obama's rallies since the Phoenix rally in January.
The room collectively gasped and murmured, some aghast that these fears were being spoken aloud directly to Barack Obama's wife. Some nodded, concern and fear on their faces. Others shifted on their feet, displaying a range of emotions -- concern, discomfort with the topic, indignation.
The woman continued: "What can you tell us..." and then her voice caught and broke as a sob rose up from her chest. She paused for a moment. "I'm afraid of what might happen. What can you tell us, after last week's comments--" another sob-- "after last week's comments, to make us feel more at ease?" She cried unabashedly after finally getting out her words.
The room that had been electrified with positive energy throughout the evening suddenly became still and quiet, all eyes focused on Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama's eyes, though, were focused on that concerned supporter. She paused, allowing the clearly distraught supporter to pull herself together. Maybe it was 30 seconds before Obama spoke, stretched out into imaginary minutes. Finally, she said firmly, "I'm ok. Really. I am ok. And if I'm ok, you should be ok.
"You know, we talked about this as a family."
She held the microphone with one hand, the other curved inward over her heart as she talked. Her tenor and body language was clear. Michelle Obama was talking as a mother. She was introspective and intimate, looking the questioner in the eyes as if they are the only two in the room.
"We talked about this as a family."
The room remained still and quiet. Imagine having that talk with your children. Then, she paused, gathering herself, pulling herself up, seeming to grow even taller, Michelle, the campaigning wife returns. She says,
"I've talked about this before. Barack is probably safer now than he was before. Kids are dying in the street in our community. They get shot walking to class, sitting in school, taking the bus home. They are dying in the street.... Send us good vibes. Pray for us. Think positive thoughts. But most of all, be vigilant. Be vigilant about stopping this kind of talk.It's not funny. You don't have to like Barack to dislike that kind of talk. Be vigilant about stopping that kind of talk."
Then she reminded the crowd what we are fighting for, and why it is important to forge ahead without fear. "Fear is the reason this country is where it is today. Fear is a useless emotion. Don't ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn't. Don't ever make decisions based on fear."
:
So yes, I see the racism, I know what's going on, but I'm not afraid.
I wasn't going to post a diary here until after I finished my exam next week, but I really just want to say this. The entire Gates-gate situation is illustrative of why we can't discuss race in this country.
President Obama was asked a question about the situation and what it says to him about race relations in America. Here is his full answer:
Well, I should say at the outset that Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don't know all the facts.
What's been reported though is that the guy forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house. There was a report called in to the police station that there might be a burglary taking place. So far, so good, right? I mean, if I was trying to jigger into -- well, I guess this is my house now, so...
(LAUGHTER)
... it probably wouldn't happen. But let's say my old house in Chicago.
(LAUGHTER)
Here, I'd get shot.
(LAUGHTER)
But so far, so good. They're -- they're reporting. The police are doing what they should. There's a call. They go investigate what happens.
My understanding is, at that point, Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in. I'm sure there's some exchange of words. But my understanding is, is that Professor Gates then shows his I.D. to show that this is his house and, at that point, he gets arrested for disorderly conduct, charges which are later dropped.
Now, I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact.
As you know, Lynn, when I was in the state legislature in Illinois, we worked on a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how, you know, race remains a factor in the society.
That doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. I am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made. And yet the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, this still haunts us.
And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause.
And that's why I think the more that we're working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody is going to be.
All emphasis is mine. At no point in his statement did he EVER accuse the officer of being a racist or state that this case was an example of racial profiling.
Now, out of that entire statement, what do they focus on? They focus on one fucking word. I agree with the President, the officers on the scene acted stupidly in arrested Professor Gates. In fact, the night I learned of the incident, this is exactly what I said on my blog:
So basically, I think both sides of this situation are at fault for Professor Gates' arrest, but I'm having trouble believing that the officer here was actually as innocent as his report makes him out to be. We'll probably never know what really happened here, but let's cue all of the people saying one side or the other is racist for whatever reason.
then the following day, after Obama's press conference I wrote this:
So instead of this being the teachable moment it could have been, it's now going to be a reason for people to yell over each other on TV while trying to get their point across (like I just saw on CNN with Roland Martin trying to get a word in edgewise on CNN). Now we are going to have all of the "race experts" out there all over TV talking about why the President was right or wrong to say the police officer acted "stupidly." It's all going to turn into one giant headache all because Lynn Sweet couldn't stay on topic during the HEALTH CARE presser.
So here it is, day 3 of the Gates fall-out, and the media STILL doesn't get the issue. Like I said yesterday, President Obama said a LOT of things worthy of being focused on when he answered the question, but our increasingly inept press corps is choosing to focus on ONE word. I suppose I'm not REALLY surprised about it, we ARE talking about Obama here, and any little "mistake" he may make is going to be beat repeatedly until everyone is sick of hearing about it.
And now the cop, Crowley, is going to become the latest "posterboy" for this alleged White Racism that Obama is perpetuating (nevermind the fact that the family that RAISED him is White) now that he's President. Ooooooh, the poor oppressed White Man, they've been held down now for MONTHS because now the Black people have all of the power. HA! Even if we DO have a Black President, we still aren't "the power." But I digress. . .
All in all, the way this entire situation has blown up is completely illustrative about WHY it takes so long to make progress on race relations in this country, and WHY the election of a Black man as President is NOT proof positive that "it's all good." Instead of using this situation as a moment to talk about REAL racial disparities in the criminal justice system, or even whether the police officer abused his power (seeing as how the charges were DROPPED), we get this media circus where press conferences are held (by the officer and his pals) every day. Gates has actually been relatively silent on the matter . In fact, the press conference from earlier today shows that this is all about a bunch of hurt feelings.
The press is doing a SERIOUS disservice to the American people by focusing on what is essentially a pissing contest (where admittedly it seems the cops are the only ones really playing at this point) and back and forth mudslinging. I'm personally SICK of it. Now we have people coming out and talking bad about the President and calling him a DISGRACE because he gave his damn opinion (which is what was asked of him). He let everyone know he's not exactly a neutral party in this, but he's a DISGRACE for sticking up for his friend. Well Cambridge Police Union President (of which Crowley isn't even a MEMBER) you seem to be doing the same thing in standing behind Crowley, were YOU there? No.
Until people learn to get over themselves and have a REAL HONEST discussion, we aren't going to make any REAL progress on race relations in this Country. What happened to Gates only brought something to the forefront that we Black people have to deal with all the time. Even if it didn't necessarily happen TO Gates in this situation, it happens every day in this country (maybe even in ~gasp~ Cambridge). President Obama KNOWS what it's like to be racially profiled:
Security guards tailing me as I shop in department stores, white couples who toss me their keys as I stand outside a restaurant waiting for the valet, police cars pulling me over for no apparent reason. I know what it's like to have people tell me I can't do something because of my color, and I know the bitter swill of swallowed-back anger
I'm a Black woman, I've BEEN in a store with a friend (who was also Black) and saw a store employee follow us around the store (I guess they thought they were being discreet) while we shopped, it's not a good feeling.
This was an opportunity to have a great conversation about a REAL problem in this country, and instead it's become another missed opportunity.
[Update]: President Obama just came out and spoke on the issue, essentially saying what I said in this post (from Poltico 44):
"I actually just had a conversation with Sergeant James Crowley," Obama said, "and I have to tell you that, as I said yesterday, my impression of him is that he was an outstanding police officer...and that was confirmed in the phone conversation. "Because this has been ratcheting up, and I helped to contribute to the ratcheting up...in my choice of words, I unfortunately gave the impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically," he continued. "I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Prof. Gates out of his home and to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Prof. Gates probably overreacted as well." "Because of our history...African Americans are sensitive to these issues."
Now, Obama did NOT apologize for what he said, he merely re-worded it. I'm willing to bet it will be characterized as an apology (in fact the press was trying to call it an apology right after that). He ALSO said that he does NOT think it was inappropriate for him to comment. Cross posted at Daily Kos
So here it is, day 3 of the Gates fall-out, and the media STILL doesn't get the issue. Like I said yesterday, President Obama said a LOT of things worthy of being focused on when he answered the question, but our increasingly inept press corps is choosing to focus on ONE word. I suppose I'm not REALLY surprised about it, we ARE talking about Obama here, and any little "mistake" he may make is going to be beat repeatedly until everyone is sick of hearing about it.
And now the cop, Crowley, is going to become the latest "posterboy" for this alleged White Racism that Obama is perpetuating (nevermind the fact that the family that RAISED him is White) now that he's President. Ooooooh, the poor oppressed White Man, they've been held down now for MONTHS because now the Black people have all of the power. HA! Even if we DO have a Black President, we still aren't "the power." But I digress. . .
This was a moment for the press to really do something EDUCATIONAL and talk about the disparities between Blacks/Latinos/Hispanics and Whites when it comes to dealing with the police. Instead they approach the situation as if the Police officer MUST be right (because they have no reason to lie in a police report where they arrested a man in his own home). Oh, and he teaches a racial profiling class (I'm going to assume that the class is supposed to PREVENT and not PERPETUATE racial profiling), and he has Black friends, so he can't possibly be even a LITTLE racist, nor could he have acted "stupidly" in this situation. Have you all seen the video of the cop responding to what Obama said? Just look at the way he answers the question at first "I didn't vote for him." That's not what they asked you. But the second time he's asked he remembers he's the victim and says "I support the President 110%." (starts at 2:09)
President Obama TOLD everyone that Gates is his friend, and he was going to be bias when he answered the question, but that's not enough for people. As some others in the Black Blogospehere are pointing out, instead of responding with the "White" (or at best "neutral") answer, he gave the "Black" answer. I suppose Lynn Sweet and her colleagues expected the President to do what he normally does and parse his words to stay even MORE in the gray area than he did. The way they are responding you would think President Obama responded by saying "Man, fuck the police" and walked out to N.W.A.
So last night President Obama gave a press conference that was supposed to be about healthcare, but what is being talked about today? Obama's answer to the last question at the presser about Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s arrest and the fact that he said the officer acted "stupidly." Now it's come out that the officer (ironically enough) teaches the racial profiling class at the Police Academy.
The white police sergeant criticized by President Barack Obama for arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his Massachusetts home is a police academy expert on understanding racial profiling.
Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming.
"I have nothing but the highest respect for him as a police officer. He is very professional and he is a good role model for the young recruits in the police academy," Fleming told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The course, called "Racial Profiling," teaches about different cultures that officers could encounter in their community "and how you don't want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from," Fleming said.
To me this is representative of what our press has become. It's all about politics and playing the "gotcha" game. It never fails, at EVERY press conference someone tries to force Obama to talk about race. This time Obama was commenting on his friend, he even pointed out the bias he had in answering the question. Instead of focusing on all of the important things Obama said about racial profiling, our increasingly inept media chose to focus on the least newsworthy comment. No one who has commented or reported on this situation before knew all of the facts. Here's the video of the question and the answer:
OBAMA'S ANSWER ON GATES
Well, I should say at the outset that Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don't know all the facts.
What's been reported though is that the guy forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house. There was a report called in to the police station that there might be a burglary taking place. So far, so good, right? I mean, if I was trying to jigger into -- well, I guess this is my house now, so...
(LAUGHTER)
... it probably wouldn't happen. But let's say my old house in Chicago.
(LAUGHTER)
Here, I'd get shot.
(LAUGHTER)
But so far, so good. They're -- they're reporting. The police are doing what they should. There's a call. They go investigate what happens.
My understanding is, at that point, Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in. I'm sure there's some exchange of words. But my understanding is, is that Professor Gates then shows his I.D. to show that this is his house and, at that point, he gets arrested for disorderly conduct, charges which are later dropped.
Now, I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact.
As you know, Lynn, when I was in the state legislature in Illinois, we worked on a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how, you know, race remains a factor in the society.
That doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. I am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made. And yet the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, this still haunts us.
And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause.
And that's why I think the more that we're working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody is going to be.
Taken in context, I honestly don't think the statement is that bad. Obama (contrary to popular opinion in the press) does NOT have any authority over local police departments. He gave his opinion, one that is shared by a lot of people, that a man shouldn't be arrested in his home after showing that it was in fact his home. Gates himself said he's glad the neighbor called the police because if someone was breaking in, he'd want them stopped. There's no problem with the police responding to a call, the issue arises when it's mentioned that Gates was arrested. At this point I doubt the truth of what happened is ever really going to come out because now it's become a media circus. In fact, the Cambridge police will be giving a press conference later today.
So instead of this being the teachable moment it could have been, it's now going to be a reason for people to yell over each other on TV while trying to get their point across (like I just saw on CNN with Roland Martin trying to get a word in edgewise on CNN). Now we are going to have all of the "race experts" out there all over TV talking about why the President was right or wrong to say the police officer acted "stupidly." It's all going to turn into one giant headache all because Lynn Sweet could't stay on topic during the HEALTH CARE presser.
"I have to say I am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because I think it was a pretty straight forward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home," Obama said.
...
"I think that I have extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job that police officers do," the president told Moran. "And my suspicion is that words were exchanged between the police officer and Mr. Gates and that everybody should have just settled down and cooler heads should have prevailed. That's my suspicion."
The president said he understands the sergeant who arrested Gates is an "outstanding police officer." But he added that with all that's going on in the country with health care and the economy and the wars abroad, "it doesn't make sense to arrest a guy in his own home if he's not causing a serious disturbance."
I'm more than a little skeptical of the journalistic abilities of the "traditional" media, especially when it comes to 24-hour "news" channels, but I absolutely LOVE Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Even though their shows are largely satire, they do a better job of putting stupid stuff if perspective. Last night, Jon Stewart was GENIUS on the whole "Birther" non-troversy. Check it out in case you missed it:
President Obama gave a great speech at the NAACP last night, but before that speech he gave an interview to Black Media where he said the following (h/t JJP):
For example, the most important issue for the African-American community, according to the President, is education. "If we close the achievement gap, then a big chunk of economic inequality in this society is diminished," he said, arguing that getting our kids up to speed involves better teachers, greater accountability, and a combination of more resources and education reform.
I agree that education is the biggest problem facing our community, it largely seems like people coming up behind me are almost proud to revel in their ignorance. I remember seeing somewhere where a young Black male couldn't READ, and he was PROUD of that. Unfortunately the "mainstream" of Black culture seems to elevate going to prison, being a thug, and disrespecting women. I do think that all Black folks need to take advantage of all of the FREE education they can, especially considering the fact that there was a time where teaching Blacks how to read and write was a crime.
With that being said, there was something very important missing from that paragraph, COST. I graduated from high school, went straight to college and had lots of scholarships (I managed to end up with only about $8,000 in loans after 4 years at an out of state school), then I took a year off and went to law school (just graduated in May, getting ready to take the Bar in a couple of weeks) and my student loan debt is now astronomical, I did have a scholarship, but it barely covered the cost of books each year, not to mention the rising cost of tuition. When I first got to the school, it was about $900 a credit hour, by the time I graduated it had risen each year to the point where it was $1060 per credit hour. I didn't work (except for the summers), so I also had to take out loans to pay for the cost of living (about $10,000 a year). Luckily I managed to avoid private loans. With that said, my student loan payments are going to end up being approximately a house payment per month. I don't want to work for a big firm, I want to work for a gov't agency or maybe a non-profit organization.
Economically, going to school isn't really helping me right now. I'm sure it will end up paying off in the long term, but I think a lot of the younger Blacks look at people like me who did do the whole school thing, and will be in mountains of debt for YEARS (unless I write a couple of best-selling books or win the lottery), and then they look at their friend "Ray Ray" who dropped out of high school and is doing some illegal activity and living in a big house in a nice neighborhood with a gas guzzling SUV with platinum rims and they wonder why should they bother going to school.
So it's not enough to simply get Black kids though high school and send them off to a community or 4 year college, we need to get the COST of education down. Lawyers and Doctors default the most on their student loans. I wasn't surprised when I first heard that. Yet we need more lawyers and doctors to go into public service. The government loan forgiveness program is nice, but we still have to pay those astronomical loan payments for 10 years before that will kick in (and I'm not sure if whatever is paid off is taxable or not, but it probably is). The Income Based Repayment program also isn't perfect, it's nice that it gets payments down for maybe 25 years, but I know for sure whatever isn't paid off there is taxable, and your loan payments will fluctuate every year which may make it more difficult to budget.
I think fixing the cost of education is right up there with health care as far as draining people. My parents didn't take out any loans for me, all of my loans are in MY name and they are MY responsibility, and the last thing I want to do is default.
Sorry for the long rant, but I hope my point got through. Again, I'm thrilled that he actually TALKS about education that was my #1 issue during the campaign, and the biggest reason why I was supporting his candidacy.
Let me say it again. Barack Obama is not a “young man” he is 47 (on August 4th) years old. That’s almost 50. He is a man. He needs no qualifier.
I am so tired of people talking about Senator Obama as if he were a young man in his 20s. He is a United States Senator. Let me repeat that. He is a United States Senator .
He is not some sort of “celebrity” who did “nothing” to get where he is. He was born to a mother who at one point was on food stamps to feed her children. Yes, he went to a prestigious school, but he went on SCHOLARSHIP not because he had the money and could afford for mommy and daddy to pay the tuition. He went to college on scholarships and loans. He went to law school on scholarships and loans. He JUST paid off his student loans a couple of years ago thanks to the success of his books. He was a community organizer in Chicago, in fact he moved there not knowing anyone because he felt it was his place to do something to help people. Even when he graduated near the top of his class at Harvard Law School, he chose to return to his community organizing job instead of taking some fancy job on Wall Street. He ran for office because we wanted to do more to help more people. He was unsuccessful in one election when he ran for U.S. Congress, so he does know the bitter taste of defeat.
He is by no means perfect, but to reduce him to a celebrity, and then say “he’s a good young man” is insulting and belittling. The man is a United States Senator, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for President. He may be our next president. He is not a “young man” he is not “inexperienced” he is not “uninformed” he DOES “understand” the issues and what needs to be done to put the United States back on course.
He is not “arrogant” or “presumptuous” or “cocky” or “uppity.” He is confident. Maybe he has an ego, but anyone who thinks they can and should be the President of the United States has an ego.
So stop calling him “young” because while just about anyone or anything is younger than John McCain, Barack Obama is not a “young man.”
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