Most people missed it, especially if they were watching a network of talking heads.
And now, during the last thirty days, as the McCain campaign begins to push the meme that this man is “risky” and “unpatriotic” (one of my relatives actually told me that they believes Obama to be the “anti-Christ” last night, and they were being serious… seriously ignorant), I hope all people will take the time, do the due diligence, and discover who this man really is.
You don’t have to vote for him, of course, but we all need to stop substituting blind, ideological ignorance for real, constructive criticism.
By the way, I think it’s important to note: Obama’s campaign is quietly spending money here in Louisiana. His commercials have been all over cable news (I’m not sure if this is a part of a national ad campaign, but McCain has been completely off air), and he’s been organizing on a local level.
His Alexandria office, for example, is busy making calls and registering voters all across Central Louisiana– all under the radar so far.
CenLamar 
I hate when people say dumb things. “He’s Muslim!” “He’s the Anti-Christ!” “He wasnt actually born in America!” It really is ignorant. But another reason i dont like people saying things like that is because it takes the focus off of the ACTUAL reasons he shouldnt be president. Idiots are so busy trying to convince everybody hes from the middle east, that theyre not metioning his lack of leadership experience and his associations with the most radical and underhanded elements of American society. People like that are hurting the actual cause!
Adrian, what on earth are you talking about?
“His associations with the most radical and underhanded elements of American society….”
You’re talking about ONE MAN who committed terrible acts when Obama was eight years old and who is now a university professor and an education advocate. Read the NYT article that Governor Palin was so giddy about: It clearly states Obama is not close to this man at all and hasn’t even spoken with him in three years.
I really don’t think the McCain campaign wants to talk about associations.
This kitchen sink approach is ugly and divisive and completely misleading, and you have to understand: By playing up these ridiculous storylines about “radicalism,” the McCain campaign is tacitly lending credence to all of the “dumb things” that you ostensibly deplore (i.e. his religious faith, his ethnicity, his patriotism).
And why are we even talking about this?
The stock market tanked today, and McCain wants us to stay distracted.
I wasnt as much talking about Heirs, even though i do think it is important. Most of the prominent figures in Obama’s life have been either radicals, racists, or criminals. In his own book he talks about his childhood mentor in Hawaii, a communist who became the head of Hawaii’s NAACP. He was so radical, the NAACP shut down their Hawaii headquarters rather than give control of it to him. His spiritual leader, and counselor? A racist preaching hatred against white people and America from a pulpit and calling it the word of god. He stayed at that church for TWENTY YEARS!! Who helped him start his political career? Bill Heirs. You know,Heirs might not have bombed anything recently, but on sept 11 2001 he was adimant about how he didnt think he did enough, how he wished he did more. And Obama started charities and grass roots movements with him. He got his house next to freefrom skum lord and felon tony rescoe. After he had gotten rescoe alot of business opening low income apartments in chicago (which by the way in a matter of years 85% of them are boarded up and unlivable). I know the defense to. People cant be judged by the people they come in contact with. Youre right. If i buy a hot dog from a racist, that doesnt make me a racist. If i sit next to someone at books a million who wants to blow something up, im not a terrorist. But Obama did alot more than buy hot dogs from heirs, wright, rescoe, and flager. but anyways. part 2!
Neither candidate wants to talk about the economy…i find it laughable. McCain is talking about things that have nothing to do with the economy, and all Obama is saying is “My opponent wants to attack me instead of talking about the economy” (which is also the defense you just took), without addressing the problem himself! The reason?
1. The way you fix problems is by finding the fault, and changing it or eliminating it. Republicans and Democrats are so close to and recieving so much money from the problem, that they cant readily make the problems or people who caused it a hot issue. There is alot of blame to be spread around mind you on both sides of the aisle. If youre looking at the housing market, the democrats pushed and threatened banks to make loans to neighborhoods that had been redlined before. Now why would entire neighborhoods be redlined? Because theyre black neighborhood! wrong, democrats and activists! not because theyre black neighborhoods, but because theyre LOW INCOME neighborhoods!!! People with low income cant pay back loans! Especially not something as outrageous as a mortgage! Which is why we are where we are in the housing market. Couple that with the Republicans yelling dereg at the tops of their lungs for all that time, we’ve got a housing crisis. sigh
2. Neither candidate HAS ANY IDEA what can be done. Noone does! They wrote a bail out plan on a napkin, loaded it up with pork, and got the votes necessary to get it through, and what did the stock market do today? I like your word. it tanked. Do you honestly think anything the government (withs its single digit approval rating) can do anything to make investors want to do invest? heck no.
I really see tough times ahead of us because america built its economy on things that dont exist. Credit. Promises. Loans. And i really dont see much of anything anyone can do but ride it out, and hope we learn a lesson.
Whoa, Adrian, c’mon, it sounds like you’ve been listening to Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh all day.
I’ve actually read Obama’s first book, and I believe you’re referring to the renowned poet Frank Marshall Davis, who was suspected of joining the Communist Party in the 1950s.
He wasn’t a mentor the way you’re construing it. In many ways, he taught Obama about the pitfalls of harboring anger. If I recall correctly, Frank was in his eighties when he met Obama, and I believe they met because his grandfather (a white man) was a friend of Frank’s. In the end, Obama rejected Frank’s worldview and Frank’s understanding of academia.
The world is a big place, and in America, we celebrate the free marketplace of ideas. It’s intellectually lazy and ignorant to suggest that most of the prominent figures in Obama’s life are “radicals, racists, or criminals.” Anyone who has read his work and followed the campaign for the past two years knows that this man has been thoroughly vetted. If you still don’t know who Obama is after the past two years, then you simply haven’t been paying attention– or you’ve relied on spoon-fed news from right-wingers to paint your impressions.
As far as Jeremiah Wright is concerned, we have all been down this road before. But let’s be honest: He is not Barack Obama. He doesn’t share the same core beliefs of America. That is a clear and demonstrated truth. Does Sarah Palin believe in witchcraft and sorcery just because her preacher does?
And why would John McCain go out of his way to solicit the endorsement of a true hatemonger, John Hagee?
And if you want to discuss someone cavorting around with criminals, how about McCain’s close friendship with Charles Keating and G. Gordon Liddy?
With respect to Ayers, I think this has been thoroughly discounted. Just today, a Republican Representative from Chicago called the whole thing ridiculous; Ayers worked with Democrats and Republicans, and the attempt to associate Obama with an action carried out by this man when Obama was only eight years old is the height of absurdity, and frankly, it reeks of racist fear-mongering.
Incidentally, the Annenberg Project, which they worked on together, was an initiative created by a Republican.
This endless tit-for-tat is not instructive; it’s not what this country deserves.
Now, as far as the economic crisis, this has little to do with the Community Reinvestment Act, and there is nothing wrong with the attempt to increase homeownership. This, in my humble opinion, is a symptom of a culture of sprawl– a culture of endless development and endless construction. Look at where the most foreclosures are, Adrian; they’re not in low-income or minority neighborhoods. They’re in the suburbs! They’re in places like Arizona and California and Florida.
This culture of sprawl rewards unfettered, unneeded growth, and it created this bubble economy. The demographics just weren’t keeping up. The numbers couldn’t hold.
And no one was at the wheel.
You are breath of fresh air sir! hahaha Im used to arguing with my idiot friends! Its nice to talk to someone who at least knows something. Most of my friends only go as deep into politics to say “its time for america to have a black president” . and once i ream them and explain to them how thats called racism, because it shouldnt matter what color someone is, how we need a good leader and not a precedent, they mutter and shut up. So kudos to you sir!
(I am a big fan of Glenn Beck, not so much Limbaugh and Hannity. It seems like they like to hear themselves talk to much.)
Well thank you, sir.
I’ve never heard anyone suggest that the only reason Obama should be elected President is simply because of the precedent it would set. You are right to challenge your friends on the objective criteria they are using.
However, I think all Americans should be pleased with what this election demonstrates about our country. Even ten years ago, I doubt you could convince anyone that by 2008, the Republicans would have a woman on their ticket and the Democrats would have an African-American leading their ticket.
That said, even in the inartful articulation “It’s time for American to have a black President,” I think there’s probably a core belief that this country would be well-served if the electorate demonstrates its ability to look beyond the issue of race. And it’s a belief that I share.
Of course, a glass ceiling will be shattered no matter who wins.