Obama: I was right not to drop Donnie McClurkin

[wyldwolf]

I just finished talking to Sen. Barack Obama on my Chicago radio show and he reiterated that he was absolutely right in not dropping gospel singer Donnie McClurkin from a gospel tour in South Carolina, despite protestations from gay supporters.

Time for me to go back on the air, but I'll share more details of the conversation, including him targeting Sen. Hillary Clinton over her changing positions on a variety of issues.

http://essence.typepad.com/news/2007/11/obama-i-was-rig.html

[acmavm]

1. Oh Lordy. The guy's a putz.

[goodgd_yall]

37. Lol!

[ClarkUSA]

79. To be fair, I don't like to rely on secondhand heresay.

Is there an actual transcript of the conversation?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. That's vile... does he have any concept of "right"?

[MethuenProgressive]

49. None at all. And no, Obama Fans, it's not excusable.

Two wrongs make bigotry right? Nonsense.

[closeupready]

3. No you weren't, but it doesn't matter. You are not going to be the nominee.

So whatever.

[sandnsea]

4. Are Hillary's SC co-chairs right?

Is it right that her co-chairs are legislators who voted to add discrimination to the SC Constitution?

Is it right that nobody will say anything about this until HRC or some mega-blogger makes it an issue?

[LeftyMom]

24. Fucking A, this isn't about Hillary and Obama. It's about his behavior.

I can't stand her and after his actions on this I don't trust him any farther than I can throw him.

[FredScuttle]

30. Broken record, right on cue

Does Senator Clinton's "bigotry" justify Obama's bigotry? Not that I would equate her situation with Obama putting a known homophobe as the star attraction of his fundraiser and giving him a microphone and an audience to spew his homophobic filth.

Are you at all aware that undecideds, like me, looking for an alternative to Hillary were giving Obama a serious look until this bullshit?

[sandnsea]

31. Ignoring Clinton's campaign bigotry exposes the hypocrisy

and reality that this is just political opportunism to beat up on Obama. If it were a gay rights issue, people would be upset about campaign co-chairs voting to put discrimination in a state constitution.

[FredScuttle]

32. Did Hillary give a microphone and a starring role in one of her fundraisers to a bigot?

Did she welcome and then defend someone who proclaimed "God delivered me from homosexuality""?

If so, produce the evidence. If not, take your bullshit somewhere else.

[sandnsea]

34. What do you people think State Campaign Chairs DO?

They get microphones and do fundraisers and who knows what they are saying because nobody who cares so much about gay rights will talk about it.

THEY VOTED TO PUT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GAYS IN THE STATE CONSTITUTION.

The evidence is right in front of your damn face.

[FredScuttle]

35. Produce some evidence that these co-chairs got up in front of an audience and

said "God delivered me from homosexuality"

and by the way, OBAMA WOULD ALSO PUT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GAYS IN THE CONSTITUTION EVEN THOUGH HIS OWN FUCKING CHURCH DISAGREES

[sandnsea]

39. No, he wouldn't - Hillary's co-chairs did

Laws matter a whole lot more than any stupid singer, a State Constitutional Amendment even more. The hypocrisy is clear, even if the Obama bashers don't want to admit it.

[FredScuttle]

41. You haven't said one word in any post I've seen defending Obama

that's a pathetic defense, but expected because you have none. You know he fucked up royally and you can't bring yourself to admit that your chosen candidate lost any chance he had for the nomination by catering to bigots.

There is no defense of what Obama did....none. You can post about Sen. Clinton's SC co-chairs a million times, but it won't obscure the fact that Obama spit in the face of the LGBT community directly and all Democrats who value civil rights.

I'm glad his hypocrisy and craven pandering to bigots is being exposed now before I've made up my mind on a candidate.

[zulchzulu]

5. I found out where this guy broadcasts from

I'll look for the interview.

http://www.rolandsmartin.com/

[Colobo]

6. Maybe he was. After all, it stopped being an issue a while ago.

[DURHAM D]

11. Not among a certain demographic -

A group that is 10% of the voting public along with 10-15% of their friends.
A group that is mostly Dems and they vote and they give money.

[PurityOfEssence]

18. For you it has.

As a member of a downtrodden minority, how do you justify continued attempts at blithe dismissal of the redress others seek? Does belonging to a marginalized group give one the right to do the same to others for personal gain, or is it perhaps just a case of focusing so much on one's own issue that the grievances of others just don't rate? This seems to often be the curse of the victim: it's their turn and the rest can be damned.

Besides all that, the ridiculous pronouncement that this has long since stopped being an issue is sorely mistaken. This is going to dog him continuously and erode support in many obvious and subtle ways. Nary a thread extolling this man's claimed multi-tolerance will escape unscathed and the grumbling isn't just limited to an admittedly non-mainstream forum like this one.

The very idea of dashing off a quick dismissal and making a pronouncement of reality like this is just more fuel for the fire; much of the umbrage comes from people feeling that they're taken for granted and easily hushed up as they're shown the back door. Casual poo-pooing betrays an inherent disinterest in the plight of others and a rather narcissistic focus on one's own cause.

[JackBeck]

21. Bravo.

:applause:

[NMMNG]

23. Hear, hear

I only wish I could recommend this post. :applause:

[racaulk]

42. Brilliantly stated!

Thank you!

:applause:

[dbackjon]

66. Bravo!

[Chovexani]

69. Bravo

:yourock:

[FredScuttle]

28. It hasn't stopped being an "issue" to those who care about civil rights

He is sadly mistaken if he thinks this will "blow over", as are his supporters.

[JackBeck]

7. If you ever get another chance to talk to him, you should ask him why

he rejected black, gay ministers from appearing on stage.

http://news.lavenderliberal.com/2007/10/29/the-homobamaphobia-tour-preacher-donnie-takes-the-stage/

http://www.queerty.com/news/barack-rejected-black-gay-ministers-20071026/

[bigscott]

8. oh well

one less vote for Obama in the primary. As a gay man I expected better from someone who should understand that discrimination of any kind hurts everyone. He made a mistake including McC and should have admitted it.

That's fine - good luck Senator. But you won't get my vote.

Just waiting for the BO supporters to tell me my vote does not matter to their juggernaut of a campaign :thumbsdown:

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

9. I guess Im right in dropping any support I may have had for that man.

:eyes:

[NMMNG]

10. Translation

"I got me a whole bunch of bigot money and support from it, so screw those homos."

[rodeodance]

12. guess the black homophobic vote counts more than any gay vote.

[JackBeck]

15. Even though our community votes Democratic over 90% of the time.

[NMMNG]

22. They probably assume they can count on us to do so

no matter how badly they treat us.

[MH1]

36. Because you know that someone who hires a singer who

was unhappy with being gay and feels that "God saved him" but doesn't push to legislate against it...someone who actually has a good track record on civil rights issues...

is a HELL of a lot better than the alternatives, who are right now promising their supporters they will pursue a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage - even domestic partnerships! - and will do their best to suppress the GLBT community and rights any way they can.

If I don't kiss your ass but vote to improve your lot, while the alternative will vote to oppress you, and those are your only choices - you going to spit on me and not vote (giving the election to the guy who will vote to harm you) because I didn't kiss your ass?

[FredScuttle]

43. Please don't equate standing up for all of our civil rights with "kissing ass"

I can understand and sympathize with our LGBT brothers and sisters about how disgusting a statement that is.

"Obama is less of a bigot than those other guys" is hardly a defense and a pathetic call to action. We need to remind our representatives, even the more "enlightened" ones, that when they embrace bigotry for the sake of politics, they insult not only LGBT people, but all Democrats who value civil rights.

[MH1]

51. I didn't make that equation

Take it however you want: it is a generic example. I have a guy in my precinct who plays the "if you don't kiss my ass I will tell you I'm not voting for your candidate" game all the time and I am sick of it. It has nothing to do with GLBT issues, but it comes down to the same thing: if he is rational he will vote for the person who is most likely to do the things he would prefer to be done, over a person who won't do them or who will do bad things. So, I will not kiss his ass, but will continue to let him know where my candidate stands and what he or she has done. Then if this voter wants to cut his nose off to spite his face, so be it.

That is why people vote for candidates who offend them mightily on some issues. It has nothing to do with a "call to action", it is being pragmatic and voting for the better choice (or lesser of evils as the case may be).

And that, my friend, is why 95% of GLBTs vote Democrat: because even if all Democratic candidates do something like what Obama did, the Dem will still be more likely to help you a little instead of trying to hurt you badly like the republican will.

[FredScuttle]

67. That 95% will not hold if candidates continue to insult the constituency

Wouldn't you be insulted by Obama's actions if you were gay or lesbian? I sure would.

Holding our candidates accountable when they fuck up like this isn't a demand to "kiss the ass" of a voting bloc...it is intended to let said candidate know that when he or she panders to anti-gay bigots, they're not only writing off gays and lesbians. They're also insulting straight Democrats, like me, who value civil rights for all.

This glib notion of "We'll do whatever is politically expedient...they'll vote for us anyway" would never have got the Civil Rights Act passed.

[mondo joe]

77. Don't count on it. Gays have other options.

Not really better options, but other options.

For one thing, we tend to be more socially fluid and more free to pick up and leave the US, taking our votes and money with us.

And if we're going to have a president who is beholden to religious bigots, we could just be self interested and go with the tax cuts party.

[Chovexani]

70. Oh honey you know what that post actually said

Sense when does the gays run the party?!?!?!!!111

[FredScuttle]

75. I'm surprised the "Gay Gestapo" reference didn't get dropped

Pipe down, you fruits! We got an election we need to win!
:sarcasm:

[JackBeck]

76. Mr. Gay Gestapo got the granite cookie.

So hopefully we won't be hearing from that one anytime soon.

[Chovexani]

78. We do have snazzy uniforms.

:P

[FredScuttle]

80. and such tasteful flair for interior decoration

n/t

[NMMNG]

20. It appears that way

The Dems have bought the RW notion that politicians have to suck up to the RRR to win. :-(

[Freddie Stubbs]

27. Are there more black honophobes Deomcratic voters or more gay Democratic voters?

:shrug:

[LoZoccolo]

33. Did you just begin a sentence by him with "I got me"?

That's what I thought I read.

[rodeodance]

13. and this issue was not brought up my timmy at Dem debate.

[wyldwolf]

14. ..because timmy's goal was to trip up Clinton

[bullwinkle428]

26. Don't forget about his goal of trying to make Kucinich look like

a completely deranged nutbar with the "UFO" stuff - yes, the same Kucinich who is the only candidate to fully embrace the idea of legal gay marriage! I'm sure that was completely coincidental... :sarcasm:

[Cameron27]

16. So he's just confirmed that he has no problems

with the fact that McClurkin didn't just sing, but actually took the mic at the end of the concert.

[FredScuttle]

17. Heard of "Trapped In the Closet, Part 6"?

This is "Shitting the Bed, Part 9"

[terrya]

19. Well, goody for him

Of course, now his standing in the GLBT community will never be the same after this.

But as long as he stands pat about believing the rightness of hiring a bigot, I guess that's the important thing.

[Lucinda]

25. Obama started losing me

about the time of the Dem filibuster (quite a while back.) IF he's the nom I'll vote for him, but I don't think I'm going to have to do so.

There isn't anything he could have done to "make this right" that would have made me change my mind about him.

[closeupready]

29. On top of that, while I tried not to be too harsh in my assessment,

thinking in terms of, "well, he messed up this time, but he can change for the better and run next time," with this statement, I have to say that I don't want him running next time. He does not appear to have the will to strongly discourage a kind of bigotry that is popular among not just the black evangelical community but the population at large. I would not want to see a Democratic president who casually dismisses objections of a huge Democratic constitutency.

[Lucinda]

62. I agree

I think some Dems saw a personable man make a good speech a few years ago and tried to make him into the next big thing.

One speech does not a candidate make.

[MuseRider]

83. YES YES YES

I fell for that for a little while. I cried during that speech, it was wonderful. Then I began to think without all that emotion and saw what was behind that good looking smile and the man with the engaging talk. This time he proved what I had hoped was not true but suspected. He is not what I thought he was when he made me cry and there is nothing I dislike more than someone who can speak that well but not mean any of it.

[goodgd_yall]

38. The guy just keeps making it worse n/t

[CyberPieHole]

40. Kick and recommend n/t

[Lord Helmet]

44. He is right not to bow to presssure.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

45. Yes, finally someone is standing up to the real enemy!

If we can't trust Obama to keep us safe from the queers, how can we trust him to protect us from Bin Laden?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

46. This was a chance for Obama to be a real leader...

sadly, he failed that test. :(

[FredScuttle]

47. I know another steadfast, laser-focused guy who doesn't bow to pressure

[mondo joe]

71. Yeah - "Stay the course" is a great strategy.

[zulchzulu]

48. Is there a transcript available?

I looked hither and yon on this guy and his web sites seems to have been last posted last August... his podcast has latest files as of last August... vapor as of any interview...

[Bullet1987]

50. About WAS right...

he shouldn't cancel a popular gospel singer at a gospel concert just because of some critics. It's not a gay rights issue, so stop trying to make it seem like one.

[Maven]

52. Excuse me?

Not a gay rights issue?

God, you people are getting totally detached from reality to protect your cult leader.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

53. This is beyond belief... "It's not a gay rights issue"

The Obama campaign must be like Scientology or something... this is beyond mere kool-aid.

[zulchzulu]

61. Ahem... it is a gay issue...I just want to see a transcript or hear the interview

I make up my own mind.

[Solon]

63. "Gay issue"="not important" to YOU at least...

You have made that perfectly clear.

[zulchzulu]

81. I'm going to PM you

[yardwork]

54. If it's not a gay rights issue, then why did the gospel singer talk about gay rights?

[Solon]

55. Dammit, whether its about gay rights or not is irrelevent, its about respect...

Obama has demonstrated he has none for the GLBT community, so why the fuck should they support him?

[NewHampster]

57. Uhhh Because he wants you to hope

he'll change his ways. Hope he'll have a plan for Iraq. Hope he knows how to deal with Repug Terrorists.

Just trust in the man and Hope.


Not Me Damn it.

[Solon]

59. I'm far too jaded to have hope for a man who disregards an entire group of people so blatantly...

He's an ass now, no more, no less.

[NewHampster]

60. You got that right

[FredScuttle]

56. Aw Jeez....

"popular gospel singer" - yes, he may be popular and sell a lot of records, but he's also a crusading "ex-gay" charlatan, a clown who proclaimed that homosexuality was a "curse" and an "addiction"

"gospel concert" - that's one way to look at it. Another is to recognize that it was an officially sanctioned Obama campaign event/fundraiser

"critics" - you mean gay and lesbian folks as well as every Democrat who values civil rights

"not a gay rights issue" - when a homophobe delivers the words "God delivered me from homosexuality" at a Democratic candidate's fundraising event, the same homophobe whom gay rights groups had pleaded with this candidate not to include, then, yes, it is a gay rights issue.

[mondo joe]

72. What, the only gospel singer he could find was a lying bigot so it's okay?

?

[NewHampster]

58. I wonder if Obama would

Support a Gay singer who was saved from heterosexuality by the grace of the almighty. Hallelujah!

I've known 2 couples together over 50 years who would have been glad to testify to that.

[bigwillq]

64. Did he say why?

:shrug: I would love to hear this.

[alteredstate]

65. You have a radio show in Chicago? n/t

****edited to correct a typo****

[wyldwolf]

68. um... yeah... yeah! That's the ticket!

[mondo joe]

73. McClurkin was as bad as Imus, or worse. I've written Obama off, as have many other

gays.

Let's see how far he gets without our primary votes, or our money.

[Cha]

74. Did Obama say why

he thought "he was right"? I'm very curious.

[zulchzulu]

82. No transcript... no interview link... no audio link... nothing...

I looked on the site and Googled the dude's web site. Nothing. No transcript. No archives of the interview. No audio...

This OP was a Clinton hit and run bullshit piece... as usual.