The race card with Obama supporters is getting ridiculous

[renaissanceguy]

For the record, I am not yet committed to a candidate.

I was going to my train this morning (I live in the north side of Chicago), and there were Hillary supporters passing out flyers and holding signs at the entrance of the station. A black woman passes by with one of her kids, and says to the Hillary supporters, "I'm voting for Obama. Fuck Hillary, and fuck all white people for that matter." (Yes, these were her exact words.) This shocked me, especially living in such a diverse neighborhood, that this is what motivates this woman to vote (and for Obama).

The media have done a great job pushing the race card--no, shoving it down our throats. God forbid Bill or Hillary try to talk about Obama's record. They are automatically labelled as racists.

Here's a suggestion. How about the candidates start talking about the issues? The voters deserve it. I have to admit, if I don't start hearing more substance from Obama and all I hear is his campaign playing victim, I'm going to vote for Hillary. I have to admit, Hillary has been tough and defended what she said and what SHE has done. I never thought, say six months ago, that I would be defending her on this board.

[NYCGirl]

1. So you're judging the campaign by one crazy lady? C'mon, you're smarter than that.

[renaissanceguy]

3. Not so fast.

Did I say I was? Nope, I didn't. I was giving a real life example of a phenomenon that is going on. Don't you read the rest of this message board? Come on, YOU'RE smarter than that.

[NYCGirl]

5. I don't even judge a campaign by this message board. We are representative of

nothing.

[murbley40]

33. If our country continues.......

on this road that it's on and especially with our election process we as a country will stand for nothing.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Clinton Was Playing With Fire When She Dissed MLK

I think that was very disrespectful - probably not intended to be racist, but might have been seen that way by some.

[renaissanceguy]

6. What's so wrong with mentioning MLK?

Wouldn't you agree that MLK's legscy is part of AMERICAN history? And all she was doing was pointing out a fallacy in Obama's speech. She simply said that he was wrong to compare himself to MLK, and she stated her reasons why. We'd be all over HIllary if we heard her compare herself to, say, Elizabeth Cady Stanton or Jane Addams.

[rodeodance]

7. She did NOT diss MLK. But i could say that till dooms day and people will not listen

[Maribelle]

13. Hilary did not diss MLK by any means.

Martin Luther King led the movement; Lyndon B. Johnson supported that movement, played the politics, guided the legislation, and signed it into law. Both were indispensable to the civil rights successes of the 1960s. To acknowledge both denigrates neither man. Describing such an acknowledgement as a denigration of Dr. King is, at best, bad history. At worst, it is a manipulative and inflammatory racial appeal concerning a crucial era in American history--an era that needs very, very careful consideration indeed. Either way, the current heated rhetoric demonstrates that the utopia of post-racial politics has hardly arrived.

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=a383df9e-9d33-4b57-b832-a75b7c4d0d0c

[Mutineer]

21. People lived and died for the movement

and Hil thinks that the legislators were the ones responsible for the "real changes" in civil rights in this country? Apparently she is not alone in her foolish and idotic belief system. I will not support her in any way, shape, or form after her incredibly racist and insensitve comments. She needs to apologize right now and stop trying to finese it.

[Maribelle]

30. I come from rural Alabama. Don't think you can lecture me on the civil rights movement, please.

My family lived in the middle of it.

Your lying about Hillary is disgraceful.

[creeksneakers2]

26. She was asked a question about MLK

She responded with an answer that included MLK. Should she refuse to answer any questions with MLK in them?

How long are we going to continue raising a fuss every time something is misinterpreted?

[Blue_In_AK]

34. I don't think she dissed MLK.

She was simply pointing out that as a non-elected person, King needed the help of a president to get the civil rights laws passed. LBJ, whatever one thinks of him, was that strong president at that time who got the job done.

[Crazy Dave]

4. Which candidate are the "Metrosexuals" behind this campaign?

They seem to have been excluded and forgotten this time around.

[Occam Bandage]

8. "especially living in such a diverse neighborhood."

Hello from the South Side. I have known many black people who were strongly, strongly racist. I have known many white people who were strongly, strongly racist. Racism among the black community is one of the great unmentionable topics; racism among the white community is too often placed in the past tense or confined to the South.

It is unsurprising that you have come across a racist Chicagoan. Obama should not be judged for that.

(Also, Chicago is like the most segregated city in America, if not in the hemisphere. It's that self-segregation that has led our fair city to be one of the most superficially diverse but quietly tense that I have been in.)

[IndianaJones]

10. Blacks cannot be racist. Prejudiced or bigoted perhaps. nt.

[Occam Bandage]

14. How naïve. Racism does not have to be systematic.

[jbnow]

9. Then drop it. The candidates are talking

about the issues.
The media creates this war thing over it, tries to get a frenzy going, people get caught up.

This diary is stupid. Drop it.

[cindyw]

11. Well if one black lady said that then all black people must be bad when they feel empowered

:sarcasm:

[renaissanceguy]

18. you are distorting what i said.

there people go again using the race card. thanks for proving my point.

[YOY]

12. Kinda like the Vagina card and Hillary folks?

n/t

[Skip Intro]

15. Nail on the head. Obama plays this crap to avoid any criticism of his record.

Has turned me off compelety.

[Occam Bandage]

17. Obama has not played the race card, nor has the Obama campaign.

[Skip Intro]

19. Care to explain how the memo fits in?

yes, they have twisted Hillary and Bill\'s words, and then acted in feigned outrage at the result.

it is dipicable, and I hope it backfires big time.

[Occam Bandage]

20. Oh, you mean

the purely internal memo detailing the controversial statements an opponent has made, along with some media reactions--and with no suggested responses, talking points, spin, or statements--which was not released by the Obama campaign, and which was not leaked by a member of the Obama campaign? That memo?

I don't think that needs to fit anywhere.

[Skip Intro]

24. If it was not released and was not leaked, how did it come out?

Nonetheless, it shows this is a focal point of the Obama camp, even though he responded to the idea that his camp was trying to make political hay out of comments that were not racist, ludicrous.

Trying to paint Bill and Hillary Clinton (and others have come to their defense) as racist is about as low as one can go. People are seeing thru it. And it will backfire.

[Occam Bandage]

25. HuffPo stated it was leaked by an activist outside the campaign

who was on the internal mailing list. Presumably, the activist thought, "Wow, Clinton's a total racist, I'll let the media know!" And, in doing so, they showed why:

1. Internal documents ought to stay internal until the campaign decides otherwise.
2. If you have any links to a campaign, and you have a brain at all, you never go off-message.

But anyways, how is one memo a "focal point?" They haven't made any statements about racism. They haven't called the Clintons racist. They haven't breathed a word about racism. Hell, even that memo doesn't contain any suggestions for talking points.

[creeksneakers2]

27. The memo was circulated among bloggers

It spread from there.

I don't think Obama would make that kind of move because its too likely to backfire. He should disavow the memo, if he hasn't already.

[Occam Bandage]

28. Why disavow it? It contains no editorializing, and no statements by the Obama campaign.

It's only excerpts from media reports on Hillary's more-controversial statements.

[creeksneakers2]

35. Its misleading and tries to make it look like the Clintons

said things they didn't say. It hurts both sides.

[MethuenProgressive]

16. The Swiftboating of Hillary on Race is a winning strategy - with limited life.

Like all lies, it'll die sooner or later.

[TokenWasp]

22. Obama's people played right into the media's hands....

They wanted a way to find some controversey in the campaign (always a better story), and Obamanation let them run with it.

[cali]

23. now how I know you haven't considered Obama?

You're repeating the false meme that he hasn't addressed issues substantively and you're characterizing him as "playing victim".

That's a dead giveaway.

[Barack_America]

29. Well, you can thank Hillary for that.

All that matters is that she is the first woman President, who gives a shit if she destroys the country in the process.

That's just great.

[redqueen]

31. Why not switch to Edwards?

:shrug:

[zulchzulu]

32. Hillary stepped in it by downgrading MLK's importance in civil rights issues

I guess that's her years of experience where she can put her foot in her mouth so easily at this point. You have to admit that her comment was careless and ill-advised.

Bill pulled his racist card in 1992 with the Sistah Souljah chestbeating. This is the boomerang making its journey back to the source.