I like Randi Rhodes but she is wrong.

[bermudat]

A listener is telling Randi that McSame not looking at or acknowledging Obama during the debates

infuriated the hispanic callers to a radio station she listened to earlier in the day. Randi says that

not looking Obama in the eye was not racial. Randi you are so wrong. For many blacks in the

workplace, it is not unusual to have a co-worker or even worse a supervisor who doesn't like you,

does not want you around but cannot fire you because you may be a good worker or have not done

anything wrong. So a psychological game begins, a type of mental shunning. This may happen to

other people, as I was surprised to learn listening to the hispanic caller to Randi.

It definitely happens to African Americans. He lost 110% of their vote but the McSame campaign

did not care since most blacks would not vote for repugnantcans.

[monmouth]

1. I found it to be the ultimate in rudeness and sooo childish...n/t

[POAS]

2. Randi is wrong.

It was a slap in the face of someone he felt superior to and it was undoubtedly race based.

[stillcool]

3. You don't know..

the reason why John McCain can not look people in the eye. I'm sure it is an emotional and psychological response, but there is no way someone can infer from watching a debate what the cause is.

[EFerrari]

10. Given that the Republican base watched the debate in their Klan hoods,

it's too safe to be even called a bet.

[blue sky at night]

4. as a white person....

i don't get any knowledge about racism from other white people, we are fucking clueless. So Randi is wrong some of the time, but just likes to hear her own voice MOST OF THE TIME.

[bermudat]

8. You are right about that.

Randi is almost as rude to her listeners as Imus is to his. I had to turn her off and wait for Rachel

Maddow to come on. And she wonders why Rachel has a show and she doesn't.

[live love laugh]

5. While the experiences you describe may be true you cannot be certain they apply to McSame.

You don't know why he did what he did or that the reason was race based.

Superiority? Seems like he felt that way. But was the superiority race based? Maybe. Maybe not. After all McSame is a long-time Senator compared to Obama's short Senatorial career. He may feel Obama is "beneath" him because of that alone.

[Greyhound]

6. She's wrong most of the time. Usuall it is when she sides with the DLCBlueNewDogs

against the base of this party.

But, the best thing I've ever heard her say, and IIRC it was from her mother/grandmother, "ignore what they say, watch what they do".

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

7. I disagree

McCain would not have looked at any opponent in the eye. Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards.......he could be a racist, but the fact is he is an arrogant son of a bitch who thinks everyone is beneath him.

Also, it is a new Republican tactic to refuse to acknowledge the opponent's presence. I think Bush did the same thing with both Gore and Kerry.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. ...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

18. McCain didn't look at Obama when they shook hands before and after?

Because posting that pic of him and Suckabee would only be relevant if that was the case.

Besides, fellow assholes have to be pleasant out of professional courtesy, I suspect.

By the way, I just You Tubed some McCain moments from the Rethug debates, and he doesn't look at his opponent while addressing them either.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. ...

Stop grasping at straws.

The fucker's a racist. So are his supporters.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

22. I already said he may be a racist.....

....but he wouldn't have looked at John Kerry either, and you know it.

And I'll bet you a dollar Caribou Barbie doesn't look at Joe Biden either. Wanna take that bet? It's standard operating Repug procedure. Democrats are evil.......terrorists.....anti-American.....being black or a woman I suppose is just another "strike" in their mind, but being white doesn't make it any better either.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

23. ...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

27. ....

I mean, really......can we get back to his actual treatment of people DURING the debate?

[EFerrari]

9. She's wrong. I thought it was appalling. n/t

[lisa58]

11. I don't know if it was racial or not, but ... it was effing RUDE...

...and this is a candidate that does not believe in DIPLOMACY!

I'm shocked I tell you, shocked!

[melody]

12. In the entertainment industry, 80% of the people stare over your head

You can be carrying on a conversation with five people and they'll all be staring at the sky or another building or ...
It's the weirdest thing. I've only met a handful of performers that met other peoples' eyes.

She may be accustomed to that in broadcasting, too.

[Breeze54]

13. Only making eye contact with the audience is a basic debating technique...

Basic Debating Skills

http://www.actdu.org.au/archives/actein_site/basicskills.html

CONCEPT: MANNER

snip-->

2. EYE CONTACT.
Is very closely related to cue cards. If you look at the audience you will hold their attention. If you spend your time reading from cue cards or looking at a point just above the audience's head they will lose concentration very quickly. When you've got them by the eyeballs their hearts and minds will follow.

[donco6]

16. Huh?

It's your use of the word "only" that's highly misleading. I've NEVER been to a debate where the pro and con sides never looked AT EACH OTHER.

[Breeze54]

24. It is a method.... a tactic....

You watched it the other night, right? So, I guess there's always a first time! ;)

[donco6]

25. Yeah, it didn't work so well did it?

I mean, that's the whole point of people calling McCain out on it. It was a BAD TACTIC, not a good one.

[Breeze54]

26. What? You thought he'd actually do good?

:rofl:

McDim a fucking liar and he sucks at debating and we all knew that
going into this! That's why he wanted Town Hall Meetings and that's
why Obama said No Way!! There are no flies on Obama! ;)

[donco6]

29. Well, I can't disagree there.

I do think he really hurt himself by looking childish and those stupid condescending smirks and guffaws - not to mention just being McCain - i.e., Republican, establishment, pro-deregulation, anecdotes in place of facts, pro-war, etc. etc. - all the things people are tired of.

How does the next debate format go?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. I've an in-law who attended Ole Miss.

Among the first african american women to attend, the year after Meredith.

This is what all the white people did after forced integration. They wouldn't look any white people in the eyes.

Of course McCain's a racist, and of course this is just another example.

Anybody believing otherwise is fooling themselvs.

[These Eyes]

17. It's all in perception

While he may not have looked Obama in the eye for numerous reasons, people of color, by and large, may have seen it as a racist move. People generally view life through the lens of their own experiences. If you've been discriminated against because of the color of your skin, and you see McCain won't acknowledge Obama's existence and, to top it off, keeps saying he doesn't understand, as if Obama's either stupid or childlike, you can then understand why some would think McCain was being racist.

[iheartmulletz]

20. Whoa...now wait just a minute, here

Just because it may have happened to people doesn't mean it happened in this case. It is extremely important for us to judge each situation with the facts that we have and not be knee-jerk about it. I feel that McCain was either ashamed to look Obama in the eye because he knows he has run a dirty campaign when he swore he wouldn't, or he's pissed that Obama's in the lead and he can't even bear to look at who is kicking his ass, or he is trying to control his temper and this helps.

[karynnj]

21. She may be right - he didn't look directly at John Kerry when they were

on a face to face MTP. Kerry is white and someone McCain knew well. I think it's more like not having to engage emotionally with his opponent.

[brazos121200]

28. Not looking at someone when you are talking to them is

usually a sign of social inadequacy on the part of the person doing the talking or fear of the person being talked to. I couldn't believe Mccane didn't look at Sen. Obama except when he shook hands with him. He looked insecure and very unpresidential. I think most viewers of the debate agree.