Obama and race

First your point on MLK Day. Well from an Arizonan friend I know, he said that AZ and other states were against the holiday because it celebrates just one man. For all our 43 presidents, we only have 2 holidays for them all, and no holidays for other great Americans like Edison and Lewis and Clark, who weren't presidents. King wasn't even an elected leader. They wanted the day to be called "Civil Rights Day" instead, to encompass all the people, white and black, who suffered and toiled to make this a fairer nation. But MLK Day just idolizes one man and forgets the rest. So it wasn't because of racism, according to them I guess.

Palin is off the deep end sometimes so I won't address her attacks on Obama. But McCain never said Obama wasn't patriotic and was un-American. He just said his ideas for America are not what the "mainstream" wants and he is not experienced enough to handle the job. Well call me naive, but I do wholeheartedly believe that McCain doesn't want to push the Obama-Muslim lie. Some things are even below him. I am not sure about Palin. Sure, they're not going out of their way to help a brotha out and dispel the rumors (that is Obama's job), but I DO NOT believe that they are adding to it. See the link below... McCain knows how it feels to be "swift boated" by the Bushies over his adopted daughter. He won't even go after Jeremiah Wright like the conservatives want him to, so he's not going to push a lie on us either.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/164504

Although speaking of that, it's interesting how cowardly Obama has behaved on this matter. The only Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison, said, "A lot of [American Muslims] are waiting for [Obama] to say that there's nothing wrong with being a Muslim". Ellison has offered his support to Obama, but he hasn't taken it. American Muslims are thrilled that a President Obama, who might understand prejudice and injustice a little better, could help get them out of the gutter of public perception. But his conduct makes them lose faith. We already know that Obama's staff have forcibly removed women with headscarves from his rallies (he has since apologized for this). Obama is about hope and change, but not for everyone.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/20729974.html?location_refer=Nation

Let's be honest, Obama's past success and future prospects depend on white, wealthy, educated people supporting him. They're trendy hippies who want to show their righteousness, feel guilty about bad history, and think they are making amends. I know that is terribly offensive and I'm sorry. There are plenty of good reasons to support Obama. But I know that latent racial guilt is part of the equation, maybe just a small part, but it's there.

In fact, the only election Obama ever lost was to another black man. Early on, he found his strongest support in Chicago's academic and rich white areas. He can't even out-black Bill Clinton. Obama is a survivor and a pure political animal. Of course he loves having 99% black support (now Colin Powell too), but when push comes to shove, he will do what the whites and Jews want first. He is so scared of being labeled a Muslim extremist and un-American that he is willing to compromise basic decency and not include American Muslims in his "movement". I find that disgusting. He's not anti-Muslim of course, but being who he is, he should know better.

After the Rev. Wright buzz, Obama couldn't ignore the elephant any longer. He made that big speech about race that his adoring fans in the media hailed as the "most significant" discussion of race in decades. Have you read the speech (full transcript below)? It's just a little more than what we'd get from a freshman history class. Ok, I admit some of it was amazing, but it wasn't a "revelation" that will make us all get along (nor did Obama claim it to be, though of course the white media creamed themselves afterwards). It was politics, it was damage control, and let's remember that he may have not even written it - probably white Ivy Leaguers did and he just recited it. If he truly cared about those big thoughts of the speech, he would have continued it on the campaign trail, but since then he hasn't said squat about race. Now it's all the economy, stupid. If Obama had his way, I am sure he would never want to discuss race at all. Because he's scared of it instead of proud. It's a political liability to him, not an innocent, honest aspect of his identity. Well I take that back - he uses it when advantageous, like when talking about unity, as in his life is a microcosm of what the American dream can be: a poor white woman and poor black man getting together, and making a president out of nothing. At least he's not as bad as Geraldo renaming himself Gerry Rivers to get into show business (though he did rename himself Barry in school).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-t_n_92077.html

I know I am being cynical here, but basically my long-winded point is: Obama is not genuine, just like McCain, and just like most other opportunistic politicians. They do what is convenient and strategic. Kerry tried to make a stand for gay marriage (at his peril), but Obama won't even touch it, even though at least 50% of his liberal base wants it. On that issue Obama reverted to his Christian dogma rather than compassion and fairness. Both McCain and Obama seem to just want to win for themselves and will say anything to get there. Hopefully their glory will translate into better days for America too. I guess that's all we can hope for out of DC these days.