Obama, Why Did It Take 20 Years?

I’m so mad at those two videos I don’t even know what to do with myself.

But I don’t know what the better option is. Voting to keep someone you don’t want in power out of power, or not voting at all.

No options in this election are good; not by any stretch of the imagination. Why then should I vote? Why then should I continue to support a system that does not give me a legitimate voice by only providing me with two half wit candidates to pick from.

Man, I don’t remember being this frustrated with anything in a long time.

McCain to me is the portrait of a conservative that wishes he could be Reagan but doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to Washington to actually get anything done.

He is someone who should have called it quits a long time ago, and because of his selfishness in wanting to run the entire Republican party is stick with a weak candidate instead of someone who might have stood a chance (and would have been a better leader) like Romney.

McCain wants to be president like Brett Favre wanted to win the super bowl. It is McCain’s desire to be the president that is fueling his candidacy, not the desire to actually help and change America. I know that he’s got watered down, middle of the road solutions (at best) for most of the issues facing this country, and in office he’ll spend all of his time “Trying to be the next Reagan” but pandering to the Democrats. Weak.

I would vote third party but the thought of voting for Nader makes my skin crawl.

You both bring up good points. My statements earlier were fueled by pretty mindless amounts of political anger.

I do recall ( I could of course be wrong) media campaigns from the major three republican candidates, touting for the bid of most Reagan like during the primaries… that’s kind of where I was basing the Reagan thing.

The feeling I get from McCain is that this is his last shot to be president and he wants it at pretty much any cost. Who can blame him though?

I’ve thought about the third party thing a lot.. I think I might go for it. Of course the candidate will not win. Not even in anyone’s wildest dreams would a third party candidate win. But, I feel that if I were to vote for one, it would be my way of saying that there are more parties than the big 2. I feel that this option would be better than not voting at all.

I keep forgetting that I can’t just go on angry political tirades with you to present. It just never works out for me, hahaha.

*At least now I’m not considering Obama.

I met John McCain in December of 1998. Before I get to that, though, I want to say that if John McCain wants to be president like Brett Favre wants to win the super bowl, then I’m all for it. Favre got pretty close last year. If McCain can get us “pretty close” to our goals as a country, I would be thrilled. A lot of people want the perfect candidate who is going to clean up all the problems so we can get back to being spoiled Americans. Ain’t gonna happen. But there are people who can point us in the right direction.

Now, back to meeting McCain. December 9, 1998. I was a part of the ceremony to award General Benjamin O. Davis Jr. his fourth star. Quick history lesson: Davis was the commander of the Tuskeegee Airmen, but was denied his fourth star 28 years earlier because of race. John McCain got legislation passed to get the fourth star awarded. McCain and I are not bff’s or anything, but I did speak to him and shake his hand. I glanced at him during the actual ceremony and he had tears in his eyes as the star was presented to a man so deserving. Say what you want, but a selfish politician would not have fought for a ceremony like that… a private one with the president (I spoke with Clinton that day, too) and hardly any press. Like the Davis Ceremony, he wants to fight for what he thinks America deserves, not because there’s anything in it for him, but because he believes it. Shoot, that there makes being too old a plus in the argument! What’s he gonna get out of it, but a nice funeral! Doesn’t have time to reap any other rewards. No, he cares. He’s not selfish beyond wanting a better country.

I’ll vote for McCain. I wanted him as the candidate in 2000, for the same reasons I just mentioned. I’m glad he stuck around. I would also still pay to see favre play. Old or not, he knows how to go about his business. Aaron Rodgers? Come on! OK, enough crossing football/political subjects.

McCain’s my vote (wasted in this blue-brained state). Don’t care if people don’t like my reasons. I like ‘em. Good enough for me.

I think split democrats only help if it negatively affects their voter turnout. I don’t think anybody is going to say “Well, screw that then. Since Hilary didn’t get it, I’m going to vote Republican this time.”

But I guess you never know.

I DO think there will be some very interesting McCain/Obama debates or even just the punches and counter punches via the media.

Hey,
Should we really pick the president based on some stuff people at his church said?
The next president will be chosen based on how he will aid the country,
not what people he associates with say.

Vote Obama ’08

just a little counterpoint… I agree that Rev. Wright and his views are skewed, but you can’t hold Obama accountable for another man’s beliefs. True, he remained a part of that congregation for many years, but not every member of a congregation is a carbon copy.

The previous pastor of my church was caught in an affair with a member of the congregation. The church board kept the matter private and kept the pastor on under “probational” status. I don’t agree with that at all, but my personal belief is that your church is your family and you don’t just pick up and leave when something doesn’t fit right with you. You’ve made an investment in the people, other people like yourself. So it is hard to leave those people, that family. I didn’t leave the church.

So to some, that would indicate that I support adultry. Unless you ask me, and then I would tell you I don’t. Then some would follow with the question “Why are you still a part of that church?” which I have already adequately answered.

Obama’s been questioned and he’s answered, leading us to believe that he does not follow the ideas of Wright. That’s enough for me.

There are plenty of other reasons why I don’t care to vote for Obama, but the statements of Reverend Wright are actually a non-issue for me unless it was Wright himself running for President.

Think about your own families and friends. How many of us would be successful if we were judged based on the losers we know and/or are related to? And we all have one or two of those.

Let’s grade Obama on Obama.

as some have mentioned, you can’t get too nitpicky on every acquaintance a person has as there will always be rotten eggs.

to be frank, if you are a black person in this country, your bound to have black friends, relatives, pastors, etc, who are subscribers to the ‘hate whitey’ he is the reason for all our problems mentality. it doesn’t mean you agree. as a white person i’ve got racist friends, etc i love and care for, and even listen to their crap but it doesn’t mean i buy it or practice it for one second. just because your not righting all the wrongs around you in people doesn’t mean your complicet in them.

what impresses me is obama both recognizes this and understands it, but doesn’t patronize it. he speech given shortly after his pastor started making news i think summed it up nicely and was one of the better pictures of racial relations in this country i’ve ever seen, even though i may not like it.

he is leaving the church now to take the voice away from his pastor, sometimes politics or money cause issues and you have to cut ties to solve them. and it is the right move if he pastor is going to try and use obama’s recogntion.

i could be partial too in that i think all pastors are crazy, so i don’t put much credence in them than say the crazy vet ranting about the end of the world on the street corner.

personally i would have loved to seen mccain and not bush back in 2000; i think we’d be a whole lot better off now if that were the case, and a good deal more would have been accomplished, and we’d have counterattacked the proper enemies. he won’t be getting my vote this time as i do think he has sold out a bit in order to finally win the nomination this time. he learned the errors of his past ways: he wasn’t crazy republican enough, and has fully gone to the darkside now. he was clearly the better republican candidate at the time but bush won because he was willing to do the repulican dance, so now mccain succumbed and bought his red dancing shoes. he would be likely to be fairly inconsequential as a prez with congress fully democratically controlled by then any how.

I posted the Wright video on myspace and received this back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZbIGJrDkg

Thoughts?

McCain has NOT severed ties with this man.

I have no problem with that video or McCain’s ties to him. he is preaching his religion, a religion by the way which wiped out entire nations at God’s request because they followed evil ways. So he is simply a deeply religious man, and none of his statements were racist.

And I guess that since McCain is friends with him then it is assured that McCain must have put every word into the man’s mouth for him, right?

6 degrees of Kevin Bacon

we’re probably all tied to all of these guys, right.

So what then?

the last word.

Amy, I get what you’re saying…

But wouldn’t Mike HAVE to say those words in order to be able to *edit* them together?

Obama’s pastors DID say those words (very clearly) and even distributed *official* video and audio of their sermons containing those words. I don’t think many were taken out of context. Wright and Pfleger are actually that outspoken with out having to help them!

Obama did look up to them and others in the church for a long time and probably only quit the church to appease his potential supporters, pandering!

In summary, I support Barack Obama art posters, not the candidate!

if your looking for a way to take a man down, then your going to find your examples fool proof even in the face of confronting facts or simple common sense…

if you like mccain, you can easily rationalize away any questionable accomplices, while allowing his opponent zero of the same leeway. there are worse things one could waste their time gossiping about i guess.

the problem too in this case of mr wright is some people seem astonished such opinions exist, whereas it is fairly common. cultural undercurrents exist in many communities that may be alarming in a general context. you don’t get to choose your race or other significant cultural factors, your born into them. trying to find a black man without some conspiracy touting associates is like trying to find a white man in the south with out a racist, probably once lynching, grandfather.

now of course if obama was on stage with mr wright saying the same garbage, then it is a whole different story, and you can hold him accountable for his words and direct actions. we all partake in the company of people or organizations who extoil opinions or values which we disagree with or are out right disgusted over, but we are not put on trial for their actions.

a great example to consider is our own blogger nathan, a proud member of a teacher’s union; it doesn’t mean you support all the crap they put out.

i get your points angelo, but they def come from the attack perspective.

just because you listen to someone say something, doesn’t imply you are immediately brainwashed by there ideas, which is what you are implying. obama heard mr X say dumb stuff so obama must believe and follow every dumb stuff mr X says, which is just not true.

i don’t agree with all obama’s ideas either, but it doesn’t mean that i can objectively see this as a non-issue.

the black men, white men example of mine was just that, and a very realistic one. of course there are numerous exceptions, people are not templates. i was suggesting that it should not be surprising in the least for people of certain cultural backgrounds to have acquaintances with views that would be consider radical by other cultures. it is not a difficult concept to grasp.

and your dead wrong about the teacher’s union. looking at the constitution here, it doesn’t require anyone to be a member of a teachers union, or a teacher. if you choose to teach publicly, you choose to be a member of the union. there are plenty of teaching positions that require NO union membership. if your going to hold the member of a church responsible for every word coming from the church, then you have to hold the member of a union accountable for every word of nonsense coming from that union. if you fail to see the similarity, then your just conveniently ignoring reality to find a way to attack someone. you can be a member of any organization and not support every word coming from its leaders or policy. obama was a member of a christian church, which implies a clear priority in its mission. the side opinions of its members or leader are minor details.

although at this point, the discussion is a moot point, you’ve dug your trench. i understand the need to attack the opposition to firm your support of your side, makes sense to me. however being realistic, this is a non-issue. voting for a prez should be based on the person’s relative work history and policies, not gossip about something he heard from someone he knows.

i’m also againt the lesser of evils mentality, as it implies that you can only vote for somewhat who basically follow every action that you support; basically your saying you would only vote for yourself, and if someone doesn’t agree with every ideal of yours, they are evil. politicians are elected represenatives of the community, not a personal robot.