Blue Spot

At Obama Event, a Comedian’s Jokes Fall Flat - NYTimes.com

At another point in his standup routine, he began: “My little nephew came to me and he said, ‘Uncle, what’s the difference between a hypothetical question and a realistic question?’ I said, I don’t know, but I said, ‘Go upstairs and ask your mother if she would make love to the mailman for $50,000.’ ”

The joke rambled on until the punch line that he and his nephew lived with “two hos.”

When it came time for Mr. Obama — who has made an issue of parental responsibility among black men — to speak, he gave an abbreviated version of his campaign speech and then chastised Mr. Mac.

“We can’t afford to be divided by race,” Mr. Obama said. “We can’t afford to be divided by region or by class and we can’t afford to be divided by gender, which by the way, that means, Bernie, you’ve got to clean up your act next time. This is a family affair. By the way, I’m just messing with you, man.”

Later, an Obama spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, formally repudiated Mr. Mac.

“Senator Obama told Bernie Mac that he does not condone these statements and that what he said was inappropriate,” Ms. Psaki said.

Labels: Obama supporters, Race, sexism

The GOP made Obama do it

It was no surprise when Barack Obama flipped on public financing last week. When it suited his goals last year, he pledged, "If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." When it didn't suit his goals, he ditched the pledge. And get this: Apparently he did it because the Republicans made him do it.

Obama has raised an impressive $296 million to date - dwarfing John McCain's $122 million. He stands to raise a lot of money - certainly more than the $84 million he would have received from the federal presidential public financing system - for the nine weeks following the Democratic convention. So forget "change we can believe in."

I cannot get as indignant as some critics seem to be. After all, public financing never was about reforming politics. It always was about helping Democrats get into the White House - which is why so many alleged reformers have not only accepted Obama's flip-flop, but praised it. Even the goo-goo Center for Responsive Politics Web site featured an opinion piece that suggested that the $1.2 million per day of public financing "just might not be enough" for a presidential candidate.

In a video e-mailed to supporters last week, Obama floated the argument that his huge war chest was akin to public financing because of all the $5, $10 and $20 checks his team has cashed. But, as the New York Times reported, Obama already "has collected more money in contributions of $1,000 or more than even Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-vaunted team of bundlers of donations." This week, Obama is trolling for big checks from Clinton fat cats.

Team Obama set up fightthesmears.com ostensibly to fight misinformation. Site visitors are invited to send viral e-mail that charges, "Rush Limbaugh and his fellow right-wing attack dogs have been spreading baseless rumors about a nonexistent video tape showing Michelle Obama using a racial epithet." It was a vile, baseless rumor.

You could applaud Team Obama for setting the record straight, if it did not gloss over the starring role of Larry C. Johnson, identified simply as a "blogger," not a supporter of Hillary Clinton, as David Weigel reported in the American Prospect online. Instead, it targeted Limbaugh for saying "a tape exists of Michelle Obama using the word 'whitey' from the pulpit of Trinity United."

Thing is, Limbaugh stipulated, "There's a rumor that there's a tape" - two weeks after Johnson's first blog alleging that Republicans were hoarding a "whitey" tape. (Limbaugh should not have repeated the rumor, but he did so as many political editors and reporters were grappling over whether to report the unsubstantiated but widely trafficked Internet rumor, or just ignore it.)

Then, Obama pulled the race card. At a fundraiser - where else? - Obama told supporters that he had to turn down public financing so that he can raise enough money to fight GOP 527s. As the New York Times reported, he said, "They're going to try to make you afraid of me. 'He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?' "

Who does Obama think he is kidding? He has raised buckets of cash - but rather than be up front about opting out of public financing because of the math, he stooped to blaming other people for his decision to cash in. He also blamed the system and played the race card.

Labels: Campaign financing/contributions, General Election 2008, Obama, Race

Blacks savor Obama win, fear disappointment | Reuters

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Black Americans savored Barack Obama's unprecedented victory in the Democratic race for U.S. president, but said on Wednesday the higher stakes raised the prospect of deep disappointment in November.

The knowledge that Obama will be the first black American to lead a major party in a U.S. presidential election as he faces Republican John McCain in November provoked a flood of reflection from black voters at Atlanta's "K&K Soul Food" restaurant.

"It's great. We finally have a 'brother' nominated to be president. It's the best thing I've ever seen," said Alan Stephens, 46, who had parked the truck he uses for his welding business directly outside the big side window.

"But it will be even better when he is president," he said, adding that Obama's victory should be put in the context of other milestones in African American history, a popular view among a U.S. minority with a keen sense that discrimination and the struggle to overcome it has defined its identity.

In winning the nomination, Obama has left many African Americans elated but at the same time fearful that their own preoccupations might derail the candidate in a general election, said William Jelani Cobb, author of books about contemporary black culture.

"Black Americans are treading on thin ice, moving very delicately. This (Obama's) opportunity is frail and fragile (and many say) let's make sure that nothing happens to ruin it," said Cobb, a professor of history at Atlanta's Spelman College.

Labels: African-American issues, Civil Rights, Obama, Obama supporters, Race

ABC News: Pesky Pastor Clouds Fight for Fla., Mich.

The job of uniting the Democratic Party after a long and divisive primary season just got tougher, thanks to yet another Chicago Christian leader who's a longtime friend and associate of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has rejected the comments of another controversial pastor who sharply mocked his Democratic nomination rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
(Reuters/Getty Images)Precisely at the time when Obama's camp needs to be building bridges to supporters of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, who's known Obama for about 20 years, took to the pulpit of Obama's church Sunday and ridiculed Clinton, using racially divisive language.

The timing could not be worse.

The Democratic National Committee's rules and bylaws committee will meet Saturday to hash out how to deal with the delegations of Florida and Michigan, which are going to be punished for ignoring party rules and holding early primaries.

Clinton supporters plan on staging protests, insisting that the committee count the votes as cast, even though no candidate campaigned in either state and Obama wasn't on the ballot in Michigan.

But hanging over the Saturday meeting will be the mocking comments made by Pfleger from the same Chicago pulpit that Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, used racially inflammatory language about America to Obama's regret.

Obama was forced to say Thursday he was "deeply disappointed" by Pfleger's pulpit performance in which he mocked Clinton by pretending to bawl after saying she was "entitled" to the nomination because she was white and Bill Clinton's wife.

"There's a black man stealing my show," Pfleger wailed in his mock Clinton voice.

Pfleger quickly followed Obama's statement with his own apology, but the Clinton camp was not mollified.

"This is going to hurt Obama's efforts right now to bring the party together coming out of the primaries Tuesday," ABC's chief political correspondent George Stephanopoulos said today on "Good Morning America."

"The feelings between Clinton supporters and Obama supporters are rubbed very, very raw. This makes that worse," Stephanopoulos said.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Hillary-haters, Obama, Obama supporters, Race, White Guilt

On Faith: Georgetown Blog

But by delivering his remarks, Father Pfleger seems to have officially submitted his entry to the What Else Can We At Trinity Do to Further Assure that the United States Does Not Have Its First African-American President Any Time Soon? video competition. And this application has “Finalist” marked all over it.

It achieves this status because Father Pfleger has more than a passing acquaintance with the person who stands on the verge of winning the Democratic Party’s nomination.

His precise relation to Senator Obama is presently being pieced together and rehearsed in articles across the internet (such as this one, and this one). As of now, it seems fair to say that Pfleger (who has suddenly disappeared from the candidate’s website) and Obama have known and liked one another for a long time. The former appears to have financially contributed to previous campaigns and to have worked for the present one prior to the Iowa Caucus.

According to widely circulated reports (although I have not been able to track down the original source in the few hours since this story broke) Obama once referred to Pfleger as a “spiritual adviser” in a 2004 Chicago Sun-Times article.

After watching -- slackjawed -- Father Michael Pfleger’s remarks about Hillary Clinton and White privilege I have queries. First, what is it about that particular pulpit that brings out the inner Chris Rock in assorted Men of God?

Second, are there any guys on the face of the earth having more fun than the four fellows in robes whooping it up directly behind Father Pfleger? Third, are we going to be told by Obama operatives that the remarks were taken out of context? Fourth, and most importantly, what will be the fallout for the Obama campaign?

In a general election a presidential candidate typically moves to the center. It is now going to be even harder for Obama to do that since America keeps seeing footage of his friends who stand to the left of Fidel Castro.

But that's not all. The Senator from Illinois has his share of difficulties with White Blue Collar voters. I have observed elsewhere that this group loathes this type of rhetoric (unless it comes from Chris Rock).

There's more to be concerned about. Obama has demonstrated some weakness with Catholic voters. The fact that he finds himself receiving glowing praise from a priest who has been in a running, public feud with his local Cardinal might aggravate the problem.

Let's not forget Senator Clinton. She surely will chime in on this controversy later today. It will deflect attention from her own recent gaffes. And it will strengthen her supporters’ conviction that the racial hang-ups of Obama’s inner circle will accrue to John McCain’s greater glory. Too, there is more than a touch of misogyny in the priest's oratory and (as the Male Space Invader Rick Lazio learned the hard way) many women voters rally to Hillary when they feel a gendered slight.

I don’t doubt that the Senator’s aforementioned words of regret are sincere. I don’t doubt that he truly deplores this type of rhetoric. But how many more radical Left- wing confidantes from the South Side can undecided voters withstand before they start questioning the man's claims about being a unifier who is above Red States and Blue States, Republican and Democrat, Conservative and Liberal?

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Obama supporters, Race, White Guilt

One last Kentucky tidbit : Top of the Ticket : Los Angeles Times#comments#comments#comments This is a link to a blog at the LA Times talking again about how white KY is, and trying to paint Hillary supporters as white racists for not voting for Obama. Below are some of the comments that were left:

Let the Republicans have the snake handlers and inbreeds and ignorance that goes with those so called uneducated WV and Kentucky voters.

Look at the way they live and look at the way they have voted locally. They cant govern themselves but America depends on their judgement to choose a candidate to lead all of us.

It is time to put these "Regan Democrats"(whatever that really means) into history with Jessica Lynch!!!!!!
Posted by: EddienTexas May 22, 2008 at 11:07 AM

Hillary ought ot run for president of Kentucky.
Posted by: blarsen May 22, 2008 at 11:07 AM

93% - that's the same percentage by which blacks vote for Obama. So what is it that 90%+ voting preference says???
Posted by: Keith May 22, 2008 at 11:08 AM

...AND WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE BLACK VOTE IS OBAMA GETTING. REVERSE RACISM IS STILL RACISM.
Posted by: Gordito Mojito May 22, 2008 at 11:09 AM

I love being from Kentucky. Aside from Louisville and Lexington, it's the last bastion of wilderness untouched by the PC radicals obsessed with diversity.
Posted by: Seth May 22, 2008 at 11:09 AM

I'm not sure I understand why Hillary is so proud of her KY & WV victories. Is it really a good thing that she is winning the votes of uneducated, poor, rural whites? I mean, I don't think I'd want to trumpet the fact that I'm the choice of people who tend to be less intelligent and more racist than the average person...

Or is it more telling that Obama is winning the "educated voters"? Wouldn't all of this mean that Hillary is winning the people who don't know any better but Obama is winning the people who think for themselves and try to make fact-based decisions?

I don't see Obama going out and being so proud about winning the overwhelming majority of black voters. Why is Hillary accepting such blatant racism in her victories?
Posted by: A Voter May 22, 2008 at 11:10 AM

It's no surprise that those hillbilly barrios are full of racist rednecks. Have you ever seen Deliverance?
And no the reverse racism thing just doesn't hold. Black people have voted for whiteys before. King Clinton I owes being elected to the black voters so you can't call them racist. Just because they would prefer to vote for Obama than Queen Clinton II does not mean they are racist and would refuse voting for whitey.
Seriously is anybody going to say with a straight face that Kentucky and West Virginia are not hillbilly, redneck, cesspools of racism, bigotry and ignorance? Come on!
Posted by: TruthIsTreasonComplianceIsPatriotic May 22, 2008 at 11:16 AM

Stay classy Obama supporters!

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama supporters, Race

On last night's Hardball, Chris Matthews, with a little help from his tag-team partner, Andrea Mitchell, continued the latest meme that people not voting for Obama are dumb racists. Buchanan does his best to call him out on it. Later in the discussion, Matthews' "white guilt" becomes very visible. He tries to come back with a lame excuse when asked why West Virginians are considered racists for not voting for Obama but no such claims are made of blacks who have been voting for Obama at about 90%. According to Matthews there is a difference between "negative voting and positive voting." So is that supposed to mean if we vote for Obama, that's positive but if we vote for Hillary that's negative? The fawning is so blantant, it's disgusting.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Race

Racism on the trail - War Room - Salon.com

On Tuesday, the Washington Post's Kevin Merida reported on a phenomenon that's apparently all too common:

For all the hope and excitement [Barack] Obama's candidacy is generating, some of his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed -- and unreported -- this election season. Doors have been slammed in their faces. They've been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.

The Post story does lack some context, though. At times it's difficult to tell whether the aggressors in the anecdotes Merida relays are Democrats or Republicans. For all we know, some could just be jerky kids out to prove they're big by saying something shocking and stupid, rather than truly representative of feelings in their larger community.

The reaction to Merida's article from bloggers on the right has been fascinating to read. Their primary feeling, apparently, is that this is just another example of liberal media bias covering for Obama -- and that this proves Democrats are racist. The former sentiment was summed up at the Jawa Report, where one poster headlined his discussion of the article "Obama General Election Strategy Taking Shape" and wrote:

When a story hits this many outlets simultaneously it's pretty clear that there is a coordinated effort to establish a new "meme." This meme: if you're white and vote against Obama, you're an ignorant racist.

This will be a common theme right through the election in November: racism may cost Barack, the post-racial candidate, the election (white racism that is, blacks voting over 90 percent for Obama isn't "racism." It's payback, just like the verdicts in the Reginald Denny case were payback).

This is what decades of affirmative action and racial victimhood politics have done to American society.

Writing at the National Review's Campaign Spot blog, Jim Geraghty said, "The Washington Post picks an interesting day to run a front-page feature story on volunteers for the Obama campaign encountering blatant racism ... the timing of the article, coupled with its relentless portrait of voters driven by ferocious, unmitigated bigotry, certainly feels like a prepared excuse for a blowout loss for Obama tonight."

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama supporters, Race

Larry Johnson over at NO QUARTER has a story of a verbal tirade by prominent Obama supporter and L.A religious leader, Eric Lee, launched at Jews and aimed in particular at Daphna Ziman who was supposedly being honored at this event sponsored by the national African-American fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi on April 4th 2008. Ms Ziman was being honored for her work with Children Uniting Nations and African-American children who are living out of home care. There's a clip there of an interview with Ms. Ziman by Roger L. Simon.

Labels: African-American issues, Cultural issues, Obama, Race

The Obama speech has been well covered throughout the internet. So, I thought if I was going to post anything about race today, it should be the vid below which seemed a lot more interesting than what I heard today.

Here's Hillary weeks ago at the State of the Black Union, with the courage to address what amounted to a hostile crowd, as most of the audience and previous panel members were Obama supporters. Although Obama & McCain were also invited, Hillary was the only one to show up.

Labels: African-American issues, Cultural issues, Hillary, Race

Friday night's AC 360 panel discusses the Rev. Wright remarks. Some good points from Tony Perkins, of all people.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Media, Obama, Race

George Stephanopoulos discusses the controversy over Obama's former pastor Rev. Wright with his panel. Donna Brazile's Obama bias becomes quite evident right around 6:22 into the vid.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Race

Let's see...it took Hillary one day to respond to the Ferraro remarks and because the Obama supporters were not satisfied, she was forced to denounce the comments again on Thursday. According to Obama, he's known about these remarks for a year (he says this in the clip above). So why has it taken this long for him to denounce his pastor's racial remarks. I think since his camp made such a big issue about the length of time between Hillary's response last week, it's definitely fair to ask the same of Obama.

Also, you're going to tell me that you don't know your church's or pastor's doctrine after 20 years of attendance?!? I mean most pastor's have the same theme or aim that is circular. They're going to eventually keep coming back to the same subjects to reach as many people as possible and spread their beliefs; to reach new people or hammer home old points or to fire up their regulars. Obama knows this man. You're going to let someone baptize your kids without knowing what he stans for? Hard to believe. I can't imagine that Rev. Wright never expressed these beliefs during personal conversations over a 20 year period. I'm not saying that I believe Obama believes what his pastor says in these videos. What I'm questioning is when he knew and his judgment and actions (or in-action) afterward.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Race

4 top GOP candidates skip minority debate - The New York Times - MSNBC.com

The moderator and the panel of well-known journalists were there. A large live audience was there, too, along with the public television cameras that carried the forum to television sets across the nation. But where the four leading Republican presidential candidates were to have stood and debated, four empty, silent lecterns sat on the stage.

That was because the four all cited scheduling conflicts and did not participate last night in the long-planned debate, where they were to be quizzed by black and Hispanic journalists about issues important to minority voters. And their conspicuous absence prompted a debate among Republicans about whether their party is attentive enough to black and Hispanic voters.

If the top Republican candidates were physically absent from the forum, held at Morgan State University, a historically black university in Baltimore, they were very much on the minds of those who came.

“Let me take a moment right here and now to say hello to those of you viewers from home: Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator John McCain, Gov. Mitt Romney and Senator Fred Thompson,” Tom Joyner, the syndicated radio host, said in his opening remarks, to knowing laughter from the audience.

And several candidates who did show up wasted little time in criticizing the no-shows.

“I’m embarrassed for our party, and I’m embarrassed for those who did not come,” said Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas. “Because there’s long been a divide in this country. And it doesn’t get better when we don’t show up.”

Labels: Election 2008, GOP Hypocrisy, Race

Should Rush be receiving the same treatment that Imus got, for this adolescent parody?

Labels: Race, Rush

MSN - News - Simmons Says 3 Epithets Should Be Banned

NEW YORK -- Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons said Monday that the recording and broadcast industries should consistently ban three racial and sexist epithets from all so-called clean versions of rap songs and the airwaves.

Currently such epithets are banned from most clean versions, but record companies sometimes "arbitrarily" decide which offensive words to exclude and there's no uniform standard for deleting such words, Simmons said.

The recommendations drew mixed reaction and come two weeks after some began carping anew about rap lyrics after radio personality Don Imus was fired by CBS Radio and NBC for referring to the players on the Rutgers university women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos."

Expressing concern about the "growing public outrage" over the use of such words in rap lyrics, Simmons said the words "bitch," "ho" and "nigger" should be considered "extreme curse words."

Labels: Media, Race

Elinor Tatum, Editor in Chief-The Amsterdam News speaks at the National Action Network.

Labels: Media, Race

Jackson, Sharpton were right this time | BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist

Tell me something. How did the Don Imus meltdown turn into the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton beat down? I've criticized both leaders when I thought they were on the wrong side of an issue. Still, I'm amazed at the furor aimed at Jackson and Sharpton over Imus' firing.

I've heard from readers by e-mail, posts and phone who were outraged over Jackson and Sharpton's role in protesting Imus' on-air racial slurs about Rutgers University's women's basketball team.

Both Jackson and Sharpton reported receiving death threats after Imus was dropped from MSNBC cable and CBS Radio. Last Friday, police had to evacuate Rainbow/PUSH's Chicago headquarters at 50th and Drexel after someone claimed to have planted a bomb.

Obviously, both of these leaders are carrying old baggage -- the heaviest for Jackson being his derogatory description of NYC as "Hymietown" in 1984, when he was running for president of the United States. His initial denial that he used the offensive language in a private conversation with a black reporter, and the aggressive support he received from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, sank his dreams of ever winning national office. Few can get in the door.

Although Jackson has remained welcome in a lot of prominent circles, the controversy shows how difficult it is to bury ugly racial slurs. "Before [Jesse] does his daily walks on NBC tower, I think he should look back on those words he spoke years back, calling New York 'hymie town'; [Jesse] let he who has not uttered racially/religious insensitive words cast the first stone," wrote Martin M. in a recent post on my blog.

As for Sharpton, he's managed to continue his career as a civil rights activist despite the negative outcome of the 1987 Tawana Brawley case. After Sharpton led angry protests over the handling of Brawley's rape allegations, it was determined that the 15-year-old black girl concocted the charges against six white New York police officers.

Sharpton and two of Brawley's attorneys were sued for slander and ordered to pay $345,000 in damages. Twenty years later, Sharpton critics point to this debacle as if it were yesterday. "This whole incident is a joke. . . . But to apologize to Al Sharpton? [T]he man who never apologized for the lives he ruined in the Tawana Brawley fiasco? . . . None of those self-appointed black leaders are worth a dime," said Ken in a blog post.

But most of us couldn't get an appointment with the head of a Fortune 500 company, let alone a meeting. Like it or not, Jackson and, increasingly, Sharpton, can talk with the heads of major corporations in the heat of a crisis involving African Americans.

Sharpton met with CBS Chairman & CEO Les Moonves shortly before Moonves announced that Imus would not return to his radio show. Jackson also met with corporate heads at both MSNBC and CBS. Others called for Imus to be fired.

The level of disrespect shown these men on the street doesn't match up to the power they wield in places where power matters. Maybe this is a generational problem. Maybe many of the people who are tearing down Jackson and Sharpton are ignorant of their real contributions in the African-American community.

They still have the ability to make those in power listen to the people who are often voiceless. With regard to the Imus controversy, it wasn't just Jackson and Sharpton making noise. Other major newsmakers and watchdog groups also called for Imus to be taken off the air, after a 30-year career. But it is Jackson and Sharpton who are being condemned for "injecting" themselves in this controversy. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Yes, both men should have more aggressively used their platforms to address vulgar rap lyrics. But they are not the only black leaders with a national platform. More important, while people are condemning Jackson and Sharpton for their lack of "moral standing," what responsibility do the rest of us have for this sorry state of affairs?

So many of us have supported the gangsta rap music genre either with our dollars or our silence, the work of more tempered artists can barely get air time. I'm grateful that Jackson and Sharpton didn't let their own mistakes stop them from getting involved. Maybe now more of us will do our part and keep those demeaning racial slurs out of our mouths.

© Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group

Labels: Race

Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, and Michael Savage prove that racism, sexism and bigotry exist in our media on a daily basis. Why isn't there the outrage over their comments? Why aren't they fired?

Labels: Imus, Media, Race

Tavis Smiley Presents...State of Black America, from Hampton Univesity. This clip features an exchange between Eddie Glaude and Al Sharpton. This event was tied to the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 1607. For more info go to www.covenantwithblackamerica.com

Labels: Race

YouTube's Black Soultan on the the criticism Al Sharpton is receiving and the charge that he is a hypocrite for not going after the Hip Hop community for using the same type of language that Don Imus used.
And here's the proof.

Labels: Race