Obama's Philly radio goof

I'd be very interested to see the dots you're connecting here.

 

Obama appears to be the typical pandering, waffling bullshit politician in his handling of the Rev. Wright thing, race and politics, etc. As a mentioned on a different thread, he's acting like the politician he's supposedly too good to be. He (and his supporters) set him up on a pedestal as someone who is more than a politician, a man above the fray. He's not, and it's showing.

 

Well, I don't think he's not a politician.

But I'm simply not seeing the "pandering" or "waffling". Perhaps you could elaborate?

 

His "denouncements" of Wright were, as I've said before, half-assed. He wants the issue to go away, so he issues the political apology everyone expects. But, in so doing, he keeps trying to defend Wright. I can understand not wanting to throw a mentor under the bus. But those caveats open him up to charges of waffling, hypocrisy, even racism. The bottom line, fair or not, is that he's been providing his opposition a lot of ammo lately, and we both know what that opposition is capable of. He's as vulnerable as he's ever been.

 

I wouldn't say it makes you racist, but it does make you biased, as we all are.
Would you have felt uncomfortable if it had been two white guys with the same attitude?

 

While I disagree with some of those characterizations, you present a compelling case that his reactions haven't made for the best politics.

Which I actually agree with -- but which, I'd hasten to add, are neither typical politicking nor pandering.

Pandering would have been blasting Wright and then promising to make it up to the black community later. You know, kind of like what's his face did with Sister Souljah.

You seem to be arguing two things that are mutually exclusive.

 

You had me at compelling case.

 

You typical panderer, you.

 

Not nearly as uncomfortable, I'd think. That's just being honest. And if that's bias or racism or common sense, I think I'll just have to take the labels.

 

I think we're all a little bit racist. It's just the way we are. You have more fear of things you know less about.

 

Everyone's...a little bit racist. Hey, sounds like it could be a Broadway hit.

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/avenueq/everyonesalittlebitracist.htm

 

I agree with your analogy; I disagree with the term.

The term "racist" implies that you believe your race is better than another. But you're correct in saying nearly anyone would feel more (safe, comfortable, fill in your own word) if it were their own race in this instance.

Example:
A black man is walking down an upper-class "white" neighborhood. Would he feel safe? I wouldn't, if I were him. I would feel eyes on me from every house watching my every move. That's a human reaction.

A white man walking down a street in the ghetto is fooling himself if he doesn't feel fear for the same reason -- he's out of his element.

I've lived in mostly poor, urban neighborhoods growing up, and I've seen it both ways. I've felt comfortable when walking down the street with my friends, but was definitely in fear while walking alone. And I was accosted on more than one occasion because of my race. Fortunately, I dropped the right names and never really had to "run for my life."