Obama -"Typical White" Reacts Badly To Blacks

Obama was right about one thing - his attempt to end this conversation about race as quickly as possible was a good idea.

Instead, Mr. Smooth Talker managed to brand all white people as racists and implicitly equate them with Jeremiah Wright.  My goodness - tomorrow, he will be denouncing our cats and dogs.  Here we go:

610 WIP host Angelo Cataldi asked Obama about his Tuesday morning speech on race at the National Constitution Center in which he referenced his own white grandmother and her prejudice. Obama told Cataldi that "The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know (pause) there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way."

"[S]omebody on the street that she doesn't know"?  Kidding?  That special "somebody" was a black man in the original telling.  So where are we - the "typical" white person reacts the wrong way when they see a black person on the street?  Let's flash back to Obama's comment about this sort of thing from his own speech:

[W]hen [working- and middle-class white Americans are] told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

My resentment is building right now.

Let's round out the file with the faux-equivalence passage linking Wright to Obama's grandmother, and now the rest of us bigoted whites - Obama was not talking about "somebody on the street that she doesn't know" on Tuesday:

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

NOSE FOR NEWS:  Noam Scheiber of TNR reprints the "typcial white" passage and repeats Ben Smith of Politico lauding Obama's ability to reach out to new audiences.  OK.  There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.

HIS SECRET LIFE:  Obama as blogger?  Incredible.

Comments

[Neo]

Values spoken without actions taken are just slogans. Values are not just words. They're what we live by. They're about the causes we champion and the people we fight for. -- John Kerry

[section9]

Hole. Shovel. Stop digging.

[Rick Ballard]

Hole. Shovel.

Go BHO, go!!

Take RW with you.

[Laurent Fourier]

Obama threw his still-living 80-year old grandmother under the bus for his campaign...How's that for narcissism?

[SteveMG]

The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know (pause) there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way.

Poor choice of words, to be sure; and when you're playing in the big leagues, he should be knocked around for it.

But where is he wrong?

If I'm in a strange area and I see young black men approaching me that I don't know, I'll check out an escape route if one is needed.

Of course, if it's young males of any race, I'll be just as cautious.

And I'm 6'4 and 225 pounds.

[clarice]

Not just any grandmother--a grandmother who worked to provide for him and get him the best education possible after his father abandoned him and his mother decided that studying peasant blacksmithing in ndonesia trumped the obligations of motherhood.

[Porchlight]

I read a Freeper comment today about Obama's speech - the person compared it to catching your kid with his hand in the cookie jar, and then he starts lecturing you on how cookies are fattening. I thought that was pretty good.

[anduril]

Best of the Web today comments on Obama and the American flag: seems he tried to conceal himself amid a veritable forest of flags when he gave his disquisition on race (yes, I know that's supposed to mean it's in writing, but it somehow catches the tone, I think):

But did anyone notice that when Obama gave his "major speech on race" Tuesday--the one necessitated by the revelation that his "spiritual mentor" had, among other things, called on God to "damn America"--he did so amid a row of American flags? We checked the video and counted eight of them, of which four are visible in the photo nearby.

Obama, of course, famously won't wear a flag lapel pin because he's a true patriot who doesn't have to "hide behind" the flag. Except when he has a special need?

[bgates]

Steve - he would have stopped digging the hole if he had said grandma had a typical human response. But he didn't say that tendency towards something that looks like (but isn't, somehow) racial animosity is something we all share, he said it's (yet another horrible) characteristic of white people.

Even then, he'd be the guy who pushed race relations back 50 years. Rosa Parks was made to sit in the back of the bus, but nobody ever threw her underneath it.

[MayBee]

But where is he wrong?

I think he is wrong in characterizing it as a "typical white" person response if he means that it is a human response.

Furthermore, he is wrong to characterize it as bad, if that is what he is doing. There is nothing wrong with being nervous if you see someone you don't know approaching you (in certain circumstances).

[hit and run]

Thanks for the link TM!

[PeterUK]

"They're about the causes we champion and the people we fight for. -- John Kerry"

He's not supporting the Viet Cong again is he?

[Rick Ballard]

"My resentment is building right now."

Careful, TM. Such resentment may be an initial indicator of FauxBOloneyphobia. It's still seven months (and two weeks) 'til the election. Do you have any idea how much FauxBOloney will be forthcoming over seven months?

Besides - why resent a caricature?

[Tom Maguire]

Where is he wrong - that it is only whites, and that "...it comes out **in the wrong way**."

[PeterUK]

"Rosa Parks was made to sit in the back of the bus, but nobody ever threw her underneath it."

Nice one!

[PeterUK]

"I think he is wrong in characterizing it as a "typical white" person response if he means that it is a human response."

So am I getting the BHO message right,if he sees a black man on the street half of him wants to run? Presumably when he sees a white man the other half wants to run?
He is completely knackered if he runs into a black man and a white man walking together.

[SteveMG]

Where is he wrong - that it is only whites, and that "...it comes out **in the wrong way**."

Tom, you're aware of the racial minefield that we all walk through when we discuss race. It's dangerous ground that none of us enjoy (I don't) walking.

It seems to me that we all need to be a little more charitable when we discuss this issue. Perhaps less for presidential candidates; but still...

He didn't say "only whites". You're taking his comment and extrapolating from that.

Again: If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know (pause) there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way.

"Someone she doesn't know" and "it comes out in the wrong way." To me, the "wrong way" means that her behavior is incorrectly viewed as racist or racialist when it isn't.

He is admitting - again conjecture on my part - that the reaction by the woman is not unfair.

We'll never get anywhere discussing race if every time one uses the wrong words or doesn't precisely qualify his statements they're jumped upon.

And as you know, I've been a McCain man for years.

[kim]

What if he runs into someone who is white on the outside and black on the inside.

Didn't I tell you it would be a lot easier to ridicule Obama than Hillary?
=========================

[PaulL]

At least Obama didn't say the typical white person, like Bernhard Goetz . . .

[JeanneB]

I would be nervous if, walking down the street, I encountered a young black man I knew had just listened to one of Reverend Wright's sermons!

[MayBee]

SteveMG- are you saying he is now explaining that the characterization of his grandma he gave in his speech was an unfair characterization?

If you tie this story to his speech,then her behavior coming out in the
"wrong way" is her admitting she is sometimes afraid of black men that approach her. The wrong way is to be afraid of the black man.

[MayBee]

SteveMG-
From his speech, this is what he is saying is the "wrong way":
but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street,

having the fear is the wrong way.

[SteveMG]

are you saying he is now explaining that the characterization of his grandma he gave in his speech was an unfair characterization?

To be blunt, I'm not sure what he is saying here. Despite all of the talk of his great eloquence, he's clearly not as good withouth the teleprompter and prepared speeches.

In his earlier address, he stated that she harbored fears of black strangers passing her on the street and also that she expressed racial stereotypes.

Here I think he is simply (or not so simply) trying to use a white anecdote as a point to jump off on about race in general.

Obama, to me, is simply not a race hustler. He's a distinctly different black American than the post Civil Rights generation of the Jacksons and other terribly misguided people.

And as such, I'm more charitable, shall we say, when he uses anecdotes like this.

[pagar]

IMO He never quit.
"He's not supporting the Viet Cong again is he?"

[GMax]

Not as good you say? a bit of a understatement "Typical white person".

If we call him a typical black person how long before the infestation arrives?

[SteveMG]

Typical white person

By "typical" I think he meant "ordinary" or "average" and not "all" or "most".

If we substitute "average" for "typical", the sentence is less jarring.

Sorry, I just don't see the maliciousness, if you will, in the word that others do.

[PeterUK]

Interestingly Obama's grandmother wasn't frightened of him.The ungrateful little sod.

[Colleen R]

Last night on Mark Levin's radio show, he claimed that in Obama's first book, he told of his grandmother harboring a fear of a black man because she had been assaulted in a bus station at one time.

[Enlightened]

He is an abject idiot if he doesn't know that most grandmothers, or other persons- racial demographic unknown or even required- that encounter strangers are going to profile the strangers to determine the risk factor to their person. Tha does not make them prejudiced it makes them smart.

If his grandmother were BLACK she would not be in the frikkin speech. He sure as sh-t did not infer that his own wife will profile a stranger she encounters. She does, and if she says she doesn't she is a liar.

Very few people have the gift of knowing in advance who or what a stranger is about. The only reason he used his own grandmother in this scenario was to advance the racism credo of Rev Wright and assuage it by hitching himself to his perception of the typical white person, a grandmother no less.

[Jane]

Something very politically incorrect just occurred to me while reading the comments - (so what else is new?). So let's say a white woman walks down the street and sees a black man and he makes her nervous. Could it possibly be due to past experience? How about soaring black crime rates? Is it possible a white woman could come by her fear honestly?

Or is that completely impossible in this world we live in?

(This of course reminds me of my favorite You Tube video. A black hiphop type kid goes into a 7-11 and starts lurking around, touching stuff, looking scary.

Simultaniously an elderly white woman goes into the same store. While the entire staff is focused on the kid, wondering if they are about to be held up, the old lady stuffs a bunch of stuff in her purse, and leaves without paying. The kid then selects and purchases a bottle of water.

[tonynoboloney]

That line speaks for itself.
Typical white person
typical black person
typical woman
typical man
typical Arab
typical Jew
typical Christian
everyone of these are crass generalizations and ALL are offensive to their prospective target.

What I really resent is that the Dems and the MSM along with Obama has turned this election into a referendum on race.

[davod]

I would suggest that in certain areas black grandmothers would harbour a fear of a black man coming towards them.

[Colleen R]

I am also suspicious of the fact that although Obama claims that his grandmother loves him more than anything, he professes no love for her, only cringing.

[hit and run]

Oh, I agree that Obama misspoke with the "typical white" language.

He was trying to rescue himself from the accusation that granny was lying under the tread of a Goodyear Unisteel® G149 RSA, after he mercilessly tossed her there.

Of course, he should have been rescuing granny, but hey, first things first.

Whether intentional or not, and I am fine saying that it was unintentional, he left her down there and pinned and ended up trying to shove the rest of us under there.

He didn't mean it. Give him a break.

At least give him a break equal to the one his campaign gives to anyone who uses any reference to color, even if referring to the sky.

[MayBee]

Obama, to me, is simply not a race hustler. He's a distinctly different black American than the post Civil Rights generation of the Jacksons and other terribly misguided people.

I don't think he's a race hustler at all. At the same time, I think it is perfectly possible he thinks the story he told about his grandmother reflects "typical" white racism.

[boris]

just don't see the maliciousness ...

It's a slip that plays into the notion that white people have a special obligation to set aside their human nature because of past transgressions of the race. Kinda like losing one's lecense to drive because of moving violations. White people lost their license to human nature.

Not only is this stinky carp from the white POV, it also is damaging to any and all who espouse it.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

He was trying to rescue himself from the accusation that granny was lying under the tread of a Goodyear Unisteel® G149 RSA, after he mercilessly tossed her there.

Precision is the soul of humor.

[hit and run]

Obama thinks he can "negotiate" whites into agreeing that his way is right and that we will ultimately agree with him -- even if it means accepting things about ourselves that just simply are not true.

Right. Like we whites are some pushovers like Ahmadinejad.

[Enlightened]

I don't think he thinks his grandmother reflects a typical white person. I think he has had 20 years of sermons in which he has digested what the typical white person really is. He used his grandmother to belie that fact to a swiftly sinking voter pool.

Is he a race hustler? Not yet. Sharpton and Jackson will teach him the ropes when he loses - they been there, done that.

[Rick Ballard]

I wonder if his other granny has a "typical Luo" reaction when she sees a Kikuyu? Sure, a Kikuyu is a bit more acceptable than those damned Kalenjin, but how's a granny to know for sure? What if he's Mau Mau? Better to stay away, cross the street...

[Pofarmer]

Obama, to me, is simply not a race hustler. He's a distinctly different black American than the post Civil Rights generation of the Jacksons and other terribly misguided people.

Then what about Wright? What about Meeks? What about working for ACORN? What about Rezko? What about his wife? What about his words?

He's as typical as they come.

[Foo Bar]

What Obama said:

If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know - there's a reaction in her that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and sometimes come out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society

TM's characterization:

So where are we - the "typical" white person reacts the wrong way when they see a black person on the street?

In what Obama said, there's a distinction between judging the reaction (i.e. what is in someone's heart) and noting that it comes out the wrong way when verbalized.

[Foo Bar]

Also there's a discrepancy between the excerpt as presented in TM's post and the actual quote if you follow the link. I'll assume it changed underneath TM, but he should update it nonetheless.

TM's excerpt:

If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know (pause) there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way."

If you follow the link:

If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know - there's a reaction in her that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and sometimes come out in the wrong way

[MayBee]

FooBar-
According to his speech, her reaction was to have a " fear of black men who passed by her on the street,".

This is what he is saying is wrong.
Are you trying to make the case that it was her verbalizing that fear that he finds so wrong?

[LogicalSC]

"By "typical" I think he meant "ordinary" or "average" and not "all" or "most".
If we substitute "average" for "typical", the sentence is less jarring.
Sorry, I just don't see the maliciousness, if you will, in the word that others do."
Posted by: SteveMG

Stop digging before you hit China..

This nonsense is why a non-entity empty suit like Obama is about to claim the Democratic party nomination and they know nothing about him.

He says something...and here you come trying to tell people what you heard which isn't even close to what he said. Explains why idiots can listen to him say "change" and suddenly he has addressed and solved every issue in the universe.

If he is so eloquent and a great communicator like the gushing Matthews and Sullivan climaxed over, then why did you have to just spend an hour to explain to everyone what he really meant.

If you can't see Obama for what he is by now, then you have drunk the "kool-aide".
Everything known aspect of his life from his mother, wife, associates and "pastor" is screaming anti-American racist but you continue to hear George Washington.

[Uncle Pinky]

Seems like these transcripts left out part of it:

Transcript from Philly.com, which I had to correct. They missed the "bred into her experiences" part.

"The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity," he said. "But she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know. . .there's a reaction that's been bred into her experiences that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way."

From ace, of course.

I don't like how that little bit is being left out.

[hit and run]

Charlie:
Precision is the soul of humor.

But only Obama can save our souls.

[MikeS]

I'm a white man in my 50s.
I don't think I've never met a typical white person.

Obama, with his unique understanding of America's problems, has done what no white man could have done. He has managed to make Hillary look good.

[Enlightened]

If you take the whole grandmother anecdote out of the speech - he remains a presidential candidate that has a spiritual advisor that is incredibly filled with hatred of white persons. Not an ideal situation, but not insurmountable.

He needed a sympathetic white person that really doesn't mean any harm to balance out the hated whitey of Rev. Wright.

It was a calculated political move. It did not come from the heart, and it was not delivered by a Messiah.

I don't think Barack hates me because I'm a white woman - but I know damn well Hillary hates me because I'm a white woman and potentially a Bubba target. So IMO - she is still the loser and must.be.destroyed.

[boris]

there's a reaction that's been bred into her experiences

OMG, the poor old thing was brainwashed by US of KKK A.

[Pofarmer]

If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know - there's a reaction in her that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and sometimes come out in the wrong way

And that is supposed to make me feel BETTER?

[Uncle Pinky]

I see that Foo Bar got there before me. Odd, I did a cntrl F for "bred" and didn't get anything. Oh, well. Mr. Bar is also correct that it is "...our experiences that don't go away..."

Not only do I not like how it is being left out, I don't like the grammar.

[PeterUK]

"Obama, with his unique understanding of America's problems, has done what no white man could have done. He has managed to make Hillary look good."

It's early days yet,give her time,she has the talent.
Meanwhile McCain,schtum!

[Uncle Pinky]

italico!

[Jane]

He has managed to make Hillary look good.

Not that good: (via Don Surber; link under my name)

Valerie Plame’s husband criticizes Obama on national security.

[boris]

Italiacto!

[Sue]

Stop digging before you hit China..

You might try your own advice. I doubt Steve has been drinking anyone's koolaid.

[Enlightened]

So, his grandmother helped raise him. Were her "bred into her experiences" sermons comparable to the Rev. Wright? Most parents, or mentors, or influences in our lives sermonize to us from day one.

So - her sermons, or life discussions, or experienced lectures, did they indicate a hatred for blacks? Did he take her counsel and decide her experiences were not what he's about, so he signed up for some Rev. Wright?

So to change how granny feels about strange black men, he opted for the Rev. Wrights POV? And he threw granny under the bus, but not Rev Wright. There's a disconnect there.

[Rick Ballard]

Boris,

Nope. "Brainwashed" doesn't work with "bred". Whitey is born (after having been bred) that way - nothin' to be done about it. BHO is an acclaimed master of rhetoric so you have to use the most precise understanding of each word (vide parsing above by FooBar). That's why "the "typical" white person reacts the wrong way".

Poor breeding.

[SteveMG]

Everything known aspect of his life from his mother, wife, associates and "pastor" is screaming anti-American racist but you continue to hear George Washington.

Obama so hates America that he wants to be the President of it? How does that make sense?

Please tell me you're from Balloon Juice?

[boris]

Rick,

Having the US of KKK A breeding with grandma isn't the metaphor I was going for.

The phrase "bred into her experience" is nonsense unless one allows meaning substitution for "bred" to be some equivalent wrt experience, and involuntary mental programming is somewhat akin to brainwashing as the term is commonly used.

[Enlightened]

Well, I guess one of the intrepid MSM droolers could politely ask Obama to explain the distinction between a typical black person and a typical white person.

My guess is that question is not in the MSM playbook.

[SteveMG]

I don't think Obama is a black Lincoln.

But neither do I view him as a slicker Eldridge Cleaver.

Either characterizations is, frankly, absurd.

[Foo Bar]

Maybee:

What he said was:

a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

If you're trying to find the most anti-Obama interpretation of that, you can argue that he said that the fear itself is wrong. If you're willing to be a little more charitable and take him at his word when he elaborated (i.e. "sometimes come out in the wrong way") in the interview discussed in TM's post, then what he's saying is that the manner in which she confessed the fear was wrong.

[Pofarmer]

Obama so hates America that he wants to be the President of it? How does that make sense?

C'mon Steve, are you really this dense?

[Sue]

I think Obama has serious issues with himself. He was a bi-racial child, born in the 60s. That couldnt' have been easy. And that his grandmother, a product of an era that would have been raised, or even bred, if he wants to use that word, to think that was a no-no to have taken him and loved him and nurtured him says more about her than him. IMO, of course.

[boris]

IMO obama is "passing for" black.

[Pofarmer]

then what he's saying is that the manner in which she confessed the fear was wrong.

Ahhhh, Granny should have been more careful with her words around her grandson.

[Sue]

Ahhhh, Granny should have been more careful with her words around her grandson.

If he is referring to the incident in his book, his grandfather should have been more careful with his words, not granny.

[boris]

then what he's saying is that the manner in which she confessed the fear was wrong ...

Not quite. What he is saying is that (legitimate) apprehension regarding black men expressed itself as uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes.

It was grandpa who made the connection that her fear of riding the bus was more about the race of the aggressive panhandler than his aggression. TYPICAL liberal mushy headed carp.

[Pofarmer]

If he is referring to the incident in his book, his grandfather should have been more careful with his words, not granny.

Anybody got an excerpt?? I ain't buyin that book.

[Enlightened]

I think Obama was fine being bi-racial until he met a very militant black woman.

[SteveMG]

C'mon Steve, are you really this dense?

The poster above said that Obama was a throughly black racist anti-American radical aligned with Rev. Wright.

You seriously think someone who views this country as so thoroughly corrupt and malevolent, so irredeemably unjust, would want to lead it?

I sure don't.

[Thomas Collins]

Anyone still think that B_O is tougher for Johnny Mac to beat than HRC?

[Rick Ballard]

"The phrase "bred into her experience" is nonsense"

Hmmm... - PowerLine has the quote as

“The point I was making was not that my Grandmother harbors any racial animosity; she doesn’t. But she is a typical White person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doeesn’t know, you know, there’s a reaction inbred into our experiences that don’t go away, and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that’s just the nature of race in our society.”

I suppose you're right, Boris. Based upon that PowerLine quote I'd have to say that BHO's mastery of rhetoric has been... oversold? Perhaps someone could explain the connotations concerning "bred" and "inbred" to him.

[PeterUK]

"I don't think Obama is a black Lincoln."

There is some European socialist in him,perhaps he is a Lincoln Continental?

[Sue]

You seriously think someone who views this country as so thoroughly corrupt and malevolent, so irredeemably unjust, would want to lead it?

Not a good example, Steve. All I could think of was Clinton when I read that. And the answer is yes.

[Pofarmer]

You seriously think someone who views this country as so thoroughly corrupt and malevolent, so irredeemably unjust, would want to lead it?

I sure don't.

Obviously you haven't been listening to all the changey hope and hopey change rhetoric. Just exactly was he "hoping" to "change" anyway??????

What better way to change it than to run for President??!!!!

[Enlightened]

You seriously think someone who views this country as so thoroughly corrupt and malevolent, so irredeemably unjust, would want to lead it?

Posted by: SteveMG | March 20, 2008 at 08:17 PM

Steve - his message is CHANGE. Of course he wants to run the country. He is being sold as the first Black President. You think he DOESN'T want that? That's quite naive actually.

[boris]

BHO shoulda said: "if she sees somebody on the street that she doeesn’t know, you know, there’s a reaction inherent in human nature that's not going away, and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that’s just the nature of race in our society"

[PeterUK]

"You seriously think someone who views this country as so thoroughly corrupt and malevolent, so irredeemably unjust, would want to lead it?"

Obama reminds me of Tony Blair,he wanted to lead the country and turn it into a socialist paradise,what we got was a crock.

[SteveMG]

What better way to change it than to run for President??!!!!

The President of the US can single handedly overturn all of the institutions of the country? Obama understands the limits of the powers of the Presidency.

A person who views a country as thoroughly corrupt and malevolent would want to overthrow the existing government; not run it.

Who wants to run an irredeemably unjust regime?

Historically, what have figures who viewed the existing regimes as unjust done?

Overthrow it? Yes. Remove it? Yes.

But not run it.

[MayBee]

I think Obama grew up hearing from his well-meaning Grandfather and his well-meaning communist friend/mentor that white people don't like black people.
I think that's why he sought out the church he did.
I think he has lived long enough to know that simply isn't the case, but he also needs the people in his church that are still listening to that same dreck to vote for him. He also still needs the liberal white people who love white-people-are-racist pornography to vote for him.
So politically, he can't say all white people aren't racist. He says instead (today) that white people like his Grandma do racist things even though they don't mean to.
Just like Rev Wright.

[Enlightened]

Well then, I guess he should have shitcanned his spiritual mentor long before he decided he wanted to run this country -

[Soylent Red]

Someone of you may have already beat me to it but...

The word "typical" is, to me anyway,a ominous look into His real attitudes.

Obamessiah makes his living with words. That's really all he has going for him. He also is well aware that words mean things, but not always the same things to different groups of people. So to make such an error suggests that this word, in its usage, was done casually or carelessly.

"Typical" suggests a norm or a standard. Thus, as enlightened has alluded, to use it as an adjective for a group of people is dangerous for a politician. When that group of people is a racial group, it's suicidal.

So, understanding all of the aforementioned, Obamessiah would only use such a word if it was deeply connected to the way he thought, and only if he was not aware of how it would be received.

In the end, the Great Racial Healer is so entrenched in notions of racial difference that he cannot hear himself through the ears of whitey any more. He is completely disconnected from what anyone but a breast-beating white liberal or a drum-beating black nationalist thinks.

So any of His concepts of racial reconciliation start from a POV that whites fall into a group based on a shared "racism", based on:

a. that group, whether overtly responsible or not, behaves in a "typical" manner toward blacks

b. that "typical" manner is "racist"

In other words, Obamessiah's default position is that whitey is the problem, whether he knows it or not. As a white guy, this does not give me much comfort that I will be fairly represented on matters of race by Him.

[Uncle Pinky]

Just listened to it again and it's "... reaction that's been bred..." as far as I can tell.

However these speakers have all the fidelity of a NY governor so what the hell do I know?

[hit and run]

Obama in the (extemporaneous) interview said:
The point I was making was not that my Grandmother harbors any racial animosity; she doesn’t.

Depends on what the definition of animosity is, I suppose.

Because Obama in his (finely crafted, much rehearsed) speech said:
on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe

Stereotypes can be animositiless, of course.

"Black men have huge [REDACTED]s.

Who wouldn't cringe if their grandmother said that about strapping young brothas?

[MayBee]

Jane- thanks for the Joe Wilson link.
His praise of Clinton's experience for some reason always resembles what it might look like if someone were to praise Joe's own experience in the guise of praising Hillary's.

[pagar]

"Valerie Plame’s husband criticizes Obama on national security." That has to be the pot calling the kettle -----. Sorry, according to the new PC rules I can't say that word.

[narciso]

"Flaming Skulls Alert; as Ace would say, two people in the State Department, have
accessed Osama's passport. Seriously how
does NBC make money, with the delusional
rantings of Keith "Beale" Olberman. In other
news, no references to Wilson's War Industry
Board, the Creel (Propaganda)Commission, jailing a presidential candidate and former
labor leader, FDR trying Nazi sympathizers, Truman drafting strikers into the Army. Perspective alert!!!

[SteveMG]

Oh great, all we need now is Joe Wilson and his wife commenting on this.

I thought they were so scarred and hurt by what the Bush White House had done that they had to retire from the public scene.

Quick healers I guess.

[Sue]

Wow. Drudge is busy tonight. President (Clinton) and the Rev. Wright. Being teased...

[Enlightened]

Mrs. Obama's husband is a typical, pandering politician.

He used granny to assuage any raised hackles about the Rev Wright. And then he quantifies that anecdote by denying she is racist.

So granny had been bred to have racist thoughts about black strangers, but is not racist.

I go back to what I originally stated - he used a sympathetic white persona to pander to the anti-Wright crowd, and a sentence or two later disavowed he ever called his own granny racist.

Pretzel logic - doesn't matter if it's uttered by a black or white person.

[Uncle Pinky]

Look for more of the Wilson/Plame foolishness with Scooter disbarred. I'm sure it got their blood up.

[PeterUK]

Hearing the words "bred into" conjures up picture of Soviet re-education camps,the quest for "New Soviet Man" and all the other delights of Marxist/Darwinism.

[Ranger]

Well, I think the "bred" or "inbred" comment is a very insightful one into how Obama views things. I think he is using the term more in the sense of raised or socialized. Its illuminative because it shows that he sees the way to change people is by changing society. Rev. Wright can't be condemed because he was shaped by society. His grandmother can't be condemed because she is a product of society. He sees "change" being accomplished by chaning society, and then people will be changed.

Perosonally, I think he has it completely backwards. You don't change people by changing society, you change society by changing people.

[RichatUF]

MayBee-

He says instead (today) that white people like his Grandma do racist things even though they don't mean to.

Interesting point, sort of like a racial interperation of false consciousness-which doubles back to his Black Liberation Theology "church".

[Enlightened]

Well, what I see from these recent speeches and gaffes, is a man that believed his own hype as the New Messiah.

Now he's faltering and backpedaling and sounding more Clintonian by the minute. I still want him to beat Hillary (she.who.must.be.destroyed)- I just wish his handlers, or himself or whoever is running his campaign would bring him down a few notches and let him relish the fact he is not the Messiah. Then re-group, leave granny alone, stop kissing the Rev Wrights ass, and move forward.

[boris]

I prefer that Obama's defeat come from Hillary.

[SteveMG]

I still stand by my (gradually weakening) point that someone who views America as institutionally and structurally unjust, as historically malevolent, as irredeemably unfair, would never want to be its President.

There.

And thanks for all of those allies coming to my rescue.

[Enlightened]

Ugghhhhh, I just don't think I could stand seeing her smirk in a victory lap(dance).....

Bleghghghghgh

[boris]

As long as dimorats can avoid the issue they will never get it right. They may never get it right anyway but then that's a perfectly fine way for them to self destruct IMO.

[hit and run]

MayBee:
He says instead (today) that white people like his Grandma do racist things even though they don't mean to.

I remember in my youth, maybe I was 10? -- we were at my father's parents' house. My dad was the youngest of 3 kids -- but he was 16 years younger than the oldest. My grandparents were old when I was that age.

We were at their house watching a baseball game, and my granddad said, "Those Negroes sure can pitch."

My dad said, "Yeah, it's something watching how blacks have become more prominent in baseball, huh?"

And my grandad fired back, "No, you dummy. Niekros. Phil and Joe. Whaddya think I am, a racist?"

I'm not sure that that really is making any point -- other than my dad expected his dad to be a racist, because of his age, when in fact, he just wanted to watch a damn baseball game, dammit.

[Enlightened]

"I still stand by my (gradually weakening) point that someone who views America as institutionally and structurally unjust, as historically malevolent, as irredeemably unfair, would never want to be its President."

Well, there are some Hitler youth, and/or libtards that would love to man the rudder of this mess.

[Rick Ballard]

Ranger,

The question then becomes whether a Harvard Law man has the horsepower to distinguish between "bred" and "ingrained". The fact that we're trying to interpret for him concerning a remark that he knew would be parsed and analyzed to a faretheewell indicates to me that he doesn't wish to be understood.

The Mirror of Erised has gone and cracked itself.

I would note that I do not consider BHO to be a race hustler. He's just a cheap Chicago pol, a hustler, to be sure, but the race aspect isn't primary. Getting ahead - by any means available - is primary. He's a chameleon in pursuit of the perfect setting in which to pick off any dollar gnats which come within reach of that sticky, facile tongue.

[PeterUK]

"I still stand by my (gradually weakening) point that someone who views America as institutionally and structurally unjust, as historically malevolent, as irredeemably unfair, would never want to be its President."

Yes, Lenin had no ambitions in that direction whatsoever.

[hit and run]

I second Rick.

My thoughts exactly.

Ex

Act

Ly

[Jane]

He sees "change" being accomplished by changing society, and then people will be changed.

That's where the marxist comes in - and its the point of black liberation theology, ala the reverend Wright.

See, I think he buys that stuff. I think it is utterly consistent with his world view.

[Sue]

It is kind of ironic that he is discussing his white grandmother's racism, but has been silent on his black grandfather's horror at his son marrying a white woman.

[centralcal]

There is paranoid fear and there is healthy fear.

So, I am proud to be a "typical white" person who is able to distinguish between the two. Unlike Michelle and Obama who fear a black man being shot while pumping gas.

Who is it that they fear will do this? Where I live it might be a drive-by gang member (white, black, hispanic, hmong). It might be a bad person committing a crime and I get in the way (again almost any race would fit that description). But, who exactly is it that the Obama's are fearing while Barry is pumping his gas?

[Syl]

Newsflash:

A/O about 8 pm tonite, the Obama campaign has officially changed the subject.

Olberman and Shuster are all over it.

There was a 'security breach' in State. Three incidents of someone unauthorized to do so accessing Obama's passport records.

'this is OUTRAGEOUS!'

As I understand it, a couple of contractors out of curiosity accessed the records. An internal tripwire alerted supervisors to the access. The contractors were questioned and fired but there wasn't suspicion of anything 'political' and no evidence that the information had been passed to anyone (which would trigger a criminal investigation for violation of the Privacy Act).

Two incidents in January and one just this month. Obama's Senate office was informed of the breach today.

The Obama campaign is going to make big hay of this, they're already blaming the Bush administration. What a relief it must be for them. Heh. They want to change the conversation sooooooooooooo bad.

[SteveMG]

That's where the marxist comes in - and its the point of black liberation theology, ala the reverend Wright.

But again, a President without a compliant Congress and Judiciary can only do so much. Even then, the limits on their powers is strong.

Obama may indeed have a radical agenda (I think he's mostly a mainstream liberal); but the Framers knew how to handle such "ambitious" men.

[MayBee]

This reminds me of the statement that he made in the Texas debate that bothers me above all others:

OBAMA: I think, as I said before, preparation is actually absolutely critical in any meeting. And I think it is absolutely true that either of us would step back from some of the Bush unilateralism that's caused so much damage.

But I do think it is important precisely because the Bush administration has done so much damage to American foreign relations that the president take a more active role in diplomacy than might have been true 20 or 30 years ago.

Because the problem is, if we think that meeting with the president is a privilege that has to be earned, I think that reinforces the sense that we stand above the rest of the world at this point in time. And I think that it's important for us in undoing the damage that has been done over the last seven years, for the president to be willing to take that extra step.

OBAMA: That is the kind of step that I would like to take as president of the United States.

It fits in with this theology. He does not want the US to hold itself above other countries.

[hit and run]

Syl:
The Obama campaign is going to make big hay of this, they're already blaming the Bush administration. What a relief it must be for them. Heh. They want to change the conversation sooooooooooooo bad.

Rove, you magnificent bastard!

Just when we thought Obama was going to stumble his way out of the nomination...we get this!

Keep Hope(y McHoperson) Alive!

[Sue]

He does not want the US to hold itself above other countries.

Especially the 'mother' country.

[RichatUF]

Syl-

There was a 'security breach' in State. Three incidents of someone unauthorized to do so accessing Obama's passport records.

Lets get Fitz on the case! Those Bushrovian bastards are in trouble now...

[ben]

Kentucky: McCain vs. Obama SurveyUSA McCain 64, Obama 28, Und 8

[centralcal]

Where is Kim? She would post something about....

Frog marching
================

[fdcol63]

Breaches at State? I thought Armitage had left? LOL

[ben]

"There was a 'security breach' in State. Three incidents of someone unauthorized to do so accessing Obama's passport records."

The problem with keeping that in the news for a long time is that people will begin wondering what is in the passport files.....

[fdcol63]

Or maybe it was Sandy "Pants" Burglar? LOL

[MayBee]

Where's Schumer's social security number grabbing, credit report stealing ex-assistant working?

[Jane]

The Obama campaign is going to make big hay of this, they're already blaming the Bush administration.

I'm sure it was racially motivated.

[Enlightened]

Oh Brother. The minutiae of mental midgets.

[Enlightened]

Meaning of course, the minutia of passport contents.

[hit and run]

It was Armitage.

[fdcol63]

Oh Brother. The minutiae of mental midgets.

I prefer "dim-witted dwarves", thank you. LOL

[Sue]

I just hope the fired contractors have contributed heavily to the Clinton campaign. Or democrats in general.

[hit and run]

Lilly livered little people.

[bgates]

Obama so hates America that he wants to be the President of it? How does that make sense?
Kerry so hates the military that he wants to be Commander in Chief? How does that make any sense?
Obama may indeed have a radical agenda (I think he's mostly a mainstream liberal); but the Framers knew how to handle such "ambitious" men.
And that, boys and girls, is how the 'New Deal' was defeated.
C'mon, Steve.

[SteveMG]

bgates:
Kerry so hates the military that he wants to be Commander in Chief? How does that make any sense?

You're not using the right analogy.

The claim (made way up there) that I was responding to argued that Obama was just like Rev. Wright. To wit, a black radical, anti-American hater who views America and its history as completely unjust and malevolent. An irredeemably corrupt nation.

Not someone who dislikes this or that institution or this or that aspect of the country. They dislike the entire country, root and branch.

Someone who so thoroughly hates America - not just the military and not just this or that institution - but the entire country is simply not someone who wants to be the chief executive of the government of that country.

Historically, figures who view their country in such harsh terms wish to overthrow the government and not rule over it.

To be sure, a president along with a compliant Congress and Judiciary and electorate can make profound changes in the country. FDR was able to enact the New Deal because he had the support of those other institutions.

Nowhere do I see the American people supporting such a radical agenda assuming Obama wishes to enact such a one.

[fdcol63]

"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world."

"I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it." -- Barack Obama

[MayBee]

How do you find the old church bulletins?
I'm curious to see what Wright said about Afghanistan, pre-favored war status.

[SteveMG]

I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it.

Does anyone think that the American people will join with Obama in enacting a radical black, anti-American agenda? The agenda of a Rev. Wright?

Do you think Obama is tricking the public and once in office will enact such a program?

And the people will support it?

As Lincoln (the white Obama) said: "With the support of the people, everything is possible; without the support of the people nothing is possible."

[fdcol63]

"Nowhere do I see the American people supporting such a radical agenda assuming Obama wishes to enact such a one."

Good, decent, hard-working, intelligent, and cultured Germans said this in 1933.

This is the danger of cults of personality.

[Enlightened]

"Does anyone think that the American people will join with Obama in enacting a radical black, anti-American agenda? The agenda of a Rev. Wright?

Do you think Obama is tricking the public and once in office will enact such a program?

And the people will support it?"

No - I think Obama will (try)to enact liberal wet dreams of Universal Health Care, Surrender Iraq, Impeach Bush and Cheney, Tax the Rich but not the Hollywood Rich, and a litany of other liberal fantasies that will collapse and corrupt our country even further.

His spiritual adviser will merely remind him it's all whitey's fault that he can't get a damn thing done in DC. I don't care if his advisor is so full of hatred of me and mine - since we are white. I just think they should be honest about it.

[MayBee]

Does anyone think that the American people will join with Obama in enacting a radical black, anti-American agenda? The agenda of a Rev. Wright?

Do you think Obama is tricking the public and once in office will enact such a program?

No, I don't think so.
I have read his economic plan, as I'm sure have you.
My main concern, as I posted above, is that he will change American foreign policy in a way that I think many leftists would approve. I fear he believes being nicer will make people like us.

I fear he will enact the kind of foreign policy that The View readers, Huffington Post writers, and Why-do-they-hate-us-ers are clamoring for.

[anduril]

Sorry if this has been posted before, but it appears that Jeremiah Wright was a guest at the Clinton White House. FWIW

[section9]

You know folks, the minute I heard Obama utter the word "inbred", I knew that he was one of Khan Noonian Singh's genetic supermen.

[fdcol63]

Even if Obama were unable to enact such a radical agenda, the damage that he, his advisors, and the rest of the Dems in Congress could do to important government agencies like the CIA, FBI, DoD, the judiciary, etc., would be severe, and in some cases, either irreparable or long-lasting.

We've seen what 8 years of Bubba did to our intelligence gathering and analysis capabilities, with Jamie Gorelick, Sandy Berger, Joe and Valerie Wilson, all the leaks out of State and CIA, etc etc etc.

No thanks. Please, no repeat.

[Pofarmer]

Steve

How many of the positions of this country right now do you thing BHO is opposed to?

[Ann]

Jay Norlinger at NRO had a great quote from Bill Buckley, today:

Except for one note: A friend wrote me, “The very day the sh** was hitting the fan over Reverend Wright’s sermons, I came across this line, from page 12 of Up from Liberalism [by Bill Buckley]: ‘The intellectual probity of a person is measured not merely by what comes out of him, but by what he puts up with in others.’ Perfect.”

[Pofarmer]

fdcol63 got it exactly right.

[Celion]

'imprudent curiosity,inappropriately looking'

Obama's bother and mommy are spies!!!! He was working with FARC socialists before they were set up in Columbia as drug dealers after the Farr visit.

Obama, super spy!!!!

Re the State department employees looking at Obama's passport - made me think of Scary Larry - always talking about using his contacts on the "inside" - doing a little Hillary Opp