The American Dream And The Content Of Their Character

Barack Obama told us again about the American dream, and again he omitted any of that God talk that so vexes the left.

But I found another reason to be vexed.  Here he goes again, speaking at a fundraiser.  Briefly, the White House hosted a science fair.  Obama chose to focus on the race of a young Chinese woman and lauded her success.  Over at the Department of Energy, Steven Chu's team highlighted a young white woman from Montana.

People who focus on race will understand Obama's choice.  But dare we look deeper?  The Asian has two parents who are computer engineers, so I believe we can describe her as solidly middle class.  The white girl lives in a mobile home with her mom, who is on disability, and is working at a hobby shop to earn tuition for the local private Catholic school. 

This gets tricky for the class warriors!  Obama backed the middle class ethnic over the working class white, a choice that will not surprise the working class Hillary backers who are abandoning him.  Then again, for Obama to laud a girl who left the public school system (for a Christian school, even a good one) may give him other problems with his dwindling base.

The Extended Play version follows, starting with Obama:

I’ll close just by telling a quick story about the highlight not just of my day but probably of my week, maybe of my month.

      We hosted a science fair today at the White House.  This is the first time that we’d ever hosted a science fair at the White House.  (Applause.)  And the reason we did it was because I kept on having over these championship basketball teams and football teams.  We had the Alabama Crimson Tide.  We had the New Orleans Saints.  We had the Los Angeles Lakers.  And it’s a lot of fun having these great sports teams come by.  And I said, but how about all these kids who are involved in science and math and engineering?  Why aren’t we celebrating them?

 

      So we hosted this science fair.  And they actually set up exhibits in the State Dining Room.  And this was just a sampling of some of the young people that we’d invited.  And you walk through, and at each booth you met the most amazing young people you would ever care to -- ever care to meet.

 

      There was a team from Tennessee that had designed a self-powered water filtration plant.  It had a water wheel on it and it ran the battery that then filtered the water.  And they explained that up in the Appalachian regions, a lot of homes still didn't have clean water and this was a cheap way to do it. For a thousand bucks, you could provide all the water that 60 or 70 families needed.  Just designed it -- high school kids.

 

      You had robots that were running around doing all kinds of things.  (Laughter.)  And there was a family -- young children who had emigrated from Turkey that were now in public schools here, and they had designed a whole town that would be more energy-efficient, and had created a whole model for how it could be done.

 

      And then there was this -- the last person I spoke to was a young woman, looked like she was of Chinese heritage; lived in Dallas; 16 years old.  When she was a freshman in high school, she studied biology and became interested in life sciences and became interested in cancer research.  So she decided during the summer to teach herself chemistry -- (laughter) -- taught herself chemistry, and designed as a science project exploration of the development of a new cancer drug, based on some experimental cancer drugs that are currently being put together that involve injecting the drug and then it’s activated by light.  And it allows a more localized treatment that isolates the cancer cells -- kills the cancer cells but leaves the healthy cells untouched.

 

...

      So I’m talking to her, pretending like I understand everything that she’s saying.  (Laughter.)  And I’m thinking to myself, think about what this means.  You’ve got the portrait of Lincoln in the State Dining Room looking down over us.  You’ve got an African American President named Barack Obama.  You’ve got a young Chinese American girl, 16 years old, who is designing cancer drugs, having taught herself chemistry in high school.  That idea of America is alive and well.  But we have to nurture it, and we have to sustain it.

Oh, boy - they're never too young to be taught the importance of the race and gender bean-counting game.  And what is with this "You’ve got an African American President named Barack Obama" bit?  Geez, cue the "That's The Wonder of Me" soundtrack - does Obama really walk around the White House saying, hey, I'm still black, how cool is this?

And really, would Abe Lincoln have been bored to look down and see John Kennedy greeting Steve Jobs at a science fair just because they were tedious white guys?  (OK, the time travel element would have been exciting because their ages don't align, but work with me).

This tirade is winding down, so let me make one last point related to Obama's utter tone deafness. 

First, the young lady he mentioned, Amy Chyao, is a marvel and a paragon.  She is becoming a bit of a regular at the White House, having been there as part of the National Spelling Bee a few years back, when she came in 8th and had to settle for an autographed photo and a handshake from Laura Bush.  She has been to Poland to meet with scientists there, she is studying at the University of Texas, and we wish her the best.  Let's also note that her parents are computer engineers from Beijing, so they too are participating in the American dream.

So what could my problem possibly be?  With Amy, nothing.  But there were other students at the White House Obama might also have mentioned.  One is Mikayla Nelson, a young lady who left the public school system and took a job at a local hobby shop so she could afford the tuition at local Catholic High School, which is apparently well regarded.  The tuition doesn't sound like much by New York/Washington DC standards, but her mother is on disability and can't work, and the two of them are living in a mobile home. 

So, Obama had a chance to give a shout-out to a young white Christian girl from a trailer park who is working her way through a private school, and he took a pass in favor of an Asian girl who (I infer) is solidly middle-class.  Personally, I would prefer Obama not drag in the racial angle at all, but since he insists on doing so, he and his advisors might want to ponder whether his race conscious approach is helpful to the country at large, or even helpful to his own political fortunes (maybe they could focus-group the working class Hillary backers who are drifting away). 

Both of these young women are great stories, either could be lauded for their character, and neither should be singled out just because of their race or gender.  But that seems to be all Obama sees (and imagines Abe Lincoln seeing).

Let me add that at the Department of Energy, the Chinese guy running the place was smart enough to feature the boring white Christian.

 

Comments

[Neo]

But hey, Obama is "half-cracker"

[Rob Crawford]

You’ve got the portrait of Lincoln in the State Dining Room looking down over us.

The only person in that room Lincoln's looking down on is Obama.

And it ain't about the color of his skin.

[matt]

just read the LUN via Instapundit. The former drummer for the Velvet Underground sums it all up pretty well.

Screw the statist bastards.

[Extraneus]

Can't wait until he writes his third memoir and explains how racist America dashed the dream of Obama.

[Clarity obscured.]

Typical Obama.
========

[Extraneus]

Iowahawk is having fun on twitter:

ridiculers of Sarah Palin's "1773" reference respond

[Neo]

I disagree with the "we won" attitude, which is the cowardly way of saying fuck you!

Great stuff matt (via Instapundit).

[Clarice]

If anyone figures out how to get Mikayla's address send it to me.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

The guy just pisses me off.

[caro]

I don't care what race they are, but I sure would like to see some boys being honored once in a while.

[Neo]

Perhaps Obama doesn't have a clue just how hard it is for graduating engineers to find a job.

[Porchlight]

Extraneus,

Sorry, I just have to highlight some of Iowahawk's tweets. Hard to pick a fave but the last one is quite the zinger:

#KosHistoryQuiz Boston Tea Party was a protest against (a) taxes (b) tuition increases (c) insensitivity against the Founding Muslims

#KosHistoryQuiz "1773" is (a) teabagger racist code (b) Chicago area code (c) L33t H4x0r code

#KosHistoryQuiz how many lefty bloggers does it take to screw up a Palin-is-Stupid meme? (a) 1 (b) 1773 (c) how many do you got?

#KosHistoryQuiz outline these Supreme Court decisions (1) Brown v. Board of Education (2) Plessy v Ferguson (3) Palin v Voices in Kos' Head

#KosHistoryQuiz what is the significance of 1773? (a) Boston Tea Party (b) year when GOP invented slavery (c) sales of Kos' last book

[Rob Crawford]

I don't care what race they are, but I sure would like to see some boys being honored once in a while.

Sorry, not allowed anymore. Particularly in science and engineering, which are entirely too male as it is.

*sigh*

[Neo]

I've heard stories about students from a university in Philadelphia (formerly D.I.T) that can't find co-op jobs for many of their students this year. ... and these folks use "co-op" as a major selling point for incoming engineers, architects, etc.

[Jeff]

for President Obama, everything STARTS with the color of your skin ...

[jimmyk]

a young woman, looked like she was of Chinese heritage

Anyone else find that a bit embarrassing? Chinese, Japanese, Korean, can Obama tell the difference? Quite apart the laser-like focus on ethnicity.

[Extraneus]

I guarantee the female science and engineering grads aren't having any problem finding jobs.

[matt]

It looks like this week's Journo-List talking point is "making ignorance chic" as MoDo so aptly captures it.

Rather than engage the issue of the intellectual dumbing down of America via equality of outcome, she chooses simply to go for the jugular with Angle, Palin, Bachmann, and other candidates.

Political discourse has fallen to a pitiful level when you have Hannity and O'Reilly on the one side and Maher and Olbermann on the other and very few are discussing the meat of the matter.

8-10 more states running out of pension funds by 2020-2022. Europe having massive temper tantrums over an increase in the retirement age from 60-62. You'd think the Germans were going to open their shops past noon on Saturdays, fer chrissake.

My question for anyone out there this morning is, what next? What happens when all the bills come due at once? What happens when everyone decides to stop paying their mortgages because our own government has enabled the greatest class of deadbeats in history?

There is a hell of a bill coming due. I am torn, because if nothing else, I know the Democrats and media are going to blame the Republicans for the massive breakdown in government and government services that is right over the horizon.

[Ranger]

One is Mikayla Nelson, a young lady who left the public school system and took a job at a local hobby shop so she could afford the tuition at local Catholic High School, which is apparently well regarded. The tuition doesn't sound like much by New York/Washington DC standards, but her mother is on disability and can't work, and the two of them are living in a mobile home.

Our host must understand that this story is in no way positive to the Obamacrats. How can you tell a story where the main theme is self-reliance, hard work, and walking away from a state run institution.

Maybe if she were getting a state subsidy and had stayed in the public school, she could be used as an example. But you can't have people thinking that hard work and self reliance are a way to success. No way a story like that is going to pass Obama's lips.

[Porchlight]

There is a hell of a bill coming due.

matt,

I think the best thing Repubs can do is warn of the dangers ahead and make it clear what is at stake. It's risky, politically, but ultimately "We tried to warn you" is better than the alternative.

[hit and run]

Wait. What?

And the reason we did it was because I kept on having over these championship basketball teams and football teams. We had the Alabama Crimson Tide. We had the New Orleans Saints. We had the Los Angeles Lakers.

So now even Obama is distancing himself from the Yankees? Yike!

Let's go to google...

http://kittybradshaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/PH2010042603461.jpg>

(Why I am having so much fun at the expense of Yankee travails is surely a testament of my long-suffering. And a testament to the content of my character. But mostly . . . one or the other.)

[Clarice]

So, it's OKAY for Obama to suggest someone looks Asian, but a no no when Angle says that..? Right?

[jimmyk]

I think the best thing Repubs can do is warn of the dangers ahead and make it clear what is at stake.

That would be a good thing, but the "best" would be actually putting forth a plan to prevent them from happening. Like a coherent platform that actually outlines an approach to responsible governance. And that doesn't include things like giving "insurance" to people who are already sick. (Sorry, one of my pet peeves.)

[jimmyk]

So, it's OKAY for Obama to suggest someone looks Asian

Of course, because he's Asian, sort of. I mean, he's a "person of color," which is like a "get out of jail free" card.

[Porchlight]

That would be a good thing, but the "best" would be actually putting forth a plan to prevent them from happening.

You are right, of course. Sorry, I meant "best" as in best media strategy to deflect the inevitable blame, not the sole best thing they could do. A plan is also important.

[caro]

Hmmm. 27. The number of Senate seats lost by dems in 2010 and 2012?

[DebinNC]

Obama in Tokyo last Nov.:

"As America’s first Pacific president, I promise you that this Pacific nation will strengthen and sustain our leadership in this vitally important part of the world."

[Neo]

Extraneus:I guarantee the female science and engineering grads aren't having any problem finding jobs.

Tell that to my daughter .. she's looking for a ChemE summer job already.

[DrJ]

She's a ChemE, Neo? What level? And from what school? I may be able to afford an intern next summer if said intern is capable.

[Jack is Back!]

Well, Mykala, school choice is now in the hands of SCOTUS. November 3rd they hear Garriot v. Winn and they will hopefully strike down the 9th Circuit (who else) decision and continue to allow tax credit based scholarships to be used for both private and religious schools. And they have a chance since SCOTUS is heavily Catholic. LUN

[Jack is Back!]

DebNC,

You mean Reagan or Nixon weren't Pacific enough coming from California? And I guess Palin will be able to brag she is our first Arctic President.

[Comanche Voter]

Well let me see now--in the Book of Obama, there are chapters entitled "How I Show That I Am A Clueless Twit". I think that this incident will go in the 2,073rd chapter with that title. But fear not, there are two more years to go and we will have Chapter 5,279 with that title before The Won is done.

[DebinNC]

Via Insty: This is a quick, funny, spot-on read.

[tea anyone]

DebinNC
Great link....So true about minor and major suckiness...my question is how do we get out of this state of suck?........anyone?

[Neo]

DrJ: She's finishing junior year of her BS at Lehigh U now

[Pagar]

Apparently, it is not just a " a "get out of jail free" card."

It also apparently covers people in the Black Panthers and millions of other frauds.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

Dr. J and neo:

As a graduate of Lehigh, I can vouch for the quality of her technical education.

[DrJ]

Neo, let's take this off-line. You can reach me at info at sonatabio dot com.

[Clarice]

Here's where Mikayla goes to school.http://www.billingscatholicschools.org/email_form/result/thanks.html>I've asked if it's possible to contribute to her tuition

[Neo]

So You Want to Go to Law School?

Too funny (via Volokh)

[DrJ]

I've known a number of people in the Lehigh ChE department, including a former department chair there (he left for Georgia Tech, IIRC) and a current faculty member. It is a very solid school and department.

[Tom Maguire]

"...a young woman, looked like she was of Chinese heritage"

Anyone else find that a bit embarrassing? Chinese, Japanese, Korean, can Obama tell the difference?

I blinked at that, but her parents are Chinese and I'll even bet that a guy who grew up in Hawaii and was as race conscious as Barry could distinguish the Asian sub-groups.

[jimmyk]

Somehow Obama's "looked like she was of Chinese heritage" brought to mind when Archie Bunker first meets future son-in-law Michael. His first words when they are left alone: "Stivic--what kind of a name is that?"

Of course, Archie was bitter clinger, Obama a post-racial man of the enlightenment.

[Foo Bar]

TM, you're complaining about Obama's remarks at a DSCC dinner the day after the science fair. Did you read the transcript of Obama's remarks at the actual science fair itself a day earlier?

No mention of the race of Amy Chyao or even her name. On the other hand, a big shout-out to Mikayla:

We can think of Einstein, Edison, Franklin, Tesla, and the founders of Google and Apple and Microsoft. But now we’ve got some other people to think about -- like Mikayla Nelson, who’s here today. Where’s Mikayla? Is she here? There she is, right there. (Applause.) Mikayla -- I had a chance to -- Mikayla is from Billings, Montana. She works with an entire team -- I'm sorry to embarrass you here, Mikayla. (Laughter.) She’s like, “Oh, God, he called on me.” (Laughter.) She’s representing Will James Middle School. She and her classmates built a solar-powered car that won the design award in the National Science Bowl. She’s in 9th grade. She’s already trying to earn a pilot’s license, and she’s working on building an actual plane. She wants to be an engineer. There’s no doubt we can expect great things from her.

There's even video of it on the White House website (his remarks about Mikayla are around 13:15).

Obama backed the middle class ethnic over the working class white

Oh, really?

[MaryD]

Clarice, thanks for the link. I asked them the same question.

[Boatbuilder]

Good point, Foo. Maybe Obama should have mentioned Mikalya again, in passing, while running through the race and gender lineup; that way Tom would't have forgotten to use his ESP.

He could also have mentioned my Duke Blue Devils, which would make me, Charlie and MarkO happy and pissed off DOT and the Captain.

[Foo Bar]

that way Tom would't have forgotten to use his ESP.

His ESP? How about his computer, his internet connection, and his brain?

I don't think it's too much to ask of TM to look up Obama's remarks at the actual science fair.

[Clarice]

You're welcome, Mary. There are so many worthwhile demands on our money, but kids like this deserve whatever we can do to help them.

[Boatbuilder]

Right, Foo. There was no mention of Mikalya in the speech that Obama posted on the Presidential Website,the Democratic Fundraiser speech, in which he focused on the race and gender of the one particular person he singled out for praise, as well as on his own race. It was therefore incumbent upon Tom, before criticising this focus, to find and listen to 13 minutes of Youtube video to make sure that Obama had not on some other occasion praised an equally deserving white girl. Which would somehow undermine the basic point. Got it.

[Hold up that example there, Foo; it's shiny.]

Foo, it's becoming obvious that generally when Obama says something right, it's his speechwriters, and when he says something wrong or stupid, it's he.
===================

[Foo Bar]

It was therefore incumbent upon Tom, before criticising this focus, to find and listen to 13 minutes of Youtube video

Go back and read my original comment. The first link in my comment, which I will supply again here, is not a link to the video. It's a transcript of Obama's remarks at the science fair, issued by the White House Office of the Press Secretary. It's analogous to the transcript of Obama's remarks at the DSCC event to which TM linked in his post. They are, in both cases, speeches posted on the "Presidential Website".

[Boatbuilder]

OK--13 minutes into a separate speech. Bad Tom. Obama's speech to the DSCC did not focus on the race of either the girl he praised or Obama himself. Is that it?

[Captain Hate]

and pissed off DOT and the Captain

Daddy will be so disappointed to have been left off this list.

[jag]

Had an interesting race question asked me last night by a Western New England College kid (I believe that was the school conducting the survey).

One question was something like "Do you understand how black people feel?".

I replied that I had no idea how my brother-in-law felt or my other black friends felt.

Next question was "Do you understand how white people feel?".

I said, being white, I had no idea how other "white" people felt.

Amazing question. Is it totally stupid or is it just me?

[glenda]

I love this place and the people who frequent here with astute, witty, charming, and above all common sense comments on various subjects.
I draw consistent hope in the future for my grandson, who will always work harder for what he achieves because of autism...but, with a world full of hope and promise, there is always the consistent screech of nails on a chalkboard from liberals, who want to label everything and everyone to rubber jaw about their cause, through their control..and then go about doing absolutely nothing but enrich themselves.
We've never asked for any government "disability" help and pray we never have to..Mikayla's story is a good example of working hard to help your children succeed, exceed expectations, without being labeled by color, circumstance or disability.
and I have done my preaching for October...
happy thoughts for Nov.2...I hope on Nov.3, it will be the "beginning of the beginning" to conservative, common sense politicians doing their job for the people..of the USA!:)

[Extraneus]

Sounds pretty stupid here, too, although I'm not a big Barry Manilow fan.

♫ Feel-ings... Wo wo wo feelings... ♫

[DebinNC]

TM's excerpt of Obama's speech is much kinder to him than the transcript showing the science kids as mainly props at a self-serving Obama campaign event designed to rehabilitate his tarnished image.

[Danube of Thought]

Oh really?

Sure looks like it, when speaking at a fundraiser. If anyone has any information about his crediting Mikalya at that fundraiser, by all means come forward with it.

[Danube of Thought]

I don't think it's too much to ask of TM to look up Obama's remarks at the actual science fair.

Really? Every time Obama says something insensitive, false or just plain stupid, are we obliged to seek out instances where he didn't? That's a hot one.

[Jack is Back!]

Clarice,

She may be on corporate scholarship. We have that here in Florida and in Arizona the ACLU is challenging using corporate tax credits to fund private and/or religious education through school choice. SCOTUS hears Garriot v. Winn on 11/3. She could be backfilling her tuition from work. All the scholarships are not the same and some don't cover full tuition. The school my son goes to is about $4k a year and the scholarships cover about 90%. Also, you have to be income and family size qualified. But then I don't know if Montana has the same program that Arizona and Florida have.

Here is a stat on the value of school choice and private or religious education: Our local public HS graduated 500 seniors this year with $285K in scholarships. Our local Catholic HS graduated only 84 seniors with $3.25 million in scholarships plus all service academies. But Barry doesn't want the average kid in DC to have that choice and his friends in the ACLU certainly don't want a disadvantaged kid in Arizona or America to have that choice either.

[Danube of Thought]

Raese up by six again at Raz.

[Foo Bar]

DOT, why is it relevant for TM to mention how the DOE highlighted Mikayla on their website but not relevant for TM to mention how Obama highlighted Mikayla at the actual @%#$!# science fair event??

[Danube of Thought]

"Speaking at a news conference on July 21, 2009 President Obama said that the 'Cambridge police acted stupidly.' However, at his July 30 'beer summit' concerning the same incident, he did not charge them with stupidity."

There. Fair and balanced, as always.

[Danube of Thought]

"Addressing a rally on May 9, 2008, President Obama said that he had traveled to '57 states...one left to go.' However, in announcing on May 21 that he planned a 'team of rivals' cabinet, he did not suggest that there were 58 states."

[Appalled]

DoT:

Even you have to agree that Foo Bar's post is a fair riposte to TM's argument. (Wish I made it myself. I have really not been fulfilling my adversarial role here well, lately...)

[Extraneus]

"At the G-20 Summit on April 19, 2009, Obama bowed to King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia; however, at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad two days earlier, he did a bro handshake and smiled broadly with Hugo Chavez, although he didn't bow that day."

[Janet the tea-vangelist!]

Obama leaves out "by their Creator" again.
From a speech to the DSCC in Rockville, MD Monday - "It has to do with this idea that was started by 13 colonies that decided to throw off the yoke of an empire, and said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that each of us are endowed with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”"

[Extraneus]

That's quite a coincidence, Janet.

[jimmyk]

Let's just summarize this: Obama frequently says stupid, inane, inaccurate, and insensitive things. Occasionally he does not.

[Janet the tea-vangelist!]

You know how a guy like Obama gets elected? By marketing. He is a product...he was marketed as a cool product to young people.
My nephews are so disappointing sometimes...I see (on FB) that both of them are liking that fool My Rent is Too Damn High in New York. They liked Obama too, & Kinky Friedman down in TX. It is all funny to them. Makes me sad.

[Danube of Thought]

Not buying it at all, Appalled. Two different audiences. With one, the race nonsense figured to stand him in good stead. With the other, not so much.

TM's point is well taken, and unrebutted.

[Appalled]

DoT:

TM cites to the Department of Energy website (which is also pitched to a different audience, and, oddly enoguh, has a nice picture of the President and the young lady in question together) as an example of what he should have done.

Since he had already done it, I'm sure the president did not feel the need to do it again. I'm not sure why he would, and also question whether the president even should praise a student in more than one speech, when there are others that are equally praiseworthy.

Back to you, Foo Bar, I got other things I got to do.

[glasater]

This is one of the nicest campaign commercials I've seen:

Toddler Gets It; Debbie Wasserman Schultz Does Not

Looks like it's getting a little play...

[Rob Crawford]

One question was something like "Do you understand how black people feel?".

"With their fingers."

Next question was "Do you understand how white people feel?".

"Same way."

Amazing question. Is it totally stupid or is it just me?

It's totally stupid. Bluntly, it's racism to assume that people "feel" one way or the other based on the color of their skin.

[Foo Bar]

Two different audiences. With one, the race nonsense figured to stand him in good stead. With the other, not so much.

TM accuses Obama of "tone-deafness", suggests that his race-conscious approach may not be helpful to his own political fortunes, and notes that Stephen Chu was "smart enough" to highlight Mikayla (implying that Obama's approach is not smart). So part of TM's post argues that Obama wasn't even serving himself well politically. If you're saying that Obama took the approach that would "stand him in good stead" in each situation, then you're admitting that TM is wrong to suggest that Obama is acting in a politically self-defeating way.

By the way, I am not acknowledging that the rest of TM's criticism is correct, just walking you through the part that you've already admitted is wrong.

[Danube of Thought]

"If you're saying that Obama took the approach that would "stand him in good stead" in each situation.."

Not what I said. Emphasizing the race stuff would stand him in good stead at a fundraiser, so in that instance he used it. The fact that TM thinks he was unwise in doing so is of no moment to me. I have seen him inject race gratuitously innumerable times, and in each case I think he believes that doing so is good for him politically. It would appear to me that he is frequently wrong in that judgment, but whether he is right or wrong it is offensive to me, as it was in this instance.

[Army of Davids]

Media wispers...."is the president incompetent?"

Coming out of denial is a process.

Let's be patient (poor Joey Behar).

[Foo Bar]

Not what I said

You said that in one venue, the racial references would stand him in good stead, and in the other venue it would not. He made the references in the first venue and not in the second venue.

The fact that TM thinks he was unwise in doing so is of no moment to me

What is and is not of moment to you is not relevant to the question of whether portions of TM's post have been rebutted. If you're going to respond like that, you should have said that the points TM made *which are important to you* remain unrebutted.

[boris]

why is it relevant for TM to mention how the DOE highlighted Mikayla on their website but not relevant for TM to mention how Obama highlighted Mikayla at the actual @%#$!# science fair event??

[later] ... walking you through the part that you've already admitted is wrong

It does not seem to take more than a few instances of ... oh say ... a white conservative saying something that draws the attention of race scolds for them to make an issue of it. Regardless of any counterexamples.

Apparently you want TM to comment more "fairly" but so far you haven't pointed out anything that could remotely be considered "wrong".

[Army of Davids]

media whispers that "the president is incompetent"

[Janet the tea-vangelist!]

media whispers that "the president is incompetent"

What are you referring to AoD? Did something specific happen?

[Danube of Thought]

What I said: With one, the race nonsense figured to stand him in good stead. With the other, not so much.

And:

TM's point is well taken

The point (singular) to which I alluded was the fact that Obama made an unctuous racial reference before an audience of political donors, but did not do the same before an audience of young people. If you actually think that his point was that Obama was not smart in doing so, I suppose you're entitled to that view, but I don't think it is supported by the entry as a whole.

Thanks so much for telling me what I should have said. I'll take a pass on your advice, and I think everyone here but you understands what I have said.

[Boatbuilder]

It's not Obama's fault that he cleverly panders to the race-based obsessions of the DSCC. It's Tom's fault for not covering for him, like any good media outlet would.

[Extraneus]

He thinks it puts him in good stead, but his race-obsession blinds him to the fact that it doesn't, especially when he's off-teleprompter, which TM's transcription would indicate he was during those comments.

He can't help it, it's all he knows. All he's studied.

[Foo Bar]

did not do the same before an audience of young people.

How can this possibly be TM's point when he makes no reference whatsoever in his post to what Obama said at the actual science fair event? Go read his post again. If you read his post without reading anything in the comments section, how would you know that Obama did not make a racial reference when he spoke before the audience of young people, at the actual science fair?

[Uncle]

There is an anecdotal Native American saying;

"Walk a mile in my moccassins" which may, or may not penetrate the sociological mind of white folks (depending on the type of education and peer group) who attempt to
understand the challenges that face persons of color.

It is rank temerity to suggest they 'feel' the same as you because you have a different
perception colored by the race you belong to.

It is further evidence of your insular thinking when you compound that ignorance with platitudes that further reinforce your fragmented life experience.

Since reading is, apparently, out of the question I recommend two movies;

'Gentlemans Agreement'
'Black like me'

They depict persons who play the minority role and reflect on the influence and effect of racial prejudice from a first hand perspective.

Try it on for a while.

[Boatbuilder]

Um, Foo, I think DOT's just giving you the benefit of the doubt. For all we know, Obama went on to say that that Mikalya did real well for a cracker who lives in a double-wide. Keep twisting the point around, however, and pretty soon everyone will ignore you, and you can tell yourself you won.

[matt]

a reality check on the election and the Left's wacky campaign tactics. LUN

[Danube of Thought]

So, Obama had a chance to give a shout-out to a young white Christian girl from a trailer park who is working her way through a private school, and he took a pass in favor of an Asian girl who (I infer) is solidly middle-class. Personally, I would prefer Obama not drag in the racial angle at all, but since he insists on doing so, he and his advisors might want to ponder whether his race conscious approach is helpful to the country at large, or even helpful to his own political fortunes (maybe they could focus-group the working class Hillary backers who are drifting away).

I take a "shout-out" to be a compliment to a person in the audience, so I inferred that TM was suggesting that Obama omitted to do so when addressing the young people themselves.

But if, in fact, TM was still referring to what Obama said at the fund-raiser, then it would seem that he is simply pointing out an unctuous racial reference to an audience of donors.

[bgates]

reading is, apparently, out of the question

It is for one of us, Cleo.

I recommend two movies

Anything with Vince Vaughn, about Ultimate Fighting?

[Boatbuilder]

So, Uncle--is there an appropriate response to the question: "Do you understand how black people feel?" Or is it just designed to promote racial division?

[maryrose]

Defining himself by his ancestry is part of Obama's DNA. He rejects the white part because that part is of no use to him. He exploits the other because it gets him where he wants to go. Hence his absolute need to give a speech on race and to throw religion and Rev. Wright under the boss. They were no longer any use to him once the presidency was secured.

[Extraneus]

Democrat Loretta Sanchez is playing the race card against the Vietnamese.

Excellent post, Matt.

[Boatbuilder]

"Walk a mile in my mocassins?"

Really?

Did "Native Americans" really invent the mile as a unit of measure, or did they appropriate it from the Europeans, the bastards?

And did they really buy into idiotic sociological empathy bullshit?

Both my Native American and my European parts would be offended, if they hadn't receded from my consciousness so long ago that I really don't care.

[Danube of Thought]

Uncle, here's an ancient Anglo-American saying for you:

"Never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him he'll be a mile away, and you'll have his shoes."

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

I guess Foo thinks that those of us fearful American hillbillies bitterly clinging to our guns and religion shouldn't take any offense at Barry's remarks in front of a bunch of SF snobs about us because when he knows people are looking out in public he's all full of treacle.
It must be some type of matter/anti matter annhilation theory for repugnant statements....but curiously one that only works for Dems.

[Danube of Thought]

"platitudes that further reinforce your fragmented life experience."

I get it: as a white dude, my life experience is fragmented (whatever that means). If I were a gentleman of color, it would be unfragmented.

Works for me.

[Janet the tea-vangelist!]

Excellent post, Matt.

Amen. You really have a gift Matt.

[Jane]

Apropos of nothing - I was in CT this after noon and was fairly appalled at the number of Blumenthal signs I saw. None for McMahon. The I realized that all McMahon's signs say is "Linda".

Why would she do that?

[Danube of Thought]

"There is an anecdotal Native American saying"

There very well may be one, but Uncle hasn't told us what it is. What are we to suppose he thinks "anecdotal" means?