Breaking News: Senator Obama Calls Off his Campaign
 

Well... for two days! :( :eek: :( Will there be any consequences?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27287222/

ETA: oops...moderator, please move thread! Sorry :(

His grandmother may be dying. I highly doubt that being concerned and pausing will be a huge blow. There aren't many people who would react differently in his position. And if they did, I probably wouldn't vote for them.

In fact, I'm surprised he doesn't just go now. He's doing a huge rally in Miami, but I'd really hate for him to not be there for her just in case.

If anything, I think it helps. It makes him seem compassionate and shows his love for his family.

Pragmatically, if you are ahead, it might be better to be kind of remote so you don't say anything to alienate anyone. Visiting a sick family member is probably one of the best things one could do since you get to be out of the public eye and be sympathetic.

ETA: anyone else love the way they left off "the one he accused of being racist and a typical white person" when the article noted Obama mentioning her in a speech about race?

I realize that it doesn't seem appropriate, but you know they'd do it if it was John McCain or Sarah Palin. Or even if Cindy McCain went to visit her half-sister; it'd be the half-sister that Cindy McCain has frequently failed to note existed. Some folks can't win with the media and others can't lose.

What good would that do him to mention that? His grandmother is sick.

It wouldn't do good HIM any good. And that's my point.

My criticism is about framing a story so it's most sympathetic to him, without the constant criticism that anyone associated with McCain gets.

ETA: think about it. Why do any of us know anything about the grandmother and what did we know about her before tonight? One of the main things was what he said about her in that speech.

EATA: I'm just cranky because I want to go to Hawaii. I have living grandmother and Hawaii trip envy. (My grandparents all died before I was twenty. He is very fortunate to have his grandmother in his life this long.) PS. I was trying to be bring a little levity to my own comments here; in hindsight, it seems sick. Sorry.

Tru, when it comes to knowing who his grandmother is. The story did mention Obama's comments about her.

Usually when someone is on their deathbed, their loved ones mention the positives about the person--Not the negatives. You can disagree with your family members, but that doesn't mean you love them any less.

Oh my god, UGA, give it a freaking rest. His Mom died at 53 and her Mom, who helped raise him, is now probably dying. Get off the bitter wagon about how unfair everything is for poor Mac & Sarah and at least give credence to the fact that he may be having to deal with a real family tragedy in the midst of probably one of the most stressful periods of his life with just weeks to go before the election. And by the way, please don't brush off that speech of his and misrepresent what he said by putting those words in his mouth. He probably gave one of the most honest and upfront speeches about real race relations in the country and is in a unique position to "see both sides", even though he is mainly only seen as being on one side by most people. I predict a long 4 years (hopefully 8) ahead for you, sister.

Right, but Obama didn't write the article so it shouldn't reflect his view particularly, and the article mentioned that he had referred to her but elected not to remind us what he had said.

I find that worthy of a small footnote on media bias. It is because I wholeheartedly believe that if it were McCain, we'd have a reprint of his comments in their entirety.

I guess God cut Obama a break on his grandmother since his mother died at age 52. His grandmother was a key figure in raising him. I will keep them in my prayers.

I daresay, the media is generally very kind when it comes to someone passing away. All those tributes to Nixon...

I will keep Obama's family in my prayers. It sounds like they need them.

He referred to her as a typical white person in one interview and said in the speech about race: "I can no more disown [Wright] than I can disown 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 her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

I think there's a reason they didn't note the whole comment. I don't think it puts his regard for her in the best possible light.

ETA: and interestingly, I don't think I'm going to mind his presidency if Obama gets elected. I don't have any bad feelings about him really other than thinking he's been a political lightweight with seriously liberal leanings, which aren't my own. I don't find him hard to watch or listen to. The media just disgusts me, and their partisanship matters in the race.

Do you really think they hold Obama to the same standard?

EATA: It's also worth noting that he disowned Wright a few weeks later, but I'm sure his regard for his grandmother is sincere.

Here you go, happy? http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/...ipt/index.html

And I assume this is the "offensive" paragraph/statement you keep referring to?
Even out of context, this doesn't even approach what you're trying to interpret his comments as saying.

Yeah. I'd like to note that my criticism is directed my perception of what gets mentioned and omitted by the media. Certainly, I hope the best for the Obama family.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I quoted.

He called his beloved grandmother out for her racism but indicated that he loved her anyway. I don't dispute his regard for her. I find the media's not mentioning what the comments were telling about them. That is all.

I didn't refer to an "offensive" paragraph. And I wonder if you would find "racist" an appropriate word to describe someone who is afraid of black men and utters ethnic and racist stereotypes. I might, but I probably wouldn't refer to such a person an a typical white person.

I'm sincerely sorry for hi-jacking this in this direction. I don't think I would have even thought of it had the story not mentioned the speech but then omitted the nature of how he used her as an illustration.

Yeah, I didn't "hear" that interview, would love a link.

Mrs. Dunham's (Tutu) been a big supporter of the non-profit I work for, so this news comes as a shock.

To UGAalum94 and others, she's a Hawaii banking pioneer: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar...ING01/81020084 -- she was in the spotlight long before her grandson gave that amazing speech at the 2004 DNC.

I intentionally plucked this from a non-right wing site:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/3/20/141741/528

ETA: Huff Post seems to have an active audio link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0...-_n_92587.html

It's hard to find an active clip of the audio, but this myDD page links to another blogger covering it.

Jesus Christ, he didn't "call her out" for her "racism". Either you didn't read or hear the entire speech or you just can't or won't see beyond your own defined spectrum of views and what you want to hear/believe or you're just being obtuse.

I apologize for using this mention of her ill health to snark about the media.

I'm glad you found the other link because yeah, the blog from "bdog"... not exactly the news source you trust.

Hey, look, if you can listen to that entire clip (and yes, I'm sure that he in retrospect thought that if he'd had an edit button he'd have taken out the word "white" and either left it as "typical person" or even attribute it to her being from an older generation) and really only get out of it that he is therefore calling every white person "racist" and not getting what he's actually trying to address, then that's what you get to hear/believe. I get what he's saying. And I appreciate that he's not afraid to talk about these issues in a more frank manner than people are used to. But if you're not hearing that or getting that, then hey, that's your prism and your perspective and feel free to keep harping, then.

Nittany, do you not see saying that she was afraid of black men and used racial and ethnic stereotypes as identifying her racism? He did that in the speech.

In a later interview, he says, he's not really racist; she'd just a typical white person.

I'm not making that up or mishearing it. And I'm not the only one who looked at it that way. Clinton supporters regarded it the same way at the time.

I agree with your assessment of the speech overall, but the comments about his grandmother and his equating her with Wright on the other end of the spectrum don't really honor her as she might deserve to be honored.

ETA: I'm not trying to build a case bigger than he talked some crap about his grandmother's racial attitudes and I thought it was noteworthy that the OP mentioned the comments about her, but not what they were. I'm not trying to say that Obama hates white people or anything.


ETA: about bdog, I feel that way about a lot of MyDD, but I felt like you might accept the link to blogger who bills herself as the answer to right wing talk radio.

Considering that in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, Obama's grandmother would have been 33, I'd say it's fair to say that her attitudes were typical for her generation. I know, he didn't specifically say that. I also know that he grew up as a bi-racial kid during a time that it was extremely frowned upon. I'd like to believe that it's not typical now, but I've heard enough to believe that racism is still pretty active. I'm still shocked that the "n" word comes out of some people's mouths as easily as it does. I watched our school board, in 1983, harass a new kid in school for more and more proof of residency when he moved into our area until he finally gave up and went back to his old high school for his senior year because he was the first African American to ever come to our school district. I saw it rampant in the generation before me. I see it less in my generation. I see it even less in my daughter's generation, thank goodness. It's becoming less typical, it's taking generations and generations but it's still there. We have to look a little harder for it when we're white because we're not the target, but it's clear from threads on here, that our African American posters on GC see it a lot more.

Yes, he did, to make a LARGER point. Which was obviously lost on you.

No. I wasn't lost on me; it just didn't negate what he said about her.

I though his speech on race was generally fine, but some points, like this kind of I-have-to-love-both-Wright-and-my-grandmother-who-are-both-capable-of-racism less effective than you apparently did.

ETA: I suppose I should clarify that I do think we are better off accepting people and working with who they are, but I think it was bad to defend his relationship with Wright (an entirely elected one which he did in fact later sever and which prompted at least the timing of the speech if not the very fact that it was made) by drawing an analogy with his grandmother who while flawed, apparently showed him nothing but unconditional love.

Yes, apparently.

No doubt.

I don't read blogs, but thanks for knowing me well enough to assume what I will or won't "accept" or be able to understand unless it's written by someone who somehow miraculously holds every single view I do. (and because you seem to only read black or white, I'm adding the note that this should be read with dripping sarcasm, not sure you'll get the nuance)

Oh, I do. Perhaps it's a shame you don't recognize when other people are pulling your leg.

Maybe it will be slightly funnier if you google the results yourself and you see how many right wing blogs come up long before you get to anyone who would seem objective on the point. I think the first link returned is to Fox.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...earch&aq=f&oq=

Honestly, what would you have said if I posted a link on the topic from Fox news? You know you would have mentioned it, don't you?

No harder than it is to slam an opponent when he's off fixing the economy haha. ;)

In all seriousness, I hope his grandmother gets well and him having to take 2 days off costs him the election.

Not if it contained the actual radio interview for me to listen to myself, I wouldn't care where it was posted. Just like you somehow managed to post a link from Huffington in order to deliver the audio. See, we all can stretch when it gets us where we need to go.

Please don't make assumptions about what I would or would not mention, you don't know and for you to phrase it with the "you know you would... don't you?" is just irritating AS SHIT. Thanks.

LOL. I see what you did there. ;)

Really? Because you'd think if they did that, they'd also mention that John McCain is an adulterer who claims to protect the sanctity of family values yet breaks his marriage vows and calls his wife a cunt in every article. But you're right, some folks just can't win and some folks get a free pass on some pretty egregious behavior.

Read your posts to me and rate them on a scale of one to ten in terms of how presumptuous they are about motivation and behavior.

I know you find me transparent and predictable. Why would you find it insulting that I find you the same way?

While they may not do it in every article, they have done it. And they don't even limit the allegations to things they can substantiate. Did you miss the New York Times article about McCain's affair with a lobbyist? Did you see the article on Cindy this week? Did you see the New Yorker article on her in the last few weeks?

I think the issue wasn't with not bringing it up, it was with the disingenuous way it was mentioned.

To go with your comparison, that would be like, in an article about McCain's ex-wife, saying:

Thanks for understanding this.

I really had in mind a brief snark about the media and not a big derailing.

Why mention the speech but not acknowledge what was said?

You can "find" me any way you like. It's your presentation of things like that last line where you did the "you know you would...don't you?" that's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. I'm not insulted, I don't have nearly enough invested in you to let you have that kind of effect on me. It's that it is a completely ineffective way to communicate and more, for someone like me, a complete turn-off in terms of feeling you're someone I can have any kind of mature, thoughtful discourse with. We've been over this before, though. No surprise to either of us here, I usually just don't click into your posts, but your comments in this thread deserved response, I felt.

It's odd to me that other than the first time I pmed you about it, I don't think I ever have to tell you how I feel about your posts, unless it's in response to your sharing your feelings with me. Why do you suppose that is?

Furthermore, why do you continue to suppose it would change my behavior to point out what you find annoying or ineffective? Do you imagine that I hold out hope of winning you over?

"Why do you suppose that is?"

fingernails, meet chalkboard


ETA: and again with the going back and adding your after-thought "questions" -- I just clarified that you annoy me and I find you ineffective because you chose to think you were insulting me, which is thinking way too highly of yourself. And as to your last inane question, there is no hope, so ... no.