Breaking News: Senator Obama Calls Off his Campaign

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by pinksirfidel

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.

[pinksirfidel]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

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.

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.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by pinksirfidel

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.

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.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

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.

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?

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.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

Even out of context, this doesn't even approach what you're trying to interpret his comments as saying.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

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, 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.

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.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by OTW

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

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

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.

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.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

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.

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.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

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.

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.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

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.

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

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

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

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.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

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.

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.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by AGDee

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.

No doubt.

[AGDee]

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.