Tag Archives: Obama

CLINTON IN IOWA: LACKING HEART AND COURAGE

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I wish I could like Hillary Clinton, but I can’t. I wish I could trust Hillary Clinton, but I can’t. I wish I could believe in Hillary Clinton’s heart and courage, but I can’t.

I am not the only one noticing the scuff marks of Clinton campaign shoe leather on Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s remarks in Sunday’s edition of The Columbus Dispatch. Strickland sharply criticized Iowa caucuses calling them “hugely undemocratic” because they “exclude so many people.” Wow! Really, Gov? Is that why you campaigned in Iowa with Clinton this weekend? Or did you guys use that time to create this rather obvious political ruse?

After Strickland’s remarks, the Clinton campaign quickly fired off a statement saying, in part, that Senator Clinton has “worked her heart out campaigning in Iowa because she knows it plays a unique and special role in the nominating process and that process must be protected.”

Please. Protected from what? Like it’s under attack? Spare me. Were Clinton the clear leader in Iowa, Strickland and Clinton would be calling the Iowa caucuses textbook democracy.

Even more revealing, the Clinton Campaign announced she would not be in Iowa caucus night because she needs to move on to New Hampshire.

So what about your heart and courage, Senator? Don’t you have the heart and courage to stand with your Iowa supporters and staff when the results some in? Apparently you don’t. Now that I do believe.

OBAMA IS NOT BIRACIAL: THERE’S NO SUCH THING

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A December 29 New York Times article on Senator Barack Obama refers to him as a biracial candidate. When it comes to discussing race, the word biracial encapsulates what may be racism’s primary fuel; it reflects our continued insistence that there is more than one race. That is where we are wrong and, while it will not happen in my lifetime and is unlikely to happen in the lifetime of any who read this, it is time we learn there is only one race: the human race, and change our vocabularies accordingly.

It is not a stretch to say that in many ways the belief that there is more than one race has essentially morphed into the notion that different races are in fact different species. Tragedy is this mindset’s only offspring; it is what led to slavery in my country, it is what drove the Nazi’s attempt to exterminate the Jews; it is what guided the hands of some of our Southern brethren when they turned dogs and fire hoses loose on black Americans, many of them children; it is what drove the Apartheid regime of South Africa and it is what kept Nelson Mandela in jail for more than a quarter century; it is what drove the hatred in the hearts of those who planted a bomb that killed four little black girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama.

The list is worldwide and tragically long.

There are no different races. There is the human race, period. Yes, the human race is wonderfully rich with variety. Different color hair and eyes and skin, various belief systems and taste in music, sports, art and politics. But all generated by members of one race, the human race.

Perhaps members of the media, along with local, state, and federal leaders not to mention world leaders might began to change their rhetoric a bit. After all, what exactly would be the downside to realizing that every person walking the earth is the same race you are? What is the harm in recognizing we are all members of the human family? Just imagine, were this to take hold, perhaps it would be harder to inflict harm on one another. I find that, comforting and reassuring.

THE COURAGE OF HONESTY

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The American people deserve an honest media without agenda. However, if members of the media have an agenda, have the guts to be honest about it. The American people deserve the courage of honesty from those in the political arena as well.

Not a chance.

In late November, Republican strategist Ed Roberts pointed out that Barack Obama’s middle name was Hussein. Shortly thereafter, a hypocritical Chris Matthew’s of MSNBC’s Hardball, asked Roberts why he was pointing out Obama’s middle name. What Matthews did not say, according to Media Matters, was that he, Matthews, was the first to point out Obama’s middle name during a November 7 edition of Hardball. The poison of dishonesty does not stop there. Just recently CNN reporter Jeff Greenfield warned that Obama’s casual style of dress would tempt people to compare the senator to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, another causal dresser.

Roberts poo-pooed the seriousness of his utterance, Matthews dodged responsibility for his, and Greenfield said he was joking and even went so far as to imply he had no idea anyone could misunderstand his “joke”. “How could anyone possibly take such analysis seriously? Or consider it a ham-handed effort at character assassination?” Mr. Greenfield wrote on the CNN website. Well, anyone with an IQ in a least double-digits much less three, Mr. Greenfield.

According to Media Matters, Mr. Greenfield has yet to apologize “for his role in doctoring a video clip of Hillary Clinton to portray her as a liar.” Mr. Greenfield’s claim he had no idea his observation would have such an impact reveals three possibilities, he is the only person in history whose IQ and life experience can leave and return without warning, he is a liar because he doesn’t give a damn or he is a liar because he doesn’t have the courage to be honest.

Meanwhile, all of the people referenced above (save forObama and Media Matters) insult all American people. Tell us the truth. Most Americans I know understand when someone makes a mistake or shoots from the hip from time to time. Most Americans like and admire it when they see someone with the courage to apologize. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is a case in point. Recently he accused NBC reporter David Gregory of asking a partisan question. It took Mr. Snow a matter of days to acknowledge his misstep and apologize to Mr. Gregory. Mr. Snow received well deserved praise for his honesty and courage.

You would think Mr. Greenfield, Mr. Matthews and Mr. Roberts would enjoy similar praise. Then again, it requires the courage of honest integrity to earn that praise. It seems Mr. Greenfield, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Matthews have not been in the same room with courage for quite some time. Not only am I not joking, I am being entirely honest.