Oh Cindy, I'm SO THERE with ya! Gotta love his sensationalism. At a family reunion this summer, I got freaked out on my a sister in law (not the one you know!) who yelled at me for saying I didn't like Glenn Beck. She was appalled that I could say "such things" about a member of the church. Ha ha! I don't care what church he belongs to, I'm with you--just a bunch of crap! Can't stand the guy. The end.
I became aware of him several months ago because of his membership in the church. Since then I've looked into what he has to say and I, too, find him way over the top. Not impressed.
I've seen other of his clips that I liked better,; his conversion story was a good listen. But he's definitely right there in the sensationalism/grandstanding. It's seems to be his bread and butter. Though I do think that, buried in all the nonsense, he does have some decent points. HOWEVER, I've never watched his show, so I don't know if that's a normal thing for him or not. This is definitely not a good moment for him.
That being said, I think there is definitely a case to be made for Obama being a racist. Look at this from his book, "Dreams of My Father:"
"That's just how white folks will do you. It wasn't merely the cruelty involved; I was learning that black people could be mean and then some. It was a particular brand of arrogance an obtuseness in otherwise sane people that brought forth our bitter laughter. It was as if the whites didn't even know they were being cruel in the first place. Or at least thought you deserving of their scorn. White folks."
"Ray assured me that we would never talk about whites as whites in front of whites without knowing exactly what we were doing. Without knowing that there might be a price to pay."
"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites..."
"Our rage at the white world needed no object, he seemed to be telling me, no independent confirmation. It could be switched on and off at our pleasure."
"...any distinction between good and bad whites held negligible meaning..."
If you were to switch things around, so that these things were said by a white person about any other color or class of people, it would have been enough to disqualify him for the presidency simply because it would have been so awful to say such a thing, at any time, for any reason. But Mr. Obama, for whatever reason, was exempted from that rule of decency. This is the man that we elected to our highest office.
This doesn't bother me at all. This comes from his autobiography, which I have yet to read. He's talking about his experience as a preteen/teen. Those experiences shape the person you become as an adult but do not define you. Do you have any evidence that he did not learn and grow from those experiences and others? When you are subjected to something negative as a child it doesn't mean it will be what you become 30 something years later.
Just as 13, 14, or 15 year old Cindy is not the same person as 38 year old Cindy, I doubt 13, 14, or 15 year old Barack Obama is the same person as 48 year old Barack Obama. We've all had negative experiences growing up. If we are smart we learn something from those experiences and better ourselves. I saw some crap as a kid, did some stupid things, but it doesn't define who I am now.
The truth is some white people do treat black people poorly (and vice versa). Do you think if a black boy read this and he had been treated poorly by white people he would say, "See, I have the right to hate white people. Obama did it too." Or would he possibly think, Obama grew up and made something of his life within the black and white community and I can too. I don't think anyone, including the president, should have to hide any negative things that happened to them as a child or any negative way they acted as a child. It's part of who you are. We all have the ability to learn and grow from who we were as kids.
If I read an autobiography by George W. Bush or Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush that talked about some of their negative behavior as children, I would not care. Heck, George Washington chopped down his dad's cherry tree! Ha ha ha! (Yeah, I know that's a myth.:)
6 comments:
Oh Cindy, I'm SO THERE with ya! Gotta love his sensationalism.
At a family reunion this summer, I got freaked out on my a sister in law (not the one you know!) who yelled at me for saying I didn't like Glenn Beck.
She was appalled that I could say "such things" about a member of the church.
Ha ha!
I don't care what church he belongs to, I'm with you--just a bunch of crap!
Can't stand the guy.
The end.
Thank you Heather!
I became aware of him several months ago because of his membership in the church. Since then I've looked into what he has to say and I, too, find him way over the top. Not impressed.
No, Cindy, he is NOT full of crap - his brain is full of mush!!!!
I've seen other of his clips that I liked better,; his conversion story was a good listen. But he's definitely right there in the sensationalism/grandstanding. It's seems to be his bread and butter. Though I do think that, buried in all the nonsense, he does have some decent points. HOWEVER, I've never watched his show, so I don't know if that's a normal thing for him or not. This is definitely not a good moment for him.
That being said, I think there is definitely a case to be made for Obama being a racist. Look at this from his book, "Dreams of My Father:"
"That's just how white folks will do you. It wasn't merely the cruelty involved; I was learning that black people could be mean and then some. It was a particular brand of arrogance an obtuseness in otherwise sane people that brought forth our bitter laughter. It was as if the whites didn't even know they were being cruel in the first place. Or at least thought you deserving of their scorn. White folks."
"Ray assured me that we would never talk about whites as whites in front of whites without knowing exactly what we were doing. Without knowing that there might be a price to pay."
"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites..."
"Our rage at the white world needed no object, he seemed to be telling me, no independent confirmation. It could be switched on and off at our pleasure."
"...any distinction between good and bad whites held negligible meaning..."
If you were to switch things around, so that these things were said by a white person about any other color or class of people, it would have been enough to disqualify him for the presidency simply because it would have been so awful to say such a thing, at any time, for any reason. But Mr. Obama, for whatever reason, was exempted from that rule of decency. This is the man that we elected to our highest office.
This doesn't bother me at all. This comes from his autobiography, which I have yet to read. He's talking about his experience as a preteen/teen. Those experiences shape the person you become as an adult but do not define you. Do you have any evidence that he did not learn and grow from those experiences and others? When you are subjected to something negative as a child it doesn't mean it will be what you become 30 something years later.
Just as 13, 14, or 15 year old Cindy is not the same person as 38 year old Cindy, I doubt 13, 14, or 15 year old Barack Obama is the same person as 48 year old Barack Obama. We've all had negative experiences growing up. If we are smart we learn something from those experiences and better ourselves. I saw some crap as a kid, did some stupid things, but it doesn't define who I am now.
The truth is some white people do treat black people poorly (and vice versa). Do you think if a black boy read this and he had been treated poorly by white people he would say, "See, I have the right to hate white people. Obama did it too." Or would he possibly think, Obama grew up and made something of his life within the black and white community and I can too. I don't think anyone, including the president, should have to hide any negative things that happened to them as a child or any negative way they acted as a child. It's part of who you are. We all have the ability to learn and grow from who we were as kids.
If I read an autobiography by George W. Bush or Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush that talked about some of their negative behavior as children, I would not care. Heck, George Washington chopped down his dad's cherry tree! Ha ha ha! (Yeah, I know that's a myth.:)
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