Barack Hussein Obama wins Iowa (97% Whites)

[LayZie G.]

^ Kasha, are you serious? His great grandmother was raped by nin cadaan eh? Or you just made that up?

 

The pastor is very educated man, he should have known better than preaching hate in church.

 

Its a place of God, preach god's words.

 

I never understood why imams were doing the same thing UK, a god's place is god's place, not a place for one to further their own self interest.

[Kashafa]

^^ I don't know that's the case for sure. But I do know that historically, white plantation owners raped black slaves or forced them to become mistreses, a process of racial bleaching that resulted in generations of light-skinned blacks. Marka, you can tell that Pastor Wright's ethnic heritage isn't quite as romantic as Barack's "Black farmer from Kenya meets white teenager from Kansas" background.

 

You can also relate to his anger(it's not hate, it's anger) and his speaking out against white tyranny(past and present) in this country.

[STOIC]

Kashafa,

 

The man is a talking-head.Yes America is a capitalistic society, but remember that he who wants to partake it is more so welcome.There is a countless documented injustice against black America in the pages of history, but this should not give him the right to be as divisive as he is. He sounds like a bitter man who needs to be reminded that there is but one dependable method of accumulating wealth in America-it is called hard work and getting your acts together.I'm big Obama supporter, but I'm also disapointed with his association with such a bigot! This is not America of the Jim Crow era.Every opportunity has spread it wares infront of all America of different ethnicity.Granted that there is still subtle racism in America it should not make one as divisive as Pastor Wright.Instead of him beclouding the issue of black America with a race factor he should instead tackle the main issues at the grass root and stop pointing fingers at white America.The America system does not promise something for nothing.You have to earn it without being a whiner.I hope Obama quit this divisive church.

[Kashafa]

^^ I agree(in theory) with most of what ur saying, but it's still the typical immigrant-achiever outlook and your reaction is just what Mainstream America expects: being reactionary, not putting his words in the correct context, jumping to condemn him. It's not as cut-and-dry as you make it out to be.

 

I had the same mind-set before spending two months in the ghettos of DC last summer, something I will inshallah write about when I get a chance.

[Fabregas]

I read one comment about Mcain et al having evangelicals who say far more worser things than the Bastor(as Somali would pronounce it).

 

 

Still though, I'm trying to find a reason as to all the fuss about Barack ibn Hussein.....especially for Muslims.....The things he's said about Bombing Pakistan whatnot, and his views about Palestine are consistent with the zionist outlook..the rest is all talk.......as we'll come to see..............

[STOIC]

Kashafa,

 

There were countless Black Americans who affirmed their unity through their churches during the civil right movement. They worked within their own community to push back the boundaries of control .No word could express the experience shared by the blacks during the civil right movement. There was a time white would not even acknowledge the existence of black man in America. But we are in a different era now where the plain field is close to flat (not yet). Although this is one of the era of unprecedented economic growth for America we all acknowledge that the black America is left far behind their white counterpart. It is necessary for black America leaders to seize the initiative of creating a new political power of blacks in America, but through the civil way of respect.

 

In the face of new black America reality of living in abject poverty the pastor and black leaders need to focus on social, cultural, and economic issues that are keeping the community in the ghettos of Chicago and Philadelphia. One of the cornerstones of any community is to strengthen the traditional personal morality and survival of family. Real leaders and voice of the community skillfully orchestrate the change of their community through integrity and sanity and not name calling. Throughout my life in America it would be hard for me to ignore the failure of white political leaders cementing the economic gap between the two races.

 

 

Obama is due to give a speech today about race and Rev. Wright speech . To my opinion Obama has done nothing wrong here other than listening to the words of divisive pastor, but the court of public opinion has the right to question his association with a man who is divisive when the essence of his campaign has been unity! .He would need a masterful speech to bounce back from this political cardiac arrest. Obama political capacity is boundless, but this issue will distract his campaign. As a result of this misfortune I hope his campaign should not become permanently disabled for there are far more positive things he can bring to the presidency if given the chance. The model for the future of many rested on his campaign!

[LayZie G.]

^^ I don't know that's the case for sure.

Kasha, "I don't know" is not something meel lala soo istaago.

 

History is history, but we were discussing Pastor Wright's past. You can't just come out and make a link between his ancestors and that of others who had went through the hardship of slavery.

 

Next time, come here with facts eedo, until then rest easy.

 

But I do know that historically, white plantation owners raped black slaves or forced them to become mistreses, a process of racial bleaching that resulted in generations of light-skinned blacks.

Again, with the history, we are just discussing one man's past. The the entire black race is not in question here. FYI, not every interracial connection then was a result of force in, some were lovers by choice.

 

ps:

I had the same mind-set before spending two months in the ghettos of DC last summer, something I will inshallah write about when I get a chance.

lol@somali farah, always wanting to be the center of everything. Listen, wiil-yahow who had his mother cooking him hot meals and giving him warm baths when you were growing up. YOu have no idea what these people had to go through and staying in the detoriated area's of DC for few weeks won't make you relate to any of them. It doesn't come close to know how it feels to be lynched in the south just for being black. Or not have to enjoy the best life has to offer because the color of your skin wasn't welcomed in some places. Or have to constantly say "yes sir" "no sir" to someone who is beneath you.

 

Quit while you can@kasha

[Jacpher]

The Huffington Post

 

On Clinton's Tax Returns, a "Frankly Disturbing" Lack of Transparency, and Surrogate-ancholy

 

It's hard out there for a surrogate. Especially for a Clinton surrogate being asked why Hillary Clinton has not released the last eight years of her tax returns. As Congresswoman and Clinton surrogate Nita Lowey made clear on Meet The Press yesterday, the reason it's so hard to give a good answer to "Why hasn't Clinton released her returns?" is because there is no good answer.

 

Lowey gave it a shot, but it wasn't pretty -- or particularly intelligible. When Tim Russert asked about the returns, she opened with the main talking point the Clinton campaign has been using for weeks: "It's my understanding that there are 20 years of tax returns in the public view from both Bill and Hillary Clinton."

 

And she's exactly right. There are 20 years worth of returns that have been released. What's missing are the last 8 years -- years in which Bill Clinton has been making money hand over fist, and involving himself in all kinds of interesting financial deals (see Ron Burkle, Yucaipa, and the ruler of Dubai).

 

Lowey then quickly pivoted away from tax returns (clearly the 20 year line, as lame as it is, was the only arrow in her quiver) to make points about earmarks and the terrific work Bill Clinton's foundation has done on HIV/AIDS in Africa -- neither of which Russert had asked her about or have anything to do with tax returns.

 

Now, Nita Lowey is no slouch. She's smart and accomplished. But when you are sent into battle armed with little more than nonsensical blather, you are not going to end up looking very good. And Lowey didn't. And she seemed to know it -- her eyes belied a classic case of surrogatancholy.

 

Hillary Clinton has repeatedly paired herself with John McCain as of late, making the case that they are candidates with a "lifetime of experience," so it seems appropriate that her refusal to release her tax returns is another thing they have in common.

 

While Clinton has been tossing verbal bouquets to McCain and attacking Obama for not being "vetted," Obama has been living up to his promises about making government more transparent. Not only did he release his latest tax returns in April 2007, he also just made public his list of earmarks, and sat down at the end of last week with the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times to answer all their questions about Tony Rezko. The conclusion of the Tribune?

 

"When we endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination Jan. 27, we said we had formed our opinions of him during 12 years of scrutiny. We concluded that the professional judgment and personal decency with which he has managed himself and his ambition distinguish him. Nothing Obama said in our editorial board room Friday diminishes that verdict... Barack Obama now has spoken about his ties to Tony Rezko in uncommon detail. That's a standard for candor by which other presidential candidates facing serious inquiries now can be judged."

 

It's a standard not being met by either McCain or Clinton.

 

As Sheila Krumholz of the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics said of Clinton not releasing her tax returns: "What is the holdup? She hasn't exactly made it clear as to what process is making it so cumbersome to just release them."

 

Or as John Aravosis summed it up: "People with nothing to hide don't usually hide."

 

The main excuse we've gotten so far is that Hillary Clinton just has too much on her plate. "I'm a little busy right now," she said during the Ohio debate. "I hardly have time to sleep. But I will certainly work toward releasing, and we will get that done and in the public domain."

 

That was three weeks ago. Two weeks ago, Howard Wolfson promised the returns would be released "on or around April 15." But weren't the returns completed and filed a long time ago? Doesn't Clinton's accountant have time to print them out and make some copies (note to Clinton's accountant: many Kinko's are open 24 hours).

 

As Andrew Sullivan notes, "Did they file an extension for the past few years? If they didn't, the forms are available now."

 

And it's not as if the Clintons have attempted to make a reasoned argument as to why the returns shouldn't be released -- something about there being too much scrutiny of public officials. Instead they've gone with Classic Clintonism: envelope themselves in lofty, good-guy rhetoric while utterly failing to follow-through. And then smearing their opponents, such as their absurd attack on Obama's campaign for "imitating Ken Starr."

 

The Clintons have obviously done very well during the Bush years -- well enough that she was able to loan her campaign $5 million at a critical moment. Is it really Ken Starr-like to want to know where that money came from? Or to ask for a list of the donors who have contributed $500 million to her husband's library? Or to ask what her policy as president would be regarding the transparency of huge donations from foreign interests to her husband's charitable fund (see the $31.3 million donation and additional $100 pledge to Bill Clinton's foundation after he helped a Canadian mining mogul secure a massive uranium deal with Kazakhstan)?

 

As a New York Times editorial put it:

 

"As a former president, Bill Clinton has been making millions annually giving speeches and traveling the globe. What is publicly known about his business dealings is sketchy, and clearer disclosure of them is required to reassure voters that Mrs. Clinton's candidacy is unencumbered by hidden entanglements."

 

In short, it's well past time for Hillary Clinton to be as "vetted" as she claims to already be -- and to have this vetting done now by Democratic voters rather than later by GOP hit squads. She needs to live up to the standard she laid out for Rick Lazio, the opponent in her 2000 Senate race. At that time, she said it was "frankly disturbing" that Lazio was holding back on releasing his tax returns.

 

What a difference eight years -- and tens of millions of dollars (some of them from questionable deals) -- can make.

 

[Pujah]

Obama's Bold Gamble on Race

 

Politicians don't give speeches like the one Barack Obama delivered this morning at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Certainly presidential candidates facing the biggest crisis of their campaigns don't. At moments like these — when circumstances force them to confront and try to defuse a problem that threatens to undermine their campaigns — politicians routinely seek to clarify, diminish and then dispose of the problem. They play down the conflict, whatever it is, then attempt to cut themselves off from it and move on, hoping the media and electorate will do the same. What they don't do is give a speech analyzing the problem and telling Americans that it's actually more complicated than what they believed. They manifestly do not denounce the offensive comments that stirred up the trouble to begin with and then tell Americans to grow up and deal with the fact that those same remarks, however wrong and offensive, are an elemental part of who they are, and who we are.

 

But that is the breathtakingly unconventional speech Obama gave today. Rather than disown his former pastor and spiritual adviser, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr., as well as denounce Wright's controversial sermons, Obama declared that he could denounce but not disown. "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community," he said. He castigated Wright, but did not cast him off. Obama refused to add his voice to the chorus vilifying Wright. Acknowledging how disingenuous that would have been, and how craven, Obama instead pulled Wright back and re-owned him, saying, "As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me."

 

Obama did what politicians so rarely do — acknowledge complexity, insist that the issue currently roiling the presidential campaign — the story of Jeremiah Wright's words — is not a story that is clear-cut between right and wrong, or between black and white for that matter. Having waged a campaign, with great success, on the notion that race as a political and electoral issue could be transcended, with a strategy that assiduously downplayed race, Obama declared today that the only way to transcend race is to focus on it rather than downplay it — to acknowledge its sometimes oppressive presence in American life, in the form of both black anger and white alienation.

 

To attempt to transcend race either by ignoring it or simply declaring it transcended would be folly — even now, in the year 2008. That was the reality Obama both confronted and embraced today. "Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now," he said. "We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America — to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality."

 

Instead, he challenged Americans to learn something about their country, to seek to understand those whose emotions seem threatening, wrong-headed, even un-American. He asked whites to understand that the anger behind Rev. Wright's comments, while paralyzing, was also valid, the result of decades and centuries of real discrimination and oppression suffered by African Americans. And he asked blacks to understand that whites who resent affirmative action and whose fears of crime lead them to stereotype blacks should not be dismissed as racists, because their concerns and fears are real and valid, too.

 

"This is where we are right now," Obama said. "It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naﶥ as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy — particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own. But I have asserted a firm conviction — a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people — that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union."

 

Obama's speech was profound, one of the most remarkable by a major public figure in decades. One question — perhaps the question —is whether its sheer audacity makes for good political strategy. By confronting the Wright controversy head-on, Obama ensured that it would drive the narrative about his campaign, and his race against Hillary Clinton, for days and perhaps weeks to come. He and his advisers no doubt calculated that nothing they could do would change that fact. But if one of the appeals of Obama's candidacy has been the promise of a post-racial politics, how will voters respond to a speech acknowledging that the future is not now, that race still divides us?

 

Obama is taking a substantial risk. He is counting on voters to hear and accept nuance in an arena that almost always seems to reward simplicity over complexity. He is asking something from Americans rather than just promising things to them — another formulation long out of vogue. "For we have a choice in this country," he said. "We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle — as we did in the O.J. trial — or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina, or as fodder for the nightly news ... We can do that," he goes on to say. "But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction ... And nothing will change. That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, 'Not this time.'"

 

Usually when politicians pose those kinds of either/or options to an audience, the choice is deliberately devoid of real tension. Either we move forward or fall backward, either we let the economy falter or we help it grow, either we succumb to our enemies or we defeat them — the choice is up to you, America! Obama's either/or formulation is not nearly so banal. Explicitly asking Americans to grapple with racial divisions, and then transcend them — that's a bold request. Will they comply? Obama's presidential hopes depend on it.

 

Time

[Kashafa]

LG, feeri nooh, if the white kids can up and join the Peace Corps and spend 2 years building huts for the natives while wearing cool-looking bandanas as they 'save humanity' and 'find the purpose of life' right before they come back to grad school and that six-figure job, if they can do that, aniga maxaa ii diidayo to 'discover myself' in the urban dog-eat-dog jungles of the Ghetto ? . Ayaka they fly to Africa, aniga I catch the bus 3 stops down lee.

 

Jokes aside, it was an eye-opening experience, you gotta live it, as they say. All that stuff you watch on the Wire was happening right outside my room. My brother(a suburbanite) came to visit me once and the ciyaal-ka xaafada threw a fire-cracker under his car, he thought a grenade went off, look on his face was pure gold, lol. Marka, relating to the Black experience has nothing to do with ethnic background or heritage. There are white people that are more in touch, more black if you will, than many black people.

 

Sorry for the hijack folks, About Obama's speech today, this quote illustrates what I was saying all along:

 

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation,

the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years

. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is

exploited

(Feraro, Clinton, & LG, Inc) by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.

But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to

simply wish it away

,

to condemn

it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In short, there is anger that is real, justified, and all too relevant, even in 2008. It is not only healthy but an obligaton owed to the downtrodden blacks to speak out, vigorously and without ceremony. Mujaamala iyo shuck-and-jive meeshaan ma taalo. That post-racial utopia Stoic wishes was a reality ? Like I said, smart politics and a noble cause, but it does not reflect the systematic in-built injustices, compounded and aggravated by time, faced by minorities in this country. A bit of pragmatism is in order.

[Geel_jire]

the man is a master politician ......... probably the only speech by a politician that i was able to listen to in its entirety

[LayZie G.]

lol@kasha. Junior Radical aa tahay, but nevertheless you are a good sport.

 

I will not denounce your ideals, nor will I disown it. At the same time I have no choice but to disassociate myself from it. (obamabombastic iska dheh)

 

Maybe he feels its time to let the healing start, but maybe just maybe majority of the americans don't feel that it is time to heal old wounds and hold hands.

 

Just today, Mrs C said "What matters, isn't the quality of the speeches:

 

It's whether the president delivers on the speeches."

 

and I truly believe words alone will not win the war with the conservatives on november.

[Pujah]

Obama's speech: The reviews

Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 9:15 AM by Mark Murray

 

Here's a round up of editorials and local feedback from around the country. As expected, it is hard to find a negative editorial about Obama's speech.

The New York Times’ editorial:

"We can’t know how effective Mr. Obama’s words will be with those who will not draw the distinctions between faith and politics that he drew, or who will reject his frank talk about race. What is evident, though, is that he not only cleared the air over a particular controversy — he raised the discussion to a higher plane."

 

The Washington Post:

"We don't agree with the way Mr. Obama described some of those problems yesterday or with some of his solutions for them. But he was right to condemn the Rev. Wright's words, was eloquent in describing the persistent challenge of race and racism in American society -- and was right in proposing that this year's campaign rise above ‘a politics that breeds division and conflict and cynicism.’”

 

The Arizona Republic’s editorial page:

"This was the biggest speech of Obama's political life, the most majestic and sweeping any candidate has given thus far in the presidential campaign. It was also the riskiest, a gamble that Americans have the fortitude and willingness to face this searing issue."

 

The Baltimore Sun:

"win or lose, Mr. Obama's thoughtful exposition of race in America was an important contribution to this presidential campaign."

 

The Boston Globe:

“That's why, as Obama said, voters have to choose. They can focus on scandal and spectacle, on who said what outrageous thing. They can focus on the racial dynamics of who votes for whom. But the truer course is to focus on building a better America, one with stronger schools, better health care, reliable voting machines, fairer taxes, strong roads and bridges, and a healthy economy. Voters have to choose, and in doing so they should seize this chance to forge their self-interests into a new, truly United States of America."

 

Dallas Morning News:

"Has any major U.S. politician in modern times ever given a speech about race in America as unflinching, human and ultimately hopeful as the one Barack Obama delivered yesterday? Whether or not the speech satisfies critics of Mr. Obama's close relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, this remarkable address was one for the history books."

 

The Kansas City Star:

"Obama challenged all Americans — black and white — to find a path toward better understanding. A bigger, necessary conversation is a challenge that the country should accept."

 

Source

[Caano Geel]

Black Guy Asks Nation For Change The Onion, March 19, 2008

 

CHICAGO—According to witnesses, a loud black man approached a crowd of some 4,000 strangers in downtown Chicago Tuesday and made repeated demands for change.

 

"The time for change is now," said the black guy, yelling at everyone within earshot for 20 straight minutes, practically begging America for change. "The need for change is stronger and more urgent than ever before. And only you—the people standing here today, and indeed all the people of this great nation—only you can deliver this change."

 

It is estimated that, to date, the black man has asked every single person in the United States for change.

 

"I've already seen this guy four times today," Chicago-area ad salesman Blake Gordon said. "Every time, it's the same exact spiel. 'I need change.' 'I want change.' Why's he so eager for all this change? What's he going to do with it, anyway?"

 

After his initial requests for change, the black man rambled nonstop on a variety of unrelated topics, calling for affordable health care, demanding that the government immediately begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, and proposing a $75 billion economic stimulus plan to create new jobs.

 

"What a wacko," Schaumburg, IL resident Patrick Morledge said. "And, of course, after telling us all about how he had the ability to magically fix everything, he went right back to asking for change. Typical."

 

"If he's really looking for change, he's got the wrong guy," Morledge added.

 

Reports indicate that the black man has been riding from city to city across the country, asking for change wherever he goes. Citizens in Austin, TX said they spotted the same guy standing on the street Friday, shouting far-fetched ideas about global warming. Cleveland residents also reported seeing him in a local park, wildly gesticulating and quoting from the Bible. And last week, patrons at the Starlight Diner in Cheyenne, WY claimed that the black man accosted them while they were eating, repeatedly requesting change.

 

"I saw him walk in and I knew he was headed straight for our table," said mother of three Gladys Davies. "He just stood there smiling at us for a while, and asked how our food tasted. Then he went and did the same thing at the next table over. The nerve of some people."

 

Those who encountered the black man Tuesday said he engaged in erratic behavior, including pointing at random people in the crowd and desperately saying he needs their help, going up to complete strangers and hugging them, and angrily claiming that he is not looking for just a little bit of change, but rather a great deal of change, and that he wants it "right now."

 

"I'll be honest, when that black guy said he would 'stop at nothing' to get change, it kind of scared me," local mechanic Phil Nighbert said. "Just leave me alone."

 

Though many were taken aback by the black man's brazen demands, some, such as Jackson, MS's Holly Moser, sympathized with him. She gave the black man credit for boldly standing up and asking every last person around him for change.

 

"I told him I'd give him some if I saw him later, even though I probably won't," Moser said. "Very nice man, though."

 

Most, however, ignored his requests.

 

"I'm a hardworking American who pays his taxes, and the last thing I need is some guy on the street demanding change from me," said William Overkamp, a Springfield, IL gun-shop owner.

 

He added, "What he really needs is a job."

[Baashi]

^yes he needs a job

 

I'll be honest, when that black guy said he would 'stop at nothing' to get change, it kind of scared me," local mechanic Phil Nighbert said. "Just leave me alone."

lol

 

Onion is helluva joke

 

Obama didn't put that baby to sleep but boy did he or did he not confront the wide-eyed monster. He's got balls. Respect to the Luo boy.