Thanks to everyone who honors me by coming to this site.Today in Pennsylvania, there's a lot of excitement about the primary. This afternoon, I'll be writing about a devastating article in
The (London) Economist. It discusses Barack Obama and his now-famous comments about average Americans who "cling" to religion, guns, racism, and anti-immigrant feelings.Right now, on TV an Obama commercial is running that says, "Barack Obama doesn't take money from 'Big Oil' or lobbyists." That's of course not true, as a recent USA Today expose pointed out. Obama has many lobbyists raising funds for him, and he has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from oil industry executives. Go figure!
You’ve already heard a lot about Barack Obama’s so-called “bitter” comments. As columnist Jack Kelly said Sunday in the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, the national media – strongly pro-Obama -- emphasizes the word “bitter” because it’s the least objectionable part of the candidate’s statement. The most objectionable part is where the candidate says that typical Americans cling to religion, guns, racism, and xenophobia (hatred of foreigners).
The best analysis I’ve seen of Senator Obama’s statement is in
The Economist (April 19-25 , 2008, p. 44 ). Here are some excerpts:
“Barack Obama has a magic way with word, but when the magic deserts him, it deserts him big time. April 6th saw Mr. Obama making the worst verbal gaffe of this seemingly endless campaign. He told a group of fat cats in San Francisco that the reason why he is finding it hard to appeal to blue collar voters in Pennsylvania is because they are ‘bitter.’ They have suffered from so many broken promises that they prefer to ‘cling’ to God, guns, and xenophobia rather than reaching out for a helping hand from the government.
“ . . . Conservative radio talk show hosts have been bellowing 24/7 that Mr. Snooty knows nothing about the real America.
“And no wonder! Mr. Obama has always been in danger of coming across as an elitist. He was educated at Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He not only reads books but writes them [
Dreams From My Father and
The Audacity of Hope]. He once urged a group of Iowa farmers to check out the price of arugula in Whole Foods – an upmarket store that has no branch in the entire state. His Ivy League educated wife [Michelle] – who is paid nearly $300,000 a year for promoting ‘community outreach’ – is in the habit of telling audiences how difficult it is to afford ballet classes for their daughters.”
Those of us in America might ask: Why do we have to rely on a British journalist to provide such insights? Why is our own national media seemingly mesmerized by such a flawed candidate as Barack Obama? Perhaps because they’re easily mesmerized?
In Pittsburgh, about 15 miles from where I live, the
Post-Gazette recently endorsed Obama on the grounds that he would take America “beyond partisanship.” Oh really? The (non-partisan)
National Journal recently assessed Obama as the most liberal – and thus among the most partisan – member of the U.S. Senate. The
Post-Gazette editorial board (alas, Jack Kelly is not a member) knows Obama’s record, but they chose to misrepresent him to their readers.
In Dreams From My Father, Obama describes his remarkable grandmother, whom he’s now using in ads, as “a typical white person.” What if John McCain, or any other Caucasian, had described ANYONE as a “typical Black person?” That white American would no longer be seen as a serious candidate for the presidency.
Media outlets like the
Post-Gazette are engaging in a journalistic form of Affirmative Action. They’re holding Obama to much lower standards than they are Hillary Clinton or John McCain.
In fact, the media’s failure to live up to its obligations is a major reason people are turning to the new media for information. In fact, it’s one reason you’re here rather than relying on a manipulative news organ like the
Post-Gazette.
Note: I have an innovative new site designed to generate a dialogue with Hillary Clinton supporters who will consider voting for John McCain in the General Election. You can find it at:
http://hillarysupportersformccain.blogspot.com/. I hope you'll visit!
I received the following important message today from Craig Bardo, a Black conservative, radio talk show host, and pro-life activist. I hope you'll read Craig's message and support his efforts.
So often, we who oppose the practice of contraceptive abortion are accused of not caring for those that survive the abortion decision. For many black folk, the right to life movement is seen as a largely white effort and one that we may intellectually support but haven't found a way to contribute our time or limited financial resources.I've had occasion to visit Grace Pregnancy Resource Center here in Nashville, which supports 200 young women who have made the decision to bring their children to term rather than abort them. This center is 3 buildings down from the second largest abortion clinic in the city. 47 of the women in the program were deterred from having an abortion by the staff at the Center. One young woman visited this morning, thinking that she was entering the abortion clinic, the counselor had an opportunity to visit with her,but she went up the street anyway, I don't know what she decided to do. 39% of these young women are black 22% are Hispanic.I host a radio program here in the city and tomorrow, I'm kicking off a fund raiser for the Center that will go through next Wednesday. We're on the air from 6-8 am CST, M-F, Brian Harris the president of Tennessee Right to Life along with their spokeswoman Carolyn Smith, who happens to be Emmett Till's cousin. They'll be in the studio at 7:00 am to talk about the good work they're doing. These girls need your help.You can listen in on the program via live streaming audio @ WVOL1470.com or WVOL1470.net. You can call in with your pledge of support to (615) 737-9865 or (615)227-1470. Make your checks payable to Tennessee Right to Life (Grace Pregnancy Resource Center). If you want to donate on line, go to their website, http://www.tnrtl.org/ and make sure to put The Craig Bardo Show in the memo box so they can track your contribution.Thanks for your support and please pray for this effort, these young women are counting on it!
Sarah Palin gets MAJOR endorsement and is now front-runner for the V-P slot on McCain's ticket. On my national blog, I speculate today that the two major party presidential candidates in the not-too-distant future might be Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton.
