Wednesday, June 11, 2008

For president, reject the haters ... by gimleteye

How to wreck the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama is preoccupying a small cadre of political operatives. You may never see them or know how much they were paid. In time, it may become clear where the money comes from: the Scaife Foundation or some functional equivalent funded by oil money or coal or sugar.

So here is the deal: in the last presidential election it was the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. This time, it will be race.

It will happen, as it has in the past, starting like a “grass roots” campaign at first, like photos circulating on the Internet of Obama’s family in Kenya. Grinning, coal dark black people.

In time, it will catch fire with the right-wing conservative spin machine, although I doubt you will see Fox News commentators quite such rabid dogs given Rupert Murdoch’s change of heart since the two terms of President Bush.

The strategy is simple. They will try to turn the entire nation into those West Virginia voters caught on network news after the results of the Democratic primary, along the lines: “I’ve had it with Husseins.”

It happened to the Jews, branded as the Other over centuries in old Europe, leading up to Hitler. There is no shortage of examples, what happened next.

You don’t need a code to decipher the meaning of Obama’s photos on the Internet. They insinuate: Obama’s family values don’t resemble yours or mine.

The truth is, I couldn’t begin to tell you the stories of those generations beyond one or two, of any of the men who have served the United States as President. And if you look at your own family as I do of mine; we are part of humanity stretching back a hundred thousand generations, not two or three or thirty.

I love America for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that historic hatreds stretching across time have no place here. Barack Obama won the privilege of representing the Democratic Party in the presidential election for his character, his vision, and not the color of his skin.

If our current economic difficulties—deeper than any time since the Great Depression—tell us anything it is this: we need the courage to reject hate. Period.

Democrats who supported Hillary made the point another way: wouldn’t you rather a candidate who has survived the right-wing hate machine, and a woman too, not a junior senator who hasn’t been vetted by the process?

Barack Obama will do his part—talking to the American people about his values, his character and, should he be elected, policies that will profoundly impact the entire world.

But as Americans, we have to do our part: reject the hatred and the fear and anyone who would exploit us, from whatever corner of the political spectrum.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unreleated topic, but, I think very interesting to those reading the blog (this is from the Miami Today):

PEREZ PRESENTS BOOK: Real estate developer Jorge Pérez will be at Books & Books at 265 Aragon Ave. at 6 p.m. today (6/12) to present his new book "Powerhouse Principles: The Billionaire Blueprint for Real Estate Success." A cocktail reception and book signing will follow. The book includes Mr. Perez's business philosophies on how to reach success in real estate.

I think there should be a whole crowd of protestors greeting Mr. Mercy Hospital!!!

Anonymous said...

Good Advice Gimleteye but I fear few will take it.

Anonymous said...

That's why I reject Rev. Wright, Father Fleugler and Michelle Obama. Excellent advice.

Anonymous said...

I don't know. . . voters seem to be much more attentive in this election, demanding more and more specificity on a broad range of issues. Maybe its their personal finances, the war, other major issues we are confronted with, or maybe they are just getting smarter. I don't know. In past presidential elections, voters seem to not value their vote, were willing to fall for the okeedoke, and candidates could easily indirectly play the race card, tell them almost anything and get their vote. Now voters seem less and less willing to fall for "wedge issues". They are asking, and demanding real answers and real approaches to solving our problems. Increasingly, candidates have to "get down", and not come to the voters with a bunch of BS that is unrelated to major problems. A lot of these voters don't want to hear it.

We all know that there is a certain segment of voters who will not vote for Obama simply because he is black. Even if they starve, live on the streets, have no jobs, no car, no gas, and children sent to the killing fields, they would never vote for a black candidate, even if that candidate could improve their personal status. But beyond that group, I see people voting their own personal best interests. McCain seems to be falling apart before the battle gets going. He needs to be careful, the sleeping giant has awakened. . .

Anonymous said...

So here come the media prep for the campaign -- every criticism of Obama is really a rascist criticism, so it is OK to ignore it.
BTW, the Swiftboat Veterans challenged Kerry's preposterous war stories, and Kerry couldn't substantiate them then, and still hasn't. The Swiftboat Veterans were a truth squad, not a smear job.
Obama will face the same type of truthers about his radical leftwing politics in Chicago, the Illinois Legislature and the US Senate -- all without mention of race. Black, white, brown, or whatever color, Obama is too extreme for America, and woefully unprepared for President.

Anonymous said...

See, you're right, gimleteye. It's already started in the comments section of your own blog.

Anonymous said...

The Swiftboat Veterans were a truth squad, not a smear job.

Typical right-wing liar:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E5DF163EF933A1575BC0A9629C8B63

Anonymous said...

Yeah, they fell for that "Swift boat" BS and look what we got. Eight years of hell . . .hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead, over 4,000 of our kids dead, an economy in freefall, a dollar that no one really wants, a lost of worldwide respect, our country for sale to foreign interests, gasoline at $4 a gallon, no real alternative energy sources in sight . . . Shall I continue the long litany?

Suffice it to say that the candidate who won the presidency as a result of the "swift-boat" non-issue debate, now has the lowest rating of any president since they have been taking presidential ratings.

Given the performance of the present occupant in the whitehouse, and given the fact that one candidate wants to continue the policies and the resulting trends lines of the current president, I don't think we want to make the same mistake again based on non-issues. I don't think the country can take another mistake like Bush.

Anonymous said...

I am going to laugh my ass off when Obama is elected President and he gets one look at the National Intelligence Reports that demonstrates how pulling out of Iraq will be a disaster for not only our National Security, but the Western world.

No Democrat is going to get saddled with the loss of a war. They were hoping to pin that on GWB, but he did not take the bait.

Most have no idea how dangerous the world is today (and it is not the fault of the United States). The world we live in is in a very precarious state of affairs.

Elimating George W Bush will not make these problems go away, no matter how much everybody thinks they will.

A sustained attack of random suicide bombings at WalMarts across the country for an extended period of time will provoke alot of people to wish old dumbass George W, Bush was sitting in the Oval Office again.

Sorry, for the interruption, you are free to carry on your Hatefest again.

Warm regards,
Ricahrd Mellon Scaife

Anonymous said...

Ricahrd,

You underestimate Obama, and the quality of information available to a US Senator. Beyond that info, he is getting all kinds of very reliable information as a candidate for the POTUS (President of the United States). Already he is surrounded by top-notch military operatives who have first hand information on what is happening on the ground. One thing we know about Obama, is that he is thorough, focused and deliberative.

If he says we are coming, it he gets to be POTUS, we are coming out.

Miami2101 said...

Richard Melonhead Scaife had the yam sacks to actually write:
A sustained attack of random suicide bombings at WalMarts across the country for an extended period of time will provoke alot of people to wish old dumbass George W, Bush was sitting in the Oval Office again.

Leave it to a flag waving, lapel pin wearing, fake patriot who really hates everything America stands for to wish upon this country terrorist attacks for the sole purpose of making the loser he voted for look good.