Seriously. The use of the “race card” in this campaign is getting very old, very fast. Obama has been using it against Republicans repeatedly over the last few months. Back in June I did a post about this statement by Obama: “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?” He said this despite the fact that McCain has been outspoken against the use of race and ethnicity as an argument against Obama. McCain has called upon the GOP to pull ads that used Obama’s associations with Rev. Wright to argue that Obama is racist. In the months following this comment, Obama went on to make a number of other, similar comments, including this one:
“Nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, he’s not patriotic enough. He’s got a funny name. You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He’s risky.”
Obama was forced to backpeddle on this one because neither he nor his campaign could come up with a single example of McCain using race either directly or indirectly in the campaign.
Some in the media have long been arguing that any criticism of Obama is seen as racism. Now it has gone even further. In the last day or so, it was revealed that Gwyn Ifill, the moderator of VP debate, is writing a book titled: “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” A fact which, by the way, she failed to mention to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Now the assumption that a book titled “The Age of Obama” is pro-Obama (and Ifill is therefore biased) is being called racist because it apparently suggests that all black people are pro-Obama. The problem with that argument is that the title speaks for itself. As Jim Geraghty states: “Implicit in Ifill’s book proposal is the concept that Obama is more than another version of Geraldine Ferraro, a groundbreaking nominee on a major-party ticket who ultimately lost and became something of a historical footnote; it is that he and his name will define the age we are currently living in. If that’s not “pro-Obama”, what is?” Exactly. And Ifill’s interview on the book makes it clear that it is pro-Obama when talking about the subjects of her book which include Obama, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Mass. Governor Deval Patrick, among others:
“They all chose to get into politics for the most upstanding of reasons, and they all have achieved much more than their parents could have hoped… This book is about a generation of people who took seriously the achievements that their parents fought for. They knew that Martin Luther King did what he did so that they could do what they’re doing. And they decided to follow through…”
Someone actually said to me yesterday, “Would they be making an issue out of this if it involved two white people?” YES! And Ifill made the same argument: “Do you think they made the same assumptions about Lou Cannon (who is white) when he wrote his book about Reagan?” Asked if there were racial motives at play, she said, “I don’t know what it is. I find it curious.” Do you think the Obama campaign would allow someone who is writing a book about the “Age of McCain” or the “Age of Reagan” to moderate the debate? Of course not.
So spare me the righteous indignation for daring to question Gwyn Ifill’s impartiality. Criticism of her has nothing to do with racism. In fact, I would argue that she is getting more of a pass because people are afraid of coming off as racist. Criticism of someone who is a minority can actually be legitimate and have nothing whatsoever to do with race — like when the “moderator” of a debate has a financial stake in the outcome of the election. If this kind of tactic is what we will see from Obama over the next four years if he becomes President, it will be frightening. When dissent is crushed in the name of racism, what next?
See mine on same
Edgeoforever,
Good post!
And the scary thing is he gets away with it as the media looks the other way…….the senator is dangerous, he borders on a black militant type person or maybe a domestic terrorist like his “neighborhood” freind, bill ayers, who still doesnt think he “did enough” bombings in this country. But he always injects race into the equation, doesnt he ?????
Eaglesnest,
I do think he has gotten a “pass” from the media on this and on many other issues. His associations have not been scrutinized to the same degree that Palin’s have. I don’t know about the rest of what you said, but the media certainly should be asking more questions and not letting him get away with playing the race card.
JL
I cannot BELIEVE we have a moderator whom has written a book about OBAMA and other “new” black leaders coming out on election day and this was allowed to for the VP debate? I mean this is truly incredible. Just for that alone I am going with McCain/Palin. The media has to be stopped. They are going the way of “state-run” news… all for Democrats. This woman should have the decency to excuse herself from this and her bosses are showing SUCH arrogance it is disgusting. Time to rise up against the left-wing machine by repelling Obama/Biden. Totally insane.
The best description for fighting against MSM bias and false charges of racism is for every sigle American who truly cares about the future of this country is to make sure that you register to vote. Then on Novemner 4, 2008, please make sure to cast your vote for McCain/Palin. The American people has to turn out for McCain in order to save our democracy. We cannot allow the election be stampeded by left-wing theocracy. Do your duty and defeat “The One”.
Hey, I’m a born and raised SFO liberal and I’m sickened by Obama’s use of race – not just in the general campaign but even during the primary season when everyone was so willing to tag Bill and Hillary as racists…What bull. Politics is politics and making little of your opponents victories is part of the game during the primary season – it was NOT AT ALL racist.
The media ought to be ashamed of themselves for being Obama’s accomplances in this racist strategy of Obama’s and his campaign’s.
Furthermore, I was outraged at the smack down of Jesse Jackson for calling Obama patronizing…Obama IS patronizing and Jackson has every right to express his view – tough if his mic was hot…He was dead on and should not have been made to apologize.
I will never be a conservative republican – But on this issue I agree.
jaLOPEZ-fiddy,
Great post! I would love to hear your take on “Die Obama Jugend Korps”