-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Obama's pastor: "God Damn America"
- Thread starter Star Power
- Start date
- Status
siamesedreamer
Banned
Slurpy said:
Only if you believe Obama:
Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church.
This is a political nightmare for his campaign.
CoolTrick said:
Keep adding more smileys- it strengthens your non-existent argument. No really, it does.
As to your prior post, no, it isn't actually relevant for a reasoned and objective individual who has no agenda. To disingenuous people like you and others with an obvious agenda, of course its 'relevant', and the pouncing on the issue is certainly not surprising.
As usual this is another damned if you do, damned if you don't situation created by nonces whose agenda's don't lie anywhere but the disingenuous.
If he didn't address it, the narrative will fester by talking heads. So his only option is to address it.
Now that he's culled the pastor, I don't see what's left to go on about.
If he didn't address it, the narrative will fester by talking heads. So his only option is to address it.
Now that he's culled the pastor, I don't see what's left to go on about.
speculawyer
Member
Well . . . . it is March. This will blow over or Hillary will be the nominee.
NullPointer
Member
CoolTrick said:
You might have a point if you could point to anything that Obama has done in his political life that has anything to do with the most controversial views of his former pastor.
Oh yeah. You can't.
There is no there there. Time to move the fuck on to things that actually matter.
Branduil said:
see thats why its like that. he is not a racist. wright is a black man in america. i have a white mother, black father. white wife and 2 white looking kids. I am as far from a racist as you can get and i loved those 2 clips of Mr. wright.
i would go to his church every sunday. even my lil ole white wife. mus say something about america if speaking the truth makes you controversial or a racist.
Triumph said:
even if he was its not an issue cause it would attack the deep beliefs of a core set of the democratic party. alot of passionate blacks speak like wright does.
any one catch the state of the black union. it almost got out of hand a couple times.
america, now where we have freedom of religion as long as we approve. wow i hate this country a lil more every day
speculawyer
Member
WTF are you talking about? Perhaps you should be in the Friday drinking thread?CoolTrick said:
Triumph said:
Bingo! Dead on Triumph. He put his presidency on the line with his denail of attending a sermon with Wright saying things like this. If it comes out that he was lying I could easily see most of teh Supers switch. Things just got interesting.
I personally believe him though.
I agree. And I'm about as white as you can get without being in Prussian Blue. I would totally attend sermons from Rev. Wright, and I don't even believe in the whole God/Space Fairy thing. He's entertaining and I agree with a lot of his viewpoints.Lefty42o said:
It must be noted, however, that I'm a godless socialist. I think most of America is going to see his comments and be most offended by the 9/11 shit as "anti-American", whatever that is.
Agree again.Lefty42o said:
The problem is, this is the kind of thing that could hurt him in middle, white bread Amurrica.
The funny thing is, I could see this sinking his candidacy if it's found out that he was at an incendiary sermon. And it would be the dumbest thing ever. White people would be all, "Whoa there Mr. Obama. We were fine with you when you spoke well and wanted to bring America together and stuff, but HAVING CRAZY BLACK FRIENDS? I just don't think we can handle that."
Hillary could actually get the nomination if this tanks him through something she didn't really do, and it would still sink her in the general IMO. Lots of pissed off black folks wouldn't go out and vote for her just on principle if he has more pledged delegates (which is almost a certainty at this point).
Anyway, what I'm saying is don't underestimate white America's ability to be offended and frightened by exceedingly dumb shit.
soul creator
Member
Branduil said:
actually, I thought he said it was a government conspiracy. Which is actually a different statement. (I would say it's still pretty inaccurate, but it's not inherently "racist")
It just so happens that the majority of the US government consists of white men, but I somehow doubt he thinks the average GAF poster is trying to give AIDS to people.
Branduil said:
:lol
it is. but this is not the place or the time. and i am not racist. i am justa ware of the wolrd we live in.
once again are you black? casue you won't understand till some one has called you nigger. some one has judged you and lied right to your face or fuck it told you to your face your black.
you look at things very diff. doesn't mean blacks didn't play a part. your missing the point of what his overall message is.
Branduil said:
It's called equity, or the lack thereof. People who have an agenda apply their standards unequally and with exception.
I am after all anticipating the massive backlash Republicans should be receiving from being supported by members on the religious right. Quid pro quo and all that.
thekad said:
Eh, I semi-agree, but of course that means I semi-disagree as well.
I think at it's core, it's correct, because, let's face it: There's no way if Obama was a woman with his level of experience would be anything more than a blip on the political radar. Women have to "prove themselves" more. On the other hand, if Obama was a white guy, so much of his appeal wouldn't be there. He'd be like any other boring, inexperienced white guy fruitlessly offering change.
I mean, these are simple facts that I think are correct.
Ultimately, I agree with the view as "Obama has benefitted tremendously from being a black man", rather than "Obama would be nowhere if he wasn't a black man". The latter interpretation doesn't give enough credit to Obama -- his campaign has been excellent.
But at the same time, I think the simple truth of the matter is that Obama, as a frontrunner to be President of the United States, owes a lot to his gender and race. Ironically enough.
quest said:
no one said white people are evil. just the worlds is controlled by rich white people. Look how happy we were when they let us be president of our own country, south africa.
and its not my fault you never got to see what its like being black. and need to use that against us. when whole towns shut down schools to fight segregation for 10 years setting back generations of black i guess we just say to bad huh?
i guess that whole slavery thing was blown up as well huh?
i know as a black man theres a whole chunk of history that was not so good for us.
Branduil said:
thats not what he said. he said god is damning america for killing as it says in the bible.
1: to condemn to a punishment or fate; especially : to condemn to hell
2 a: to condemn vigorously and often irascibly for some real or fancied fault or defect <damned the storm for their delay> b: to condemn as a failure by public criticism
so its only cool when we kill people who do not look like us? cause killing is killing and we should be ashamed of our history.
CoolTrick said:
and when every president since we were formed has been a white man it seems you would benefit from being white and male. if it didnlt benefit them we would have had a women or black man before now
and no you was once again bringing it down to categories. he as benefited cause he is a black man. why even talk about it. Just like every president to date has benefited form being a WHITE MAN.
But instead of seeing how held back obama has been by his race instead you say he had benefited. How?
had he been white and the president of the Harvard law review he would have been govenor of a state years ago. White males in obama's situation get courted for state office. Usually Lt. Gov than onto Gov. Like Bill Clinton.
Instead he had to claw to a state senate seat in a black district to get his start. Man he was so lucky to be black.
Had he been white with his skills and education Hillary would have been out long ago. benefited from his race please. thats sold tunneled visioned and misses the 45 years it took him to get here. and degrades those struggles.
In what way? I'm not saying he hasn't but it seems to me that some people see a successful black man and just assume he's some sort of equal opportunity charity case. In what way is he benefiting? And can you at least acknowledge that that there things in this country that are more difficult for a black man to achieve?CoolTrick said:
Who in the world I said Obama had it easy? That's you putting words into my mouth.
It's difficult for ANY African American candidate in comparison for a white guy.
But when you take into account Obama's platform of change, when you take into account his level of experience, when you take into account that his major rival is a longtime Washington player and a woman, the fact that it's much more dangerous to attack Obama because you could be accused of racism, then yes, Obama's being a black man has helped him tremendously in this campaign.
I give Obama more credit for thusfar overcoming the "Hussein Obama" part of his name. There ain't no benefit in that whatsoever.
What I'm saying is that in the context of this campaign, Obama has benefited from being a black man.
And I think any logical person can see it.
You're so intent on looking for something to pounce on, but the thing is, I just see Obama's race and gender as being what they are. To cry out that Obama would be nowhere without being a black man, well, no, I disagree with that. But when you accept that they are what they are, for discussion purposes, then yes, I agree that in the context of this campaign he's benefitted.
It's difficult for ANY African American candidate in comparison for a white guy.
But when you take into account Obama's platform of change, when you take into account his level of experience, when you take into account that his major rival is a longtime Washington player and a woman, the fact that it's much more dangerous to attack Obama because you could be accused of racism, then yes, Obama's being a black man has helped him tremendously in this campaign.
I give Obama more credit for thusfar overcoming the "Hussein Obama" part of his name. There ain't no benefit in that whatsoever.
What I'm saying is that in the context of this campaign, Obama has benefited from being a black man.
And I think any logical person can see it.
You're so intent on looking for something to pounce on, but the thing is, I just see Obama's race and gender as being what they are. To cry out that Obama would be nowhere without being a black man, well, no, I disagree with that. But when you accept that they are what they are, for discussion purposes, then yes, I agree that in the context of this campaign he's benefitted.
CoolTrick said:
no, if you say racist things to attack him you get called a racist. thats the issue.
racist people who think cause they helped some black people they can degrade us when we get to the table. than play the victim card.
thats even more racist than you think. man i am so glad obama is black cause he got all them negro vote :lol
CoolTrick said:
:lol wow full stealth edit
that is a racists statement. even if he had that degrades the work he is doing in this campaign.
he has not benefited cause its used to attack him. used against him. it has not benefited him. your still making him the black candidate.
Well, no, that's not the issue, because no one here has said racist things to attack Obama, so I think you should get off it. Don't look to play the race card when we're having a discussion about the influence of race in the race, because then you're doing the opposite of what Obama preaches -- transcending the racial issue.
Bullshit. If you haven't noticed Barack's camp never accuses people of being racist, it's always third parties. Why? Because those accusations would hurt him more than anything whether they were correct or not simply because Americans don't like hearing that shit. Meanwhile Hilary's camp gets to call Nobel laureates sexist and nobody cares. It's the same way Hilary can basically tell people to vote for her because she's a woman but if Barack did the same it would be suicide. Sorry anything else?CoolTrick said:
CoolTrick said:
well jesse jackson ran for president as well :lol
please. they haven't used race to attack him...... as far as i know
:lol please
CoolTrick said:
than you add a new post not chnage the whole text like you did :lol
quest said:
name one super power that has had a minority leader? its ok i will wait.
no it wasn't but its also not right to throw people from there homes to make up for the ignorance of those white people in power who let the jews be persecuted. america knew about it and ignored it. god damn america is right
Honestly, I'm really not going to debate my point of view. You either agree or you don't.
What I think, is that in the general world, of course it's less helpful to be a black guy when you're running for office.
In the context of this campaign against Hillary Clinton, however, Obama's lack of experience would automatically disqualify him if he was a woman. If Obama was white, people wouldn't have much reason to believe the entire platform of his campaign -- change. The fact that he has a physical difference from past presidents gives his platform credibility from the very surface level.
If you think that's bullshit, well, then, there's totally no convincing you, so I don't see the point in discussing.
What I think, is that in the general world, of course it's less helpful to be a black guy when you're running for office.
In the context of this campaign against Hillary Clinton, however, Obama's lack of experience would automatically disqualify him if he was a woman. If Obama was white, people wouldn't have much reason to believe the entire platform of his campaign -- change. The fact that he has a physical difference from past presidents gives his platform credibility from the very surface level.
If you think that's bullshit, well, then, there's totally no convincing you, so I don't see the point in discussing.
CoolTrick said:
1 if it hurts you how do you benefit? You don't. if you earn your right to the table who you are and who you appeal to is not a benefit. not with the struggles you had to get there.
2. if obama was white he would have been a governor long ago. his experience would have been much diff. On monday patterson will be just the 3rd black Gov. Fucked indeed. considering he needed a white man to break the law befor he could have that role as just the 3rd black Gov.
3. he is not the first president to use change and hope. bill clinton had very little experience outside being gov of arkansas and he ran as the man from hope. so don't feed me bullshit about how obama needs his appearance to offer change and hope. Bill clinton showed us it can be done as a white guy as well. except obama is black and once again it goes back to number 1. so it degrades him to say he benefits from shit.
Branduil said:
Is the damnation of America the central tenet of the Church? Are there not other reasons to be involved in a church beyond certain viewpoints of a pastor? Viewpoints which as far as I can tell, were videotaped without Obama being present himself.
The man was obviously a friend of the family serving in the capacity of a pastor, and Obama treated him like one. When push came to show and people disliked his statements, Obama went and repudiated him.
But this isn't the problem, people are instead pointing out in some loose association fallacy that Obama should have broken off all contact with said pastor, as if somehow that is a realistic way humans socialize.
Is it realistic to suggest that someone should only associate with people they are in full agreement with? Especially in this context when that person has said forthrightly that they do not support and condemn such positions? It's not a practical solution.
NullPointer
Member
I *think* I know where you're coming from CoolTrick, but then you go and fuck up and say something like this:
Bolded for extra bullshit factor.
Attack him on experience, attack him on policy, attack him on judgement, attack him on his voting record, attack him on his economic plans, attack him on his character - none of that would be racist.
IMHO Obama does gain some benefit, symbolically for being black, especially on a platform of change, because that would be one hell of a nice change. But the benefit is minimal compared to all the negatives in our society, and especially in politics.
People are letting their own racial discomfort get to them.
He is a candidate who has run the best damn campaign I've ever seen. He tries and succeeds at reaching out to ALL 50 states, not the "few that actually matter". He's about as publicly financed a candidate as you can get. He's fair minded, and IMHO is sincere in reaching out to spurned republicans and independents. He goes to a church that teaches black liberation theology that speaks directly to the racism in our society, and has a pastor that said some fucked up things - things that Obama has denounced, again and again.
Unless you honestly think the man is racist, what the hell is the issue here? I mean seriously. Drop the innuendo. Drop the "concern". What is the worry? He's going to take power and start war against whites? Or do you think he's going to name Farrakhan Secretary of State? WTF? What is the actual fear here?
People want to marginalize him as the "black candidate", and they succeed the more this shit is the topic-of-the-day on all the news channels. Can't we move past this crap for once?
CoolTrick said:
Bolded for extra bullshit factor.
Attack him on experience, attack him on policy, attack him on judgement, attack him on his voting record, attack him on his economic plans, attack him on his character - none of that would be racist.
IMHO Obama does gain some benefit, symbolically for being black, especially on a platform of change, because that would be one hell of a nice change. But the benefit is minimal compared to all the negatives in our society, and especially in politics.
People are letting their own racial discomfort get to them.
He is a candidate who has run the best damn campaign I've ever seen. He tries and succeeds at reaching out to ALL 50 states, not the "few that actually matter". He's about as publicly financed a candidate as you can get. He's fair minded, and IMHO is sincere in reaching out to spurned republicans and independents. He goes to a church that teaches black liberation theology that speaks directly to the racism in our society, and has a pastor that said some fucked up things - things that Obama has denounced, again and again.
Unless you honestly think the man is racist, what the hell is the issue here? I mean seriously. Drop the innuendo. Drop the "concern". What is the worry? He's going to take power and start war against whites? Or do you think he's going to name Farrakhan Secretary of State? WTF? What is the actual fear here?
People want to marginalize him as the "black candidate", and they succeed the more this shit is the topic-of-the-day on all the news channels. Can't we move past this crap for once?
soul creator
Member
Atrus said:
He should of walked away years ago plain and simple. If Obama only has a small disagreement with what wright says then I will feel sorry for him. Instead of leaving a church with a pastor like wright he gave them 22k dollars. Obama's excuses are so damn weak like he never heard this kind of garbage from wright till recently. He wants us to believe wright waited till obama was out of the room before he said this horrible stuff. That or Obama is the worst judge of character ever who could not sniff out a crazy racist. Is that kind of judgement we want in a president? You make it sounds like he and wright are disagreeing on the best place to eat. This is a major issue wright is a hate monger who tries to drive a wedge between the races from the pulpit.
- Status