Political Punch

Why We Can't Wait, p. 138
by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1963

"The moral justification for special measures for [African-Americans] is rooted in the robberies inherent in the institution of slavery. Many poor whites, however, were the derivative victims of slavery. As long as labor was cheapened by the involuntary servitude of the black man, the freedom of white labor, especially in the South, was little more than a myth. It was free only to bargain from the depressed base imposed by slavery upon the whole labor market. Nor did this derivative bondage end when formal slavery gave was to the de-facto slavery of discrimination. To this day the white poor also suffer deprivation and the humiliation of poverty if not color. They are chained by the weight of discrimination, though its badge of degradation does not mark them. It corrupts their lives, frustrates their opportunities and withers their education. In one sense it is more evil for them, because it has confused so many by prejudice that they have supported their own oppressors."

magda,
I don't believe growing up in America especially being of color is a privilege, at least I never felt that way. If something has changed please inform me. And since you what to attack one candidate, I’ll mention the others; look at Senator Clinton or Senator McCain they are definitely not in the average working class Americans tax bracket. So where can or do they relate to the average working class American? Oh their “Blue Collar”… Different way of saying “White”.

mgck59
I'm back... So if you have listened to his sermons for years then you should understand his messages, remember “HIS MESSAGES” not Senator Obama. People want to attack his character and judgment. What about Senator Clinton’s, does she have what it takes? She didn’t have the character or judgment when she blindly voted for this ridiculous, pointless, and damaging war nor did she have the courage to leave her husband after his affairs, like staying by his side is a sign of strength.

mgck59 | Apr 29, 2008 6:17:10 PM

Thank you.

I find Obama at this point pathetic! From the moment he came on the scene he's been demonstrating how superior he was to us bottom feeders.....NOW because he's slipping in the poles he wants to portray this "I'M JUST LIKE THE COMMON MAN attitude" No he's not.....he's a Senator, his wife an attorney, he lives in a home worth over 2.million dollars. What kinds of idiots does he think the American people are. It is very evident that this man has led a VERY PRIVILEGED LIFE. I don't think that most young African American men have had the opportunity to grow up in the Middle East, most haven't even moved beyond the neighborhood, nor do I think the majority have had the opportunity to be raised in Hawaii....... Hawaii of all places by WHITE grandparents. He is so removed not just from the black community but the common man.. At, this point anyone in a close relationship with Obama has an agenda. I am disgusted by his misuse of power in the Black Community alone.

Martin.... I don't have to listen to Rev. Wrights current sermons I've heard tapes of him for years. This man has never had a problem speaking his mind. In the black community we have known of Rev. Wright for years. I know pastors who fly to Chicago often to hear Wrights sermons. Some of them repeat them verbatim. He has preached the same message so, please what is your point.

The only reason Senator Obamo has to address this issue is for narrow minded American's who really don’t know or care about the true history of this nation or our cultural differences? If you actually studied beyond your basic history, you might understand the difficulties that every race has experienced in this country. I challenge everyone to listen to Rev. Wright’s entire sermon and not just the sound bites.

The only reason Senator Obamo has to address this issue is for narrow minded American's who really don’t know or care about the true history of this nation or our cultural differences? If you actually studied beyond your basic history, you might understand the difficulties that every race has experienced in this country. I challenge everyone to listen to Rev. Wright’s entire sermon and not just the sound bites.

Mary,

Please explain what McCain & Hillary have proven? For McCain, he's served in the Senate, Oh and POW. As for Hillary, she's visited 80 plus countries as First Lady. I served in the military for 24 years & visited 13 different countries I guess I'm proven...

When Barack Obama choose Rev. Wright and his church, it was because the church was the largest in the area and this selection was used for political needs. Get to know the people and then get them to support him in his political ambitions. Obama also allowed Tony Rezko, the fixer, to help as well as Bill Ayers. To me, Senator Obama is a user of people for political status. He is arragant and looks down on certain groups of people and those who do not support him. He has proven nothing except he is a big talker and a big spender. That does not make him presidential material.
Vote for Clinton or McCain. They are proven.

TOM:

How do you think most of the kids who go to college get to go?

They get scholarships and grants if they're very very lucky.... but usually, in addition to this...

they WORK!
they take out LOANS.

and it's very expensive!!!!!

but they don't bitch and moan about it.

they don't say, "poor, poor me".

The Clintons went to college this way.

I went to college this way.

Why do you feel Obama deserves our compassion for going through college to increase his livlihood?

Obviously it worked; he's now a
more-than-a millionaire.

As for me, I'll take HILLARY!!!!!

Why do so many psoters continue to repeat lies after they've been pointed out time and time again?

Obama was on SCHOLARSHIP at his school in Hawaii, and his grandmother still lives in the small two-bedroom apartment they all lived in back then. Obama paid for college and law school with scholarships and student loans. That's wealthy?! Stop spreading your lies - you know better.

Obama still has the vision for America he had in 1993:

All this ooh! ooh! we don't really know him! garbage is just that - garbage. Throw it out. Let's focus on the facts and truth.

Obama is not only elitist, but a pretty lousy friend too. I don't like Rev. Wright's radical views but I can understand his anger toward Obama.

Obama asks his pastor/mentor of 20 years to stay in the basement, out of public, while he announces his presidential run. He removes Wright from the agenda then hides him in the basement to pray with his family.
Then over and over again, in front of America, says Wright is like a crazy uncle that says stupid,deplorable things.
Obama basks in the glory and adoration while his pastor takes all of the criticism. I doubt Wright even wanted to retire.
I think Obama knew about those controversial sermons and I think he shares many of Wright's radical views.
Obama lied to everyone just to get elected. Just like Wright said. Wright should be mad and so should we.

Only Obama the elitist would equate jello and mashed potatoes with being common folk. What a condesending remark.

This nation will continue to label and define us individually, for example; Obama “elitist”, Katrina Victims “refugees” which by the way are American Citizens, blue collar works "White", African Americans "Black", Spanish Americans "Mexican" and Native Americans "Indians". Can we just be categorized as Americans

Senator Obama an elitist? American politics has resorted to characterizations and his character defined by sound bites, which by the way were said by someone else. However, Rev. Wright spoke the truth and it only hurts because it’s the truth. What a nation! Can someone come up with characterizations for Senator McCain and Clinton?

For every slam against Obama there are at least two one could use against Hillary Clinton. Her personal and political history is very, very far from squeaky clean. So, it all depends on which candidate you are for...

I'm sick of Obama's lies; they're a slap in the face to every American who was truly raised in poor conditions.

Obama had two parents until the age of 3 when his father left; his mother remarried a couple years later and for 5 years he lived in Indonesia with his mother and stepfather. At the age of 10, he went to live with his grandparents in Hawaii and attended a private school whose current tuition is approx. $15,000 per year. By my calculations that makes just two years being raised by a single mother and grandparents who may not have been wealthy but could hardly be called destitute. I guess his true story isn't common enough for the typical white person (or for that matter most black people) to identify with.

This can be easily fact checked should the media care to - which they don't. We on the internet know all about the Kennedy Africa airlift lie and the Selma lie which were told for the sole purpose of connecting Obama with JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr.

I'm sick of Obama playing the "poor me" card. It's second only to the race card he's so fond of pulling out to suit his needs. He is one twisted individual and certainly not anyone I want in charge of our country.

This elitis label is so stupid,which says a lot about his opponents. Obama grew up the poorest of his two opponents and because he succceeded like they did he is now an elitis. They to are elitis,McCain makes elitis comments everyday when he puts americans down regarding not deserving health care,tax cuts he offers for the rich,Please!Sounds like the GOP is out of touch with the working class americans.

Obama 08!

If attending private school and not public school makes you an Elistist then I am an elitist, Clinton and McCain, Bush etc. are also Elistist along with Obama. If that name sticks to him it also sticks to them Big time. They aren't fooling me because 70% of America are then Elitist for attending private school, yale, havard, cornell. What a lame argument.

James, are you talking about classism or elitism? Do you know the difference? One can be learned-by anyone...

This whole Wright thing is plain stupid. Can the media start investigating McCain and Hillary's pastors too and what they have said about Black folks and slavery and Jim Crow. Thank you.

If Obama is an Elitist, billionaire Mcain and Millionaires Clintons my friends are twice Elistists. Obama is a far cry from elitist no black man is an elitist in a slavery history society. Let's get real this is pure propaganda. He is successful, yes but certainly no black man has been considered part of America's elite society until this election for votes what else is being said for votes??McCain and Clinton are prostitutes for votes.

Sal, it is Wright who has jumped on Obama not the other candidates and the media is playing along...it is about time people look into what baggage Sen. Obama may or may not have-better to know now than later

Wright has been paid to remain in the face of the media from now until the North Carolina Primaries through to June to help bring down Obama. Get it. What another Judas? I am glad he has retired before he was forced to from his Church.

It seems odd that both McCain and Clinton and the Media are jumping on Obama. This tells me he is the best candidate because if he wasn't they wouldn't be fighting to bring him down. Thank goodness their are thinkers and not just sheep to follow whatever is said. The very candidates pounding him have a lot of negative baggage which everyone knows about and has been duly taken into account.

do not pass go..do not collect $200

Game Over!

This are the moments and times when his campaign is at it's worse, when he puts on a show to achieve acceptance. If tomorrow he found he were losing the rich mans vote would he then revert back to their messenger of hope?

The man is unelectable! He has no experience and no sense of judgement...

Obama now decides to connect with the common man by lowering his standards how nice. It amazes me when I see people defend him. I'm black and I don't of many African Americans that as a child lived in the Middle East. Nor do I know of many African Americans that were raised by their white grandparents in Hawaii...How in the world could this man EVER relate to the Black Americans plight.. He's never experienced it.

It is a myth that a black man in the United States is elitist. No one could be more elistist that the Clintons and MCCains. People are just feeding on anything they hear without reasoning. Blacks have always suffered along with the White working class and Obama fought his way to the top, and he is not the only one.

oh, please, he lies about his background. he remembers his white relatives when he's in kansas and his black relatives when he's in south carolina, he talks about patching his suits, which anyone with the slightest brain knows is bull. probably $2,000 plus suits anyway. how much crap does this guy have to throw our way before someone throws it back at him?

Is this the change we've been waiting for? Obama changed his shirt. You won't find a union label on Obama's blue collar .... but I'm sure you will find a designer label. Jake's repot with video clips of Obama "talking at" the working class revealed his lack of passion and ability to connect. The attempt to "reintroduce himself" at this late date is as calculated as it is pathetic. This go around his words won't cut it. Obama has as much fiber as the Jell-O molds on his childhood table. Btw, anyone ever ask Obama if his campaign uses products made by union workers or uses services by union workers, or stays in hotels employing union workers?

Does Obama think that by rolling his shirt sleeves he is going to connect with the blue collar workers? Does he think that he is going to connect with people worried about bread and butter, complaining about the price of arugula in the whole foods market? Obama is out of touch and he is arrogant.

One commentator said : he is above the politician.
For the first time I heard he said : I love this country.
Isn't it too late?
Believe him, he loves this country, he is poor just like us.
So vote for me.

No way!

Obama's mother was in college when she met his dad.

He went to all private schools, that cost money to attend.

Poor Poor barrak Obama

LOM,

Yes, I just paid attention tonight.
He even tried to embrace elderly people now.
So, Obama supporters don't humiliate senior citizens with calling them sinile , uneducated etc,, you need them now.

Jake,

I watched your piece on Obama on the news last night.

It was EXCELLENT!

For more than one month the media is criticizing Obama on every word he said, on every word or every step that somebody who ever come close to Obama done or said. This was designed to mislead the public and it is having the result they wanted. While Hillary and her husband are riding the wave with lies, Nafta, Colombia, Iran, and no one bother to comment or just report them. When Obama said he will bomb Pakistan if he has precise information that Osama was there. Yet he was criticized but when Clinton says that she will bomb Iran with nuclear weapon no one in the Us bother. This is the same stupidity that took us to Iraq. Maybe in the US people did not notice her speech but in Europe people took note.

Anyone notice that he's been taking off his jacket and even removing the tie more often to shed the elitist look?

Will it work???

melissa; to be honest with you i truly sympathize with mr obama. my ancestors have traditionally practiced what are described as unorthodox religious or spiritual expression thru the centuries. i truly understand how conflicting this can be. in fact it was a common practice for medicine men to be whipped in the public square. and on my mother's hispanic side 'the penetentes' were likewise chastised by the catholic church. i really do get it! however i really do believe that hillary is a woman that can lead us out of these difficult times. today we need the wisdom, and strength, of a woman. look at the mess our male dominated political system has brought us. obama is young his day is in the future.

Why nobody knows his background entirely?
Now, he even said his mother was a teenager when she had him.
The truth nobody knows about everything he said.

This is so weird, my brother who is an atheist is all upset that I don't understand the Rev. Wright's comments.

In my most humble opinion, it appears as though Rev. Wright and the Michigan branch of the NAACP are on Hillary Clinton’s side. They are out to make Obama look bad, and they are doing a really good job.

They want Hillary to win.

They need Hillary to win.

They loved the Clinton years.

So, Rev. Wright, the Michigan branch of the NAACP, and most people of Michigan want Hillary to win. So watch this, as May 6 approaches, Rev Wright’s comments and appearances will intensify. Obama will look bad, voters to loose trust, and Hillary will come out smelling like roses.

In addition, Rev Wright is making all of the church leaders and preachers of all RACES look really, really bad. Now that’s sad!!!!

btw…REV. WRIGHT DOES NOT REPRESENT THE BLACK CHURCH.

Jgaw,

Good comment.
Thanks.

No one seems to care that Hillary out and out lied about Bosnia. It made a good story until she got caught in her lie, and then she said she "misspoke." No, she lied.
I like Obama. He seems like a truthful, and dedicated man who just wants to make a positive difference.

Bush made a lot of promisses too. a lot of empty words.

DNC has to recognize that Obama is unelectable. He already disenfranchised blue collar workers, rural workers and hispanics. He associates with radicals that hate America and he has exchanged favors as Senator in exchange for land and money. There is no chance he can win the general election. All attcks on Hillary have been done for 17 years and she is still standing working for all Americans and has the passion for this Country that Obama lacks.

im going to bed, just remember the choice you make we all have to live with - look into her " promises" and her " experience" a little -

sonia trevino ,
very nice story, but if your looking at it as WHO you have to chose from and not is that one person perfect -and none of us are- then you might want to re-think the he is the one that isnt right for the job and the choice he needs to make.. clearly you have to admit that hillary has not only took things that didnt belong to her in the white house , lied, committed crimes, messed up about every big job she took on in the white house and the senate but says the best thing she has going for her is she doesnt stop fighting and talking crap - a bush trait- but she failed to tell people that in the senate she refused to fight for the child defense fund because she said it wouldnt fly! yea she wasnt in the mood to fight i guess and it wasnt even a big deal they wanted to pass a bill that would add 1 out of every seven children covered to 2 out of 7 children...

Most of you have nothing to fear but fear itself, and Obama.

What is convenience is to use food stamps when you already have a degree and could work for a good wage. Sehe went to school for a Phd. She was not a single mother. After Obama's father left, she married an Indonesian oil exec.

obama is trying to peddle his mother being on foodstamps as a hardship.
she was not a victim of circumstance.
and it was not some unforseen event that landed her on foodstamps. as so many many have had to do.
she was on foodstamps-because she was trying to finish college.
unlike me, i worked my way through college and never took a dime from the gove.and I had mouths to feed.

Obama's mother never strugled. She was a Phd in anthropology and was not a single mother but for a couple of years. Obama again is lying and making light of what really is to strugle.

libre ,
convenience ? i dont think it would fall under that.. i dont think going to school to better yourself while raising a child is a convenience..

hey we all have tales of misfortune. we all have experienced racism. i have never used my ethnicity as an excuse, or as a marketing tool. God knows that as a Hispanic/jicarilla apache we have and do suffer unspeakable racism/cruelty/and inhumane treatment.
i heard a beautiful story once told to me as a child by an elder, it goes like this. a white man approached an elder and said don't you hate the white man for stealing the land? the elder said, they didn't steal the land look (as he waved his hand) there it is. from that story i learned that the only thing that i can control is the way i choose to interpret my world and my life. my misfortunes can either be my undoing, or the sum of who i am. "to thine own self be true'. mr. obama needs time before he can be a great leader. these are tests of his strength, his wisdom, and his judgement. and in the end only he can decide either to follow the call of his church, or the call of his nation. it does not seem that he can embrace both. the decision will tell us much about the man.

tomdavie ,
who are you trying to convince? like you know whats going to happen any more than the rest of us! if it was done and over we wouldnt be talking about it .... they didnt think bill was going to win because he broke the " rules" you dont know anymore than the rest of us..

If Obama's mother was in food stamps it was because she prefered to have a secon career an go to school instead of working, which is great, but is not strgling or being poor, it was for convenience. The same way Obama sold favors to Rezko and Blackwell. for convenience.

you really did not need to share, but
thank you. I am a disabled rn. I would rather have to come up with a few dollars on a regular basis to have full coverage for my family. rather than
have to end up in the er. and find out I have to come up with a big lump sum
that is obama plan.
I feel sen. clinton plan is the one-
just as she said-if you do not get everyone in it is not universal and it will not work.
look at mass.

SJ ,
well thats why they call it nine-TEEN and eight-TEEN

first of all not that its any of your business but im not rich, i am a foster mother who is married to a local truck driver and i work in a nursing home as a cna! i have never had things handed to me and no her plan isnt the best plan if you are too poor to pay for the house you live in you cant afford to pay for health insurance and HELP to pay for it isnt going to pay for it so where is it she thinks the rest of the money is going to come from? her pocket, please she has millions and is asking others to pay for her campaign !
i didnt see her dishing any money to us from her pocket even though they are nice and fat and the people in buffalo trusted her to help them look where they are - she cost them jobs not helped with jobs!! we already had our primary so im not sure why you are trying to sell me on her!! i already said if she was the nom. i would vote democrat because i am just outright worried about the things mccain wants to do and because im not going to throw a baby fit and vote for him just because i didnt get who i want ! like some people you see putting clinton or mccain as though thats even smart !

Obama said his mother had him when she was a teenager what age was the 14, 15, or sweet 16.

It was more like 18/19 voting age, if you are old enough to vote I don't think you should be considered a teenager still.

What a mess you
folks have made of a perfect world that God made. It is proof that man cannot make it right again. Only God!! that is what the Bible says, which is the Word of God. It is time to Repent, and be saved before His return. I WILL COME LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT SAYS THE LORD.

I believe that the republican party will come out in droves if hillary is the nominee.
Bill Clinton is the reason we got George Bush, and he disgraced the white house. Its funny how most people don't look at it this way, but we vote our president into office, and he has the opportunity to live in the white house, so that house is really OUR house. So who gave Bill Clinton permission to disgrace OUR house? And why are we the people willing to give him the opportunity to go BACK into the white house? I don't believe he deserves to go back, as he had his chance to make a difference and he did what was important to him, not for the people.
Republicans hate the Clintons. Hillary is unelectable. And if you believe that she is then you are looking through rose colored glasses. I don't care how many of you vote for her, there will be more voting against her.
And remember she won't win the independents. They go to McCain or Obama.

yes,

jgaw ,
were you talking to me?

Jim,
what a white brain or a black brain? and what does rev wright being a racist have to do with obama? i went to church and i have no idea who he is when he isnt in church! and i dont agree with the everything he said about the gay community or the unwed mothers ... people put far too much into this! you go to church for god not the person talking about god!

you must be independently wealthy,
living in ny,
but while you have been blinded by your hate for sen. clinton
some of us working class folks have been paying attention to the issues,
obama has no real plan for helping us.
I have read all of it. from his website from the newspapers in my town that have
put all candidates plans up side by side.
sen. clinton has the best plan to help the us. no matter how much you hate her.
that fact will not change.
it looks like obama will not have the stomach or the will to be POTUS.
the dems. need to get back in the white ohouse-not for sen. clintons sake but for the american peoples sake.
so with you wealth-you will not have to worry about the healthcare,college, and economy, some of us do.
and sen. clinton is the one.
I am sure she will lose all of the votes like yours-but there are enough right thinking people out there that will think about the real problems and cshe will get enough votes to put her
in.
and once again, no worry, the people who need a good president to work for them-will vote for her.

In my most humble opinion, it appears as though Rev. Wright and the Michigan branch of the NAACP are on Hillary Clinton’s side. They are out to make Obama look bad, and they are doing a really good job.

They want Hillary to win.

They need Hillary to win.

They loved the Clinton years.

So, Rev. Wright, the Michigan branch of the NAACP, and most people of Michigan want Hillary to win. So watch this, as May 6 approaches, Rev Wright’s comments and appearances will intensify. Obama will look bad, voters to loose trust, and Hillary will come out smelling like roses.

In addition, Rev Wright is making all of the church leaders and preachers of all RACES look really, really bad. Now that’s sad!!!!

btw…REV. WRIGHT DOES NOT REPRESENT THE BLACK CHURCH.

Robbie... Does Obama have a "black brain" or a "white brain"? I think we all know who the racist is, "the Good Rev." Anything else is a excuse!

if any average joe tried to pull half the stuff she gets away with breaking laws and miss-speaking all the time we wouldnt even get a job at ihop! yet this woman is running to be president!!!
you dont believe me be my guest you try i promise i will write you in prison where you will see alot of people that worked for hillary!

The opposition to barack obama in this campaign comes down to one thing: the majority (not all) of white people are by intuition racists. everything else is an excuse.

jgaw | ,
the same thing the clinton supporters will do! dont try to act as though what other people say about obama is okay but im the "big bad guy" thats picking on hillary? should i ask her if she needs a pillow? she is a criminal and a liar and i have every right to say so and im not even spinning a half truth its all true!

melissa,
what will you do with all the hate you have toward sen. clinton when this is over?
what will you do?

Bishop ,
what was heaped on her? no one has thrown mud at her or her baggage! the only thing that has been heaped at her is she got caught in about a half million lies!!!!!!!!!

Obama's mother and food stamps?

Joe Klein interview with Obama, October 15, 2006 edition of Time Magazine Obama claimed:

"I was going to a fancy prep school, and my mother was on food stamps while she was getting her Ph.D."

Barack Obama's mother sent him home from Indonesia to Hawaii where he lived with his grandparents while attending the most elite prep school on the islands. His grandmother was a bank vice-president.

If mother were on food stamps, it was not while Obama was in prep school that I can see.

Perhaps he is confused. The only time I can see them qualifying is when he was quite young before her remarriage.

I think this is Obama's poor attempt at pandering to the working class voter. Not a good attempt, IMHO.

Let's see...Obama's mother, father, and grandparents were all employees, never employers...his teenage years with his grandparents involved living in a two-bedroom apartment...he's married to the daughter of a city worker...and he's too snooty for the blue-collar folks to feel kinship?

Meanwhile, the daughter of a business owner and the son of an admiral (who is married to a beer heiress) are posturing as people of the people. God help us...American politics has nothing to do with fact or truth...image is everything.

we arent talking 1,000 we are talking millions of dollars ... and a increase in "donors" right before hillary announced she was running for prez!

katmandu ,
a thousand dollars... donated to him.. have you seen anything on bills donors“CLINTON FOUNDATION SECRETS” WAS THE WALL STREET JOURNALS SHOW OF SHADY DONORS.

toby ,
first of all when has hillary ever learned from her mistakes i mean she gets caught at a lie and keeps right on going! i will not vote for mccain but if its a choice between obama and clinton not a chance in --- i would vote for her...

there is nothing NObama could do or say at this point that would make him a credible candidate for President to me.

The "Good Rev." said it best, "chickens coming home to roost" ironic that quote applies to the "Agent of change" now. Indiana is looking pretty sweet now for Hillary and N.C. just may be in reach. Obama could shoot a gun while reading the bible right now and nobody is going to buy it.

Hillary has stood and when everthing has been heaped on her is still standing . Bill Clinton is not the reason we have Bush the same republican machine that swift boated Gore and Kerry are going to do it to OBama he can't win this thing now. He should do us all a favor and drop out unless you have never been to church you should know what a pastor means to some one who has a close relationship it means they share the same vision's 20 years proves that, and how long was his wife a member?

toby,
once again your wrong! he has done good things..like his bills on lead paint tainted toys that hillary co-sponsored.. i have a list if you would like them?

I never could understand what some people saw in this guy. He never impressed me. I guess thats because I go for substan