Michelle

[Harlan Huckleby]

It's spring time and thoughts of assasination are in the air. With the recent dust-up over Hillary's offensive comment, some of the talk shows have replayed Michelle's comments from 60 Minutes regarding a possible assasination: "I don’t lose sleep over it because the realities are that as a black man Barack can get shot going to the gas station."

(See video here, http://hotair.com/archives/2007/02/1...on-60-minutes/ it's interesting to see Barack's uncomfortable reaction)

What does she mean? I read it as the old black-victims-of-a-racist-country creed.

Bill O'Reilly, who has been very generous to Obama, says he always gives people the benefit of the doubt, and therefore we should interpret her remarks as a statement about black-on-black violence.

(On the same radio show, O'Reilly refused to accept as credible the view that Clinton was simply noting the Kennedy assasination to emphasize that it occured in June, that the campaign was active in June. She has insisted this was her sole purpose. None of the people in the room at the time raised an eyebrow, they thought she was just making a time reference. Many callers to O'Reilly's show insist they saw it as a time reference. If you replay her comments, the emphasis is on the date. No, in this case, O'Reilly's benefit-of-the-doubt rule doesn't apply. The Huffington Post, Keith Oberman view is a fact: she was trying to use a possible assasination as a political point in her favor.)

Lets kick the "Proud of America for first time" remarks once more. What could Michelle possibly have meant? The Obama campaign says the words are taken out of context, she was just expressing pride in the campaign. But the words don't say that in context. They are part of a prepared speech she delivered several times, you can have Martha Washington redeliver that speech and it reads the same. Most pundits are willing to pretend that the "out of context" explanation makes sense.

I don't mind that the media likes the Obamas. They like McCain too. But the passion for Obama is so over the top, the news is being distorted regularly to recast Michelle into a more sellable form. Its an insult to our intelligence.

[SkinBasket]

But the passion for Obama is so over the top, the news is being distorted regularly to recast Michelle into a more sellable form. Its an insult to our intelligence.

Get used to it. The other side's been dealing with it for decades. Did you see Inconvenient Truth is going to Opera format 2011?

[Harlan Huckleby]

I agree that the media tends to be more liberal. I accept this as inevitable because reporters are more educated and intelligent than the average person.

But the conservative point of view does have a large outlet too. Fox News is the most popular news channel, after all. And the conservative view dominates talk radio.

This spring was particularly ridiculous because there has been so little counterweight to OBamamania. Just some occasional astonishment by conservative pundits at the naked bias.

As we move on to the general election, McCain will have some enthusiastic advocates in the media, it won't be quite so one-sided.

[Tarlam!]

The link didn't work for me. Are you making this shit up, HH?

[Harlan Huckleby]

i do make most of my stuff up, but this time there was just a comma at end of link and i just fixed it. sorry for my inattention to detail.

[Freak Out]

What? Your not that ignorant about crime in America are you HH?

[the_idle_threat]

What does she mean? I read it as the old black-victims-of-a-racist-country creed.

Bill O'Reilly, who has been very generous to Obama, says he always gives people the benefit of the doubt, and therefore we should interpret her remarks as a statement about black-on-black violence.

Harlan, I watched the link before I read your comments, and I have to say I understood it as a reference to black-on-black violence. I'm not an Obamaphile, and I have no reason to twist my logic to support him or his wife, but to me, "a black man going to the gas station" suggests he going down to the gas station in his own community. Violence to a black man in his own community suggests black-on-black violence.

If she wanted to reference black-victims-of-a-racist-country, I think she would suggest something less defined and more sinister, i.e. "as a black man, he could be shot at any time if found in the wrong place at the wrong time."

My .02

On your other points, I agree that Mrs. Obama said what she meant regarding pride as an American.

Regarding Hillary's RFK comment, I think the problem is not so much what she said as the way she winked when she said it.

Regarding liberal media, I agree that reporters are more educated than the public as a whole, but that certainly doesn't make them more intelligent. If anything, it's the least intelligent of the college-educated crowd that would be prone to swallowing the liberal orthodoxy of college professors without any questioning, as so many members of the Fourth Estate seem to have done.

[sooner6600]

I doubt very much if Obama knows where to put said gas upon arrival
at the gas pump.

After all; he has that Eastern Education to fall back upon.

Me thinks he has someone to fetch it for him.

That good ole Chicago Hawk wind might blow him off to De Kalb for sure
if he exits said vehicle.

- - - - - - - - - - - --

[bobblehead]

I think in general the media tends to try to read too much into what people say rather than just report what they said.

Trent Lott is trying to make a 100 year old man feel good at his Bday by saying if he had been elected president when he ran we would be better off. I highly doubt he was really putting any thought into what the old man ran on when he made the statement, yet, somehow we read into that statement that blacks belong on the back of the bus....I mean seriously, do you think that even entered his head??

As for what these 2 mean when they speak, I think we should simply take it on face value, Hillary was saying anything can happen so she ain't dropping out, and Michelle views being black in america and being white in america are two different things and being black has certain disadvantages. I believe both statements by both women to be true, and I don't need to try and read their minds to figure out "what they REALLY meant".

Now the "I was ducking sniper fire"......well, c'mon, the lady lied to try puff her resume.

[Harlan Huckleby]

to me, "a black man going to the gas station" suggests he going down to the gas station in his own community. Violence to a black man in his own community suggests black-on-black violence.

Do you know where Obama lives? A rich, predominantly white neighborhood. On a large estate, made larger by a gift from Tony Rezko. (But I digress. )

Interesting theory, but if Barack is running into black on black violence, it's happening at church.

[SkinBasket]

Michelle views being black in america and being white in america are two different things and being black has certain disadvantages.

I think the most important lesson here is that no one should be walking to the gas station. Only two things you can get there: gas and crack, and if you're walking, you don't need no gas.

Mobama's attempts at identifying with poor black america are disturbing at best, potentially race riot inducing at worst if she becomes first lady.

[Zool]

Hillarys new slogan should be

Mobama
Mo problems

[Freak Out]

Hillarys new slogan should be

Mobama
Mo problems

Talking about getting gunned down...when I leave my home State (AK) the chances of me getting shot rise about seven percent...and gun ownership here is through the roof (Igloo).

[Harlan Huckleby]

What? Your not that ignorant about crime in America are you HH?

I think most of the shit in our country rains down on the heads of the poor of all races. There is some additional price to be paid for looking like Madtown, but most of the awful crime and health stats are class based.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Mobama's attempts at identifying with poor black america are disturbing at best, potentially race riot inducing at worst if she becomes first lady.

I don't think she is trying to identify with poor blacks. I think her comment is just an impulsive utterance out of the Jeremiah Wright School of Stupidity.

I think the OBamas are completely decent people, and whatever OJ-was-framed sorts of FEELINGS they do or don't got kicking around upstairs are not going to effect how Obama governs. I accept that black and white people think about some racial issues diffently because of the past, and some of the black paranoia is still justified.

I'm only ragging on Michelle for two reasons:
1) I got a hard-on over the media's ridiculously slanted coverage
2) I'll pull any dirty trick to smear Obama 'cause I don't want the left wing of the Democratic party to triumph, and OBama is their guy.

[MJZiggy]

She obviously wasn't hanging around DC in October 2002...she don't know from the gas station...unless...?

[Joemailman]

Mobama's attempts at identifying with poor black america are disturbing at best, potentially race riot inducing at worst if she becomes first lady.

I don't think she is trying to identify with poor blacks. I think her comment is just an impulsive utterance out of the Jeremiah Wright School of Stupidity.

I think the OBamas are completely decent people, and whatever OJ-was-framed sorts of FEELINGS they do or don't got kicking around upstairs are not going to effect how Obama governs. I accept that black and white people think about some racial issues diffently because of the past, and some of the black paranoia is still justified.

I'm only ragging on Michelle for two reasons:
1) I got a hard-on over the media's ridiculously slanted coverage
2) I'll pull any dirty trick to smear Obama 'cause I don't want the left wing of the Democratic party to triumph, and OBama is their guy.

She definitely has a more hard-edged attitude about race than Barack does, much of which supposedly comes, in part from attending a target school with white kids from a more upper-class background.

Obama is the choice of the left wing of the Democratic party more because they don't like the Clintons than anything else. They would have preferred Feingold or Edwards. If Obama becomes President, I suspect he will get a lot of criticism from the left who will find him more centrist than they like.

[HarveyWallbangers]

So now Obama is a centrist in the Democratic party?

[Joemailman]

Compared to people like Edwards and Kucinich, sure. That still puts him left of center, just as McCain is right of center. Each one will be trying to convince the real centrists (mainly independents) that he is their guy.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Compared to people like Edwards and Kucinich, sure.

We really don't know where Obama stands on the political spectrum.

In the Sentate, he was NOT a guy who crossed party lines, like Clinton & McCain. But then again, he wasn't there long enough to establish much identity. He was running for president very shortly after he arrived.