Obama, small-town voters, and voting trends

Barack Obama has some controversy over his comments at a San Francisco fundraiser.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/15/usnews/whispers/main4018730.shtml

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate, and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or antitrade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."


1) some people were offended that Obama called certain voters "bitter". But some say the word "bitter" sounds powerless, whereas people don't want to be described that way

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/opinion/15herbert.html


But “bitter” has a connotation that is generally not helpful in a political campaign. Bitter suggests powerlessness and a smallness of spirit. Most people would prefer to be characterized as “angry” — a term that suggests empowerment — rather than “bitter,” with its undertone of defeat.

But the more offensive word is "cling" which is usually used in the context of "a child clinging to his/her blankie"

Voters dont want to be treated like children

2) People can vote for a candidate based on anything they want.

Sometimes, they'll choose ridiculous criteria like the candidates race, gender, accent, religion or sexual orientation.

However, any political issue is fair game.

I remember reading from a left wing editorial that went along the lines of "the poor farmer is better off voting on economic liberalism than on guns"

However, if a wolf is wandering on your farm, and threatening your livestock, economic liberalism isn't going to help!

Shooting that wolf is going to keep your livestock from being eaten, and keep your farm from financial ruin!

Or if a serial killer is on your farm, ready to chop up your wife & kids, economic liberalism isn't going to help!

If you are a farmer, chances are, you live in an isolated area, and it will take hours for animal control or the police to arrive! Having a gun and knowing how to use is properly is the difference between life & death! If you're unarmed in an isolated area, you could end up being defenseless against predators both human and non-human!

So don't give us this crap that people shouldn't vote on the issue of gun control!

It is the stereotypical upper-class urban liberals who have no clue about rural life that underestimate the importance of having a gun for defense!

Also, in the culture of rural America, hunting is a major way of life! It's a cultural value! Any politician that doesn't respect a voter's culture won't get the vote! Even if the politician has great economic ideas!

In the Midwest, many voters are big fans of economic liberalism. Many belong to unions. Democrats have an advantage on those issues! However, elite urban liberals who express hatred of the "gun culture" are giving the Big Middle Finger to many Midwest voters who may be receptive to the Democrats on economic issues! Those voters aren't going to support anyone who insult their way of life!

Let's look at another group of voters -- African American voters. 90% of African-American voters vote Democrat! But that doesn't mean 90% of African-Americans are far left liberals! Some are, but many are religious conservatives who are pro-life, anti-same sex marriage, and would want to censor "gangsta rap". Some are entrepreneurs who would like lower taxes, and less regulations on business! Some own guns to hunt or defend their family!
But many of those same voters wouldn't vote for a Republican!

Why? Before the civil rights movement, both the Democrats and Republicans were split on issues like segregation. However in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson (a Democrat) signed many civil rights legislation. That same year, Republican Barry Goldwater was running for President and part of his message was that the federal government shouldn't interfere with "states right" (meaning the state's right to have racist policies).

From that point on, African-Americans started to side with the Democrats, and many Southern whites started to side with the Republicans.

However, the Democrats started to have an image of "pandering to radical leftists (both black & white)", "unlimited welfare", "pandering to gun control fanatics", and "pandering to gender-benders". That made it difficult for the Democrats to gain support of many European-Americans in the rural areas. At the same time, the Republicans started to have an image of "pandering to southern segregations and anti-immigration fascists" as well as "pandering to religious fanatics" and "pandering to greedy country-club folks". That made if difficult for the Republicans to gain support of non-whites, as well as urban white voters in the Northeast and the West Coast!

In the 1990's, Bill Clinton tried to moderate the Democrat image by calling for "welfare reform", speaking out against Sista Souljah's racist rants, promising not to take guns from hunters and supporting the death penalty, while still promoting liberal causes like socialized health care, banning assault weapons, and keeping abortion "safe, legal and rare".

The Republicans had to find a new strategy to counteract the Democrat's new moderate image. So in 2000, while Bush & McCain (both competing for the nomination) tried to sound like "compassionate conservatives" in attempt to reach out to non-whites by promising stricter standards on education, reaching out to African American religious leaders and promoting a more humane immigration policy.

However, they also chickened out and pandered to white racists in South Carolina by refusing to criticize the Confederate flag! Bush was also accused by African-American left-wingers of being soft on hate crimes. (Nevermind that the white supremacist murderers in Texas were awaiting execution)

Bush was able to get more Latinos to vote Republican, but had minimal success in reaching out to African-Americans.

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Also, some conservatives spend too much time on black-on-white crime (which is a serious issue, but majority of crime victims are violated by predators of the same race), glorify racial profilling and expressed unsympathetic views to ghetto residents!

Many African-American Radical Leftists make ridiculous claims of bigotry against Bush and other Republicans! The most idiotic example was Kanye West's "Bush doesn't care about black people" , nevermind that the Katrina emergency response disaster was the result of incompetence, not racism. By the way, the mayor of New Orleans (Ray Nagin) had screwed up, even though he was supposed to be in charge of the city! But since he was an African-American Democrat, he doesn't recieve as much backlash from African-American left wingers!

And Bush doesn't even send a strong response to those left-wing race baiters!

Now, there's many Republicans who are NOT racists, and would be excited to vote for Colin Powell, Condaleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas, Thomas Sowell or Larry Elder!


However, many African-Americans view Republicans as "Southern white neo-Confederates who look down on African-Americans and don't respect them as people!"

Unless, John McCain does something that can show that he's concerned about African-American concerns, openly court the African-Americans who aren't Far Left Liberals, and not pander to white racists, the Republicans will have a hard time of getting rid of the "the southern neo-Confederate who don't respect African-American as humans" image in the minds of many African-Americans!

3) Some view the battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as "rural European-Americans vs African-Americans" or "European-American Catholics vs African-Americans" or "African-Americans vs Latinos"

But there's another divide - the Divide between different groups of European-Americans.

If you wonder why European-Americans in various regions are so different from each other, part of it is because their ancestors come from different parts of Europe!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/04/15/elitism/index.html

To those who know anything about American political history, the Sirota theory is clearly nonsense. The key factor in regional support for Obama among whites is not the number of blacks in a state but the number of Yankee pioneers in the 19th century. As Josh Patashnik in the New Republic (quoting a 2004 essay of mine in the American Prospect) has pointed out, Obama finds his greatest white support in what the historian David Hackett Fischer calls "Greater New England" -- the vast region from New England and the Great Lakes to the upper Plains and Pacific Northwest settled by New England Yankees in the 19th century along with culturally similar Germans and Scandinavians. Another historian, Daniel J. Elazar, identifies this Northern band as the home of the "moralistic" political culture, distinct from the "individualist" political culture of the mid-Atlantic and the "traditionalist" political culture of the South. The political culture of this region, influenced by New England Puritanism and Nordic social democracy, has long been antiwar and pro-education, hostile to big business and in favor of civil rights. The moralists of Greater New England have a deep aversion to political conflict and favor consensus, bipartisanship and harmony. This region was the home, after all, in the early 20th century, of the Nonpartisan League. In the early 21st century, if you throw in a few blue college towns in the red states, it overlaps neatly with the Stranger's "Urban Archipelago."

(skipped paragraphs)

The question, then, is not why Greater New England progressives would vote for Obama. He presses all their age-old buttons: opposition to war, nonpartisan reform. The question is why anyone would assume that such a candidate would appeal to other Democratic constituencies, other than blacks (voting in this case for the favorite-son candidate).

Indeed, the Greater New England moralist culture has been rejected by practically every other substantial subculture in the United States: Irish-Americans in Northeastern cities, Appalachian white Baptists and now, evidently, Mexican-Americans. And this has always been the case.


In other words, those who are descended from upper-class British settlers or the German and Scandinavian settlers are more liberal (mostly in New England, Midwest, Pacific Northwest) than those descended from the Scottish, rural Enlgish, and the Northern Irish settlers (that would be the overwhelming majority of the people in the South) as well as the Catholic European-Americans (including Irish, Italians, Polish) that are found in many Northern cities who have been most pro-Hillary Clinton! Maybe the Catholic tendencies might explain the support Hillary Clinton's been getting from Latinos.


From Micheal Barone on similar trends

http://jewishworldreview.com/michael/barone040308.php3


But looking at these electoral data suggests to me that there's another tribal divide going on here, one that separates voters more profoundly than even race (well, maybe not more profoundly than race in Mississippi but in other states). That's the divide between academics and Jacksonians. In state after state, we have seen Obama do extraordinarily well in academic and state capital enclaves. In state after state, we have seen Clinton do extraordinarily well in enclaves dominated by Jacksonians.

Academics and public employees (and of course many, perhaps most, academics in the United States are public employees) love the arts of peace and hate the demands of war. Economically, defense spending competes for the public-sector dollars that academics and public employees think are rightfully their own. More important, I think, warriors are competitors for the honor that academics and public employees think rightfully belongs to them. Jacksonians, in contrast, place a high value on the virtues of the warrior and little value on the work of academics and public employees. They have, in historian David Hackett Fischer's phrase, a notion of natural liberty: People should be allowed to do what they want, subject to the demands of honor. If someone infringes on that liberty, beware: The Jacksonian attitude is, "If you attack my family or my country, I'll kill you." And he (or she) means it.

Barone went on to mention that Obama has gotten most of his votes from places with 1) lot of African-Americans, 2)state capitals, and 3) large universities!

Whereas Clinton gotten most of her support in places with 1) lot of Latinos, 2)Jacksonian whites who are mostly descendants of the rural English, Scottish, and Scots-Irish who settled trhoughout the South! Barone didn't mention the European-American Catholics, he might say they're similar to many of those Southern Protestants he calls "Jacksonians" Some might say that many Latinos share similar values to those European-Americans, despite the anti-immigration backlash going on! Which is probably why Bush & McCain wanted the Republicans to reach out to Latino voters (with some success in the 2004 elections) and why Hillary Clinton has been getting Latino supporters!

Meanwhile, while the African-Americans are culturally different from the white New England WASPs, German-Americans and Scandinavian-Americans, they tend to vote very similar. Many of those European-Americans were Lutherans, Unitarians, Quakers & other Christian sects that protested against slavery and for the civil rights movement! Also, those European-American groups share a similar belief among many African-Americans on economic liberalism, gun control, and a less militaristic foreign policy.

Barack Obama grew up in a white liberal family, and is of African ancestry. He spent lots of time on liberal college campuses as a student and a professor! He also spent time in the mostly African-American South Side Chicago! So he's been able to get the massive support of the African-American and the Northern Protestants (New England WASPs, + the German/Scandinavians whose religious affiliation include Lutherans, Unitarians, Quakers, etc) . Most one-racial people (meaning those who aren't mixed race) in those 2 groups would probably have a difficult to get the enthusiatic support from both groups like Obama is easily getting! But Obama is from both worlds, so that makes it easy for him to be the liberal messiah!

Racial Hoaxes

The Conservative Correctness crowd (this includes Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan, Debbie Schussell, Mike Savage and their allies) claim to hate racial hoaxes.

They wrote endless amount of articles about the incident at Duke University, in which an African-American stripper claimed to be raped by 3 European-American males. Turns out, the DNA evidence didn't match, the prosecutor rushed to judgement, the alleged victim changed her story several times!

Those Conservative Correctness editorialists I've mentioned claimed to be upset about the Duke incident promoting racial divisiveness. They claimed that this unfairly targeted all white men as evil racists ready to bully non-whites!

Yet, those Conservative Correctness pundits are silent about this racial hoax!


http://www.mineralwellsindex.com/statenews/cnhinsall_story_101183646.html/resources_printstory

In the end, the proof was on the tape, said a school administrator dealing with a student's claims Latino students attacked her because she made a sign protesting illegal immigration.

Athens Superintendent Dr. Fred Hayes says middle school eighth-grader Melanie Bowers, 13, is seen on a surveillance video inflicting scratches on herself.

The teen now finds herself in trouble. School officials say they are planning to seek charges against her for making a false statement to police. That case will be filed with the Henderson County County Attorney’s Office, District Police Chief Paul Redic said.

(skip paragraphs)

The jaw-dropping flip-flop came along with a copy of a statement obtained through an open records request by the Athens Review containing a handwritten voluntary statement signed by the girl’s parents:

“I see that my daughter was not assaulted and put the marks on her body,” Gary Bowers Jr. and his wife, Shera, wrote. “No gang violence was witnessed and she filed a false report.”

So, here we have an European-American girl LYING about being attacked by Latinos!

And those Conservative Correctness pundits LACK OUTRAGE about that racial hoax!

Yet, those Conservative Correctness pundits cry when they're called racists!

But the good news is that those pundits are LOOSING! They couldn't control their own party anymore. Pat Buchanan bailed out of the Republican Party when pro-immigration George W Bush was nominated! The anti-immigration crowd thought they'll re-assert control of the Republican Party this year. But pro-immigration John McCain is the nominee!

While most Americans want immigrants to follow immigration laws, it's not an issue they're obsessed about! They may want the Mexicans in the US to learn English, but they're not scared of having them around!

If the majority of Americans were really scared of Mexicans in the US, then why were John McCain and Mike Huckabee the top 2 Republicans, and not Tom Tancredo or Duncan Hunter?

The primary election results prove me CORRECT!

In memory of Charlton Heston

Award winning actor, civil rights activist and former National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston recently passed away.

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-heston6apr06,0,3675317.story

Heston rose to fame playing legendary characters like Moses, Michelangelo, Andrew Jackson, Ben Hur, Bufallo Bill Cody, and Gen. Charles Gordon .

In the 1950's and 1960's, he participated with the civil rights marches with Martin Luther King Jr.

But Heston was more famous for his role in the National Rifle Association (NRA) which supports citizens without a felony conviction to legally own guns!

For this, the Radical Left will never forgive him!

1) There's a strange perception among the Radical Left that supporting the civil rights movement and supporting the anti-gun control movement are mutually exclusive. NONSENSE!

At gun shows, you see people of all races checking out guns!

And if you're a non-white being threatened by Neo-Nazis, which is more likely to save you 1) saying "cant we all just get along" or 2) pointing a gun at the neo-Nazis?


2) some Hollywood liberals say they feel "uncomfortable" working with Charlton Heston.

The most idiotic example is Mark Walhberg!

Wahlberg claims to be disgusted by Heston's NRA activism.

But who was the one who committed a heinous hate crime against a Vietnamese and an African-American boy?

THAT WAS MARK WAHLBERG!

If Walhberg got shot by his victim's parents, he would've deserved it! Wahlberg picked on defenseless people, he uses his physical strengths to bully others, and he's the perfect why Charlton Heston is right!

Charlton Heston is a civil rights hero! Mark Wahlberg is the hate crime felon, a racist punk and a hypocrite!

3) I remember back in 2000-2001, when I was at the University of Hawaii, then-ASUH President Chris Garnier wanted to invite Charlton Heston to speak at UH.

There was a leftist uproar over it! They were angry that person who advocated self-defense against violent criminals might come to the campus! Nevermind that years later, they invited leftist violence-advocate Ward Churchill to the campus!

They claimed that the proposal to pay Heston to speak at UH was too expensive, even though Garnier mentioned that UH paid MORE to invite a left-wing Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchu to speak at the campus.

The whole controversy was so silly, and unfortunately, UH wasn't able to pay the fee Heston wanted, so he didn't come!

UH missed out on a great opportunity to hear from a legend!

What Gentleman Jones doesn't want you to read!

First off, who is Gentleman Jones? Tobin Jones is the guy who writes all these hateful response to my articles back when I was an editorialist at the University of Hawaii's newspaper Ka Leo (http://www.kaleo.org/)

I decided to contact him in a civilized manner about his letters, its hateful tone, and that if he has any concerns, he can discuss them in a civilized manner!

I also mentioned, in the interest of honest disclosure, that I replied to his rants on my blog

Here is his reply! Notice that he doesn't want civilized conversations!



Whatever. I've been so many places since then where they'd run you out of town; around the US and internationally. You've been sitting here forever. I've been to two countries, 29 states and lived in 6 of them. You have no real-world experience. You have no frames of reference. Is your life THAT barren and devoid of meaning that you have to harass me about some old stuff? You sound more childish than the kids I worked with.

Grow up. I never answered your blog because I thought it was stupid. I figured in SEVEN YEARS, you'd get a life and get over it.

I guess not. Get a life. I'm done entertaining you. You are truly sad and pathetic.


Now, let's take his argument apart!

I've been so many places since then where they'd run you out of town; around the US and internationally. You've been sitting here forever. I've been to two countries, 29 states and lived in 6 of them

WOW! Tobin Jones is superior to me because he's "been to 2 countries and 29 states"! So what? You don't even know where I've been so shut up!

He claims he's been to place where they'd "run me out of town". He's the one who can't stay in one place for too long! So whose the one who's been "run out of town". He irritates everyone everywhere he goes, they get fed up with him, they stand up to him! He can't handle people not kissing his @$$ that he runs away! And who's been run out of town!

After I started this blog, Tobin left Hawaii, and ran away to "2 countries and 29 states" and his mentor Dr Foltz ran away from Hawaii and went back to Wisconsin! Sounds like I "ran them out of town". All because I finally took the initiative and publicly stood up to their bullying! They start trouble with people, but as soon as someone stands up to them, they run away like cowards. Because that's what they are! They take advantage of other people's generosity, and when people can't take it anymore, they run to the dean, they refuse to answer any allegations, they refuse to refute their critics! Like they say "if you want to throw mud, don't run like a coward when they throw mud at you"

When I answered back to Tobin Jone's hatemail, guess what? My message is blocked! It's like he started throwing mud again, but puts a defensive shield, so he won't have to answer to them! If you're gonna throw mud, then at least have to courage to answer back to my replies!

You have no real-world experience. You have no frames of reference

You don't even know what kind of experiences I had in my life, so shut up!


Is your life THAT barren and devoid of meaning that you have to harass me about some old stuff?

"Harrass me"? You started the whole trouble with your uncivilized rants with your phony accussations! Me defending myself from your accussations is NOT harrassment!

You sound more childish than the kids I worked with.

So, are you telling me that having non-leftist opinions are "childish"? Is my contacting you and asking you to discuss our differences in a civilized manner"childish"? If there's anyone who's childish, it's Tobin Jones. He throws a tantrum when confronted with an opposing opinion, mocks those who stand up to him, and gets mad at those who ask for civilized discussions!


Grow up.

Grow up? I'm bigger than you, Tobin Jones! You lucky I didn't use my size on you when I had the chance!

I never answered your blog because I thought it was stupid

Yet, you replied to nearly every Ka Leo editorial I wrote! When I was at Ka Leo, writers weren't allowed to write a rebuttal to their critics! So you were free to reply with uncivilized rants with impunity! You made phony accussations, put words in my mouth, and implied I had no freedom of speech! Yet, when I started my blog, you don't want to answer back? Why? Because the rules of the game have changed I can instantly reply to your BS, and you can't stand people fighting back

Its' like the bully who punches his target in the face, and when his targets punches back, all of a sudden, the bully doesn't want to fight anymore!

I figured in SEVEN YEARS, you'd get a life and get over it. I guess not.

Your last ad hominem letter to Ka Leo was written in 2003. That was FIVE years ago, NOT seven!

Get over it? That's what people say when confronted by their targets in a civilized manner! Instead of answering to the allegations, they whine "get over it"

Like the bully who punches someone, the targets punches back, and the bully said "get over it"! You start the trouble, then don't give me this "get over it" crap! You can't handle people defending themselves from your attacks! You think I should be submissive and silent! You think I should bow down and kiss your behind! Instead of facing it like a man, you take the cowardly route and say "get over it".

You ran away, you don't refute anything I say, you have no substance! You're constantly on the run! So it's time for me to declare victory!

My conflict with a Jeremiah Wright wannabe

The news about Jeremiah Wright got some special attention from me because his rants remind me of another Radical Leftist of African-American ancestry that I once knew at UH! That Radical Leftist's name is Tobin Jones!

Back in 2000, though I casted my 1st presidential vote for Harry Browne (Libertarian), I was also annoyed by Al Gore during the Florida recounts! Al Gore only wanted recounts in counties that favored him! So I wrote an editorial on Ka Leo expressing my irritation at  Al Gore!

That's when Tobin Jones started writing nasty letters against me, accusing me of being a "right-wing conservative".

NEVER IN MY LIFE did I ever agreed with right-wing Republicans on issues like abortion or sex ed! By the time I was in college, I also started to support legalizing prostitution, medical marijuana, and same-sex marriage!

And on immigration, I side with George W Bush and John McCain against Pat Buchanan, Tom Tancredo, and Ann Coulter!

Yet, because I was irritated by Al Gore's calling for recounts in only in counties that favored him, and I was later irritated by the Blame-America-First fanaticism of the Radical Left @ UH, as well as professors that indoctrinate their students on the latest leftist rants of the day, Jones wrote hateful letters about me to Ka Leo, falsely accusing me of being a neo-Confederate sympathizing right winger!

Anyways, I wrote an editorial about America being a great country on Ka Leo, published November 1, 2001

http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2001/11/01/Editorials/U.s-Not.Best.But.Better-2806056.shtml

Here is Tobin Jone's silly rant
http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2001/11/05/Editorials/Letters.To.The.Editor.11.05.01-2806085.shtml

And this is what I sent to Ka Leo, in response to Tobin Jones's nonsense. It wasn't printed on Ka Leo, but screw it, I'm posting it right now!

Too many pessimists, too little time.

In response to my article praising America, communications major Tobin Jones replied back with nothing but negatives as if the negatives of America automatically erase all the positives of America.

It is unfortunate that many who had the good fortune of being born in America have nothing but hateful things to say about it.

For example, Mr. Jones said "Wegesend seems to forget that there were times when speaking out against the government landed people in jail." Mr. Jones, did the US government put Trask, Susan Hippenstelle, Lance Collins, Chris Johns and other anti-war activist in jail since 9/11? Will you ever criticize the governments of Cuba, China, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lybia (all countries I mentioned the last time) for putting critics in jail?

Mr. Jones then said "I was quite impressed also with how Wegesend singled out non-European countries as places where freedom doesnt exist", then he went on to talk about Hitler. Excuse Mr. Jones, but I was talking about America today, not Europe 60 years ago. Stop trying to change the subject! Stick to the subject, will you?

I mentioned China, Cuba, Lybia, Iraq and Afghanistan because dictators rule those nations TODAY. [ 2008 note: this was written before Bush Jr overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ]Dont blame me if the US and most European nations today have more freedom than most non-Western nations.

Mr. Jones then talked about his adventures in housing projects. He acted as if most Americans lived in the ghetto. Far from true! He went on to talk about "massive drug sales and usage, crime and prostitution". Mr. Jones, what country doesnt have any of those things? Where in my previous editorial did I say those things didnt exist in the US?

(also, I mentioned Kuhio Park Terrace, Mayor Wright's Housing and Kalihi Valley Housing in my editorial because those were neighborhoods that most Hawaii residents will warn you not to enter! Also, I spent my childhood in a lesser known housing project Puahala Homes [better known as "Lanakila Housing"] which is commonly seen as a "ghetto". It also had it's share of drugs and crime! But that doesn't erase the fact that it is seen as a "step-up" by many immigrants from the South Pacific, Micronesia and Southeast Asia! If it wasn't a "step up", those people wouldn't migrate to the US"

Mr. Jones went on to mention about "war veterans, that have to eat dog, and cat food so that they could afford medicine. But this is the land of economic empowerment, right Wegesend?" 

You see, Mr. Jones is taking a few isolated cases and act as if everyone in America lived like that. Mr. Jones, just because a few veterans have to take desperate measures to survive, that doesnt erase the fact that many in America came out of poverty and were able to open their own restaurants, stores, record labels and many other business. And when will Mr. Jones praise the fact that many veterans have been able to move to the suburbs, go into business, and even become well known politicians? Ever heard of Jon McCain, George Bush Sr., Dan Inouye, and Bob Dole? All were war veterans and today, and I dont think they need to eat dog food TODAY.

Mr. Jones, then asked "If this is such a place for economic progress, why are there so many people struggling to pay their bills?" What are the bills Americans paying for, Mr. Jones? Credit card debt? Car insurance? Electricity to power their microwaves, cable TV, refrigirators, and VHS? Those bills are a result of Americans taking advantage of luxuries. How many people in Rwanda, Kosovo or Bangladesh even have a credit card, a car to insure, microwave,cable TV, etc. If Americans are paying bills for those things, that means America has made more progress than the rest of the world.

Mr. Jones went on to say that even Americans with college degrees have to struggle. Who said college degrees guaranteed a life of the rich and famous? Most people in other countries don't even have the opportunity to attend college And quick, what college did Bill Gates graduate from? Answer: he dropped out of Harvard, but that didnt stop him from being a multi-billionaire! And neither not graduating college nor growing up in the rough streets of New Orleans stopped Master P from owning a successful record label. How many Bill Gates and Master P's are coming out of Sudan, Mr. Jones?


Mr. Jones went on to talk about pay differences between a white American and a black American. Is saying that supposed to erase the fact that Black Americans make a lot more than blacks in Rwanda, Somalia, Uganada, and most other black countries? Does that erase the fact that blacks are coming from Haiti in makeshift boats trying to come to America?

On amnesty for illegal aliens, Mr. Jones said "Bush was only considering it because he knows he need more Hispanic voters to win the election, period point blank." Mr. Jones, I'm not talking about Bush's "greatness", I'm talking about the fact that in America, those who want to be President cant be elected if they bash immigrants. Don't believe me? Why hasnt Pat Buchanan been elected President after 3 tries? [2008 update: Let's not forget that pro-immigration John McCain won the Republican nomination, not the anti-immigration folks like Tom Tancredo, duncan Hunter or Fred Thompson]

Meanwhile, in Australia, Italy and other countries, immigrant bashing can still get you elected Prime Minister. [2008 note: those Prime Ministers have since been replaced]

On women's rights, Mr. Jones said "it took all the way until last century to realize that a woman's vote is just as good as a man's." Mr. Jones, I'm talking about today, not a 100 years ago. And which women in Afghanistan are allowed to be as outspoken as Maxine Waters and Dr. Laura?

Mr. Jones, lighten up, will you? You need to learn to put things in proper context. When I'm talking about America and the world TODAY, stick to the subject, will you? If you hate the way things are in America, why dont you go on a raft and move to Haiti? Many Haitians would love to trade places with you.

That you would demonize me for actually praising the progress that America has made shows me that you are allergic to good news. It seems like saying positive things makes me an evil person in your eyes. You and others on the Far Left need to stop calling those with at least one positive comment about America "part of the monolithic propaganda machine". One more thing, before you take the raft voyage to Haiti, make sure you take a copy of "Ten Things You Cant Say in America" by black radio talk show host Larry Elder, just in case you get bored on your way.

---

Since the time I wrote that, the Kanye Wests, Jeremiah Wrights, (and most likely Tobin Jones) are saying about Hurricane Katrina that "Bush doesn't care about black people"

One question for those folks : WHO WAS THE MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS WHEN HURRICANCE KATRINA HIT? (answer: Ray Nagin, a liberal Democrat of African-American ancestry)

Fine, the Bush Administration could've handled things better! Bush did hire inexperienced people at FEMA! Bush isn't blameless! But why haven't Kanye West, Reverend Wright, etc held Ray Nagin responsible for the screw-ups in emergency response? He's supposed to be in charge of New Orleans! Or is blame only reserved for Republicans of European-American ancestry?

Also, who was the governor of Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina hit? It was Democrat of European-American ancestry named Kathleen Blanco! Why haven't the Kanye Wests and Rev. Wrights of America held Blanco responsible for the screw-ups in emergency response?

Who is the governor of Louisiana now? Bobby Jindal, a dark-skinned Republican, whose parents are immigrants from India! Yet, the Tobin Jones and Reverend Wright claimed America is not a land of opportunity for non-whites?

And where did the Katrina victims go after the storm hit, Tobin Jones?

Did they go to Haiti? Mexico? Jamaica? The socialist paradises of Cuba and Venezuela? NO!

They moved to Baton Rouge, Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta, Memphis! In other words, THEY MOVED TO DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE USA! They understood, despite America's flaws, they're better staying in the US!

Meanwhile, Atlanta (the city Tobin Jones is from) which was once a segregationist city, is now the center of African-American culture! There are middle-class African-American suburbs around Atlanta. Many African-Americans are leaving California, Northeast, and the Midwest for the opportunity to live in Atlanta! Yet, Tobin Jones tell me there is no progress in the USA?

And let's not forget that Barack Obama has been winning primaries in extremely European-American states like Iowa, Kansas, Utah, and Idaho! So there's progress! 

And the irony of all this, is if we don't have a black President in 2009, Reverend Wright will have to look in the mirror and blame himself!

More on Barack Obama & Reverend Wright

1) The common question asked is "why didn't Obama leave the church after hearing such anti-American rants by Reverend Jeremiah Wright?"

Kathryn Lopez had an interesting explanation.

http://jewishworldreview.com/0308/lopez032408.php3

Obama's speech was in defense of a man he has known for two decades, a man he has made a part of his wife and children's lives, and a man he has made a part of his campaign. Wright is also a man who has said some pretty despicable things about America and about public servants. Obama explained that a YouTube video or two from an inflammatory sermon is not the measure of the man. He talked about Wright's military service and ministry to the poor and sick.

But Obama's story was incomplete. Nothing he said excuses the lack of judgment that is inherent in a man choosing to expose his children to angry, anti-American tirades and off-color rants. Had he gone one step further, however, he might have had me. He should have told us why Wright was an important man in his life — because he was the father figure Obama needed as a young man, and that is why he loves him above all else.

Obama told us that he is "the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas." He didn't go any further talking about his father. Instead, he threw his maternal grandmother under the media bus, saying that she had "once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and ... has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

He left me asking, "But what about the father? Why didn't he talk about his father's abandonment of him and his family, and how that made his later relationship with Wright all the more important in his life?" That, I suspect, is why Obama will never repudiate Wright. The fact is, Obama grew up without a father. And, I assume, Wright for him was a father figure. That may be how Wright got to be such an influence in his life. This would not have answered all concerns about Wright and Obama, but it would have presented a more compelling narrative and, more importantly, he could have delivered an important cultural message about the impact the absence of male role models has on a child.

2) Many right-wing conservatives have complained that "Obama threw his white grandmother under the bus" when Obama have mentioned that his white grandmother expressed fears of black men and was prone to stereotypical thinking!

Throwing her under the bus?

If you were a bi-racial kid who hears a relative express negative feelings about your other half , that's gotta sting! That's not something a normal person can shake off easily! It's like being told "1/2 of you is $#!+" That's not victimhood to be traumatized by that! That's normal human reaction, and anyone who doesn't understand that, doesn't understand basic psychology!

3) Right-wing conservatives love to mention that Obama's white grandmother mentioned being harassed by a black man, and claimed that "it was rational for her to be scared of passing by a black man"

Excuse me? What about a black, brown or yellow person being harrassed by a group of young white men? How do you think their mind will react the next time they walk by another group of young white men? Exactly the same way Obama's white grandma reacted when passing by a random black man! Yet, the conservative correctness crowd get mad at paragraphs like this!

Some white conservatives who makes excuses for "white grandmas being scared of a random young black man" would go beserk hearing about a "non-white grandma being scared of a random young white man".

Now, this is how a rational person is suppossed to react when passing by someone who looks like a person who bullied him/her!

"Calm down, he/she might look like that bully, but he/she isn't that bully, so let's calm down! It's not that person's fault he/she looks like that bully who harrased me"

That's how a rational person supposed to react! Yet, that's considered fighting words by the conservative correctness crowd, and all other racial supremacists!

Barack Obama & Faith

It was only a month ago when pundits were arguing over whether Barack Obama was a Muslim.

Now it is acknowledged that Obama isn't Muslim.

That's because now the attention is on Obama's spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Wright, who is a Christian with radical left-wing views.

Wright says "God Dam America" even though this country allows him to say such things.

If Wright was in Zimbabwe yelling "God Dam Zimbabwe!", he would've been jailed & tortured! Same as if he went to Iran and yelled "Allah Dam Iran!" He might've been executed!

1) The smear about Obama being a Muslim was silly to begin. It's all because of his first name (Barack) rhymes with Iraq, last name (Obama) rhymed with Osama, and his middle name (Hussein) is the same as the ex-Iraqi dictator Hussein.


Right-wing pundits like to talk about Barack Obama's middle name being "Hussein" in efforts to scare people!


But Hussein is a common name in the Muslim world. It's just like Smith & Jones in the English speaking world!


The idea that we shouldn't vote for Barack Obama because of his names is ridiculous as refusing to vote for anyone named "McVeigh", "Kaczinsky", "Booth", "Oswald" or "Hinckley" -- all last names of European-American terrorists and assassins!

As Leonard Pitts said, even if Obama was a Muslim, so what?

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/muslim_59458___article.html/obama_american.html

All-American Muslim athletes like Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Muhammad Ali aren't screaming for jihad! And many Muslims aren't screaming for jihad either!

Yes, Islamic terrorists are a serious threat to the world, but it's because they're terrorists, not because they're Muslims!


2) Another reason people suspected Obama was a Muslim, was that his European-American mother was married to men from Muslim countries --- Kenya & Indonesia.

But those men were not very religious to begin with. They were agnostics. They weren't screaming for jihad!

There was a story about Obama attending a school in Indonesia. Because Indonesia is 90% Muslim, people assumed that Obama was indoctorinated into radical Islam as a child.

But where did Obama spent most of his childhood & adolescence?

In Hawaii, where Muslims are less than 1% of the population!


Obama mentioned being a racial minority at Punahou School. He mentioned having only 4 other African-American males at his school. If Obama was really a Muslim at that age, he would've most likely been a Minority of One!


An average Mainland US city has more Muslims than Hawaii does.

Hawaii has mostly Christians and Buddhists!

Hawaii never had a major wave of immigration from Muslim countries!

3) Why did Obama join Wright's church to begin with?

He was a community organizer in Chicago's South Side, a mostly African-American community. People advised him to join a black church to gain credibility with South Side residents.

Obama wanted to spend more time with the African-American community because he felt something missing within. While he was part-African, part-European, he spent most of his life in a European-American world.

His Kenyan father deserted the family. His mom and grandparents who raised him were European-Americans. Even his Hawaii school, Punahou School, while considered "multi-racial" by mainland standards, has more European-Americans than your average Hawaii school! Then Obama went to Ivy League colleges, which is seen as a "bastion of white privillge".

Obama never lived among the "black community" until his adulthood in Chicago. He had to find a black church in Chicago to fit in.

Obama knew Jeremiah Wright was doing great things for the community, from day care centers, helping the homeless, outreach to recently released felons, helping AIDS victims, and inspiring people with his sermons!

Obama attended Wright's church and felt inspired by the sermon of "Audacity of Hope" which became the title of Obama's book.

Unfortunately, all that is overshadowed by Wright's anti-American preaching and silly conspiracy theories!

Obama preaches national unity and racial reconciliation. Wright's infamous preachings contradicts Obama's political rhetoric.

It seems like now, Wright is a liability for Obama, but Obama feels guilty for turning his back on the man who helped him adjust culturally to Chicago's South Side, the man with a history of servicing the people of Chicago's South Side!