Barack's Apologist Rhetoric
- Posted by Justin Higgins on March 18th, 2008 in
In my first post following Barack Obama's major address on race, I called him an apologist. I'm now going to get to the evidence, once again from the text, that he was simply trying to justify Wright's hatred. First off, his statement that's meant to offset what he was about to do:
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
He throws in the reference to Ferraro to try to make himself plausible for his coming defense of Wright. Half of the speech is about finding the "roots" of racism in the United States, so that he can blame the root cause and not blame his pastor himself. This goes against everything he said prior in the speech about Wright's comments. Here are some quotes from the speech chronicling the horrid justification:
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that weve never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American...
...A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for ones family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted...
...For the men and women of Reverend Wrights generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politicians own failings.
As witnessed above, Barack spent a considerable amount of time defending Wright, doing his best to camouflage his defense as an observant view of how we arrived at where we are. Barack is using the typical liberal tactic of blaming society for one man's failures, and later in the speech tries to off-play this tactic by saying that Wright pushed for individual responsibility. I emphasized a certain part of Barack's speech above, because he's just as guilty of playing to racial tendencies as anyone else. He blames the politicians, of which he is one.
Let's play your game
Let's play your game. You say it's a fallacy. DEFEND YOUR CLAIM. If you don't, you're a hypocrite!
Buzz off, jerk
No. It's a fallacy. Figure out why, buttmunch.
Answer MY Question
ANSWER MY QUESTION, IMBECILE!
Please keep avoiding the question, jackwit. I love it when you anonymous (that's not your name) nobodies can't even answer a simple question like "Do you agree with the racial divide amongst the Democrats?"
Still too stupid to see your own claim
WHAT WAS YOUR CLAIM, IMBECILE?
Please keep avoiding that question, jackwit. I love it when you anonymous nobodies can't even understand what you've written yourselves.
You're avoiding...
You're avoiding the question. Are you racist? You're failing to answer whether or not you're ok with the ridiculous racial divide in the Democrat electorate, as shown in the poll. Are you ok with the racist Democrat divide? Yes or no?
Just as stupid as expected
I don't give a happy rat's ass about your opinions, mumbles. You made a claim. Back it up with facts.
(Hint: Go back and find the claim you made. I'm betting you're too mouth-breathingly stupid to even do that.)
I said the first point was wrong
I said the first point was wrong and that's that the country can't afford to not talk about race right now. That's clearly an opinion point. I disagree, I think we're to the point where we can ignore race and focus on the issues. Don't you agree we can ignore race and focus on the issues or are you too racist for that? ANSWER NOW.
Something's missing
"I can't speak for justin, but on the first point, yes, it is wrong, we should completely ignore race. Isn't that what Barry wanted all along?"
Isn't there something missing? Like factual support for your claim? Oh, wait, for wingnuts, all they need is BECAUSE! I! SAID! SO!
He didnt apologize for
He didnt apologize for anything. The speech will backfire.
Apologist?
Wait, he apologized? I'm sorry, what speech did you hear? In the speech I heard, Obama AGREED with the pastor. He strongly supported the pastor and all the stands for. He just said the pastor shouldn't have used those particular words.
I can't speak for justin..
I can't speak for justin, but on the first point, yes, it is wrong, we should completely ignore race. Isn't that what Barry wanted all along? On the last point, given that Barack plays racial politics more than anyone, it's true, but hypocritical. As far as all the stuff about black anger, it may be true, but it doesn't excuse Wright, and that's what Obama is pushing.
Justin's ignorance in full bloom
Nothing Obama said in the excerpt you chose to feature is false, Justin. Let's take it a sentence at a time:
"But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that weve never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American..."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"...A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for ones family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted..."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"...For the men and women of Reverend Wrights generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
"At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politicians own failings."
Do you deny this, Justin? Is Obama wrong?
Go on, lying little white boy. Tell us where Obama said anything false in the above excerpt. You don't know squat about being black in this country. You're speaking from ignorance. You always speak from ignorance.
Stay stupid, liar.