It funny how this “controversy” is being treated like it’s something brand new. Over a year ago, I posted a couple of entries about Obama’s relationship with Pastor Jeremiah Wright (see here and here). In them, I criticized (and posted someone else’s criticism of) Obama on his snub of his then-pastor and, today, this still doesn’t sit well with me.

So, today, I just wanted to let people know that this is not new and that, once again, it is a black person being asked to strongly repudiate someone with whom he’s been associated while white candidates (Clinton and McCain) are allowed to get a pass when their supporters say controversial things with little more than a slap on the wrist.

Even more importantly, we allowed a president (George Bush) into office whose grandfather helped plot a coup to topple the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt and whose family had business ties with the family of Osama bin Laden.

So, needless to say, the double-standard is wearing thin with me.

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In a brilliant post on the Democratic Underground, David Zephyr articulates well what I had been thinking — if the recent issue about Barack Obama’s ex-pastor and a sermon this pastor gave last December is enough to get white voters not to consider him, they were likely looking for some excuse to exercise their bigotry. Zephyr doesn’t specifically reference this incident but, given the time of the posting, it had to be a consideration.

I have reprinted the post below in its entirety.

Barack Obama Isn’t Being Tested. White Americans Are Being Tested.

We have ourselves a real learning opportunity right now in this country. And the test is not about Barack Obama. The test is about white Americans. I don’t know if we (white Americans) are going to pass it. But it is almost divine, this test.

Barack Obama is only a man of his times. He can not change those white Americans’ hearts who will seek out excuses to rationalize their bigotry, their fear of people of color. He can not do that. As I said, he is a man of his times. And so we are about to learn a lot about these times, aren’t we?

If white Americans are looking for a reason — no matter how irrational or how great the double-standard may be — to justify their bigotry, then they will find their reason to justify their bigotry.

Barack is not the one being tested anymore. It’s white Americans who are being tested. Really tested.

How white Americans respond to this “clean” (Joe Biden’s curious term), brilliant African-American man — who has labored for those less fortunate because he so believed in this American dream, who has played by all the rules his entire life — how we respond will be revealing.

For as Barack Obama gets closer and closer to putting his hand the door of America’s big, boastful promise of equality, we will learn a lot about our fellow citizens and all about that promise of equality that we love to brag about.

Will my fellow white Americans judge this man on his character, his life’s work, his good soul? Or will we look for excuses to lock that door as he approaches? Will we grasp for any quick rationale, no matter how pathetic it may be, to grease our consciences?

How will we deal with this very good man, this faithful husband and father of two beautiful girls? You know, this decent and inspiring All-American family.

Will we concoct new standards at the last moment for him? Will we participate in ugly gossip with our neighbors about this man of color?

Yes, we have ourselves here a real learning opportunity now. It’s a test for the whole world to watch.

And the test is not about Barack Obama.

The test is all about white Americans.

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You might remember the horrifying story of the ordeal experienced by Megan Williams. For a week, she was imprisoned by seven racists who beat her, tortured her, stabbed her, sexually assaulted her and forced her to eat feces.

Two members of this lynch mob received the maximum sentences their charges allowed.

46-year-old Karen Burton (pictured right) and 49-year-old Frankie Brewster heard their fates yesterday. Burton, received three 2-10 year sentences for malicious assault and assault during the commission of a felony, to be served consecutively. She also received a 10-year sentence for a civil rights charge.

Brewster received a 10-25 year sentence for second-degree sexual assault.

They became the 4th and 5th people to receive sentences in this case:

Burton’s 23-year-old daughter, Alisha, and George Messer, 27, both of Chapmanville, both pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping and assault and received 10-year sentences.

…

A seventh defendant, Karen Burton’s son, Linnie Burton Jr., 21, was indicted on a misdemeanor battery charge.

This leaves Brewster’s son, Bobby, and another man, Danny Combs, as the only two to not tried for these crimes. Both face charges, including kidnapping and sexual assault.

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Well, Geraldine Ferraro has stepped down from the Clinton campaign.

Of course, rather than apologize like the party elder she was expected to be, she accused the Obama campaign of twisting her words.

Well, I read her words without being told by anyone how to interpret them and their meaning was clear: she demeaned his candidacy by trying to paint it as affirmative action on steroids — a play to the racial fears of some in the Democratic party.

At any rate, she’s out but, not before adding her name to the long list of race-baiters in the Clinton campaign.

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Well, it looks like Geraldine Ferraro’s race-baiting ways go back a while.

The D.C. newspaper, The Politico, had dug up an old statement of hers from 1988. What it shows is that she not only has she pulled this garbage before but, also, that she needs some new material. If you remember her recent statement on Barack Obama, she stated that “(i)f Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

In 1988, she had this to say about Jesse Jackson when he ran for president:

“if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn’t be in the race.”

Notice any similarities?

As you noticed, no doubt, I am greatly soured on Hillary Clinton. One big reason is that she continues to surround herself with people who are willing to play games with race for political advantage. Well, for some of us, it’s not a game — race actually impacts our lives in a very real way.

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Okay, when you’re caught saying something racist do you:

a) Deny it.
b) Apologize.
c) Say something even more absurd.

If you chose ‘c’, your name might be Geraldine Ferraro. As I posted previous, Ferraro made what could only be described as a stupid, racist statement.

Now, after being questioned about what she said, she came back with this witty retort:

“Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up. Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white. How’s that?”

So, calling you on racism make others racist?

With her still being on the campaign, I guess Clinton, despite her weak public “disagreement” with Ferraro’s statement, actually approves of her actions.

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Time for real talk.

As the debate on whether or not abstinence-only education works wears on (here’s a hint — it doesn’t), we allow too many of our teenagers, particularly teen girls, to be put at risk.

The Center for Disease Control has issued a report and the results are alarming — as many as 1 in 4 teenage girls in the U.S. have a sexually-transmitted disease.

Even more alarming is how this breaks down along racial lines — as many as 48% of African American teenage girls vs. as many as 20% of white teenage girls have an STD.

I think, sometimes, we don’t think about what having an STD can really mean so, I found this part of the article particularly illuminating:

HPV and chlamydia are the most common STDs found among teenage girls, (Dr. Sara) Forhan said. “Almost one in five overall had a strain of HPV associated with cervical cancer or genital warts,” she said.

“We need to be screening adolescent girls who are sexually active and providing them with HPV vaccine,” (Dr. Elizabeth) Alderman said. “The recommendations are to screen sexually active girls, but many girls don’t disclose to their health-care provider that they are sexually active, even when asked,” she said.

As for chlamydia, 4 percent of teenaged girls had this STD, Forhan said. “The majority of chlamydia infections do not have symptoms. If left untreated, it can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, which leaves these young women at risk for atopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain or infertility,” she said.

In addition, the study found that 2.9 percent of young women had trichomoniasis, and 2 percent were infected with genital herpes, Forhan said.

So, this is no small matter. Let’s get real with our kids because so much of their futures depend on it.

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Well, guess what — another Clinton backer is playing the race game. This time, it’s former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro.

In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Ferarro had the following to say:

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

You know, some things are so stupid that, they you don’t need anyone to make them apparent.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong but, America’s not exactly handing out positions of power to black men, willy-nilly. If so, why was it that Obama is the last of only 5 black people to ever serve in the U.S. Senate (there have been 4 black male senators and one black female senator, Carol Mosely Braun). Why is it that black men don’t make up a majority of the House of Representatives. How many black governors are there? (the answer would be 1.)

In other words, being black doesn’t make one lucky in politics. In fact, it exposes one to greater scrutiny because, by being black, a certain lack of competence in always implied — even from other black people.

How did Hillary Clinton respond? Well, she offered the following:

“I do not agree with that…It’s regrettable that any of our supporters — on both sides, because we both have this experience — say things that kind of veer off into the personal.”

Yes, some of Obama’s people have veered off and, because of that, they are not part of his campaign any longer.

Now, I know what you’ll tell me — Ferraro is not part of the Clinton campaign. Well, Louis Farrakhan is not part of the Obama campaign but, Obama was called on to “reject and denounce” him just the same.

My question is, “when will Clinton ‘reject and denounce’ the statements of Geraldine Ferraro?”

Correction: Ferraro does, indeed, serve on the Clinton campaign in an official capacity.  She serves on the Clinton finance committee.

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It’s funny how the Republican party seemingly has very little to offer the American people. So, because they lack substance, they, instead, offer fear.

So, it was little surprise to see, last week, Rep. Steve King of Iowa go there. According to King, the facts that Obama wants to pull troops out of Iraq, he is of Kenyan parentage and, of course, his middle name is “Hussein” should cause us to take pause when considering him for President.

Actually, King descended even further into stupidity with the following comment:

“The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida … would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror.”

So, I wonder how Rep. King reconciles this with the fact that there are a lot of folks with “Muslim-sounding” names, who have served in some very high positions in our government and military. Juan Cole, in his blog “Informed Comment” brings much of this to light. Here are some examples:

• General Omar Bradley, WWII hero: The name “Omar” is an alternate spelling of the name “Umar”. Umar ibn al-Khattab was the second caliph of Sunni Islam.
• Gen. John Abizaid, former CENTCOM commander: His name is a combination of two Arabic names. According to Cole, “Abi means Abu or ‘father of,’ and Zaid is a common Arab first name.”
• Darrell Issa, Republican congressman - The son of a Lebanese father, the name “Isa” mean “Jesus” in Arabic.
• Donna Shalala, former Health and Human Services Secretary - The child of Lebanese parents, Shalala was the longest-serving HHS secretary.

The point in all this is that, if Muslim extremists needed something to cheer about, particularly because of a name, they would have been able to do so long before a Barack Obama came on the political scene.

Even more important is the fact that Obama has made his Christian beliefs very evident. So, all this garbage about him being a “secret” Muslim is, in short, stupid.

But, when you have nothing to offer, I guess fearmongering is all you have left.

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Well, it’s VOTR Tuesday (Vermont, Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island) and the time for talking is over, at least for now.

If you live in these states and you are interested in any of the candidates running, I urge you to get out and vote.

If you are on the Democratic side, you will see some hotly-contested races that could decide the nominee.

If you are a Republican, you could see John McCain seal the deal today and reach the 1191 delegates needed to secure the nomination.

Regardless of where you fall, someone may have given life or limb for you to be able to vote so, get out and exercise you hard-earned right.

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