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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: puborectalis who wrote (47376)	9/17/2008 2:04:31 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 224705

Sebelius: Obama’s race ‘may be a factor’ By John Deeth 9/16/08 8:31 PM IOWA CITY — Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius publicly considered the possibility that Sen. Barack Obama’s race might be a factor in this year’s presidential election during an appearance here Tuesday. “Have any of you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” Sebelius asked in response to a question about why the election is so close. “That may be a factor. All the code language, all that doesn’t show up in the polls. And that may be a factor for some people.” The remark, delivered in the governor’s low key, folksy, out-from-behind-the-podium style, raised a couple chuckles but few eyebrows in the downtown Iowa City crowd, but Republicans took offense and responded in short order. “Governor Sebelius’s remarks in Iowa City today are hurtful and divisive at best,” said Republican Party of Iowa Executive Director Caleb Hunter in a press release. “With less than 50 days to go, Democrats will continue to try and change the focus away from the issues that will decide this election.” The rest of Sebelius’ remarks in Iowa City stuck closely to the Obama campaign’s talking points. “The bottom line question is, do you think George Bush has been a wonderful president?” she told an audience whose questions focused as much on the horse race as on specific issues. Sebelius takes questions at the Iowa City library. One questioner argued that Obama was under-performing in polls because young voters with cell phones were under-reported, and Sebelius agreed. “I have a 24 year old and a 27 year old and they’ve never had a land-line since they went to college,” she said. “So they don’t show up in polls. But they need to show up at the polls.” Yet at each turn, Sebelius tried to return the dialogue to bread and butter issues, to the delight of Bob Elliott, a former member of Iowa City’s city council and a leading local supporter of Sen. Joe Biden during the Iowa caucuses. “Lipstick can stay home! Talk about the issues!” he shouted, in apparent reference to another governor. During a brief press availability, Sebelius said she didn’t know much about her Alaska colleague. “She’s one of our new governors, and I’ve met her at a couple of events that all the governors were at,” she said of GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “But we’ve really had no personal interaction. The real issue is John McCain vs. Barack Obama, and their policies could not be more different.” Sebelius responded to criticism from Kansas Republicans about her campaign visits, and implied that the campaigning went hand in hand with her job. “I can do a much better job as governor of Kansas, and Chet Culver can do a much better job in Iowa, if we have a partner in the White House instead of an adversary.”

To: puborectalis who wrote (47376)	9/17/2008 2:28:26 PM
From: Geoff Altman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224705

It has as much to do with race as Hillary's rejection has to do with misogyny, almost nothing.... It has everything to do with the public realizing and rejecting the bankrupt 1960s style liberalism that's being foisted on them.

To: puborectalis who wrote (47376)	9/17/2008 5:46:06 PM
From: Geoff Altman	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224705

Barack Obama and White Privilege JOHN STOSSEL Complaints about racism still dominate media discussion of the disparity between black and white success. Comedian Chris Rock tells white audiences, "None of ya would change places with me! And I'm rich! That's how good it is to be white!" (http://tinyurl.com/5b4e2d I assumed that the success of Barack Obama, as well as thousands of other black Americans and dark-skinned immigrants — many of whom thrive despite language problems — demonstrates that America today is largely a colorblind meritocracy. But a white campus lecturer, Tim Wise (http://www.timwise.org/), gets tremendous applause from students by saying things like, "[W]hite supremacy and privilege continue to skew opportunities hundreds of years after they were set in place" and in America, "meritocracy is as close to a lie as you can come." His message is in demand — he is invited to more than 80 speaking engagements a year. But black writer Shelby Steele argues that whites do blacks no favors wringing their hands about white privilege. "I grew up in segregation," Steele told me. "So I really know what racism is. I went to segregated school. I bow to no one in my knowledge of racism, which is one of the reasons why I say white privilege is not a problem." Steele claims, "the real problem is black irresponsibility. ... Racism is about 18th on a list of problems that black America faces." Whites' preoccupation with guilt and compensation such as affirmative action is actually a subtle form of racism, writes Steele in his book "White Guilt" (http://tinyurl.com/5q3px6). "One of the things that is clear about white privilege, and so many of the arguments for diversity that pretend to be compensatory, is that they advantage whites. They make the argument that whites can solve [black people's] problems. ... The problem with that is ... you reinforce white supremacy. ... And black dependency. "White privilege is a disingenuous idea," he adds. In fact, now there is "minority privilege." "If I'm a black high school student today, there are white American institutions, universities, hovering over me to offer me opportunities. Almost every institution has a diversity committee. Every country club now has a diversity committee. I've been asked to join so many clubs, I can't tell you. ... I don't have to even look for opportunities in many cases, they come right to me." Of course, there is still racism in America. At ABC News we've aired hidden-camera video showing sales clerks spying on black customers, cab drivers passing blacks to pick up whites and employers favoring white-sounding names. Steele says those are minor problems. "The fact is," he adds, "we got a raw deal in America. We got a much better deal now. But we can't access it unless we take ... responsibility for getting there ourselves." He makes good points. White privilege does still exist, but Barack Obama's success is more evidence that it's not the whole story. There are plenty of people in America who want to vote for someone because he is black. Or female. It's not politically correct to say that. Hillary Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro said she wouldn't have been nominated for vice president in 1984 were she not a woman and that Obama would not have been doing so well were he not black. "Could I have said ... his experience is what puts him there? No. Could I say because his stand on issues have distinguished him? No ... If Obama were a white man, 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." For saying that, she was repeatedly called racist. The heat got so intense, Ferraro had to resign from Clinton's finance committee, and Clinton disavowed her remarks (http://tinyurl.com/34qoka). There is black privilege — and white privilege. It's time to stop complaining about past discrimination and to treat people as individuals, not as members of a certain race. creators.com