Sen. Barack Obama Plays the Race Card I
(I can title this “I” because there is no doubt there is going to be a "II", a "III" and who knows where it will end.)
So, the Associated Press reported that on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 that Sen. Barack Obama said, “. . . So what they're (the McCain campaign) going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, 'he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, 'he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.'"
Obama Spokesperson Robert Gibbs explained Sen. Obama’s quote this way, “What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn't get here after spending decades in Washington. There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn't come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race."
For those unfamiliar with the people on “dollar bills” that most Americans see:
President George Washington is on a $1.00 bill. There was no Washington, DC before George Washington so Sen. Obama could not have been talking about President Washington.
President Abraham Lincoln is on a $5.00 bill. President Lincoln served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives so Sen. Obama could not have been talking about President Lincoln.
Alexander Hamilton is on a $10.00 bill. Alexander Hamilton was never President.
President Andrew Jackson is on a $20.00 bill. As near as I can research, President Jackson was once elected to the U.S. House of Representatives but resigned half-way through his only term to run for the U.S. Senate, a seat he won but only served for 7 months before he resigned from the Senate. Some twenty years later, President Jackson again won a U.S. Senate seat but only served for 18 months, resigning to run for the Presidency. Clearly, Sen. Obama was not talking about President Jackson.
I could go on (Grant, $50; Franklin, $100) but there really is no need.
Mr. Gibbs lied and Sen. Obama played the race card on Wednesday.
It will not be the last time the “post-racial” candidate plays it.
(I can title this “I” because there is no doubt there is going to be a "II", a "III" and who knows where it will end.)
So, the Associated Press reported that on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 that Sen. Barack Obama said, “. . . So what they're (the McCain campaign) going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, 'he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, 'he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.'"
Obama Spokesperson Robert Gibbs explained Sen. Obama’s quote this way, “What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn't get here after spending decades in Washington. There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn't come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race."
For those unfamiliar with the people on “dollar bills” that most Americans see:
President George Washington is on a $1.00 bill. There was no Washington, DC before George Washington so Sen. Obama could not have been talking about President Washington.
President Abraham Lincoln is on a $5.00 bill. President Lincoln served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives so Sen. Obama could not have been talking about President Lincoln.
Alexander Hamilton is on a $10.00 bill. Alexander Hamilton was never President.
President Andrew Jackson is on a $20.00 bill. As near as I can research, President Jackson was once elected to the U.S. House of Representatives but resigned half-way through his only term to run for the U.S. Senate, a seat he won but only served for 7 months before he resigned from the Senate. Some twenty years later, President Jackson again won a U.S. Senate seat but only served for 18 months, resigning to run for the Presidency. Clearly, Sen. Obama was not talking about President Jackson.
I could go on (Grant, $50; Franklin, $100) but there really is no need.
Mr. Gibbs lied and Sen. Obama played the race card on Wednesday.
It will not be the last time the “post-racial” candidate plays it.
posted by Zack at 7:24 PM
3 Comments:
Perhaps Obama was talking about the fact that he doesn't wear a white wig like Washington, or he doesn't have a beard like Lincoln,or a chubby round face like Franklin... Deny it all he wants but he most definitely played the race card, in spades! (oops, can I say that?)
The term is thrown around all the time, but what exactly do we mean by "played the race card"? I frankly don't find what Obama said offensive -- it is undoubtedly true that McCain supporters will try to appeal to the racist streak in some white voters (I emphasize some, as I agree that in many ways the views of some African Americans are equally racist) as a way to dissuade them from voting for Obama. And I don't find it offensive that he mentioned that fact.
I do agree, however, that the political spinmeister who came along after the fact was, let's just say, less than completely honest. The sad fact for me, though, is that that is simply politics as usual, and no doubt Obama supporters will be able to point to numerous times when McCain spinmeisters are themselves less than completely honest. It is why I have a general distaste for politics and don't listen to anything spinmeisters say.
Conscience,
I cannot answer for what others mean by “playing the race card”, I can only answer for myself. “Playing the race card” to me means mentioning or bringing up race for the sole purpose of trying to capitalize on the racism of others.
In this case, Sen. Obama was using something that is obviously true (yes, some very small number of racists, Republican and Democrat – those Pennsylvania Democrats that Gov. Ed Rendell talked about during the Pennsylvania primary for example, will use racist tactics to affect a very small portion of the population) in order to cast himself as a victim. But, his audience was most definitely black racists and guilty whites. Sen. Obama played the race card not to get more of the 92% of blacks that he’s going to get but to make sure as many blacks as possible turn out to vote. Sen. Obama played the race card to induce as many guilty white voters as possible to vote for him in order to relieve themselves of guilt or to prove that they are not racists. Sen. Obama exploited something that a very small number of idiots make true in order to use his race as a perfume and a weapon.
Finally, I am elated by your final sentence because I equate “listen” to “read”. Certainly one who claims not to “listen” to what a spinmeister says would also not read what a spinmeister writes.
August 1, 3:54 pm
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