The Invisibleness of Racism

Subject: What If You Reversed Information about Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin--Something to Contemplate

What if....

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?.....think about it.

Would the country's collective point of view be different?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?
(The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes? And was never given a command position.

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

Thank You John McCain

John McCain finally stood up to his supporters at a rally on Friday in Minnesota. McCain-Palin supporters have become increasingly angry and even racist. Shouts of "traitor," "treason," "terrorist," and even "off with his head" towards Obama have been heard during these rallies. On Friday McCain said enough. He called Obama "a decent person, and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States." McCain went on to say "If you want a fight, we will fight, but we will be respectful. I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments." The crowd responded by loud booing to which McCain cut off. McCain then told the crowd that they do not need to reduce their tenacity but they have to be respectful. Wow, for once I actually agree with McCain. Thank you McCain for trying to bring back respect to your party. It is going to be a long road, as you brought them to this spot with your campaign filled with negative ads, constant smears, and your running mate continuing to tell crowds that Obama is "palling around with terrorists." So McCain while I thank you for this attempt to turn things around, you are not done.

A Call to Republicans

Lately the McCain campaign is making me feel sick to my stomach. And I'm not the only one. First John McCain accuses a young, Black man has never heard of Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae and then he calls Barack Obama "that one" during Tuesday's debate. Then of course we have his running mate, Sarah Palin, continuing to try to link Obama to "terrorist" William Ayers. Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground group which claimed responsibility to bombings at the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol in the early 1970s (when Obama was just a child). The NPR wrote this piece on the Obama-Ayers connection. The articles points out that currently Ayers is widely respectable in the field of urban education and that Democrats, Independents, and Republicans have worked with him and never raised any concern over his past. Just because Obama has a friendly association with him, does not mean Obama condones or praises any of Ayer's earlier radical ways. If someone is guilty by association then basically everyone in government is corrupt as there are many current government people that have engaged in corrupt, dishonorable, and/or questionable behavior. The real reason for this post is to point out the racist, narrow-minded, and all-out appalling behavior of many of the McCain-Palin supporters. Many videos have been popping up recording people at McCain-Palin rallies calling Obama a "terrorist" because his "bloodline" is there, at a rally in Florida a man yelled out "Kill him!" At another rally someone yelled out "Off with his head!" It is very sad to me that this is the kind of response the McCain camp is spurring up. When I hear Obama speak, I feel inspired and hopeful. I find myself wanting to do more for our country and to be a better person. Apparently when people hear McCain and Palin speak they become an angry, racist mob that is out to kill. So what I say to this is for Republicans to stand up and say- This is not the party I want to be in! Take back your party and condemn these horrendous acts. Make a call for equality and treating every person with respect.

The Straight-Talk Express is Missing a Wheel (or 2)

So what did you think of the debate? Honestly, I thought it was a little boring. It felt like I was watching a re-run of the previous debate. I also did not like the whole "town-hall" concept. I like the idea of questions coming from voters but the 1 minute response time was way too short. Even though none of the candidates adhered to it, it still felt like things needed to be rush. Also I didn't like the candidates walking around- Keith Olbermann said it best, but I'll let you check it out yourself. As for the facts, John McCain told so many half-truths and just all out lies that I don't even know where to start. Obama's quote summed it all up- "the straight-talk express lost a wheel on that one." There were several things that really stuck out for me. First, McCain thinking a young man (who is obviously well-informed and following this election closely as he was selected to be in the audience and have his question asked) has never heard of Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae? Was that racist or ageist? Was it because he was a Black man, or he's young and therefore stupid? Maybe it was a little bit of both? And then McCain called Obama "that one." Again, I feel like this comment has racist undertones- apparently Obama is not worthy enough as a human being to be called by his name? McCain again brought up (falsely) that Obama voted 94 times to raise taxes or against tax cuts. Factcheck.org already pointed out that this was not true after the first presidential debate. Yet apparently, McCain must believe the voters are stupid and do not read and research on their own what is factual and what it just plain wrong. On the other hand I thought Obama did an excellent job of being respectable and gave very well-thought out and intelligent answers. He was everything a President should be- smart, respectful, thoughtful, approachable and he stuck to the issues that matter for the majority of the American people.