But that is the point though this is the first time we have a black President but its not the first time that we have had vitriol directed at a President. If this was a case where Presidents hadn't been treated with derision then yes you could say the difference if race but its a fact that previous white Presidents have faced vitriol and on an unprecedented nature.
But you can't assume the reasoning for the vitriol is always the same. There are an array of possible reasons why one person attacks another verbally. When a white person attacks a white person, race is not going to be one of those reasons. When a white person attacks a black person, race is one of the possible reasons. It's just an added dimension that you must realize is there. Since the dimension is added now, it is liable for investigation, which they did in this case. Most people didn't jump the gun and say "Racist!" I know I didn't. I just felt it was a bunch of Republicans that whole-heartedly disagreed with the President. That still may be the truth. But the few people who did investigate this added dimension found these other things about Joe Wilson, and a picture of racism is beginning to form.
Well then an argument that Bill Clinton was impeached because of bias towards people from Arkansas could hold water too since he was the first President from Arkansas. Many people have made fun of Arkansas as being backwards so that is an added dimension. Yes so then should we investigate to see if Congressional Republicans who impeached Clinton had ever made disparaging comments about Arkansans? Yes there are potentially other factors but given the specific comments or actions there is nothing to presume racism as the primary factor. Yes now that we know Wilson's history yes an argument can be made but again as Franchiesblade noted we can never know for sure. I stated earlier why I think throwing around the charge of racism is problematic but in this case I don't think that logically that is the primary cause. The simpler explanation to me strikes me as that there has been alot of vitriol directed by Republicans at the last two Democractic Presidents, for that matter most of the major Democractic figures (consider the vicious names and slanders towards Hillary Clinton. Doesn't it seem more likely that its that Obama is a Democrat rather than a black man that there is such vitriol towards him?
I know if I am a Democrat in Congress. . it would not be NEAR The last. When the next Repub President shows up . . . I'd heckle him like he was Carrot Top! Rocket River
Except, Byrd never reformed. He reformed his image politically, to appeal to voters in changing times, but even as recently as a few years ago was still referring to "white ---gers." The day he leaves the Senate will be a great day for America, and the Democratic Party. Is Joe Wilson a racist? Forget everything else; he claims his personal and political hero is Strom Thurmond, who ran for the presidency as a segregationist and raped the 15-year-old black family maid (and publicly denied his child from that pairing for the rest of his life). That's enough in my book. To follow, citing this report, Rush Limbaugh removed all subtlety of doubt, claiming that, Listen to the audio for his inflection on, "Right on." <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vyrXQ38dT9g&hl=en&fs=1&start=75"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vyrXQ38dT9g&hl=en&fs=1&start=75" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> As to your point, I didn't ascribe racism to the initial outburst when first watching it. However, ten minutes of googling "Joe Wilson + not yellow cake" afterward, the pattern emerged. Whether this instance of shouting at the president is racist, no one can know. However, either out of conviction or political expediency, clearly Wilson has made alliances with racists in the past. And he should be known, and judged, by those associations.
I agree with this. I think we should hold all political leaders accountable, especially after unsavory acts such as what occurred, for past associations. This is one of the reasons I could not vote for Obama. I could not vote for a man who spent 20 years sitting in the pews of radical racist preacher.
There are two components here, too. First, the fact that Joe Wilson (and most Republicans) disagree with the president or think he's not telling the truth. Second, there's disrespecting him in the middle of the speech. The first component is most likely because of the animosity between Republicans and Democrats. They don't disagree with him because he's black, they disagree with him because they're Republicans. The second however, the disrespect, is something I have trouble blaming it on Joe Wilson simply being a Republican. I've never seen a member of Congress publicly heckle the president and directly call him a liar to his face in front of National TV while he spoke. It is unprecedented. Yes, they hated Clinton, but I can't recall a time they did something like this. So, what made Joe Wilson do it and not any other Republican? If it was simply because he was Republican, you'd expect it to have been done before.
Why not? Apparently, all you have to do is make a lame one-line apology, then you raise a lot of money in your district. Let the heckling begin. Why keep any civility at all? Jethro Wilson: a pioneer of the New America.
Sure, just as soon as you can show in history where people from Arkansas were enslaved, lynched, denied the right and still discriminated against daily.
There is a huge difference. In 20 years of Sundays Obama's preacher maybe said two things that could actually be racist.
Two things that could actually be racist? Get real... First off, I can pick quite a number of racist things said during congregation just off of youtube. Second, Obama acknowledged that Wright said things that were extreme. Third, Obama said that he valued Wright like a father...that is a much closer relationship than Wilson ever had with Thurmond, and Obama said that he couldn't divorce himself from Wright. A week after saying he couldn't separate himself, he came out and said he no longer agreed with Wright and threw him under the bus.
The comparison is interesting, but riddle me this: when did we examine Jethro Wilson's associations? After he behaved in a questionable manner, and after we examined his *statements* about race. So: 1. deeds (outburst) 2. words ("stain" = inter-racial child) 3. associations How are #'s 1 & 2 working out for Obama so far, in terms of being a racist?
Not to sound ignorant, but how does being present during a "radical racist preacher"'s sermons make Obama less able to turn this country around that any other candidate? Seems like a silly reason not to vote for him.
based on sermons read, Wright's book, testimony of other regular attendees of the church, etc. Read the whole sermon that included the parts that caused such controversy.
radical, and crazy are different things than racist. Whether Obama was able to separate himself from Wright or not has nothing to do with Racism. Though, until blacks control anything close to the amount of power and networking capabilities within the power structure it isn't really close in terms of the potential damage.
I can't link the book, and only some of the sermons. But I will try. Also I can't access some sites from behind the firewall at work. These are the ones that do work. http://odeo.com/episodes/17889043 http://odeo.com/episodes/17890793 http://sweetness-light.com/archive/wrights-sermon-the-audacity-to-hope Here are a couple of books full of sermons which aren't racist at all. What Makes You So Strong? Sermons of Joy and Strength from Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. (ed. by Jini Kilgore Ross), Judson Press, 1993. Good News! Sermons of Hope for Today's Families (ed. by Jini Kilgore Ross), Judson Press, 1995. .
