Stephen Marks: March 2008 Archives

Finally the smoke has cleared from Barack Obama’s critically-acclaimed speech on racial healing and the verdict is clear: He blew it.
 

Obama had a a chance to wrap up the Democratic nomination, the general election, and give a speech that would have gone down in history as inspiring as Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” all in one fell swoop
 

He could have done is all so simply and so easily.  Instead of saying how terrible racism has been in the past against blacks, and instead of implying the racism of his white grandmother [for being scared of being mugged by blacks] was somehow the equivalent of the racism of Jeremiah Wright [which is ridiculous], all Obama had to do was to simply state thusly:
 

"Look, I jointed the Trinity United Church as a young man in my 20s because the church helped me find God.  And I've belonged to that church for 23 years because they

have done so much to help black folks empower themselves, and have done so much good work for the black community in Chicago.  However, in retrospect, since I am running for president as the candidate to bring people together and to bring the races together, it was wrong of me to belong to a church that was so racially divisive.  

 
“When Hillary Clinton criticized me for being a man of words and not a man of action, I correctly pointed out that words are sometimes just as important as actions, such when as Martin Luther King said "I Have a Dream" and when Lincoln said  "All Men Are Created Equal."  These were not merely “ words” by King and Lincoln, they were the visions by great  visionaries of the future of America; of how America should be, and in retrospect, would be.  And those words inspired Americans to become better people and inspired America to become a better country.  Because of those words’  inspiration, those visions became reality for America. 

 
Likewise, words can be destructive and be used to divide.  Which is why I was wrong to belong to the Trinity United Church.  I hereby disavow the church completely, and hope that all Americans, black and white, will strongly disavow and no longer accept any racism of bigotry against people of any color, black or white, nor accept any bigotry against America."

 

Trust me on this folks: Had Obama said that instead of his lame speech, not only would he have wrapped up the Democratic nomination and the general election in one fell swoop, but would have eventually crushed McCain 60-40.  
 

I still may happen, but win or lose, his inability to deal with this issue in an intellectually honest manner shows him to be  [in my never-humble opinion], an intellectual lightweight.  And even more importantly in this presidential campaign, a typical politician
 

White America craves electing a black man president o show that white people have changed and that America is truly a non-racist country.  This is why Barack Obama has been so successful this far, in addition to all his other political and personal attributes. This is also why Colin Powell would have won in a walk had he chosen to run for president in 1996 against Clinton.
 

And I too share that hope to see a black president in my lifetime But is Obama the right black man to take us there?  He may be.
 

But judging from his speech last week, I have my doubts.

Obama finally responds to the media pressure regarding Reverand Jeremiah Wright and gives the lamest speech imaginable.

Defends black racists.

And for the first time exposes himself as a liar.  Only a week after telling FOX News’  Major Garrett he had never heard Wright say any of these things, and if that he had heard them said repeatedly, he would have quit the church.  He now claimed in this lame speech that, yes, he heard it, but it was not big deal.  Just [as Ralph Kramden used to say] a “mere bag of shells”

And the media’s having orgasms over this speech.  I can’t believe it. 

Take a look at Obama’s speech on youtube, and then watch him with FOX’s Major Garrett.  Look at how unsure and uncertain he is in the FOX interview.  

Hillary finally weighs in on Wright, saying she would have quit such a church.

Can you believe the white libs defending Obama on this?  

Could you imagine if John McCain or George W. Bush belonged to a church for 23 years run by the KKK?  Could they have survived that politically?

No way.

Obama finally answers some questions.  Tells FOX’s Major Garrett he had NO IDEA Wright was spewing this stuff.  Obama belonged to this church since 1991 and has known Wright for over 20 years, and had NO IDEA? 

Could be Obama’s first mistake in what has thus far been a mistake-free campaign.

“White America” created the AIDS virus to kill black folks?

MSNBC finally hitting Obama, but it still doesn’t seem to be sticking.  At least not among Democrats.

Obama is taking a beating on FOX News, but those viewers aren’t going to vote for him anyway..  The rest of the media seems to be giving Obama a pass thus far.

Natalee Holaway had it coming to her? 

This guy’s racism against whites is worse than Farakhan’s.  Even Calypso Louie would have enough respect for women not to say something so brazenly racist against a white woman.

“White America” is responsible for 9/11?

“God Damn America?”

The rhythm of Wright’s cadence sounds exactly like Steppewolf’s “God Damn the Pushin’ Man”

Most of the press is in agreement that Hillary’s campaign has been responsible for leaking this stuff.  I doubt it, and here’s why:

If she had it, she wouldn’t just be putting it out now, when it’s probably too late.   

If this stuff had come out in the beginning BEFORE THE POSITIVE IMAGE OF OBAMA WAS CEMENTED INTO VOTERS’ HEADS, it may have worked.  But it doesn’t seem to be sticking now.

Obama comes back after losing Ohio and Texas.  Hillary continues to show the sheer ineptitude of her campaign.  With all that money, she still refuses to pay to get the bodies to show up in the caucus states, and Obama continues to win those caucus states. 

Why won’t Hillary hire a professional to run her campaign, like her husband did in 1992 when he hired talented folks like James Carville and Dick Morris?  Why is Maggie Williams running her campaign? 

The answer is simple.  Maggie Williams is not really running her campaign, she is the campaign manager in name only. 

Hilary is running her campaign. 

Into the ground. 

Her micromanagement of this campaign gives us a glimpse of what kind of president she would be.  She would only hire “yes men”, the exact opposite of her husband hiring a guy like Dick Morris. 

Hillary has zero political smarts.

What to make from Hillary’s Victories in Ohio and Texas: For the very first time in this 2008 race, some of the negatives against Obama may be sticking.  Hard to tell right now.

Coming Up Soon:

• Barack Obama’s Current Ties to an Unapologetic Former Terrorist from the “Weathermen”
• More on Tony Rezco
• The Sickening Double Standard by the Mainstream Media Regarding John McCain’s Rumored Infidelity (reported by the mainstream media) vs. Bill Clintons real infidelity issuein 1992 (Geninifer Flowers’ Taped Conversation With Bill Clinton where Clinton Told Her to Lie if Asked About their Affair to the Press; Totally Censored by the Mainstream Media in October 1992, One Month Before the Election) and John Kerry Real’s Infidelity Issue in 2004, when One of His Floozies Fled the Country, Causing Wesley Clark to Say that Kerry’s Campaign Was about to “Implode”, also Censored by the Mainstream Media

The very first policy position Hillary Clinton took as a US Senator was to propose the abolition of the Electoral College in the wake of Al Gore’s defeat despite winning the popular vote. In reality, if Hillary’s position ever became law, the voters of the smaller states would become largely disenfranchised, since presidential candidates would campaign only in the most populous states, since that’s where al the votes would be if the popular vote decided who was elected president.
 

Obama can score big points throughout America against Hillary on this issue, since there are far more small states than big ones.

Once the nomination is decided, there is plenty of material to use against John McCain that hasn’t been used yet. Most of his weaknesses concern his demeanor and personality, which has often been very un-presidential. This can hurt McCain at his biggest strength, his image as a strong leader.

Let me know if you want me to put that in a follow-up of this.

Obama will hit Hillary on her refusal to release her income taxes.  This is because she filed a joint return with Bill, who has received a great deal of money from some foreign countries and foreign interest that may be tied to terrorism. 

During the Bill Clinton presidency, all we heard ad nauseum from Hillary fans was how she was the “brains” behind ther husband. 

What BS. 

Hillary has very little political smarts.  In this situation, all she had to do was file a separate return and none of her husbands’ sources of income would be an issue.  But she wanted to save a few bucks, so she filed jointly, not having the political smarts to figure out that this would cause a problem. 

What a buffoon.

While in the Illinois Senate, Obama cast some very bad out-of-the-mainstream votes, including one where he was the only member of the Senate to vote against a bill to get tough against sexual predators. Thus far Obama has claimed that he cast these bad votes by “mistake”, hitting the wrong lever.
 

This could be damaging because up to this point, Obama scored much higher than Hillary in the honesty department. His excuse for casting these bad votes will not be believed by the voters and could be the first major crack in his “honesty and integrity” armor.

If Hillary goes this route, Obama could respond just as harshly concerning Hillary Clinton’s support of taxpayer funding for a Brooklyn Museum exhibit which featured a picture of The Virgin Mary covered in elephant dung.

Apparently this is what Hillary Clinton considers “art”. If Obama is attacked because of his controversial church, Obama can simply say something like “How dare you question my Christianity? You supported tax dollars going to fund this blasphemy!”

This could especially hurt Hillary in Texas among the Hispanic voters who are now supporting her, since they are for the most part Roman Catholic. 

This exchange could become the nastiest moment of the 2008 campaign.

Despite winning Ohio and Texas, thus saving her from Oblivion, Hillary is still behind in the delegate count and will get desperate and go negative even harder than she already has. 

Since all the voters already pretty much know everything there is to know about Hillary, her numbers will not go up. Her only chance is for her to bring Obama’s numbers down, since Obama is still unknown to many voters.

Hillary or her surrogates have already put out nasty mailers in South Carolina regarding Obama being a Muslim, which is, of course, false. However, that seed may have been deliberately planted in voters’ minds for the next attack; against Obama’s church. Thus far stories have been leaked to the press concerning this church, but it has yet to become a campaign issue.

Obama has attended The Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, whose pastor is black radical Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Among other rants, Wright preaches that “We [America] believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God .”

As a general rule, attacking your opponents’ religion will almost always backfire. However, there is a racial element here, and the anti-white bigotry is scary stuff. It can possibly scare still-undecided swing voters, almost all of whom are white. Expect this to be Hillary’s next attack, and expect it to come from a surrogate, not from Bill or Hillary.

Expect John McCain and Mike Huckabee (should he become McCain’s VP) to be attacked by the eventual Democratic Party nominee on their strong suits, their integrity.  This is reminiscent of John Kerry being attacked very effectively on his strongest suit, his service in Viet Nam (as opposed to his opponent, President Bush, who didn’t serve) by the now infamous “Swiftboat” attack ads.  

Then there is the issue of Huckabee’s integrity, like McCain, considered his strong suit.  In December 2007, Judicial Watch announced that Mike Huckabee was named to its list of Washington’s "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2007. They stated that Huckabee, as governor, was the subject of 14 ethics complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the governor’s office. Judicial Watch further accused Huckabee of attempting to block the state ethics commission's investigations of the allegations.

In addition, in 2000, Huckabee insisted on controlling the state Republican Party's separate Victory Committee, but the committee's finances were so poorly handled that a Federal Election Commission investigation resulted in the largest fine ever handed down by the FEC to a state party.

Should he become the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, expect Huckabee to be attacked for his flagrant use of his religion to affect his policy as governor of Arkansas.

While Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush were all elected president as open “born-again” Christians, none of them was ever hurt politically because there was no evidence that any of them ever let their religious views get in the way of their actions as public officials. 

However, as governor of Arkansas, Huckabee openly and repeatedly acknowledged that many of his policy decisions were based on his “born-again” Christianity.  The most damaging was his pushing the state parole board to parole a violent criminal who went on to murder an elderly woman.  Huckabee stated at the time that his decision was based on the murderer becoming a “born again” Christian.

This level of religious fanaticism scares most Americans, even many Republicans.  Given Huckabee’s candor with the press about his religious faith, Huckabee would not likely back down if this became a campaign issue.  As an example of his candor with the press, when responding to a New York Times Magazine reporters question regarding Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith, Huckabee responded by inferring hat Mormons believed that Jesus and Satan were brothers.