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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCharles Barkley laying on a thick coating of "both-sides-erism"
I don't really blame him for having an opinion like this, I blame right wing media and its many forms of propaganda. One of those forms is to suppress voting by pushing both-sides-erism to get exactly what you saw last night... a black man on national TV telling the audience of millions that you can't trust either side. Imagine how much damage that does to the Democratic party.
My question for Barkley would be to ask him if he would prefer it if the Democratic party stopped discussing race at all, and therefor would not use it to keep a hold of "money and power" as he put it.
He'd probably say yes........ and he would not like the look of an america where that happened. And when Jim Crow goes unopposed, and drumpf policies go unopposed.... and in a few years America looks less like 2021 and more like pre-civil war America for blacks, and Barkley finds himself on prison for trying to vote... he'll be standing there scratching his head in his jail cell and wondering "how come the Democratic party never stood up to this!" Well, Charles, you were sick of BOTH SIDES pushing race issues, so we stopped.
Link to tweet
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Ferrets are Cool
(21,106 posts)Just FUCK you and your stupid ass thoughts.
On edit, I wish Stacey Abrams would set him straight. He has his, he doesn't care about anyone else.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)Barkley not only left the Republican party and said positive things about Obama but endorsed Doug Jones and spent several weeks in Alabama pushing for his election, some think he provided the decisive difference.
When growing up all the racist politicians like George Wallace were Democrats. Shelby who is retiring was originally a Democrat.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,106 posts)His most recent controversy came in 2020, and Shaquille ONeal, when they defended the cops, shot Breonna Taylor. He said her death should not be compared to other deaths due to police brutality, and her boyfriend did shoot at the Cops.
He identifies himself as an Independent, not supporting either. Which explains the "bothsiderism".
grantcart
(53,061 posts)hatred of him but he hasn't engaged in "bothsiderism" when it comes to his support of public policy or politicians. He left the Republican party and went all in spending weeks in Alabama (no longer his home) rallying the AA community in support of Doug Jones and was considered Jones most effective surrogate. The fact that he is independent probably helped
He is a trusted friend of Obama who he calls "one of the most brilliant people I have ever meant" who worked with the President's "my brother's keeper".
He despised Trump and his Presidency. He was a strong advocate for DACA, aid to Puerto Rico and kindness in general.
He is against private ownership of automatic weapons and was disgusted with Trump's tweeting and language.
I am not a psychologist and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn but I am going to guess that Barkley's motivation to not be in the pocket of the Democratic Party may be in part due to his motivation to mature beyond his father's habits and world perspective. His father is an over the top hyper supporter of unions and Democrats. I personally find his father a completely vile and despicable person and it may have had an impact on how Charles thinks. His father boasts about destroying relationships between management and local union leaders and loves telling stories about how he will volunteer to cook at a union BBQ and he lays in wait until the local manager (who has a good working relationship with the local President) and jumps out and starts yelling how he is a FSOB and no management MF are welcomed at a union social meeting.
Here is a typical interview of Barkley talking about President Obama, not a scent of "bothsiderism"
Charles Barkley liked Obama, is liked by Obama, is a good friend to Doug Jones, but hey go ahead and pick apart everyone who may have some disagreement with. I don't know Charles but would like to have him for a friend. He is 1000% better person than his father who votes 100% Democratic.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,106 posts)We shall agree to disagree.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)mine but unfortunately some of the people that support the people I support are real jerks.
Anyone who mis-characterizes someones public political profile is someone that should be read with skepticism in the future
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/charles-barkley-weighs-in-on-the-upcoming-election-president-donald-trump-and-more-at-the-democratic-debate/2e9llpw1um0x1tcwcdh6e3uyj
The former NBA player and current analyst weighed in on who he is supporting a trio of candidates that includes San Antonio mayor Julián Castro . . .
. . .
Barkley also said he is supporting Pete Buttigieg but has not picked a front-runner yet.
It must really piss you off that Barkley has had more of an impact in the real world electing Democrats to office.
Here he explains in 2006 that he left the Republican Party because they "lost their minds"
Hes right, Charles Barkley said of Mellencamp. The word conservative means discriminatory practically. Its a form of political discrimination. What do the Republicans run on? Against gay marriage and for a war that makes no sense. A war that was based on faulty intelligence. Thats all they ever talk about. That and immigration. Another discriminatory argument for political gain.
In mid show Friday night, Mellencamp introduced a song with This next one is for all the poor people whove been ignored by the current administration, according to witnesses.
Quayle almost immediately marched towards the exit from his high profile seat at the outdoor venue.
I didnt appreciate the comment and besides I didnt think the show was very good, Quayle told an observer as he bolted.
Barkley argued that attacking George W. Bush is a waste of energy that frustrates him, but he wasnt going to dispute the premise.
The Democrats have done a horrible job, Barkley said. A really crappy job. They spend all this time and energy getting on George Bush. Theyre going after a guy whos on the way out in two years no matter what they say anyways. He cant run again. He cant get fired. Why are you worrying about him?
Democrats have wasted the last two years going after this guy and two years from another election, we dont have a frontrunner or a plan.
Hearing Barkley saying we with the Democrats would be surprise to many. For years, the NBA Hall of Famer was a very public card carrying member of the Republican party.
I was a Republican until they lost their minds, Barkley said.
When I guy says the Republicans have "lost their minds", and Dems have wasted the last two years and WE don't have a front runner or a plan" its pretty clear whose side he is on but go ahead keep your hatred going because 20 years ago he was a Republican. Fortunately leaders like Obama have a better grasp of the facts and reality.
PCIntern
(25,534 posts)He Regularly goes to the Narberth, Pennsylvania Acme on Montgomery Avenue. I have usually run into him on Thursdays in the afternoon. He knows me because we used to belong to the same athletic club 35 years ago, but we were not exactly in the same league athletically. 😄
Ferrets are Cool
(21,106 posts)brush
(53,766 posts)has been the source of so much racism and obstructionism. It's sad that he apparently lacks critical thinking skills. Many elite athletes get pampered beginning in the college years and on through into their well-paid pro career so many have never wanted for anything. And Barkley is still well-paid in his TV gig and is far removed from daily encounters with racist micro and major agressions that most POCs deal with regularly.
Thank God in the current generation of athletes there are the Lebron James, Colin Kapernics, Carmelo Anthonys and D-Wades who can see through the bullshit.
Too bad for Barkley. It's kind of sad to hear him say that. And I like to watch that show with him and Ernie, Kenny and Shaq.
betsuni
(25,472 posts)matter who won, both candidates were liars and racists and if he voted for the lesser of two evils it was still evil. Has he changed his mind since then?
Dr. Strange
(25,919 posts)Barkley said he would probably vote for Hillary or abstain. (https://www.si.com/nba/2016/10/19/charles-barkley-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-election) Based on referring to her as "our candidate", I think he must have voted for her.
Kaepernick wouldn't vote for either.
brush
(53,766 posts)and he was correct, he was wrong in the bothsiderism though. I wonder if what has occurred since, with the republican insurrection and Joe Biden and the Democrats getting the nation back on track against covid, getting the vaccines out efficiently and passing the relief act has filled in the gap of his awareness of which party is for the people and which is not?
stopdiggin
(11,296 posts)going back quite a ways. But, being more than capable of brushing past Charles -- the question is whether this thinking and sentiment has any currency in the community?
brush
(53,766 posts)since then. His political views are not taken seriously by most people because he doesn't seem to know himself what they are.
UTUSN
(70,683 posts)Celerity
(43,327 posts)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Bruce
Tammy K. Bruce (born August 20, 1962) is a conservative American radio host, author, and political commentator. Earlier she had been president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women. She is currently an on-air contributor to Fox News Channel and host of Get Tammy Bruce on Fox Nation.
snip
In 1996, the NOW Executive Board voted to censure Bruce for what it claimed were "racially insensitive comments" during the O. J. Simpson murder trial.[3] In May 1996, Bruce resigned as president of Los Angeles NOW. Bruce claimed that the censure was due to her focus on domestic violence, as opposed to defense attorney Johnnie Cochran's "racial issues" trial argument. Since then, Bruce has written about the dispute in her critique on what she sees as the failings of NOW, and the political left in general. She has said that the feminist establishment in the U.S. has abandoned authentic feminism.
In 2003, Bruce was appointed to serve on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Transition Team after his successful recall election against Gray Davis. The following year, Bruce argued that gay Americans were not uniformly supportive of same-sex marriage, and that marriage should be restricted to heterosexual couples. She described civil unions as an alternative providing equal rights.
In 1997 she hosted an overnight weekend talk show on KFI. Bruce hosted a national radio program on Talk Radio Network through much of the 2000s. She returned to TRN in November 2012 as a guest host during the move of The Laura Ingraham Show from Talk Radio Network to Courtside Entertainment Group.[citation needed]. In 2014, Bruce created a short video for the conservative YouTube channel Prager University in which she summarized her criticisms of the contemporary feminist movement.
In 2009, after Barack Obama and his family had moved into the White House, Bruce said, "we've got trash in the White House."
Tammy Bruce Calls The Obamas Trash In The White House
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tammy-bruce-calls-the-oba_n_178109
Tammy Bruce, guest host for Laura Ingrams radio show, had some harsh words for First Lady Michelle Obama.
Discussing the first ladys visit to a Washington D.C. classroom last week, Bruce incredulously recalled Obamas story about wanting to get As in school and called out her use of a weird, fake accent.
Thats what hes married to, Bruce said. ...You know what weve got? Weve got trash in the White House. Trash is a thing that is colorblind, it can cross all eco-socionomic...categories. You can work on Wall Street, or you can work at the Wal-Mart. Trash, are people who use other people to get things, who patronize others, who consider you bitter and clingy...
Mosby
(16,299 posts)It's the media that's fomenting conflict, not the Democrats.