Comment I heard regarding Obama and race

[fed_up_mother]

I was talking to a neighbor about Obama who is still in the "undecided" category. Actually, he's a Republican who hates what Bush has done to this country's reputation, and thinks he's the stupidest president we've ever had. Anyway, he was strongly leaning towards Obama a few months ago - the last time we spoke.

After speaking to him on Friday, I thought his comment was interesting. I'm going to paraphrase what he told me. "I loved him the first few months. I was truly color blind when I looked at 'him'. Now, I see him surrounded more and more by very liberal, radical blacks, and I'm disappointed. I thought he was "half and half" , but the more I read about his Chicago connections with the black mafia, I'm not so sure."

Anyway, I tried to tell him that Chicago politics is just that - politics. I joked that nothing was dirtier than Louisiana politics in the last hundred years - and they were white! I didn't know what else to say. Any ideas on what I should say next time I run into him?

I really get the feeling that he likes Obama. He even said last time that he reminds him of JFK.

How do you deal with stuff like that? Here we have a man ready to vote for a black man, but is afraid of some of the blacks that he "supposedly" surrounds himself with.

I really think this is representive of some kind of racism. I think many whites are quite willing to hire that black man or woman, befriend that black neighbor, even have their child marry that black man or woman, but they're still afraid of the black group, so to speak.


Am I making any sense? This man is white and married to a woman from Mexico if that adds anything to understanding.

[GodlessBiker]

1. "...some of the blacks..."? That turn of phrase bothers me.

[tabatha]

2. Ask him to look at his advisors - they are mostly white.

[iceman66]

12. Exactly.

Ask him to name a single African American in Obama's inner circle.

I bet he can't.

[BlooInBloo]

3. He's nowhere near voting for Obama imo.

[fed_up_mother]

4. I know this man - he was the one who brought up voting for Obama last time I saw him

His kids are half Mexican. I've never considered him racist, and I truly think he likes Obama a lot.

[BlooInBloo]

5. Ok.

[fed_up_mother]

6. One funny thing - I noticed several blacks surrounding Obama the other day

After I spoke to him, I just couldn't help but notice. (I never really paid much attention before.) And then I realized that probably half of them were Secret Service. LOL

Don't ask me what this has to do with anything. I just caught myself looking, and then laughed at myself.

[Newshues]

7. Only tact I can think of

Ask him if he thinks Obama is his own man or not.

We all have friends who others would find questionable for various reasons. All of us. The question is, are we our own person or are we puppets to our friends?

I don't think anyone can say Obama is a puppet to those around him.

Bottomline in politics is that if you want to get anywhere and get anything done you need to associate, whether you like them personally or not, with people who are less than desirable in terms of their own behavior. Especially true in a place where one party outright dominates the political landscape - power draws those who are corrupt.

What you have on your hands is a person who wants to vote for Obama but is looking for an excuse to vote against Obama for whatever reason ( racism, party affiliation, whatever doesn't matter ).

Best you can do is simply knock down the excuse. A new one will crop up and you'll have to knock down that one. Don't think of it as winning a convert for Obama, think of it as keeping someone from finding the excuse to vote their default.

[fed_up_mother]

9. He's had nothing but good things to say about him except for that

which is why I really tried to remind him about politics in Louisiana. And you're right. One party rule can get very corrupt.

I don't think he's going to vote for anyone else. I'm just afraid he might stay home. He was so enthusiastic about Obama last time. Considering we're in a VERY red state, I would imagine that he's heard a lot of shit about Obama, too. :(

Honestly, our votes aren't really going to count, except in the national vote count - which I think is important when it comes to a mandate.

[Newshues]

23. could be peer pressure

seriously. It's not just teens that suffer from peer pressure.

Remind him that no one knows who we ultimately vote for when we close that curtain and mark our ballots.

Well, that's how we vote around here, complete with paper ballots!

[Lex]

8. Do McCain's crooked lobbyist advisors bother him less?

[jules1962]

10. fed-up-mother

nailed it. Those "liberal blacks" surrounding Obama are Secret Service. Not that it matters who he surrounds himself with. The Secret Service places people that fit the profile of the subject that they are protecting as often as possible.
If you notice, when they protect first ladies, they are surrounded by more female agents. Just how they do things for security.

[fed_up_mother]

14. And I don't even think it's the folks on tv that we see.

But after he said that, I couldn't help but notice who was around.

Instead, I think it's the whole Chicago politics thing that worries him. I live in a very red state, where emails keep circulating. You know - the ones where he's the anti-Christ, a member of the Chicago mafia, or owes the Chicago mafia because he rose to fame so fast, blah, blah, blah.

I did remind him how quickly Bush rose to the presidency, and he laughed and joked that he was so sorry that he had voted for that "jackass." :)

One thing he did say - he would much rather have Michelle and those cute kids in the White House than the bottle blonde!

Seriously, this is a nice guy who is having trouble overcoming all the idiots we're surrounded by. :( :( :(

[VP505]

11. Why not ask him why

he would base his vote on what might well be just gossip. Obama is a well educated man he didn't get to be a Law Professor, State Legislator and a Senator because there are some Gangsters in the city he lives in and possibly had some contact with as a community organizer.

[marlo]

13. WTF is the "black mafia"...

If this is story genuine, then it doesn't sound like the person in question is really leaning towards Obama or "color blind."

[fed_up_mother]

15. He's talking about corrupt Chicago politics.

But I reminded him of corrupt Italian mafia politics and corrupt cajun politics, and he seemed to really think about that.

Anyway, I don't want to be making excuses for this fellow. I just wanted to relay another "swing" voter's thought processes.

[ThomWV]

16. You're supposed to say "Where did you hear that bullshit?" You still listening to ...

Fill in the blank as to who he is listening to but tell him straight up that it is bullshit lies just like the lies that let Bush do as he pleased with our country for the last 8 years. Tell him that listening to that sort of bullshit is what got us into trouble in the first place and then turn him on to Rachel Maddow,

[alfredo]

17. When Obama went to work to help displaced steel workers,

he had to work with people he wouldn't want as friends, but had to work with to get housing, jobs, and healthcare for these out of work families. He had to work with some radical elements on the left because they were the ones working in the poor and middle class neighborhoods. If people on the right were involved in helping the poor, he would have worked with them. If it had been William Kristol working for laid off steel workers, Obama would have been working with him, but it was people like Ayers and Rev Wright who worked to improve the lot of the poor.

Remember Christ was criticized for hanging out with the dregs of society.

Remember, Obama worked with the churches to get them to work for the poor instead of building palaces for themselves.

[fed_up_mother]

18. Great answer. I'll remember that if I see him again.

[alfredo]

22. Obama is a New Testament Christian. Jesus worked with the poor, the sick

the outcast, murderers, and thieves. That was where the need was the greatest. The priests in their "crystal cathedrals" didn't want to dirty their hands ministering to those who couldn't fill their collection plates.

Compare and contrast Democrats and Republicans.

THE EIGHT BEATITUDES OF JESUS


"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10

A bleeding heart Liberal

[codjh9]

19. 'black Mafia' - give me a break. It's very hard to crack these racist, er, 'crackers'. :^)

[fed_up_mother]

21. He's really not a racist, but he's buying the lies about Obama in Chicago politics

However, i can still tell that he likes Obama immensely, so I have hope.

His thinking is Bush has been the most crooked politician in his lifetime. He's afraid that McCain follows Bush's policies, but he's bought the cool-aid that McCain is a maverick and honest. Know what I mean?

I think he's more afraid of corruption (Chicago politics) than he is afraid of anything else cause he's seen what the Cheney/Bush gang has done to this country. And I think that a lot of racist folks on tv have shaped this story. Hope I'm making sense.

[pdxmom]

20. He needs to stop listening to the likes of Hannity and Rush and start

thinking for himself. He's getting that crap from somewhere, and it isn't the MSM. This is pure RW hate radio spewing racist crap. Ask him specifically who he is talking about. Which "black mafia" people is he talking about? I would guess he has no clue. It's a RW smear, trying to put fear into the equation.

[EFerrari]

24. Yes, you are making the kind of sense someone who believes

in a liberal black mafia makes.

What part of bigot is unclear to you?

[fed_up_mother]

25. He's talking about mafia as in the corrupt politics controlled by a few

And...ummm....we have had that in a few places around the country - mostly white, as I recall. Every time it seems that I turn on the tv someone is talking about Chicago's corruption, so he wants to know how involved Obama is in that. It's not "necessarily" racism, although latent racism could make him more prone to believing it. I don't consider this man to be a bigot. He's married to a Mexican immigrant, and we live in a very integrated neighborhood which he chose to buy in.