What did Hillary Mean to Say?
May 25, 2008 Opinion, Political
There has been an uproar over a comment by Hillary Clinton when asked about dropping out of the race. She indicated that her husband did not wrap things up until June 1992 and that Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June. People were quick to jump on this and say she was inferring that Obama could be killed and then she would be the nominee. I see it differently.
I am certainly no supporter of Hillary Clinton but in this case I have to agree with her. From the moment I read the comment I knew she meant that there were times in history where the nomination process was still going on in June. It is a foregone conclusion that she expressed it poorly which does not bode well for a person who is supposed to be so brilliant. I know that the Clinton history is filled with nuanced statements but I cannot get on the bandwagon of people who think she meant that harm could or should come to Obama.
Al Sharpton [Daily News] has contacted Hillary and told her to choose her words wisely which is ironic considering Sharpton’s were have been responsible for a number of deaths. His peace marches have turned into riots where people have been killed based upon what he told the crowd. I imagine he should know that poorly chosen words can lead to catastrophe because he has certainly had his share of inciting catastrophic moments.
Clinton has apologized [My Way News] for the remarks and explained that she meant no disrespect to the Kennedy clan and once again explained what she meant. Unfortunately, there are those who will look at this as one more way that Hillary is ruining the nomination process and how her scorched Earth policies know no bounds. While I believe that the Clintons will say or do anything to win, I also know they would never say or do anything to upset an American dynasty such as the Kennedys. That would be political suicide though her poor remarks might end up being the self inflicted wound that finally does her in.
One thing to keep in mind is that if Obama were a white person these remarks would not have the same significance. Since there were early worries that he might be killed this has a lot more weight. People naturally assume some redneck will unload on him because he is a black guy. The reality is, all the worries are about people on the left. They are the folks running their primary and it is the Hillary supporters that they must be worried about.
I have rarely agreed with Clinton (and never politically) but in this case I have to. She did not mean to place Obama in jeopardy or suggest that he might meet an untimely demise which would give the nomination to her. The whole issue has been blown out of proportion by those who worry some crackpot will take a cue from what she said and off Obama. I can’t imagine anyone would want to see any of them injured or killed. Politics are one thing but taking a life is quite another and no sane person wants to see someone die because they disagree politically. This, of course, is in the US. A lot of people want to see terrorists who disagree politically cease to exist.
No one in his right mind believes the Obama/JFK comparisons but then again, no one is his right mind wants there to be an Obama/RFK comparison either.
Maybe Hillary was just tired or maybe people actually have a different opinion about what happened to Vince Foster…
Related Items:
Wall Street Journal
New York Post
Tags: assassination, Clinton, Obama, poor words, RFK, sharpton
Refocus Debate to Black on Black Violence
Apr 28, 2008 General
In my last post I wrote about the Sean Bell incident and the threats by Al Sharpton and others to close down New York City. The tension is mounting in New York and now Congressman John Conyers of Michigan has flown to Queens to join those who will participate in civil disobedience after the officers involved in the shooting were all found not guilty. Conyers and others are in contact with the US Justice Department asking that they file federal charges against the officers. It seems to me that this is the business of the state of New York and the federal government does not belong meddling in it. If charges are brought, ever cop in New York should walk off the job and let Al Sharpton and John Conyers try to keep the peace.
There was a meeting on Sunday where people noted that Bell was one name on a long list of people who were victims of police brutality. A person named Clarke [not otherwise identified in the article] had an interesting thing to say:
“The scales of justice are out of balance,” Clarke said to applause as some in the audience hissed that the scales were never balanced to begin with. “We will not see another generation of African-American men being shot down without there being justice. We will be focused like a laser until justice rains down.” WCBSTV
Let me clear this up for all the race baiters who are involved in this. The shooting of Sean Bell was, no doubt, tragic but he was drunk and did not obey the police who feared for their lives after Bell rammed one of their cars. His accomplices have been involved in gun crimes before and were believed to have guns. This one case does not equal many cases and while there have been reports of police brutality (against all races) they are rare when compared to the number of encounters police have with criminals.
What these race baiters need to do to keep another generation of African Americans from being shot down is to police their own. The major US cities are filled with young black men who are killing each other every single day. Black on black crime is out of control and blacks are killing hundreds of their own people every single day. There were nearly 300 murders in Baltimore City last year and the overwhelming majority of them were black men killed by other black men.
If these so called leaders want to end the violence against blacks in communities across America all they need do is stop young black men from killing each other. Bill Cosby has tried to address this issue and he was shunned for airing the dirty laundry of the black community. The problem is real and all too common in those very communities. About 70% of black households have one parent and the impact of gangster rap on young black men cannot be discounted.
If Sharpton and Conyers want to make an impact they need to start in the major cities across this country and encourage black men to stop killing each other. More black men will be killed by other black men this year than will be killed by the police.
If you want brutality, look no farther than your own communities.
Tags: brutality, conyers, race baiting, sharpton
Sharpton Stirs Up Trouble in New York
Apr 28, 2008 General
In November of 2006 Sean Bell was attending his bachelor party at an establishment that was under surveillance by the police for alleged prostitution. One of Bell’s friends got into an argument and one of Bell’s friends was heard saying to get his gun and shoot the “white bitch” (the woman with whom the argument took place). They left and were followed by a police officer who had called for his back-up team. The police identified themselves and ordered Bell to put his hands up (while he was in his car). Instead of complying, Bell accelerated and struck an unmarked police car. The police opened fire and Bell was struck by four bullets and died of his injuries. The police shot fifty rounds in the incident.
Three of the officers were indicted on manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges. On April 25th the three officers were found not guilty on all counts. The judge in the case stated that the officer’s account of the evening was more credible than the accounts of Bell’s two friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, both of whom survived the shooting.
Reverend Al Sharpton has been involved in this case since just after the shooting and has paid witnesses to discuss what they saw. Their versions contradict police accounts that a fourth man ran from the scene and was believed to have a gun. After the verdict on Friday Sharpton vowed to shut down New York City. He did state that he was not calling for any violence but that he and the black community in New York intended to shut down the city. Of course, Sharpton always says he does not call for violence and then his chants of “no justice no peace” end up inciting people to commit violent acts sometimes leading to the deaths of others.
Sharpton stated:
“We strategically know how to stop the city so people stand still and realize that you do not have the right to shoot down unarmed, innocent civilians,” Sharpton told an overflow crowd of several hundred people at his National Action Network office in the historically black Manhattan neighborhood. “This city is going to deal with the blood of Sean Bell.” My Way News
I was not there and have no way of knowing what really happened any more than Sharpton does. However, Bell was intoxicated and when ordered by police to put his hands up accelerated his car and ran into theirs. His friend had been heard talking about getting a gun and killing a “white bitch” and the two friends have criminal records that involve guns. If Sean Bell had listened to the police and put his hands up he might still be alive today but instead he made an aggressive move that resulted in his death. Bell’s acts, in no way, can be seen as those of an innocent man. He might have been innocent when they ordered him to put his hands up but he lost his innocence when he accelerated and ran into their car.
Al Sharpton will incite a riot and people will probably get hurt. If we are fortunate one of the casualties will be Sharpton and he will no longer be around to incite black hatred. Whites in LA did not riot when OJ was found not guilty because the court had issued its ruling, like it or not.
The incident with Bell was tragic and though I personally think that shooting fifty times is excessive, I was not there. I do not know the neighborhood or the circumstances the officers faced. I do know that a court found them not guilty of manslaughter and that is good enough for me whether I think they are guilty or not. The only thing Sharpton can do is muddy the waters more than they are and promote hatred and racial intolerance.
Thanks to my friend Kender for this bit of humor to end this post:
The Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, while visiting a primary school class, found themselves in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.
The teacher asked both men if they would like to lead the discussion of the word ‘tragedy’. So the illustrious Rev Jackson asks the class for an example of a ‘tragedy’.
One little boy stood up and offered: ‘If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a runaway tractor comes along and knocks him dead, that would be a tragedy.’
No,’ says the Great Jesse Jackson, ‘that would be an accident.’
A little girl raised her hand: ‘If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy.’
I’m afraid not,’ explains the exalted Reverend Al. ‘That’s what we would call a great loss. ‘ The room goes silent. No other children volunteered.
Reverend Al searches the room. ‘Isn’t there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?’
Finally at the back of the room little Johnny raises his hand. In a stern voice he says: ‘If a plane carrying the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton were struck by a missile and blown to smithereens that would be a tragedy.’
Fantastic!’ exclaim Jackson and Sharpton, ‘That’s right. And can you tell us why that would be a tragedy?’
‘Well,’ says little Johnny, ‘because it sure as hell wouldn’t be a great loss, and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either!”
Other Sources:
WCBSTV
Wikipedia: Sean Bell Shooting
Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Friar
Mar 19, 2008 Political
Senator Barack Obama is fighting for his political life after the racist rants and views of his longtime pastor caused an uproar in our country. Obama’s core vote remains the same but he is losing support among independents and the white community in general. People are disillusioned by support for a man who has, and continues, to make racist remarks. Obama is an empty suit and the only thing going for him was his charm and message of unity. The message from Jeremiah Wright is anything but unifying and Obama, who listened to these messages for 20 years, is guilty by association in this disunity. Once the message is gone, there is nothing left of Obama but an empty shell.
The speech on race that Obama gave was an effort to stop the hemorrhaging of support but to many, the speech was nothing more than excuses for the way Wright feels and a comparison of his support for Wright to the love he has for his white grandmother. Obama seems to think people do not understand that we cannot choose our blood relatives but we can choose who we associate with outside of our families.
While Obama is trying to beat down the alligators that have surfaced around him another so-called religious leader has reared his ugly head in support of Obama. The race baiting poverty pimp Reverend Al Sharpton is supporting Senator Obama’s bid for the presidency. Sharpton is noting more than another antisemitic racist who blames white people for all the woes in the black community. Sharpton claims he will not endorse Obama because that would tie the Senator to what Sharpton says and does but that he will be working to help Obama win the presidency. To me it is a non endorsement, endorsement.
Sharpton wanted to keep his support quiet but this article pretty much puts it out in the open. Interestingly, Sharpton claims that Obama asked him to publicly endorse but Sharpton said it would work better if he did not. Now, Obama can claim that he was unaware of the racist remarks made by Pastor Wright, a claim I find suspect, but there is no way he is unaware of Sharpton’s record of racist and antisemitic remarks. Sharpton has been in the news for decades and his rants against Jews and whites are well known. They are part of the public record and Obama, who is not a stupid man, has to know how people view the Reverend Al.
Herein lies the problem. Obama gives a speech where he claims not to have known of Wright’s words and that he [Obama] would have told him that they were inappropriate if he had heard them. Obama claims that these words are inappropriate but that he cannot cast Wright off any more than he could cast off the black community or his white grandmother (as if the black community as a whole is offensive like Wright). At the same time he is giving his “I have a nightmare” speech he is seeking the endorsement of another divisive racist black man. When Obama jumps from one racist to another it makes it very difficult to believe his claim that he would never condone the kinds of offensive things Wright said.
Senator Obama is worried that people will paint him with the same brush as they do Wright and for him that is a very valid concern. But one finds it hard to see how any other brush can be used when Obama seeks the endorsement of a man who is as ugly and as racist as Wright.
There were those who said that race would be an issue in this campaign. Only an idiot would say it has not but very few figured that the defining issue on race would be the hatred and racism toward whites. Obama, by aligning himself with these racists, is showing his true color.
Imagine that, I Actually Agree with Al Sharpton
Feb 13, 2008 Political
Anyone who reads this blog knows that I do not care for Al Sharpton because he is a race baiting poverty pimp.I believe that he only takes up causes that will get him in the spotlight and when a black person is the victim. He ignores non blacks in the same situations and to top it off he incites riots where people get killed. However, he wrote a letter to the DNC with regard to the delegates from Florida and Michigan. In the letter, Sharpton stated:
Some have said that not seating delegations from Florida and Michigan disenfranchises Democratic voters — especially African American voters — from those two states. That claim, if true, should have been made many months ago before the decision was made to strip these states of their delegates, and, once the decision was made, it should have been vigorously objected to and contested by those who felt it disenfranchised voters. To raise that claim now smacks of politics in its form most raw and undercuts the moral authority behind such an argument. Drudge
I don’t know how it would particularly disenfranchise blacks in Florida but he is right in the overall assessment. They took a decision many months ago and they have to live by that decision. People who are objecting should have done so back then. Of course, Sharpton is motivated by the fact that his candidate, Barack Star Obama, is in the lead and he does not want that taken away. If Obama were behind but had won those states, Sharpton would want them seated. Hillary, for her part, is now trying to get the delegates seated because she is losing. She did not protest before because she thought she would have won it all by now.
I have no dog in that fight because I am not a Democrat but as an observer I will say that they made rules that stated if a state held its primary before February 5th then that state would lose its delegates (except the two usual starter states). Florida and Michigan were warned and they did it anyway which means they should have to live by the rules. If candidates did not agree then they should have been talking about it when the decisions were taken (why were some of the others allowed to go early).
Having said that, I would not be surprised to see the DNC reverse course and allow the delegates. This would give Hillary a big lead and she might pull off the nomination. That would fracture the Democratic party and many Obama supporters would stay home or jump ship on election day. The Democrats always have inventive ways to lose elections and it would not surprise me if the party elite decided to do this to help the Queen get to the throne.
Personally, I would like to see just that take place.
I would also ask the media and all the other nitwits who said George Bush was not a legitimate president if that would make Hillary an illegitimate nominee. After all, she would be selected, not elected and that has been the cry of the left for nearly eight years.
Hillary cannot get enough delegates to win outright but she might do well in several large delegate states. If so, neither will win the required number and the convention will be brokered. That is when the bloodbath will begin and it will be quite a bit of fun to watch.
Others with interesting posts:
Outside the Beltway, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Right Truth, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, Adeline and Hazel, Pursuing Holiness, third world county, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, A Newt One, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Tags: brokered convention, Clinton, Obama, rules, sharpton