Update: The Other McCain pretty much agrees with my take on this.
The LA Times has another in a long line of media stories on why whites may not vote for Obama because he is black. But every story I've read leaves out some important details.
It remains unclear how racial unease will factor into election-day decisions come November. Those hidden impulses are elusively difficult to capture in polling. But seasoned Democratic players here reckon that some racially tinged voting will inevitably occur far beyond Hardy County's cresting hills.
Whether it's politically correct to say it, or not, additional facts are worth acknowledging. This isn't someone named Colin Powell. The candidate's full name is Barack Hussein Obama. Tell me, how many Americans do you know by the first name of Barack, let alone his middle-name? Have you ever known one?
Yes, there may be some white voters who will shun Obama simply because he is black. But that strikes me as a bit simplistic in this case. Frankly, I'm not sure a white individual by the name of Barack Hussein Obama could win the presidency.
Ultimately, Obama may be one too politically correct bridge too far to go given current demographics. Like it or not, along with whatever number of whites harbor concerns over Obama's color, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that an equal number have more concerns over his ancestry and given name.
Frankly put, even in 2008, the name Barack Obama just doesn't sound American. He is. I am not questioning that. But appearances mean a great deal. And Obama appears to be some configuration that probably strikes a good percentage of the population as something other than mainstream American. And that, more than just his color, will likely spell his doom when it comes to a general election.
The media obsession with the racism meme, without acknowledging the entire picture, is simply a symptom of a media that's stuck on old stupid, offering little if any genuinely intelligent, deep, or honest analysis of the entire picture.
But then, there's nothing new in that, I suppose.
jharp:
That was sarcasm. I am educated, paid on my own dime by working my ass off and not thinking the GOV should run my life, as per DEMS. But as I say, why bother? DEMS get in office, the GOV will pay for everything.
What I was really saying, guess I have to spell it out, is that the government should NOT be in our daily lives and the rewards should go to those that want to make it and not those that feel entitled birth. To m any laws, to many people in jail, to many socialist agendas. Please tell me why the GOV should pay for health care, I would rather they pay my rent, about the same cost.
Posted by: tec | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 09:39 PM
I should have caught that but with some of the nuts here you never know.
From a big Batman fan as a kid I hope someone likes this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgJ5AcsXp4M&eurl=http://thismodernworld.com/
Posted by: jharp | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 09:45 PM
"What I was really saying, guess I have to spell it out, is that the government should NOT be in our daily lives."
Do you mean like listening in on our phone calls and monitoring our e mail.
I 100% agree.
"Please tell me why the GOV should pay for health care"
The taxpayers are the ones who will pay. And to be brief the reason is it can be done at a substantial savings to all Americans.
Don't know how long you've been here but are you aware that Americans pay 2 to 3 times what the rest of world pays.
I'll refer you back to my original response to you.
Go get yourself an education.
Posted by: jharp | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 09:52 PM
"--- No, it means the public is exceedingly unhappy with what Bush and the Republicans have given them - Unending War in Iraq, Fixcal Deficits as far as the eyc can see - Thanks Fixcal Conservatives, Gas at $4 a gallon, an economy that scares just about everyone ---"
We are angry at incompetence regardless of the little letter after the politician's name. And where Bush and the GOP have not lead a constitutionally bound government, the Congress (both GOP and Democrats) have failed to restrain him, but rather, have acquiesced.
Change is needed, but a change back to principles and methods that have worked in the past, and a change toward governing according to the mandate of the people as per the boundaries laid out by the Constitution of this Republic.
And here's a thought to chew on: $4/gal. gas is only a start. We will probably need to get up to $10 or $12 per gallon gas before we start seeing some serious and commitment to changing our driving habits and begin to conserve on the one hand, get away from dependency on despotic regimes for their oil, and develop our own advanced resources.
I'm generally very anti-tax, but I think that *increasing* the federal gas tax would actually do far more good than either Mac or Hillary's ideas to give us a "gas tax holiday".
Posted by: seekeronos | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 09:56 PM
(1) That Batman outtake nearly had me falling out of me chair.
(2) As an addendum on the gas tax hike, let me say that if such a thing came to pass, I'd like to have it geared toward gasoline much more than diesel, given our freight traffic is far more dependent on diesel. Also, that tax revenue should go toward a massive overhaul and expansion of our rail networks and toward developing domestic and renewable energy sources, both short, medium, and long term.
Posted by: seekeronos | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:02 PM
yo J:
I don't care. if the gov stopped subsidizing health care the market would adjust to normal rates. It is the GOV involvment that inflates the price. Everytime the GOV gets involved, prices go up, 'cause big biz wants it cut.
Like right now I am drunk off my ass off Rum, so if i get liver issues, it should be at my cost not the govs. The US Constitution calls for the security of the nation, not every aspect of our lives.
Posted by: tec | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:14 PM
jharp:
Your all about the education, even in the face of being wrong/or is it wronged? Well, you did as expected as a lib, you changed the subject. Maybe it is you who need the ED, as we all know it is BIG GOV that drives up costs of health care. Hmm, i did fing Batman humous, your were the Pengiuin I guess, distracting form issues via flim lam? Ha I find you video entertaining and tri=uthful, yet I wonder, who's truth is it? Who is B or C? Hmm? But anyway. I fing the argument a distraction to the real issue....
...............Obama is not Black........I can go to the mall and find dozens of white kids more black than him.
Marrying a black woman, going to a black church does not make him black....Hell I am married to Puerto Rican, doesn't make me a spaniard. He is white, whether he likes it or not....or Arab, but being Black is the 3rd choice on his list......but whatever it takes to get votes and play on liberal white guilt...
Posted by: tec | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:37 PM
Seek,
I'm anti tax myself but unfortunately we do have bills to pay as I'm sure you understand.
Always felt gas taxes were a fair way to fund roads and the like as it matches the tax with the folks that use the roads.
My biggest complaint today is the capital gains tax. Very unfair. The self employed small businessman (the backbone of our economy) pays 15.2% self employment tax plus federal income tax rate which is much higher than the 15% capital gains tax.
And simply because capital gains are not "earned income" they get a lower rate.
Call me a commie if you must but I don't think I should pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett.
Glad you enjoyed the Batman clip.
Posted by: jharp | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:50 PM
tec,
"as we all know it is BIG GOV that drives up costs of health care."
Wrong, wrong, and wrong.
The U.S. is the only country without a universal health care plan that covers ALL citizens.
And we pay 2 to 3 times what the rest of work does.
Cannot understand why folks can't understand this concept. Are you a dittohead?
Posted by: jharp | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:55 PM
RANDY NEAL ON THE MEDIA'S DISRESPECT FOR APPALACHIA:
After anointing Obama as the nominee on Tuesday, the media narrative has shifted to the West Virginia and Kentucky "Appalachian" contests. They are reduced to quaint curiosities in which poor, white, uneducated mountain people from a "bygone era" have been trained to make their way to a school gym and push a button just like real people for the delight and amusement of the media elite.
www.instapundit.com
The left wingers show their true colors
Posted by: Lala | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:59 PM
Jharp:
Wrong? and what is the price in taxes those countries pay? "Only" country without uni-health care. Sorry but does a machete in R'wanda count as health care? Man, ya better check your "hate America" facts. All the countries with health care supplied by their GOV are of course paid for by taxpayers. And those people therefore go to the Hospital for every little snifflr as entitlemen, instead of seeking Nyquil.
You poor fool, i fell so sorry for you and your ignorance. Maybe one day you will grow up and become aware of your surroundings.
Posted by: tec | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 11:21 PM
I hope these people have health insurance
Burma exports rice as cyclone victims starve
* Ian MacKinnon, south east Asia correspondent
* The Observer,
* Sunday May 11 2008
www.guardian.co.uk
Posted by: Lala | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 11:34 PM
tec,
Listen carefully, please.
Tax rates and health care expenditures are two independent events that have nothing to do with each other.
Nothing.
I know this might be hard for you to grasp but whether the government spends a dollar or a private citizen spends a dollar it's still a dollar.
The United States spends two to three times what the rest of the INDUSTRIALIZED world spends on health care.
How right wingers make the leap from health care costs to tax rates shows the shallowness of their thinking.
One point I'll agree with on is our system is better than Rwanda.
Something to be very proud of.
Posted by: jharp | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 11:41 PM
Lala,
"I hope these people have health insurance"
I agree. I hope so too.
Posted by: jharp | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 11:44 PM
Jharp:
Where does the GOV get money? TAXES. Say it with me. T-a-x-e-s. My God, oops there I go invoking that name again, money does not magically exist, as you lefters my seem to think. It takes working people to make tax revenue for GOV to work. No working people, no TAXES. Oh but now you added INDUSTRIALIZED to the arguement, wasn't there before. So, keep changing the scenery. No matter, your arguement is still without truth. Please, strike again so I can shoot you down...Librals are without thought after all.
Wait wait, I know, in the next attack i will be a racist, all that you libs know how to argue, facts are nothing accusations are all you live for....
Posted by: tec | Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Jharp:
It's funny, i am drunk and still smarter than you.
Posted by: tec | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:00 AM
"Where does the GOV get money? TAXES. Say it with me. T-a-x-e-s."
No shit. Good one. So what is your point?
"My God, oops there I go invoking that name again, money does not magically exist,"
Another good one. You must be quite the educated man.
"It takes working people to make tax revenue for GOV to work. No working people, no TAXES."
Wow. Another piece of brilliance.
"Oh but now you added INDUSTRIALIZED to the arguement, wasn't there before."
You are right, it wasn't there before. I made the wrong assumption that I was communicating witha person with some common sense. Not one who would compare our healthcare systen with Rwanda.. Go figure.
"Wait wait, I know, in the next attack i will be a racist."
"I have no idea whether you are a racist or not. And I really don't give a dam."
Put the rum bottle away and educate yourself.
Posted by: jharp | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:07 AM
Ah, but you did say the only country without health care, r'wanda is a country.
Please, don't insult the rum for your own flaws. you are dumb. You are uneducated. You keep changing things to match your arguement. Yours cannot stand up to face value so you have to keep morphing. Sorry, but your fired.
Your arguement has no substance, your views have no substance, you ideas are without merit.
Please step aside and let the big boys play. But don't worry, we'll leave the Lincoln Logs for you to build your next arguement.
Sorry, no parting gifts....
Posted by: tec | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:15 AM
jharp:
It's funny how you diss'ed my ridicule of your points. All you did was re-enforce my counterpoints. You are a fool, not worthy of my rum laced piss. I have friends that are in the know and they tell me the CIA is on the way to meet you. Say hello to Bin Abdul in GITMO. You are on the way out and I am sorry it has to be like this but things happen. Better YOU than ME. love, kisses, adio mi amigo.
Posted by: tec | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:20 AM
tec,
I have mixed feelings about our debate.
On one hand I feel good that as long as dumbasses like you are around my kids will easily succeed in the business world.
On the other hand I feel bad that dumbasses like you who vote against their own best interests leave us with the likes of George Bush as President.
One thing I hope you can somehow understand is that tax rates and health care expenditures have nothing to do with each other.
I'm going to bed.
Posted by: jharp | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:21 AM
Ha you retreat. i knew it
Posted by: tec | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:25 AM
Ha i voted for Kerry, again your judgment is flawed. You are a fool and it is a shame you breed, if they are your own, hehehe Cabron. HAhAHA Look it up, ask a Puerto Rican friend what that means.
You seem to forget that GOV is funded by taxpayers. Every thing the GOV does is on the tax payer. Every penny spent is on a taxpayer. It is not the govs job to run society. The more we push for GOV intervention, the more people loss.
Get it straight!!! We the people....Not we the Congress...Not we the House....Not we the Supreme Court...Not we the president.....It is We The People......
Once thet settles into your mind, all else is just filler.
Posted by: tec | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:32 AM
You are a drunken nitwit,
You seem to forget that GOV is funded by taxpayers.
No. I didn't forget. Why would you think I did?
"Every thing the GOV does is on the tax payer. Every penny spent is on a taxpayer."
No shit. You learn that at Harvard?
"It is not the govs job to run society."
The rum has poisoned your brain. About 230 years ago our founding fathers decided to form a new country and elect a government to represent all Americans.
Why do you hate America?
Posted by: jharp | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 12:44 AM
Thanks, red, Ms Obama writes: "I'm on leave from my job, but I've been busy! I hit the campaign trail four or so days a week."
This tells us nothing. Is she on paid leave? If she is on unpaid leave, does she still have her health benefits? Her dental plan? Has she been replaced? Will she get her job back after the election if hubby doesn't win?
What does her employer get out of this if Barry doesn't win? What do they get out of this if he does?
She is no low-level employee. She makes good money? If her job is so important, how can they simply do without her for so long?
This whole job/leave business appears to be a very unfunny joke.
Posted by: Fred Beloit | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 09:06 AM
Race-card, double-post, Harpo tells another commenter, "You are a drunken nitwit..."
Only last week Harpo claimed that he himself was a drunken golfer. Very amusing.
Posted by: Fred Beloit | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 09:13 AM
"--- My biggest complaint today is the capital gains tax. Very unfair. The self employed small businessman (the backbone of our economy) pays 15.2% self employment tax plus federal income tax rate which is much higher than the 15% capital gains tax.
And simply because capital gains are not "earned income" they get a lower rate. ---"
My question on this is: to what degree does small business (as an aggregate) is driven by infusions of capital, or to what degree does that aggregate hold stock in capital used to drive the economy?
I recognize that there is much room for abusing the system, but if we discourage investors from buying, holding, or trading assets with a more punitive tax rates, it will have a detrimental effect on our economy, and encourage investors to flee to offshore markets and/or commodities.
Lower capital gains taxes stimulate the economy and promotes growth; raising them promotes our stagnation, and the relative growth of foreign economies (not necessarily a bad thing, but we should be in a position to grow *with* them, and not merely having them grow at our expense).
Keeping capital gains taxes low also lowers the bar for people with lower income levels who might like to invest in the power of the stock markets to see their wealth grow as well.
Posted by: seekeronos | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 09:36 AM
"My question on this is: to what degree does small business (as an aggregate) is driven by infusions of capital, or to what degree does that aggregate hold stock in capital used to drive the economy?"
Don't know the answer. But I do know many self employed who are self financed, myself included.
And Warren Buffett types pay 17% folks who "earn" their income pay up to the mid 40%.
And throw in being denied equal access to health insurance and it is pretty challenging for the small businessman.
And I say they are the backbone of our economy and the unfair tax code and health care issues are crippling our economy.
Posted by: jharp | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 11:48 AM
"Eighty-two percent of Americans now say the country's seriously off on the wrong track, up 10 points in the last year to a point from its record high in polls since 1973."
OK, Bush apologists. You are now to be known as 18% ers.
Unbelievable what the GOP has done to our country.
And I'm sure this is somehow good news for McCain.
Posted by: jharp | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 01:32 PM
So some whites wont vote for Obie because he's black and most blacks will vote for Obie because he's black. But some whites will vote for Obie because he's black and some will vote for him because he's pretty. Did anyone expect anything different? SInce when did every voter vote for anyone based on issues alone? It would be great if we all spent 10 minutes sussing the candidates on ALL issues and drew conclusions based on thought but it's so....so un-American to do that.
Posted by: WAHOO WILLIE | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 01:37 PM
""Eighty-two percent of Americans now say the country's seriously off on the wrong track, up 10 points in the last year to a point from its record high in polls since 1973."
Do you make balloon animals in your spare time? Hell if they'd asked me I would have said this country has been going to hell since 1968 and ain't gonna git no better.........
Posted by: WAHOO WILLIE | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 01:51 PM
Hey Willie,
Welcome home.
Care to share any fish stories?
Posted by: jharp | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 02:00 PM
"Care to share any fish stories?"
Thanks Harpie; Great trip though cut short because of bad weather, hail, high winds and mucho rain, none of which is fun in a tent or very close to a river bank. We caught some fish, kept some threw most back. You've likely camped with a smallish group of couples, no kiddies, cooked on an open fire, etc. If not make arrangements right away!
Posted by: WAHOO WILLIE | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 02:14 PM
"--- Hell if they'd asked me I would have said this country has been going to hell since 1968 and ain't gonna git no better......... ---"
I'd say the Coolidge administration was the likely high point for the GOP, although the high point for America was in Eisenhower's day.
Posted by: seekeronos | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 02:22 PM
"I'd say the Coolidge administration was the likely high point for the GOP."
Maybe, but I remember 1968....I only read about Coolidge. Don't know about you seek but I am ready to send England a very long "we're sorry for 1776/please come back" letter.
Posted by: WAHOO WILLIE | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 02:39 PM
Yeah, camping in the rain can suck. I now take the mini van and if it rains sleep in it.
Camping is great to get your mind off of business and such. My last trip with my son (he was 12) I was so dam busy cooking, cleaning, and rearranging things that I hadn't the time to think of anything else.
Posted by: jharp | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 02:47 PM
"--- ... Don't know about you seek but I am ready to send England a very long "we're sorry for 1776/please come back" letter. ---"
I'm not so sure that the UK is doing that much better these days, being run underfoot by the extremely vocal, yet minority band of Islamists in their realm. I'm certain that HRH Richard I, also called the Lion Heart, is spinning furiously like a mad dervish in his crypt at the thought of his beloved realm so poorly handled!
As for me, I would not be completely displeased to see SKKH Georg Friedrich von Preußen restored to the Prussian throne at the very least, if not as the constitutional monarch of Germany.
Posted by: seekeronos | Monday, May 12, 2008 at 02:55 PM
"--- ... Don't know about you seek but I am ready to send England a very long "we're sorry for 1776/please come back" letter. ---"
"We don't need no queens or kings either, I reckon." from the film "The Unforgiven"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105695/
Wahoo, have I told you about my experience on Topsy St. in Turvey Town? It is a place where one meets formerly famous and influential folks who have had a bad turn of fortune. For instance I saw Al Sharpton working as a barker at the carnival. He was renting baseballs to throw at fake milk bottles. Barney Frank was a greaser at the Ferris Wheel. Senator Byrd was a washer of basketball shoes. Chuck Schumer had to change the chemicals in the chemical toilets behind the Girlie Show.
Posted by: Fred Beloit | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 11:13 AM
This, by Mr Ever, shows how poorly the union-run public schools have served our young:
"George Bush inherited a balanced budget - he's almost doubled the deficit while in office, and deficts are projected out as far as you can see."
This poor, benighted soul thinks the President controls spending in the US. Don't they teach even the the most basic Civics any longer? No wonder the young Lefties make such strange proposals and favor the most oppressed class in the Nation; I speak of course of the disadvantaged who have graduated from Ivy League schools.
Posted by: Fred Beloit | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 11:25 AM
"I saw Al Sharpton working as a barker at the carnival."
Fred, Al is my hero man. He treaches us why liberals have no problem with rising taxes......THEY DONT BOTHER PAYING THEM!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: WAHOO WILLIE | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 01:27 PM
One reason some -- perhaps many -- whites wouldn't vote for a black politician is because: he/she is a black POLITICIAN.
A majority of blacks in office, as well as other black policy makers, celebrities and other highly visible people of color, are, as a group, the most disaffected collection of individuals in today's America. Their world view is almost entirely contrary to what a majority of (especially non-black) Americans think. Black politicians are also largely a sub-set of the virulent American Left. It is the Cynthia McKinneys, the Maxine Waters, the Sharptons and the Jesse Jacksons that dominate the African-American political landscape. People see this and know this. The more we see and hear of Obama (and his wife) and those he has closely associated with over his entire adulthood, the more obvious it is that he belongs to the black political "mainstream," and not the real mainstream. He is, therefore, a fraud.
Posted by: Roderick Reilly | Friday, May 16, 2008 at 12:49 PM