How did the Rev Wright not cost Obama the election?

[fskimospy]

So he was a fraud for twenty years. I can accept that.

Not agreeing with everything a pastor says at the church you attend is not being a fraud, and it's quite unlikely he is an atheist. I wish he were, but sadly I see no evidence that this is true. The guy seems to know an awful lot about the bible for someone who doesn't believe it as well.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Not agreeing with everything a pastor says at the church you attend is not being a fraud, and it's quite unlikely he is an atheist. I wish he were, but sadly I see no evidence that this is true. The guy seems to know an awful lot about the bible for someone who doesn't believe it as well.

I was responding to Throckmorton. If he sat in church because of political expediency but didn't believe it then there is no other term for it.

 

[fskimospy]

I was responding to Throckmorton. If he sat in church because of political expediency but didn't believe it then there is no other term for it.

Right, and I'm saying that Throckmorton's analysis doesn't hold up.

 

[thraashman]

At least among those people I know, nobody on the left cares about religion in and of itself, they only care when it's being pushed on them or insane public policy being crafted on its behalf.

If you can point to some policy that he's implemented that seems to stem from that 'radical church', I'll be the first person to condemn it. If not, who cares? I similarly don't care that Mitt Romney is a Mormon, despite Mormonism being one of the most demonstrably crazy religions out there.

I agree and even feel the same way about Romney. I'm about as devout atheist as humans can achieve (luckily without the need to proselytize it). However, Romney being a Mormon doesn't bother me. I don't agree with much of his politics, but when comparing him to say Trump or Bachmann, and even Gingrich really, he's not that bad.

 

[McWatt]

I suspect Obama's an atheist anyway, along with many politicians. Most politicians are from demographic groups (based on education) that are highly enriched in atheists, but nearly every American politician is publicly Christian. There's a reason for that - most voters aren't in that same demographic. I think that opponents were hesitant to rock the Pastor Whonever boat when 1) it would have welcomed Obama to bring up their own embarrassing friends/business partners/etc and 2) they probably had religious question marks of their own.

 

[Throckmorton]

So he was a fraud for twenty years. I can accept that.

It's more common than you think. In a lot of places you can't get ahead in business either unless you go to church with the right people.

I bet Obama doesn't like golf either.

 

[Carmen813]

I've kind of been wondering why. It's pretty obvious that Obama was attending racist sermons.

Why did the electorate believe that Obama had no racist connections? Or if they realized it, then why did they ignore the fact that he had racist connections?

Obama distanced himself from Louis Farrahkan, but not the Rev. Wright, when the latter is much more blatant about his hatred for whites than the former is.

Despite the fact that he's probably not the first black President, he sure isn't neutral on race issues, and I'm surprised most white people are willing to have a President who so strongly supports reverse discrimination.

Racism (and any ism) exists in multiple levels. It exists at the the individual, institutional, and societal level. Individuals of any background can be prejudiced/discriminate against others. Institutional racism is when laws/regulations exist that discriminate unfairly against others, such as what happens with mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws. Societal level discrimination are believes that individuals come to incorporate into themselves based on how groups are portrayed through culture. An example would be the belief that "black men are dangerous," as demonstrated by how the media reports violent crime. Societal racism is usually deeply enmeshed in a person and they are often unaware of holding these beliefs.

Higher tiers of racism (institutional, and societal) require actual power of some kind. Concepts like "reverse discrimination" don't exist. Discrimination is discrimination. "Reverse racism" doesn't exist, because there is no power associated with it. It can never rise to the institutional or societal level because these groups hold no real power in our society. Think of racism as "white supremacy" and it becomes easier to understand. Reverse White Supremacy sounds silly.

Obama, if anything, is color masked. He repeatedly states that we are all the same regardless of how we appear. This perspective actually causes more harm than overt racism. For one, it simply isn't true. There is plenty of documented evidence that people of color face barriers that whites (men in particular) do not. Advocating this perspective protects people belonging to powerful groups from acknowledging the fact that there are still racial problems that exist in our society. It glosses over the tremendous disparities that exist in the U.S. and invalidates the experiences of people of color. It creates a situation where anyone who believes they have been discriminated against due to the color of their skin is forced to explain themselves, or at least question if they were really discriminated against. This leads to all sorts of mental health problems.

Why didn't this sink Obama? Because he advocates a position that many whites in our society currently hold, which is the color masked perspective I discussed above. It's a position that let's the majority feel good and not need to acknowledge that, hey, maybe something is wrong in our society. It's also helps people avoid needing to consider the impact of privileges they have received due to their skin color, because our society believes in meritocracy. The idea that "If you work hard, you will succeed." This is anathema to the idea that invisible factors influence opportunities for success.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Why didn't this sink Obama? Because he advocates a position that many whites in our society currently hold, which is the color masked perspective I discussed above.

Don't ask, don't tell.

 

[Carmen813]

Don't ask, don't tell.

More or less. The color masked perspective fits in very well with dominant beliefs/values that exist in our society. Stuff like "all men are created equal" which every American child grows up believing. Individualism ties in as well, because it becomes easy to dismiss failure as some perceived shortcoming from the individual person rather than societal barriers that may be in place. And that success comes only from within. Meritocracy, "hard work = success" when plenty of hard working people live in poverty.

It take a lot of work to push yourself past socialization, which most people aren't willing or able to do. Even if you try, it's a lifelong process.

 

[IGBT]

Don't know what he actually heard, but what you say is true.

Oh, Obama will win the next election by a fair margin not because he's loved, but because the Republicans are incredibly inept.

and lots of liberal selective indignation!!

 

[thraashman]

and lots of liberal selective indignation!!

Actually, a decent number of liberals are displeased with Obama. However it appears that the Republican party isn't going to put anyone forth that isn't kicking a hole in the wall on the far right so that they can move even further right. A centrist Republican could beat Obama in a national election, but it doesn't look like the centrist could win a primary.

Then again, somewhere, some district was stupid enough to elect Michelle Bachmann, so the upper bounds on stupidity in this nation are higher than I ever realized.

 

[KeithP]

If the GOP had put together a reasonably good alternative, Obama would have lost. Unfortunately, they put up McPalin.

Add to this that a large percentage of people would have voted for Obama no matter what he said or did, and the end result is understandable, although certainly not desirable.

-KeithP

 

[piasabird]

This is like some other presidential candidate attending Klu Kux Klan rallies!

 

[finglobes]

"How did the Rev Wright not cost Obama the election? "

The same way Obama got away with a close personal and working relationship with Bill Ayers, Rashid Khalidi, Khalid Mansour, Frank Marshal Davis, John L. McKnight and other people who would ensure Obama could not pass an FBI background check (and he couldn't) - the media.

The media ignored Obama's radical past and present and a used messianic strategy (David Axelrod was well aware of black peoples relationship with preacher figures) that portrayed Obama as a sacred figure of historical importance. Any bad associations were portrayed as natural associations of someone who had to "make it" without white privilege.

Obama himself was running as practically a conservative. He refused to use his middle name and was pimping his supposed Christianity even though he went to a black liberation church were white people were evil and Jesus was black. Obama was promising tax breaks for everyone and their pets, preaching transparency, sensible spending (remember the promise to go through budget line by line? ) and other giveaways (free college for everyone and their pets) and fixes (health-care).

In truth America just didn't look very smart. Obama was an obvious radical but American's fell for superficial charisma added by media. It was like a third world charismatic election.

 

[boomerang]

finglobes, next time you're in SE Michigan I'll buy you a drink.

 

[HomerJS]

The only reason this question is asked because Fox News brainwashed lots of people into thinking it should have cost him the election. It was nothing.

Get over it.

 

[OrByte]

Rev Wright isn't racist no matter how hard the GOP and wingers try to make him so

 

[MomentsofSanity]

"How did the Rev Wright not cost Obama the election? "

The same way Obama got away with a close personal and working relationship with Bill Ayers, Rashid Khalidi, Khalid Mansour, Frank Marshal Davis, John L. McKnight and other people who would ensure Obama could not pass an FBI background check (and he couldn't) - the media.

That statement right there illustrates why most people don't care about it. It's bullshit, plain and simple. Overly exagerrated would be an understatement and it just becomes background noise at that point.

 

[jonks]

"How did the Rev Wright not cost Obama the election? "

The same way Obama got away with a close personal and working relationship with Bill Ayers, Rashid Khalidi, Khalid Mansour, Frank Marshal Davis, John L. McKnight and other people who would ensure Obama could not pass an FBI background check (and he couldn't) - the media.

The media ignored Obama's radical past and present and a used messianic strategy (David Axelrod was well aware of black peoples relationship with preacher figures) that portrayed Obama as a sacred figure of historical importance. Any bad associations were portrayed as natural associations of someone who had to "make it" without white privilege.

Obama himself was running as practically a conservative. He refused to use his middle name and was pimping his supposed Christianity even though he went to a black liberation church were white people were evil and Jesus was black. Obama was promising tax breaks for everyone and their pets, preaching transparency, sensible spending (remember the promise to go through budget line by line? ) and other giveaways (free college for everyone and their pets) and fixes (health-care).

In truth America just didn't look very smart. Obama was an obvious radical but American's fell for superficial charisma added by media. It was like a third world charismatic election.

You can repeat the word radical a hundred times, it just doesn't make it so, and all available empirical evidence seems to be completely against it. Was healthcare radically overhauled? Um, no, he didn't even fight for single payer. Did he recall all troops overseas? Um, no, he launched a couple extra wars for good measure and upped drone attacks. Did he declare peace with all muslim extremists? Um, no, see above, and also see the indefinite detention guidelines he's upholding. Did he push for gay marriage? Um, no, he very slowly pushed congress to repeal DADT and is working towards the same with DOMA but refused the easy way out of an Executive Order which many liberals argued for. Did he grant amnesty to illegal aliens? Um, no, he hasn't even proposed any immigration legislation yet. Radicalism not found, this guy basically governs from the center (barely left) and is frequently scarily pragmatic.

 

[nageov3t]

there's a pretty consistent theme where any time Obama does something questionable, he's only doing it for political reasons, republicans are forcing him to, etc, etc (see also: opposing gay marriage, keeping guantanamo open)

 

[thraashman]

You can repeat the word radical a hundred times, it just doesn't make it so, and all available empirical evidence seems to be completely against it. Was healthcare radically overhauled? Um, no, he didn't even fight for single payer. Did he recall all troops overseas? Um, no, he launched a couple extra wars for good measure and upped drone attacks. Did he declare peace with all muslim extremists? Um, no, see above, and also see the indefinite detention guidelines he's upholding. Did he push for gay marriage? Um, no, he very slowly pushed congress to repeal DADT and is working towards the same with DOMA but refused the easy way out of an Executive Order which many liberals argued for. Did he grant amnesty to illegal aliens? Um, no, he hasn't even proposed any immigration legislation yet. Radicalism not found, this guy basically governs from the center (barely left) and is frequently scarily pragmatic.

Actually, I tend to view what he's been doing as barely right more than left. However right now the right is SOOOOO far right that they view anything left of them as socialism. Hell, the party itself tried to kick out members that weren't far enough right just a year or two ago.

 

[brencat]

I've kind of been wondering why. It's pretty obvious that Obama was attending racist sermons.

Why did the electorate believe that Obama had no racist connections? Or if they realized it, then why did they ignore the fact that he had racist connections?

I'm surprised most white people are willing to have a President who so strongly supports reverse discrimination.

Because Bush and the cronies around him were 1) incompetent and 2) spent like Democrats.

People were like 'well, if the Repub party are going to act like Democrats, perhaps we should just cut to the chase and elect the real thing.'

 

[werepossum]

I never saw anything from Wright that was racist, unless it was taken out of context.

You don't think "White folks' greed runs a world in need" was racist?

 

[ShawnD1]

BTW, you know he has to fake the African-American accent right? He grew up with a white mother in Hawaii, not Chicago. He had to tune it just right so that he wouldn't sound white, but wouldn't sound too black to whites.

What are you talking about? He's the whitest sounding person in the history of the world.

So he was a fraud (attending church) for twenty years. I can accept that.

This is a lot more common than most people realize. Atheists are the least trusted group in the US, even lower than homosexuals. Lots of people go to church just to fit in.

 

[woolfe9999]

More or less. The color masked perspective fits in very well with dominant beliefs/values that exist in our society. Stuff like "all men are created equal" which every American child grows up believing. Individualism ties in as well, because it becomes easy to dismiss failure as some perceived shortcoming from the individual person rather than societal barriers that may be in place. And that success comes only from within. Meritocracy, "hard work = success" when plenty of hard working people live in poverty.

It take a lot of work to push yourself past socialization, which most people aren't willing or able to do. Even if you try, it's a lifelong process.

Nice postings. However, saying that Obama believes we live in a color blind society is a gross over-simplification of his attitude toward race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_9al4IQOhk

- wolf