Letters to the Editor

Letters posted here are associated with the following article:
Scott Bateman: Geraldine Ferraro is terribly offended?
The one-time V.P. candidate says she will raise money for Obama, too, if he stops attacking. Bateman responds.
[2008-03-14]
The letters thread is now closed.

  • She's totally right, and there's nothing racist about it

    Chicago Tribune, June 26, 2005: “Obama acknowledges, with no small irony, that he benefits from his race.

    If he were white, he once bluntly noted, he would simply be one of nine freshmen U.S. senators, almost certainly without a multimillion-dollar book deal and a shred of celebrity. Or would he have been elected at all?”

    http://obama.senate.gov/news/050626-when_it_comes_to_race_obama_ma/

    -- Asher Steinberg
    [Read Asher Steinberg's other letters]
    Thursday, March 13, 2008 11:39 PM

  • Asher Steinberg: Baloney

    http://obama.senate.gov/news/050626-when_it_comes_to_race_obama_ma/

    What damning evidence! Gosh, that sure nails Obama, right there ...

    Except, oh wait, that's not an actual quote. That's the writer's opinion, or possibly simply copied wholesale from another article — not something Obama actually said. In fact Obama doesn't appear to ever have said anything remotely of the sort.

    And why would he? The idea that a black guy has an advantage in running for president is on its face absurd. Citing this article as evidence that Obama himself says so is a lie.

    For what it's worth, here's what Obama did say, quoted from the article:

    "I think an African-American candidate — if he's the best candidate — can be president."

    Pretty much the opposite of Asher Steinberg's characterization.

    I don't care who wins the nomination. I'll be thrilled to vote for Hillary Clinton, if it comes to that. I would vote for a block of wood if it means beating John McCain in November. But that doesn't make this kind of baloney acceptable.

    -- Amity
    [Read Amity's other letters]
    Friday, March 14, 2008 06:45 AM

  • Isn't it time to cut the "politically proper" crap?

    Ferraro is likely correct, but she shouldn't have said it.

    The climate right now is supercharged negatively. "She's white" - certainly a racial slur! "He's black" - certainly another racial slur. "O'm'god that's a muslim" another racial slur?? "He lives in a big house." Another slur! Apologize, apologize, apologize! The arbiters of right and wrong have become the news commentators - and that IS a slur!

    The only obsenities today are the people in the Blight House who have contaminated the spirit and the mood of this country by ignoring our Constitution and our rights.

    -- pacrat
    [Read pacrat's other letters]
    Friday, March 14, 2008 06:50 AM

  • She should have played nice, but the preacher has done way more damage to Obama

    Ferraro shouldn't have said it because everybody should be playing nice. However, Obama's resume IS pretty thin.

    I guess they think they will lose for sure if they play nice.

    That preacher of Obama's is going to lose the general election for the Democrats. Just rejecting him now after all these years is not going to be enough.

    Why couldn't we have just gone with Dodd or Biden who seem safe more or less?

    -- TrueBlue
    [Read TrueBlue's other letters]
    Sunday, March 16, 2008 01:12 AM

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