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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Edmon: "not surprising but...
...why isn't our side circulating similar anti-McCain emails?"
Because people on our side generally aren't dumb enough to fall for the kinds of fear-based garbage that the Republicans rely on.
Edmon: "When oh when will Democrats stop taking the "high road" that has led us straight into the ditch come election time, again and again?"
The problem isn't Dems taking the high road. The problem is not fighting hard enough. You can fight hard and still take the high road. By all means, the Dems should attack fiercely and repeatedly, but not by adopting somebody else's crappy tactics.
Edmon: "Fight fire with fire, for God's sake!"
Fight fire with baking soda.
making a lot of noise, without aiming true. How can anyone's thesis (including that written by Michelle Robinson) mean anything unless it's read in its entirety? Mr. Madden states that Michelle was not the originator of the idea of a segregated America. This is absolutely true and is known by anyone who has had any interest in American history and by Americans who lived through the Sixties. Malcolm X went on a pilgrimage to Mecca which modified his outlook but he never gave up the idea of a separate black state somewhere in North America. Malcolm's "Autobiography", dictated to Alex Haley in the last two years of his life reveals his thinking on a variety of subjects, even a hateful attitude to women and Jews.
In her thesis on race in the United States (specifically in Princeton), people cannot know whether she advocated a sparate black state, as Malcolm X had done, or disagreed with the concept unless her complete thesis is available for reading.
In the constellation of black leaders during the Civil Rights struggle, Martin Luther King's name is the one that has survived most powerfully. He believed in integration but Stokely Carmichael, chairman of SNCC, had very different ideas, claiming that integration is a subterfuge for white supremacy. In her thesis for an Ivy League University such as Princeton, Michelle Obama would have been likely to consider the thinking and writing of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael on the vexed question of race relations in America and the solutions offered by the three men. A thesis requires an ability to analyse and, in general, a student is allowed to choose the subject of a thesis. There's no point at all in Michelle Obama's detractors or defenders using snippets from her thesis without getting her over-all view and that can only be seen by reading the full thesis.
I thought there was a Freedom of Information Act in the USA, so much admired that it's been copied by many governments in western Europe. For that reason, it seems strange that this particular thesis was to be cloaked in secrecy until after the November election. There's also something called "academic freedom" which allows undergraduates and others to put in a request at a university library to read a thesis (or theses) on subjects of interest. Princeton's endeavours to give Michelle Robinson's thesis special treatment was not only a mistake but also gives rise to the suspicion that a prestigious university is meddling in politics, for whatever reason.
Maturity: "Despite trying to debunk anti-Obama e-mails, the one thing that stands in my mind is how, for 20 years, Michelle and her children and her husband attended services at the United Trinity Church..."
Love the dry wit of your name. Anyway, I think it's funny you say that "for 20 years" in the same sentence as "Michelle and her children," which means you must think Michelle's children are in their 20s. Work on your math.
Maturity: "...whose pastor spewed such hatred of America and Israel."
Do your homework. He didn't spew hatred of America and Israel. He was critical of some U.S. policies throughout history, such as a little thing called "slavery" you might have heard of.
Maturity: "How can they not be influenced by such rethoric???"
Why can't you spell "rhetoric"? More importantly, why do you think you know what they heard, or what they were influenced by? Also -- why does it matter to you? And finally, what is your opinion of the emails (both of them) addressed in this article? What is your opinion of the practice of purposely sending out false and misleading information to prey on people's fears and ignorance? I would like to know what you think of that, instead of your obviously ill-informed opinions about Obama's former church.
Maturity: "If I went to a Temple and listen to such speeches I would have leaved right the way and protest."
You would have "leaved right the way"? Sure you would have.
James T. Kirk: "Hows that martyr complex working out for you?"
How's that lack personal integrity working out for you?
Umm, except Michel Obama's thesis is available.
Maybe, you should like, read the article before you claim it is "so diffuse, even inchoate, that it's llike some ancient blunderbuss".
Because you evidently missed the link to Politico publishing the said thesis:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8642.html
Some here have said that only people already stupid and racist will believe these emails anyway. I disagree. I have in my family a good number of reasonably intelligent, or at least not stupid, people who don't follow the news very carefully. Because they haven't been to a college with a black studies or a sociology major, they have no context in which to understand why Michelle Obama would have written a thesis about black-white relationships. It therefore seems plausible to them that she's got serious race loyalty issues.
Similarly, where I live there are virtually no visible Muslims. Lots of Mennonites, Amish, and the like, but no Muslims. The only Muslim they've seen on TV more than once or twice is Bin Laden. So the Muslims = terrorists falsehood is an easy sell for them.
The relatives of whom I speak are people who want, and try, to be good and fair people. And they usually are. It is their ignorance of certain matters--not racism--has made them prone to believe these emails. And often they do. That's why these emails are so @#$%! frustrating for me.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
