US 2008 Presidential Campaign/Debate Discussion Thread #6

[MrsSpringsteen]

YouTube - McCain's Awkward Answer On Contraceptives

[BVS]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

Barack Obama wants us all to learn Spanish.

I guess conservatives only like Spanish when it may win them a few votes:

YouTube - TV Ad: "624787" Spanish

Conservatives are still harping on about Obama's comments even today on the radio. Yet McCain is running at least 5 spanish speaking ads in his homestate.

Shooting themselves in the foot? or they just don't get it?

[joyfulgirl]

I just have to say that Obama's FISA vote is unforgivable.

[BVS]

I agree, I'm not sure what happened to the dems on that one.

[Diemen]

Originally Posted by joyfulgirl

I just have to say that Obama's FISA vote is unforgivable.

I agree. I'd be interested to hear his justification for it, because right now I'm pretty pissed off about the whole thing.

[2861U2]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

"Private" conversation or not, that's just unbelievable. Methinks Jesse Jackson is more than a bit jealous of Senator Obama. Conduct highly unbecoming of a Reverend..

Jesse Jackson Apologizes for Crude Obama Remarks - America’s Election HQ

The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for saying Barack Obama is “talking down to black people” during what Jackson thought was a private conversation before a FOX News interview Sunday.

Jackson was speaking to a guest at the time about Obama’s speeches in black churches and his support for faith-based charities. Jackson added before going live, “I want to cut his nuts off.”

His microphone picked up the remarks.

How long until Obama says "That's not the Reverend Jackson I knew"?

[2861U2]

Originally Posted by BonoVoxSupastar

I guess conservatives only like Spanish when it may win them a few votes:

Conservatives are still harping on about Obama's comments even today on the radio. Yet McCain is running at least 5 spanish speaking ads in his homestate.

Shooting themselves in the foot? or they just don't get it?

No. What I got from what Obama said is that we need to learn Spanish to accomodate the people here who will never learn English. He said "Don't worry about the immigrants, they'll learn English" and I just don't see where he gets that optimism from. I've had to interact many times with hispanics who, I come to find out, can't put two English sentences together, and it makes me angry. And I'm sure millions of others across the country have encountered the same, as have many of you here I would assume.

How did this turn into me being against foreign language in schools?

[anitram]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

No. What I got from what Obama said is that we need to learn Spanish to accomodate the people here who will never learn English. He said "Don't worry about the immigrants, they'll learn English" and I just don't see where he gets that optimism from.

I don't get it either.

All the Italians, Poles, Greeks, Dutch people I know in the US still can't speak any English.

[Diemen]

Well played.

But you see, those immigrants aren't the problem. It's just those damn hispanics, amirite?

[2861U2]

Originally Posted by Diemen

Well played.

But you see, those immigrants aren't the problem. It's just those damn hispanics, amirite?

I don't care where you're from. Learn English before you come here.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

No. What I got from what Obama said is that we need to learn Spanish to accomodate the people here who will never learn English. :

How do you get that from, "I agree immigrants should learn English." Your Rush fandom is seriously getting to you. How anyone can get that from that soundbyte is beyond me.

Originally Posted by 2861U2

He said "Don't worry about the immigrants, they'll learn English" and I just don't see where he gets that optimism from. I've had to interact many times with hispanics who, I come to find out, can't put two English sentences together, and it makes me angry. And I'm sure millions of others across the country have encountered the same, as have many of you here I would assume.

Why are you so angry? They're the ones holding themselves back if they don't learn. Is it somehow holding you back?

If I remember right you're from the Chicago area? The majority of non-English speaking people are not Spanish speaking, why are you focusing on Hispanics?

[BVS]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

Learn English before you come here.

You've got to be kidding? Apparently you've never traveled abroad.

So you want a requirement that you have to learn English before you enter our borders? Wow. Screw all those people who don't have access to that kind of education, our borders aren't open to you...

Where is it written that English is THE language of the U.S.?

[Diemen]

It's not. It's just that some people don't want to be inconvenienced by having to actually interact with people who don't speak their language fluently or at all.

[MrsSpringsteen]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

I don't care where you're from. Learn English before you come here.

If you went to live in a foreign country for work, or whatever, would you learn their language before you did? Or would you just expect them to speak English with you?

thehill.com

July 10, 2008
Giuliani: Obama Capturing 'an Anti-American Feeling'
@ 12:32 pm by Andy Barr

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-N.Y.) said Thursday that Barack Obama is capturing 'an anti-American feeling' responding to Obama telling a town hall audience in Georgia that their children should learn to speak Spanish.

"Well this is why he is a popular candidate in Europe, because there is such an anti-American feeling and he is sort of capturing that," Giuliani said on MSNBC.

Giuliani said he was not as troubled by Obama's suggestion that children learn Spanish as the assumption that immigrant families are learning English.

"It makes sense to teach your children another language," Giuliani said. But, Giuliani added, "the reality is that this is a country that should speak English…and if we can learn an extra language or two that would be terrific."

The former New York City Mayor said Obama is "sliding over" the need for immigrant families to learn English by "making an assumption that isn't true, that all immigrants are learning English. They're not."

[phillyfan26]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

I don't care where you're from. Learn English before you come here.

What an immature, narrow-minded view that is.

[MrsSpringsteen]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

How long until Obama says "That's not the Reverend Jackson I knew"?

Actually this is how his campaign responded

The Obama campaign took a measured response to the incident, contending in a statement that Obama has spoken for many years about parental responsibility as well as "jobs, justice and opportunity for all."

"He will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Rev. Jackson's apology," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.

They don't even have a relationship, as far as I know-and he's not his spiritual advisor in any way either. So it's not a Rev Wright situation. Rev Jackson also has said that Sen Obama was "acting white" in the past-so I don't think there's much love lost there.

I find it to be so telling that he said he wanted to "cut his nuts" off. I think he feels threatened by Sen Obama, and when some men feel threatened it always comes down to the nuts somehow...

[BVS]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

July 10, 2008
Giuliani: Obama Capturing 'an Anti-American Feeling'
@ 12:32 pm by Andy Barr

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-N.Y.) said Thursday that Barack Obama is capturing 'an anti-American feeling' responding to Obama telling a town hall audience in Georgia that their children should learn to speak Spanish.

"Well this is why he is a popular candidate in Europe, because there is such an anti-American feeling and he is sort of capturing that," Giuliani said on MSNBC.

Giuliani said he was not as troubled by Obama's suggestion that children learn Spanish as the assumption that immigrant families are learning English.

"It makes sense to teach your children another language," Giuliani said. But, Giuliani added, "the reality is that this is a country that should speak English…and if we can learn an extra language or two that would be terrific."

The former New York City Mayor said Obama is "sliding over" the need for immigrant families to learn English by "making an assumption that isn't true, that all immigrants are learning English. They're not."

Sounds like Rudy is jealous because he hasn't been popular since 9/11

[MrsSpringsteen]

NY Post

The Rev. Al Sharpton admonished Rev Jackson and cautioned against dividing black voters.

Obama "is running for president of all Americans, not just African-Americans," he said. We "must be careful not to segregate Senator Obama and impose some litmus test that is unfair and unproductive."

Hopefully Rev Sharpton will abide by that philosophy

[BVS]

It's strange when Jesse Jackson makes Al Sharpton look like the sane one.

[MrsSpringsteen]

Originally Posted by BonoVoxSupastar

It's strange when Jesse Jackson makes Al Sharpton look like the sane one.

It is. That would be like when diamond is allowed back here and starts making.. look like the sane one. Wait a minute.. nevermind.

Embarrassing to be called out by your son like that. Bravo to his son though, he's right to do that. I don't care what he says, I think it's about envy. Why does Sen Obama have to do things the way Jesse Jackson wants him to? He must just want to scream sometimes, I don't know how he stands it.

If he's "part of that race" then he should stop acting like such a petty ass.



(CNN) -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Thursday denied allegations that his disparaging remarks about Sen. Barack Obama stemmed from envy.

"That's kind of ridiculous. He's running the last lap of a 54-year marathon. He is running that race. I am a part of that race," Jackson said on CNN's "American Morning," referring to the modern civil rights struggle. Jackson ran for the Democratic nomination in 1984 and 1988.

On Wednesday, he apologized for the "crude and hurtful remarks" he made about Obama following an interview Sunday with a Fox News correspondent.

While talking to a fellow interviewee, an open microphone picked up Jackson whispering, "See, Barack's been talking down to black people. ... I want to cut his nuts off."

Jackson replied, "No," when asked Thursday if he thought the presumptive Democratic nominee talks down to African-Americans.

The civil rights leader told CNN's "Situation Room" on Wednesday that he didn't realize the microphone was on at the time. He said he was having a private conversation, and it did not occur to him that it would be picked up.
"It was very private," Jackson said, adding that if "any hurt or harm has been caused to his campaign, I apologize."

An Obama campaign spokesman, Bill Burton, said that the senator from Illinois "of course accepts Rev. Jackson's apology."

Jackson's son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois -- co-chair of Obama's presidential campaign -- publicly blasted his father's comments Wednesday.

"I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Rev. Jackson's reckless statements about Sen. Barack Obama," the younger Jackson said. "His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee -- and I believe the next president of the United States -- contradict his inspiring and courageous career."

The lawmaker added that he'll "always love" his father but said, "I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric."

The elder Jackson repeated his apology in a news conference in Chicago, Illinois, a couple of hours before Fox News aired Sunday's remarks. He said he wanted to address the issue publicly before the cable network aired the comments because "I know that they will further violate the context of it."

Asked Thursday if he was in trouble with his family, Jackson said, "It's always a challenge, but he is my congressman and I am his father. Ultimately, we get along."

Jackson reiterated his support for Obama, saying, "His campaign represents the redemption of our country."

In a recent Father's Day speech at a black church, Obama took absent black fathers to task, saying, "We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child -- it's the courage to raise one."

While not citing any particular comment, Jackson said Obama's message to black voters must be broader and serve as more than a "moral challenge."

The black community is faced with high levels of unemployment, home foreclosures and violence, "so we have some real serious issues -- not just moral issues," he said.

Jackson on Thursday said part of his "anguish" was a result of the limitations of faith-based programs.

"We also need government-based [initiatives]. When bridges are collapsing, rivers are being overrun, it requires beyond faith the substance of real investment," he said.

Burton, Obama's spokesman, said the senator is quite familiar with the issues facing African-Americans and that "he will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves."

Jackson, whose Rainbow/PUSH Coalition is based in Chicago, has publicly endorsed Obama, most recently in a piece published Tuesday in the Chicago Sun-Times, and he said he enjoys a close relationship with the Obama family.

The incident is the latest of several in which the issue of Obama's relationship with the African-American community has become a part of the campaign, raised either by opponents or by Obama's allies.

Nearly two weeks ago, Ralph Nader -- who is running for president as an independent -- accused Obama of attempting to "talk white" and appealing to "white guilt" in his quest for the White House.

Obama also has had to deal with the controversy over his former minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose fiery sermons at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ drew unwanted attention for the campaign. In the sermons, Wright suggested the U.S. government may be responsible for the spread of AIDS in the black community and equated some American wartime activities to terrorism.

The recent remarks were not the first time Jackson has criticized Obama. Last fall, he was critical of Obama's reaction to charges filed against six black students in the beating of a white student in Jena, Louisiana, a racially charged case that sparked a national outcry.

Jackson accused Obama of "acting like he's white," a South Carolina newspaper reported. "If I were a candidate, I'd be all over Jena," Jackson said in a speech at Benedict College in Columbia, according to The State newspaper. "Jena is a defining moment, just like Selma [Alabama] was a defining moment." The paper reported Jackson later said he did not recall saying Obama is "acting like he's white."

During the Democratic primary race, Jackson also said Sen. John Edwards was the only candidate speaking to the issues of the black community. He later apologized.