You are no MLK!!!!!!! You are no Kennedy!!!!

[Dreadsox]

Clinton’s Civil Rights Lesson
By Sarah Wheaton

DOVER, N.H. — As they barnstorm through New Hampshire, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband are often introduced by supporters who once backed another candidate but converted to her cause.
Today, in Dover, Francine Torge, a former John Edwards supporter, said this while introducing Mrs. Clinton: “Some people compare one of the other candidates to John F. Kennedy. But he was assassinated. And Lyndon Baines Johnson was the one who actually” passed the civil rights legislation.
The comment, an apparent reference to Senator Barack Obama, is particularly striking given documented fears among blacks that Mr. Obama will be assassinated if elected.
Phil Singer, a Clinton spokesman said: “We were not aware that this person was going to make those comments and disapprove of them completely. They were totally inappropriate.”

Mrs. Clinton’s expression did not change noticeably when Ms. Torge made the comment.
Only a few hours later, she brought up the civil rights legislation herself in remarks to a Fox News correspondent.
Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have been in a running feud arising from her suggestion at Saturday’s debate that he was raising “false hope.”
Mr. Obama responded that Mr. Kennedy did not decide going to the moon was a false hope and that Martin Luther King, Jr. did not see ending segregation as such.
“Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act,” Mrs. Clinton said when asked about Mr. Obama’s rejoinder by Fox’s Major Garrett after her speech in Dover. “It took a president to get it done.”
The Obama campaign declined to comment on either of those remarks.
Later, during an appearance in Salem, Mrs. Clinton refined her remarks on Fox:
“You know, today Senator Obama used President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to criticize me. He basically compared himself to our greatest heroes because they gave great speeches.
“President Kennedy was in Congress for 14 years. He was a war hero. He was a man of great accomplishments and readiness to be president. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a movement. He was gassed. He was beaten. He was jailed. And he gave a speech that was one of the most beautifully, profoundly important speeches ever written in America, the “I have a dream” speech.
“And then he worked with President Johnson to get the civil rights laws passed, because the dream couldn’t be realized until finally it was legally permissible for people of all colors and backgrounds and races and ethnicities to be accepted as citizens.
“I’m running for president because I believe that there is not a contradiction between experience and change.”

[Canadiens1131]

Some people compare one of the other candidates to John F. Kennedy. But he was assassinated.

[diamond]

This could be her final undoing.

Poor Bill, he'll have hell to pay.

dbs

[Anu]

Tons of commentators et al compare Barack to Martin, John, and Bobby because he has the gift. He's not faking it.

[yolland]

Absolutely horrible thing to say on the part of whoever this Francine Torge was.

That said, while I can definitely understand the Obama/Kennedy comparisons, I don't see comparing him to King at all. King was NOT a politician and such pull and presence as he had with people, which was built up over years of extraordinary strife, was very much that of a preacher and spiritual leader. I don't see that being Obama's gestalt at all.

[ntalwar]

Originally posted by yolland
That said, while I can definitely understand the Obama/Kennedy comparisons, I don't see comparing him to King at all.

The comparisons I've seen between Obama and MLK have been related to things like speaking style (cadence). Also, the obstacles both overcame.

[deep]

It is reasonable to compare Obama to JFK and MLK jr


but only if you want to disregard the life histories and accomplishments of JFK and MLK jr

So if Obama is your man primarily because you choose to see him as black and young
and you want to fill his very commendable life and very short list of accomplishments
with images of JFK and MLK jr

Then be my guest

I like the fellow just fine

But, I am not disperate to make him something he is not

I care very much about "race relations" in America,

we have a terrible history and there is still much to be done.


Obama is not our "get out of jail free card".

[deep]

Originally posted by ntalwar


The comparisons I've seen between Obama and MLK have been related to things like speaking style (cadence).
Also, the obstacles both overcame.

Yes,
lynching and not getting picked up by an ignorant cab driver are equivalent.

[BVS]

Originally posted by deep



Obama is not our "get out of jail free card".

That would make a great t-shirt...

[ntalwar]

Originally posted by deep



Yes,
lynching and not getting picked up by an ignorant cab driver are equivalent.

Who was lynched?

Anyway, those are not obstacles. What about institutionalized discrimination, overcoming perceptions, winning a Senate election, and winning a caucus in a white state - all by the age of 46.

[deep]

seriously,


I like the guy just fine

but I do think this rush to Obama is unwarranted

and very well may come back to haunt the Dems in November


he only bacame a U S Senator in 2005?

He won because the likely GOP candidate was this Ryan guy that made his very popular actress wife Jeri Ryan

do nasty things in public

It was revealed that, six years previously, Jeri had accused Jack Ryan of asking her to perform sexual acts with him in public, and in adult clubs in New York, New Orleans, and Paris. Jeri Ryan described one as "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling." Jack Ryan denied these allegations. Although Jeri Ryan refused to comment on the matter during the campaign, the document disclosure led Jack Ryan to withdraw his Republican candidacy for an open United States Senate seat in Illinois (which was eventually won by Barack Obama).

[deep]

Originally posted by ntalwar


Who was lynched?

Anyway, those are not obstacles. What about institutionalized discrimination, overcoming perceptions, winning a Senate election, and winning a caucus in a white state - all by the age of 46.

winning a caucus in a white state???


I don't get this "white state" thing at all


is there a must carry "pass law" in Iowa
for "non-whites" ?

Like there was in apartheid South Africa?

[ntalwar]

Originally posted by deep


winning a caucus in a white state???


I don't get this "white state" thing at all


is there a must carry "pass law" in Iowa
for "non-whites" ?

Like there was in apartheid South Africa?

95% of the population of Iowa is white.

Nice attempt at wit and humor though.

[deep]

I made no attempt at humor

my question is serious


how sad it is to think that the first thing that comes to mind for you is skin color???



what do you think the number one rated daytime TV show is
in Iowa?


I consider Colin Powell to be an exceptional person to work in the State Department


I consider Clarence Thomas to be one of the poorest Supreme Court Justices to ever serve


and my opinions are based on how I perceive they do their jobs

they don’t get a pass or a strike from me
because of their race

[ntalwar]

Originally posted by deep
I made no attempt at humor
how sad it is to think that the first thing that comes to mind for you is skin color???

...

and my opinions are based on how I perceive they do their jobs

they don’t get a pass or a strike from me
because of their race

12% of the population is African American, but only 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are - so obviously not everyone thinks like you. There are many other examples - check the jail population.

Or we could be like the French who ignore racial statistics and pretend there is no discrimination, when in fact they have a lot of discrimination.

[phanan]

Originally posted by deep
seriously,


I like the guy just fine

but I do think this rush to Obama is unwarranted

and very well may come back to haunt the Dems in November


he only bacame a U S Senator in 2005?

I agree with this, although I don't think it will hurt the Democrats in November. I think he would win anyway.

[Anu]

Shades of Bobby and folks do fear for Barack. It's real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ReAG6jNVs4

[financeguy]

Though I generally like Obama, most of his policy stances are fairly mainstream.

I think if either Kucinch or Paul were elected they would be at much more serious risk of being assassinated by the military industrial complex.

[financeguy]

dp

[joyfulgirl]

Originally posted by deep
I
I like the fellow just fine

But, I am not disperate to make him something he is not

I care very much about "race relations" in America,

we have a terrible history and there is still much to be done.


Obama is not our "get out of jail free card".

deep