Why hasn't anyone noticed Obama is running against President Bush?

Parent Cafe
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<p>“I think it’s demeaning and sexist to suggest that her career is driven by her husband’s political success.”</p>

<p>I think there may be a relationship, but I don’t have a problem with that (or with talking about it). She works in community relations. Being famous in the community is a great asset in community relations. If she gets more famous, for almost any reason, she becomes more valuable in the job. Valuable employees get higher salaries. Nothing scandalous about that IMHO. And she’s still making a small fraction of what she’d be making if she’d stuck around and made partner at Sidley Austin instead of entering the nonprofit world.</p>

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<p>What, she should turn down a raise? She’ll have to give up that job soon enough, anyway.</p>

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<p>That’s the reason the powers that be gave, but it was an enormous raise, from the previous office holder or her previous position. </p>

<p>I don’t have a problem with it as I said, but what’s wrong with talking about it at all ? Why is that demeaning ?</p>

<p>ETA: I found this blurb on the internet and that was the way I remembered the incident</p>

<p>““In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office.””</p>

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<p>I think what the poster meant by demeaning is the implication that she couldn’t have done so well on her own, that her success is only because of her dh, despite her fabulous credentials. I certainly don’t have a problem raising it as an issue (though I think it’s a bit of a non-issue). I think the poster had a problem with the framing.</p>

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<p>MO went from 122 to 3175 in 1 yr within the same co…does she have her own expertise and education to warrant 275? Without a doubt, however, it is a little fishy that she jumped the ladder to double her salary and position within a short period. I have dual undergrads and dual MBOM, no company has ever shown me that I can jump that quickly with in a yr…unles it was a start up and you grow that way!</p>

<p>Would I turn down a promotion? NO, but if you want to swim with the big fish than be ready for them to circle. Look at past elections…Kitty Dukakis and her alcohol, Teddy and Joans alcohol, Laura and the car accident, Hillary and her Tyson sale, Nancy and her astrologer, the list can go on and on. Cindy McCain and her drug problem, adoption issue, financials and lest us not forget the inference that she is an adulterer (having an affair with McCain).</p>

<p>I do have a problem with Obama saying knock it off on my wife…she is a political surrogate and introduces him at the rallies, she has spoken out for him. Thus, why should she receive any better treatment than the wives I have just illustrated? Cindy McCain is a non-issue b/c she is doing the typical “stand by your man and keep your mouth shut” Is that old school…yes…is it smart politics absolutely.</p>

<p>Bullet is in the military and I have been active in the spouse community, over 10 yrs ago someone gave me sage advice…I can be the most active volunteer in tons of things and never help his career, however I can say one thing and ruin it! The same is true for political spouses, nobody is elected because of their wife, but many people will vote against you because of them…Hillary, Kitty, Nancy and Theresa Heinz (cursing out someone) are definetly in the latter…the only question left is will MO be the latter (she already has negs on 2 comments and the general hasn’t even started!)</p>

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<p>Michelle Obama could be making WAY more money than this with the education and experience she has, so yes, she does have the qualifications to be making that much. It’s certainly possible that her employer gave her such a big raise because they thought it would be in their bests interests to have a U.S. Senator think highly of them. If they’re smart, they certainly didn’t say that to her or to him. I think there’s nothing wrong with asking about it, and obviously she’s going to have to toughen up at bit as the campaign goes on. Cindy McCain is going to have to step up, too, and will probably have to release her financial info.</p>

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<p>I think Michele is capable and successful in her own right and fully worthy of whatever salary she is making, but I do have a problem with non-profits paying their people that much. </p>

<p>[Charity</a> Navigator - 2007 CEO Compensation Study](<a href=“Charity Ratings and Donor Resources | Charity Navigator”>Charity Ratings and Donor Resources | Charity Navigator)</p>

<p>As a benchmark, the average CEO salary non-profits for midwest is only $140,000. For Health - $150,000. I know UOC is a huge organization, but I remember as a supporter of them I do not like to see huge salaries being paid out. That was my feeling when I first read about it.</p>

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<p>I give weight to the Rev Wright and Obama issue by assuming if Obama and Wright were white, with Wright making white nationalistic and frankly racist public comments, would it matter? </p>

<p>The answer is most certainly - Yes; and not only that, but Hell yes!</p>

<p>I’d have been out of that church in a New York second.</p>

<p>Secondly, we have where Obama finally is confronted by the burden of Wright. Obama is tone-deaf in dealing with the issue with regard to how non-African Americans perceive him and his response to the problem. Finally he starts to understand the gravity of the problem and he makes a weak departure from Wright.</p>

<p>What further compounds this problem are the public statements made by Mrs. Obama regarding her lack of enthusiasm for things American.</p>

<p>I conclude that both Obamas are probably somewhat racist, and stayed with Wright all those years because they echo his beliefs - even if they deny such feeling now. I did not think so at first, but apparently the water has reached its own level through the sequence of events.</p>

<p>Transcending the soft Obama racism (my opinion), we then have his complete lack of effort to work across the aisle.</p>

<p>Mrs Clinton is more electable than Obama, and would govern far more fairly for all, were I a Democrat, even with her considerable negatives.</p>

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<p>I think it’s naive and stupid to think that a huge raise at the same time your husband becomes Senator is pure coincidence.</p>

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<p>“conclude that both Obamas are probably somewhat racist”</p>

<p>And by this you mean that you believe they think white people are “somewhat” inferior to black people, and that they look down on white people as a group?</p>

<p>Just trying to get it clearly.</p>

31

<p>“Secondly, we have where Obama finally is confronted by the burden of Wright. Obama is tone-deaf in dealing with the issue with regard to how non-African Americans perceive him and his response to the problem. Finally he starts to understand the gravity of the problem and he makes a weak departure from Wright.”</p>

<p>Interesting version of what happened. Not too similar to what did happen, though.</p>

<p>“What further compounds this problem are the public statements made by Mrs. Obama regarding her lack of enthusiasm for things American.”</p>

<p>This isn’t even a version of what actually happened, and you really ought to be ashamed of yourself for repeating it.</p>

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<p>I get your pt, but I think parent2noles should have said they are elitists</p>

<p>When he makes statements about white fear regarding PA that was not a positive day for him.</p>

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<p>Whether or not they think the Reverend Wright issue is relevant to Obama’s candidacy, I don’t know many people who believe this. </p>

<p>[Why</a> Oprah Winfrey Left Rev. Wright’s Church | Newsweek Periscope | Newsweek.com](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/id/135392]Why”>Why Oprah Winfrey Left Rev. Wright's Church)</p>

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<p>Isn’t there video of Obama referring to his grandmother as a “typical white person?” </p>

<p>This seems to imply he is looking down on white people as a group (at least to me).</p>

35

<p>Ummm, so Obama was untruthful about Wright not being the same person he knew ? </p>

<p>When I visited to the church website I didn’t find anything incendiary . I never attended that church personally so I can’t judge for myself. I lived in the North Shore and one of my regrets is that we don’t have any African-American neighbors. I have just this one dear church going AA friend in Chicago so maybe I will ask her to give me a perspective.</p>

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<p>roshke: I think Obama long ago made exactly the same determination as Oprah (that Wright is a lunatic and his sermons were ridiculous) and then decided that in terms of his political career it was more useful to continue as a member of the church and use it to burnish his credentials with blacks and others to help him launch his Presidential bid. All things considered, I’d say it worked.</p>

<p>But believe the racism? I think not.</p>

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<p>1of42: I agree with you. But the one thing that I still have trouble wrapping my mind around is the fact that he let his own two impressionable kids attend church and Sunday school there. I could never have done that in his place, politically expedient or not.</p>

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<p>I think if you were in the church, within the context of that particular sort of church, and heard the entire sermon, you’d be shocked at how acceptable it all would be. Wright did not say (at least not of all the clips I have heard) anything outlandish. His comments, as buffoonish as they admittedly were, are quite traditional for that sort of church, and not at all meant to be racist. They only sound “racist” when taken out of context and presented to the untrained ear.</p>

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<p>"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No. no. no. God Damn America…”
-J. Wright</p>

<p>Take the above statement. It sounds so hateful and unpatriotic. But now look at it from Wright’s (and vast numbers of blacks’) point-of-view.</p>

<p>It is well known that America, under the Reagan Administration, traded arms illegally to fund the Contras’ war against the Sandinistas. Unfortunately America also allowed the Contras to traffic drugs to fund their war effort. The AP reported this on December 20, 1985 in a report by Robert Parry and Brian Barger. The Administration pressured the AP not to run the report, but when it was obvious that the report would run, the Administration sought to discredit the reporters. (see " Narco-Terrorism: A Tale of Two Stories " Columbia Journalism Review, September/October, 1986).</p>

<p>A special Senate subcommittee on “Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations” investigated the issue and released a report about three years later. It documented America’s knowledge and tolerance of drug trafficking for national security purposes, concluding that America had [“abandoned</a> the responsibility our government has for protecting our citizens from all threats to their security and well-being.”](<a href=“Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography - Dominic Streatfeild - Google Books”>Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography - Dominic Streatfeild - Google Books)</p>

<p>Black clergymen like Wright were groaning severely about this because they knew that blacks were getting hit hardest by drug trafficking. The crack epidemic had heated up at the time. Thousands of black families were already troubled, but when drugs increased on the streets, especially crack, it destroyed scores of additional black families. It happened right before Wright’s eyes, as The United States stood by, and while the rest of America went on as usual. This is why Wright thinks as he does. He does not blame America for blacks who destroyed themselves and their loved ones via drugs. He blames America for permitting the drugs and being hypocritical when blacks and then others used and sold them. When Wright says “God Damn America” he takes America to task for its hypocrisy.</p>

<p>But this is not the only reason why Wright thinks as he does. In response to the crack epidemic, America ushered in a new era in its “War on Drugs.” [In</a> 1989 “the Office of National Drug Control Policy was created](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs]In”>War on drugs - Wikipedia) for central coordination of drug-related legislative, security, diplomatic, research and health policy throughout the government. In recognition of his central role, the director of ONDCP is commonly known as the Drug Czar. The position was raised to cabinet-level status by Bill Clinton in 1993.” In “1989 The first drug court in the U.S. took shape in Miami-Dade County, Florida”. These changes, far from being a war on drugs, amounted to nothing more than a war on blacks. After America allowed drugs to be trafficked, it began to hunt down people who used and sold the drugs. Today, white and black Americans use drugs to the same extent, but because of American racism blacks now are ten times more likely to be imprisoned than whites for the same offences, even especially drug offences. The millions of blacks sitting in prisons aren’t there for violent crimes. That is a relatively small bunch. They are there because of drugs. The problem with it is that each time a black guy gets busted, a black family gets busted. By comparison, whites who do the same things walk free. This is the America in which Wright lives, and it is why he says “God Damn America.”.</p>

<p>[Report</a> says U.S. jails more blacks than whites for drugs | U.S. | Reuters](<a href=“http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0453686820071205]Report”>http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0453686820071205)
[Top</a> Stories: Drug penalties harsher for blacks in county | drug, blacks, prison : Gazette.com](<a href=“http://www.gazette.com/articles/drug_31690___article.html/blacks_prison.html]Top”>http://www.gazette.com/articles/drug_31690___article.html/blacks_prison.html)
[JS</a> Online: Drug sentences worse for blacks](<a href=“http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=667335]JS”>http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=667335)
[Pot</a> arrests higher for blacks in city](<a href=“http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346395_marijuana08.html]Pot”>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346395_marijuana08.html)
[San</a> Francisco Bay View - Bay area counties incarcerate a hugely disproportionate number of African-Americans for drug offense](<a href=“http://www.sfbayview.com/News/Bay_Area/Bay_area_counties_incarcerate_a_hugely_disproportionate_number_of_African-Americans_for_drug_offense.html]San”>http://www.sfbayview.com/News/Bay_Area/Bay_area_counties_incarcerate_a_hugely_disproportionate_number_of_African-Americans_for_drug_offense.html)</p>

<p>When we combine this sad state of America’s legal affairs with the “Three Strikes” laws that are so popular with the government today, we see we tragedy added to additional tragedy for blacks. Those laws are responsible for condemning blacks for crimes that are petty when compared to real crimes, like murder, theft, rape, and fraud. That is what Wright condemns, and should we hear his entire sermon we would see this quite clearly.</p>

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<p>The poor and dissimilar treatment of blacks, compared with whites, exists is all spheres of American life. It exists in healthcare, for example. Repeated studies, spanning decades, have proven that the medical establishment tends to prefer whites over blacks, even when the economics are the same, so that blacks die far more often than whites of the same illnesses. Blacks are three times more likely than whites to receive amputations in response to diabetes. They are “less likely to be given appropriate medications for heart disease, or to undergo bypass surgery, and are less likely to receive kidney dialysis or transplants than Whites. They are also less likely to receive the most sophisticated treatments for infection with HIV”. What is more, the situation is not improving. It is getting worse.</p>

<p>[The</a> question of racial bias in thoracic surgery: appearances and realities – Jones 72 (1): 6 – The Annals of Thoracic Surgery](<a href=“http://ats.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/extract/72/1/6]The”>http://ats.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/extract/72/1/6)
[Race</a> bias key factor in poor health care for minorities: study - Health - Brief Article | Jet | Find Articles at BNET.com](<a href=“http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_16_101/ai_84971323]Race”>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_16_101/ai_84971323)
[Tests</a> of trainee doctors find signs of race bias in care - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/07/20/tests_of_er_trainees_find_signs_of_race_bias_in_care/?page=1]Tests”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/07/20/tests_of_er_trainees_find_signs_of_race_bias_in_care/?page=1)</p>

<p>"God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human.”
-J. Wright</p>

<p>The evils black suffer today come out of slavery, which came out of the colonists and then America’s official racism against blacks. It is a racism that was enshrined in our constitution and that governed the country by law for nearly the entire time it has existed. When America’s Chief Supreme Court Justice, Roger Taney, wrote that blacks are “beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”, he uttered the very core of the nation’s social philosophy. From the highest offices to the lowest citizen this philosophy was in effect in America from the beginning. At no time did it ever end, which is why despite changes in laws America felt it entirely reasonable to run vicious scientific experiments on blacks from [slavery</a> right up to 1972]( <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010500180.html]slavery”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010500180.html). The country simply didn’t think blacks had the same right to life and liberty enjoyed by whites. America has never really concerned itself with this, since the people in power are not being affected by it. Blacks have therefore become terribly skeptical that America can ever be trusted. We are now skeptical of the medical establishment and of the American government because both have been vicious to us and still are. Whites are incredulous about it because they can afford to be. But guys like Wright see the effects of it up close because they live in it. This is why Wright says “God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human.” and why whites scoff in anger.</p>

<p>It is also why Wright and vast numbers of blacks do not think it so far-fetched that America unleased AIDS on blacks. The government has long done things that are as heinous-- including slavery. It even appears that both America and Great Britain had some involvement in South Africa’s “Project Coast”, a program that was being developed during South Africa’s Apartheid to [unleash</a> germ warfare against blacks.](<a href=“http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/sa/]unleash”>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/sa/) I am sure none of this much registers to whites because they have never felt what it is like to have several western governments working in collusion specifically for their oppression. But for blacks, this is a reality. We all know what America is capable of. Wright knows it. That is why he says “God Damn America.”.</p>

<p>I do not know if America has spread AIDS to blacks. I suspect not, but I think it unwise for any black man to assume America incapable of doing this, given our history and the fallout from it suffered by blacks today. There are scores of virulent racists who are supposed to be American but who nevertheless want my kids and me dead simply because we are black. I do not think the country is so moral that it would never do such a thing should the circumstance present itself. Many racists who sympathize with these people are in some of our highest positions of power.</p>