That Went Well

Obama gets his just desserts:

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Obama's anti-gay religious right activist used the opportunity Obama gave him last night to preach his hate to thousands of African-Americans. That's just great. And the white preacher who Obama picked to help explain to the audience that gays aren't minions of Satan? CNN reports that he said nothing at all – just a short little prayer, then he left. As for Obama, he did a taped introduction in which he praised McClurkin, the religious right activist, as one of his favorites. That's nice, because the way to help combat homophobia in the black community is to make sure the gay-basher is first endorsed by someone as high-ranking as Obama, who then chooses to say nothing about the gay-bashing.

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  1. bites the dust. It is apparent that Obama and his staff have royally screwed the pooch this time. Right now I’d rather have a progressive, pro-gray rights candidate. But figured that I’d have to settle for one that is not openly anti-gay.

    Hate begets hate…what the hell was Obama thinking?

  2. … about the 2008 election.  I think Obama and Clinton and etc. should go back to work.  This is obscene, imo, all of it, all the campaigns, all those hundreds of millions of dollars.  Bleh.

  3. Or a deliberate attempt to reach for “the middle?”

    It sure looks like we on ‘the fringe’ are being shunted off to the side, while Congressional leaders and the candidates court the vast number of people in ‘the middle’ who are now just against Bush.

    ….at least until the primary, when they will need us again.

    • Edger on October 29, 2007 at 18:23

    when you start courting nutcases. He was doing so well with his commitment to back Chris Dodd’s filibuster too.

    One step forward, two steps back?

  4. that even come close to offering anything resembling a viable choice not given any voice other then ridicule from the talking heads that do our thinking for us. I feel my primary madness is spent getting riled up over which candidate I need to fight next. Reviving the odious culture wars is low. So now I have two anybody but….. Great! 

    • pfiore8 on October 29, 2007 at 19:31

    Aidan for president.

    if it’s time for a change, then let’s change things in a big way.

    a real n00b for president!!!!

    • lezlie on October 29, 2007 at 19:35

    where I have no one to vote “FOR” only people to vote “against”… it’s a sad commentary on the country when that happens. Surely we can do better than this!

  5. what a knee-slapper!  And a blazingly bright move by Obama.

  6. Dennis Kucinich for President.  Period.

    Go Dennis!
    http://dennis4presid
    http://www2.kucinich
    Choose Peace!

  7. Who cares that black GLBT media hotties have an opinion about this “scandal,” when you can simply field Avarosis, beltway insider? Pupil of “former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright” delivers talking points: give me a damn break.

    Rod points the way for those who may be still be cofooosed about AA political allegiance and religion: all race, man, all the time. Just ’cause some media hotties tread lightly, don’t mean it isn’t so.

    The campaign’s refusal to put a black face-especially a straight ally-to speak against homophobia reinforces stereotypes about blacks and drives a thicker wedge between blacks and gays. Presidential campaign veteran Keith Boykin: “I don’t know if the Obama campaign realizes this, but inviting a white gay pastor to speak at a black gospel concert is not a smart move. Whoever is advising Obama really needs to reach out to people in the black community and re-think this whole approach.”

    Pam Spaulding* is also outraged: “It boggles the mind that the Obama campaign would select a white pastor to deal with a situation that is awash in black homophobia,” she says, explaining that the message “coming from a white pastor under these circumstances, can only be seen as paternalistic and patronizing; the shields of defensiveness will go up, the message will be ignored.”

    South Carolina-based Alvin McEwan blogs on black gays and religion at Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters. Let’s give him the last word: “LGBTs of color haven’t been just pushed to the back of the bus in this controversy. We have been kicked off of the bus and told to find our own way home.

    Jasmyne Cannick concurs with Alvin.

    Organizations like HRC help to pave the way for decisions like having Rev. Sidden at an African-American gospel concert.  Decisions like inviting Rev. Sidden, a white openly gay pastor to address a mostly African-American audience further push the idea among Blacks that gay is white.  The belief that whites are trying to push gay issues onto Blacks further divides the African-American community from their same-gender loving counterparts who continue to remain invisible.  All of this while racial incidents involving whites and Blacks are occurring from coast to coast causing many Blacks to question whether or not there’s a coordinated plan in action for their reentry in slavery. Couple that with a heavily divided Black constituency on issues of morality during a pivotal Presidential election and we stand a higher chance of repeating the past, which resulted in the current regime.

    And I concur with Jasmyne. I’ve been thinking about Rue Paul since this stupid-ass “story” broke. But I can’t find a mention on the wwww unless he’s disguised as Ron Paul by rank thugs.

    BHO is a crank. But he’s not a crank because he won’t “pander” to mainstreamin GLBT.

    ——-
    *Small world, watch yo’ back: I discovered through Pam’s personal “hair story,” that we have a mutual acquaintance. Dayam.

    • Slugbug on October 29, 2007 at 20:41

    .. but here’s the thing.  Romney is huge there too.

    Clinton will be wounded without Iowa but not mortally.

    Iowa is conservative.  I just read that 11% of Republican women are willing to vote on gender.

    That would swing it.

    Laura Bush said on Fox that she would rather have a Republican in office than a Democratic woman.

    She looks a little phony here.

    Women get manipulated, so do gays, so do blacks.

    Obama can’t manipulate all three groups at once and neither can any of the other candidates.

    It’s a problem for THEM, but for us it provides a chance to see where their largest loyalties lie.

  8. …It’s all about, and only about, “CHANGE!”

    WTF?  You don’t get it?  “CHANGE!”

    QED.

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