Obama's ties to Farrakhan (1 Viewer)

[BigRonJon]

A minister is a leader of a church congregation. If your minister shared similar views to Farrakhan, what does that say about the congregation? I would not support a church/minister/leader who had opposing views as me. The issue of Obama being a muslim or not makes this whole thing even more suspicious. Obama's preacher/friend/leader supports Farrakhan, leader of Nation of Islam. Its not about Obama denouncing Farrakhan or not, its the fact that his minister/leader/friend is such a supporter of Farrakhan. I like Barack, but I just cant/wont vote for him.

 

[RABDOG]

I don't ever recall Trent Lott supporting David Duke. But anyhow.

This is rediculous. Really. Substance people...let's deal with substance, not rhetoric.

do you "recall" his racist remarks and ideoligy? do you think mccain should denounce and reject him? do you think mccain should denounce and reject that dumb*** dude that kept screaming barack husain oboma over and over again? i don't believe mccain should "have" to do that, just like i don't believe barack obama should "have" to denouce and reject louis farrakkan...he did so and even that was not enough for some.

 

[RABDOG]

A minister is a leader of a church congregation. If your minister shared similar views to Farrakhan, what does that say about the congregation? I would not support a church/minister/leader who had opposing views as me. The issue of Obama being a muslim or not makes this whole thing even more suspicious. Obama's preacher/friend/leader supports Farrakhan, leader of Nation of Islam. Its not about Obama denouncing Farrakhan or not, its the fact that his minister/leader/friend is such a supporter of Farrakhan. I like Barack, but I just cant/wont vote for him.

obama's minister does not support farrakkan, stop with the misinformation.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

Like it or not, right or wrong, if their is a perceived association to the point of it being brought up in a debate then its a question the voters want an answer to.

Farrakhan is obviously not an accepted figure to the vast majority of americans views or else he would run for president himself or at the least have a positive influence. If the association is there and it were me, I would go to lengths to make sure people knew I did not have the same views.

What I notice so far of Obamma is that he appears to be fighting a battle of his internal beliefs and refuses to make a decisive stance. JMHO.

As I have stated I understand it needs to be answered. I just don't know how much more clear it can be than:

OBAMA: You know, I have been very clear in my denunciation of
Minister Farrakhan's anti-Semitic comments. I think they are
unacceptable and reprehensible.
I did not solicit this support. He expressed pride in an
African-American who seems to be bringing the country together.
I obviously can't censor him, but it is not support that I
sought. And we're not doing anything, I assure you, formally or
informally with Minister Farrakhan.

You know, I have been very clear in my denunciations of him and
his past statements. And I think that indicates to the American
people what my stance is on those comments.

OBAMA: Tim, I think -- I am very familiar with his record, as
are the American people. That's why I have consistently denounced it.
This is not something new. This is something that -- I live in
Chicago. He lives in Chicago. I've been very clear, in terms of me
believing that what he has said is reprehensible and inappropriate.
And I have consistently distanced myself from him.

OBAMA: Tim, I have to say I don't see a difference between
denouncing and rejecting. There's no formal offer of help from
Minister Farrakhan that would involve me rejecting it. But if the
word "reject" Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word
"denounce," then I'm happy to concede the point, and I would reject
and denounce.

What I don't understand is what more do people want him to say or do?

 

[St.Ryan]

. The issue of Obama being a muslim or not makes this whole thing even more suspicious. .

What issue of Obama being a muslim? Can you please give a reason for why you think Obama might be muslim?

 

[Saint by the Bay]

What issue of Obama being a muslim? Can you please give a reason for why you think Obama might be muslim?

Because the email told him so.

 

[V Chip]

What I don't understand is what more do people want him to say or do?

Well I think killing Farrakhan, on national TV, live and with his bare hands should proba...

Nah, it still wouldn't make a difference.

 

[St.Ryan]

What I don't understand is what more do people want him to say or do?

You and I both know what people want him to do. They want him to get up on stage and say "I'm so pro-Jesus that I'm pledging my life to bombing the middle east until the baby muhammad explodes."

 

[Saint by the Bay]

You and I both know what people want him to do. They want him to get up on stage and say "I'm so pro-Jesus that I'm pledging my life to bombing the middle east until the baby muhammad explodes."

I like Baby Muhammad the best.

 

[RebSaint]

People would rather believe stupid chain mails, AM radio, and whatever other political garbage they hear from God-knows-where rather than do a little research to find out some simple facts----OR people probably know better, and it serves their own political interest spread misinformation.

 

[RABDOG]

People would rather believe stupid chain mails, AM radio, and whatever other political garbage they hear from God-knows-where rather than do a little research to find out some simple facts----OR people probably know better, and it serves their own political interest spread misinformation.

lus-un2:

 

[DavidM]

How far are some of you willing to take the "guilt by association" theme?

I don't put much credence in a lot of this stuff, but it's naive to think that any politician is immune from being associated in some way with people whose views aren't shared in any number of regards.

DNC slams McCain for 'pandering to far right' on MLK day; Wesley Clark also attended Alabama governor's inauguration

Ron Brynaert and Mike Sheehan
Published: Monday January 15, 2007


Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a likely contender in 2008's presidential race, spent part of the Martin Luther King holiday at the swearing-in of a Republican governer who reportedly is a member of an organization that excludes blacks, according to a press release issued by the Democratic National Committee.

"Nearly 24 years after voting against creating a holiday honoring Martin Luther King, John McCain is spending today at the inauguration of Alabama Governor Bob Riley who is a member of an organization that has been criticized for excluding African Americans," states the DNC press release.

"The 'Grand Master' of the Grand Lodge of Alabama admits he knows of no African American members among the group's 30,000 plus membership," the release asserts, citing a Sep. 30, 2006

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Sen._McCain_once_against_King_holiday_0115.html

Huckabee endorsed by hate-group

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/15/174956/990/771/435516


Huckabee gave speech to white supremacists, has links to them ...


'Making coded appeals to white racism is nothing new for Huckabee.'

Max Blumenthal
Published: Friday January 18, 2008

As South Carolina's Republican primary election draws nearer, Mike Huckabee has ratcheted up his appeals to the racial nationalism of white evangelicals. "You don't like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag," the former Arkansas governor told a Myrtle Beach crowd on January 17, referring to the Confederate flag. "If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them what to do with the pole. That's what we'd do."

Making coded appeals to white racism is nothing new for Huckabee. Indeed, well before he was a nationally known political star, Huckabee nurtured a relationship with America's largest white supremacist group, the Council of Conservative Citizens. The extent of Huckabee's interaction with the racist group is unclear, but this much is known: he accepted an invitation to speak at the group's annual conference in 1993 and ultimately delivered a videotaped address that was "extremely well received by the audience."

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message490860/pg1

So while I'm certain I'll be accused of deflecting here, since the theme of this thread revolves in part around "guilt by association," I think any of this is relevant in keeping with that theme.

And I'm fairly certain, though I don't remember which candidate so I won't speculate by name, that one of the Republicans in the field had a staffer in South Carolina linked to a supremacist group.

 

[DMaestro]

How far are some of you willing to take the "guilt by association" theme?

I don't put much credence in a lot of this stuff, but it's naive to think that any politician is immune from being associated in some way with people whose views aren't shared in any number of regards.

Take anyone on this board. There aren't that many degrees of separation between you and the nearest bigot/kook/hatemonger/ignoramus. That goes double for politicians.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

To me it's all in how the politician reacts. Denouncing someone is about as tough as you get in political speak. It's a complete rejection of the person in question. If anything Hillary had it backwards. Rejecting someones endorsement is less an affront to them that outright denouncing them.

So in the end I don't care about the association, I care about the reaction to the association. A politician isn't going to get up on stage and scream "**** him" at the top of his lungs but "I denounce him" is pretty much the political equivalent of doing just that.

 

[DavidM]

Take anyone on this board. There aren't that many degrees of separation between you and the nearest bigot/kook/hatemonger/ignoramus. That goes double for politicians.

Yes, exactly. And given that both ends of the political spectrum in America have affiliations with reprehensible groups, it's virtually inevitable that every politician has some association to somebody that is questionable.

As I said, I'm not entirely comfortable with the degrees of separation between Obama and Farrakhan, because I think so lowly of the latter, but there's nothing in Obama's message that even hints at concern on this for me. It was said in this discussion that Obama should come out and specifially speak against the things that Farrakhan stands for. I think Obama does that nearly every time he takes the stage.