By Scott Tibbs, May 8, 2008
The New York Times quotes Barack Hussein Obama on the recent series of controversy that has surrounded his campaign and enabled Hillary Clinton to make a comeback:
You know, here I am, an African-American named Barack Obama who’s running for president. I mean, that’s a leap for folks. And I think it’s understandable that my political opponents would say, "You know, he’s different. He’s odd. He’s sort of unfamiliar. And what do we know about him?"
A central theme of Obama's campaign has been rising above the divisiveness of modern political discourse. Obama has promised to bring people together and move America forward. Without using the exact words, Obama has promised to be "a uniter, not a divider", as President Bush promised eight years ago. That's why it is so unfortunate that Obama has decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel by shamelessly playing the race card.
No, Mr. Obama. People are not really concerned that your pastor and spiritual mentor has said America brought September 11 on itself and that the U.S. government created AIDS to use against black people. People are really not concerned that you have a record of supporting restrictions on Second Amendment rights. People are really not concerned that you have expressed a radically pro-abortion stance or that you support higher taxes. All of the criticism of you is based on your skin pigmentation.
Up until now, Obama has run a civil campaign. He has been consistent in his opposition to the war in Iraq and has genuinely attempted to raise the level of political discourse in this country. I will not vote for Mr. Obama, but I think America would be much better off if he wins the Democrat Party's nomination, if only because Mrs. Clinton is such a bad choice. But shamelessly reducing legitimate concerns about his candidacy to racism is a cheap shot and a shortcut. It is a representation of all of the divisive politics of the past that Obama claims to be trying to change.
Obama should be ashamed of himself. When he reduces legitimate concerns about his experience, his associations and his political ideology to skin pigmentation, Obama is no different from people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton - divisive figures that have done far more to harm race relations in this country than to help. Obama is needlessly stirring up racial tensions, encouraging blacks to embrace a persecution complex while creating resentment in whites. That is shameful and well below the standards that Obama has set for himself.
