Geraldine Ferraro took her fight to NBC Wednesday night. Joining substitute host Ann Curry, Ferraro lashed out at the Obama campaign. She accused them of putting her remarks and questions of racism in the national spotlight.
"If anybody is going to apologize, they should apologize to me for calling me a racist," she said.
Watch:
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
And remember, if we screw it up this time, IT'S FOUR YEARS BEFORE ANOTHER DO-OVER!
A few Important points:
Geraldine Bunker said EXACTLY the same thing about Jessie Jackson. Almost Word for word. Look it up on Lexus Nexus. Therefore, she seems to think that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a black person to aspire to the presidency without somehow also misrepresenting their true worthiness (or apparent lack thereof) by hiding under the blinding, dazzling, almost magical mantle of black skin.
However, if she does not believe this, but rather, in the quest of upholding the truth simply pointed out that the two black men who have gotten close to a presidential nominiation so far were in fact only aTRULY COMPETITIVE because they were black, then perhaps she would do the nation a favor by compiling a list of Black men or women who, in her learned opinion, COULD run for the presidency on their personal merits alone, so that we, the gullible, vapid, blind, impressionable, stupid, public could properly identify a black candidate that's actually capable of being president.
All kidding aside, I don't think she's a racist, in the same way that a mob hitman is not really a "serial Killer". Both engage in the same behavior, but one does it out of mental defect and compulsion, while the other simply does it for personal (or in this case political) gain.
Finally, if you give her all possible benefit f the doubt, the best thing that you can say about what she has said about both Jackson and Obama is that millions upon millions of Democrats and other voters are being misled, suggesting that Hillary is the better politician and candidate (even though she is losing and has an abysmal record of acheivement in foreign policy and health care) and that people are just too dim to see it because of the blinding appeal of having a black man as president. honestly that is still one of the weaksest, most improbable assertions I have heard in a long time, and it STILL sounds racist to me even in that context.
Geraldine is a bitter, delusional, racist old douchebag. She needs to apologize to God for being married to a slum lord and doing nothing about it. She is so yesterday, so completely without value I can see her working for Hillary. It takes one to know one.
The only thing I can add is that people like Geraldine Ferraro constitute a big part of the reason why I used to be a conservative. I couldn't stomach people like her, or Hubert Humphrey, or Walter Mondale for that matter. I also didn't realize how vicious and phony conservativism is or it would never have been my refuge.
Ferraro is objectionable in her own personality and demeanor aside from her politics, ergo my revulsion against liberals at that point in time. I guess my point is shut-up Geraldine, you've never helped and you never will - just go away. Democrats need to try and woo those, like me who are sick of those kinds of personalities - the Fox News style.
This is the point that I think Ferraro was trying to make, and which is, unfortunately, true:
When negative and/or critical comments are made about a political candidate, rightly or wrongly, this is the hierarchy of general "acceptibility":
> About a white male by almost anybody: OK
> About a black male OR female by a white person: Not OK...risk of being called racist
> About a black person BY a black person: Possibly OK, depending on the subject/individuals involved
> About a female by a male: Acceptabale and definitely more OK than against a black person of either gender
> About a female by a female: OK, but labeled "bitchy".
Perfect Examples:
1)
>Joe Biden was forced out of the 1988 presidential race for "non-attribution" in a speech...referred to as plagerism and was brought up repeatedly by the media et al during this campaign, BUT...
> Barak Obama was subsequently "guilty" of the VERY SAME THING, and after a couple of mentions, was ultimately dismissed as much ado about nothing..."everybody does it"...
SO, IT WAS A MORTAL SIN FOR THE WHITE MALE, BUT NOT THE BLACK MALE.
2) Barak Obama claims "better judgement" about Iraq, BUT chose to NOT EVEN SHOW UP for the Biden-Gelb IRAQ Senate resolution vote in September...The media has virtually IGNORED what in anyone else would be seen as hypocritical...
3) Barak Obama chastises Hillary Clinton for her IRAN Senate resolution vote (deservedly so), BUT AGAIN HE CHOSE TO NOT EVEN SHOW UP FOR IT... AGAIN the media has virtually IGNORED this failure to take an "on the record stand" and point out its hypocracy...
4) Barak Obama chairs the SFRC Sub-Committee on Afghanistan and yet, despite his "better judgement" on what is appropriate use of American diplomacy/force and the continued critical nature of Afghanistan, HE HAS NOT CONVENED THE COMMITTEE EVEN ONCE...And except for Hillary's TV ad just prior to the Texas primary, THIS HAS GOTTEN NO MEDIA MENTION/SCRUTINY... AND Obama, parrotted by the media, has pointed to this and the "3AM" ad as Clinton's campaign going "negative"!!!... WELL, NEWS FLASH, BARAK--Your lack of action when action is appropriate IS NEGATIVE...AND, TRUE!... Based on YOUR OWN LACK OF ACTION, one would have to wonder whether you would even take the chance and answer the "red phone" at 3AM or ANYTIME!
I am not a particular fan of either of the Democratic candidates... I think that they are equally undesireable... But I will vote for whoever is necessary to prevent a republican administration, especially AG / SCOTUS nominations....
That said, I think the Spitzer tragedy that is unfolding offers a cautionary lesson for us ALL, and starkly illustrates that is critical that we properly scrutinize Obama the way Hillary has been scrutinized... Not that I am in any way comparing the sexual element of any of this, but the citizens of New York were VERY ENTHUSIASTIC about Elliott Spitzer, and are now devasted to realize that he was not who they thought he was...that he talked the talk, and even walked the walk IN PUBLIC, but was, in the end, a shadow-man that they did not know...an overly ambitious politician who betrayed everyone who helped put him where he was.
Do we really want the "devil" we DON'T know or the devil we DO know?...REGRET is a bitter pill...
Thanks!
For being a good little neocon?
Let me guess, could you be a fan of George Bush? Nice try, but Ferraro's comments are indefensible.
But, his lack of action on his sub-cmte has been discuseed on TV. Keith Olberman covered for him saying that senate sub-cmte are basically worthless in general and it is of no consequence whether he has a meeting or not.
But, did Keith then chastise Barack for using that chairmanship as part of his experience in the ways he has similarly made fun of Hillary's experince? NO
Did Keith chanstise Obama for accepting the chair position on that sub-cmte when he didn't have time for it and was just using it as resume padding, NO.
"Do we really want the "devil" we DON'T know or the devil we DO know?...REGRET is a bitter pill..."
It is more than about who we know more about. We know many things about BOTH of them ,and when it comes to standing up to the Bush administration and their warmongering and spying on Americans, Hillary has just not been up to the job. She thought she could win this election the way her husband did in 1992, by playing as close to the middle as she can, but she has a tin ear when it comes to reading the public mood. She is her own worst enemy.
So are you really saying that African-Americans are a privileged class in this society? Can you really be that stupid?
Righteous Indignation - check
Arrogant sense of entitlement - check
ability to suspend reality and believe one's own lies - check
constant projection of one's own shortcomings onto another - check
hmmm, I'm no Psych Major, but I'm pretty sure there is a diagnosis for this one
"hmmm, I'm no Psych Major, but I'm pretty sure there is a diagnosis for this one"
Medea complex.
Similar to Lady Macbeth, too.
What has all this got to do with,
the desecration of the Constituion;
the shredding of the Bill of Rights;
the war of aggression perpetrated by official lies;
millions of ill Americans who will needlessly die because they can't pay a doctor;
foreclosed homes;
stagnated wages;
jobs lost permanently because they have been moved overseas;
any thing important, critical, vital, to continued existence of the United States?
There we go again. We are at each others throats over side issues rather than staying focused on the supreme goal.
We have one mission, one only, the utter destruction of John McCain and Republicanism. All this infighting insures we will fail in that mission.
If Obama was running as a white man, Hillary would've been done after Iowa. The only reason this race has went on so long is because she and her husband both know how to win an election. They don't care how they win, even if it means driving a wedge between black and white America.
The numbers of black male sexual assualts on women for last year runs over 30,000 and the number of white male sexual assualts on black women is about a dozen.
And you think Hillary is creating a racial wedge in this country...Yeah Hussein !
Who murdered the young woman in North Carolina last week? It wasn't the klux.
Funny how this invention called DNA Testing has been over turning many of the Black Male Sexual Predator Cases. Hasn't over turned many white male cases based solely on the witness accounts.
The arc of the universe always bends toward justice. Too bad Jackch you don't know what justice is.
You are making up those numbers. They just aren't true. It is bad enough being racist, but to spread lies to bolster this ugliness is a crime.
It's called plausibility, and in turn plausible denial. A two-way baiting game. It's made the rounds.
If Obama was a White man, he wouldn't have gotten Oprah's endorsement, the huge crowds or as many votes.
No one seems to be voting for Obama because of any positions he is taking - if anyone even knows for sure what they are.
On the one hand, for instance, he is pro-Israel. On the other hand his foreign policy advisers (Brzezinski, Lake, Power (now departed)) are anti-Israel.
On One hand, he will remove the troops from Iraq. On the other ahnd, jhe says he will put them back if al Qaeda is in Iraq - which they are.
So, when you are voting for him, what are you hoping to change?
John Travolta will weep upon hearing this.
Excellent point re: OPRAHma!
Senator Clinton knows how to put on an act when she feels need be: when she wanted people to believe that Obama had misrepresented her NAFTA views in fliers, she came out looking all crazy -
in response to this mess, she smiles and barely manages to get out that she "disagrees" with Ferraro's views. And they let this go on because they thought it was politically advantageous to do so. Ferraro is an intelligent woman, she knows how to have a discussion about race and gender w/out being offensive and insulting.
No one thinks either Ferraro or Clinton is racist, but they don't mind working that line, because it's been working for Senator Clinton.
And why is Obama paying for the sins of the media?! As far as i've seen, he's been nothing but respectful of senator Clinton, and always speaks highly of her. if only senator Clinton was so kind in her 60miutes interview. but i see no evidence of sexism from him.
The Obama campaign has been pushing the race thing from the beginning. White male liberals fall for it.
There is nothing wrong with what Farraro said. There is plenty wrong with Alexrod and his guttersnipe methods. What a lousy, lousy press, what a lousy, sickeningly credulous bunch of bloggers. Nobody ever bothers to mention the raging sexism that is behind all this. Stupid stupid stupid. Disgusting. You can thank Kos for this.
I find it "riddiculous" that Hillary supporters are blaming Obama and the media for Ferraro's racebating comments while she continues to appear on news shows to repeat herself over and over again. Who exactly is keeping this story alive? Just think.
Hillary et al are just like Republicans, using their exact playbook methods: tell the opposite of what is true and believe it! Hillary is more of the same -- she has supported BushCo. in the faux war and she now has to pay for that BIG mistake.
The problem with all of these "let's bash Hillary comments" is that it is akin to guilt by association. Mrs. Ferraro is NOT a paid staff member of the Clinton team nor is she an advisor. She raises money for her as she does for many democratic candidates. Moreover, Mrs. Ferraro has stated that she made her comments not during a Clinton fundraiser, but on her own time after giving a paid speech. In this context, I don’t think that Clinton should be held accountable. After all, Geraldine Ferraro is a significant personality in her own right and I would assume that nobody tells her what to think or say. I think that Hillary's statement that she does not agree with Ferraro's comments was sufficient. I fear that Obama supporters are acting more like republicans in their inability for anything other than black and white (no pun intended) thinking when it comes to Clinton without giving her the benefit of doubt at least once in a while. The "blame the Clinton's for everything" are after all republican talking points and it appears that Obamites are comfortable using that tactic. Kind of scary.
she was on the finance committee. she was a member. so what if she didn't get paid. she was on the committee. Please. if you are excusing someone's racist bullshit, do it the right way. whether it was on her own time or not, she was a member. Kind of scary? Right. The lies are really scary indeed.
I disagree that her comment was racist. Maybe it was not PC per the overly sensitive left leaning thought police, but certainly not racist. The truth is that Obama is in part, who he is as a successful politician, because he is black. I know many "white folks" who have told me first hand that one big reason that they support Obama is because it makes them feel good to support an African American. White guilt? Perhaps. And certainly, one of the many reasons that other African Americans support him is because he is black. People need to grow up and quit ringing their hands over this kind of bullshit. The truth is not racist; it is common sense and should surprise no educated or thinking person.
Hillary demanded a firing for the "monster" comment, which was meant to be a private comment and wasn't sexist or racist, but she lets "he's only in the race because he's black" go, just saying she disagrees? Even after she goes all over tv playing the victim? Hypocrite.
Ms. Ferraro has been treated horribly by some Obama-ologists
http://strictlyanecdotal.com/2008/02/27/another-inclusive-post-from-one-of-those-wacky-guys-and-gals-in-obamaville.aspx
and instances of ageism and sexism are rampant on Obama-ite blogs.
Still, as a legitimate and prominent member of the Clinton team, GF should have been more measured in her initial comments and more conciliatory in their aftermath. I am an HRC supporter and, I believe, thanks to both sides no matter who is nominated the Repubs are well on their way back to the WH.
At some point in the future, the Dems are going to have to discuss issues of race, age and sex without their characteristic political correctness and exposed feelings. Racism should never be acceptable neither should ageism and sexism. We should all remember no matter what "ism" a person is subject to they are all trumped by poverty: try being a poor, old woman of color - you don't exist.
Ok folks this one is for Arriana. I am amazed at how the anti Obama posts never seem to make it to the web. My guess is your staff is biased, and racist. For all those who are feeling similar censorship, let me suggest you go to ABC News and check out the story on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. If you want to see what the spiritual advisor,pastor or whatever tells Barak Hussein Obama and his followers. You will see there are so many areas to attack Obama on, we don't need this site or the pea brain Obama suporters who hang out here.
I dare you post this!
I feel your hate.
There you go!
Thanks Geraldine, for opening up the discussion to ugly ignorance. Listen to Pat Buchanon last night and witness the hate-based stupidity you have now enabled.
Nobody owes you an apology. You owe the country one.
We should all listen very carefully to this woman's advice and take her extremely seriously. After all, if anyone knows something about picking the right candidate and winning in the general, it's...Geraldine Ferraro???
Seriously, though, she just does not know when to quit. I am starting to think that maybe she is an Obama plant trying to siphon off sympathy votes from HRC and make her look bad. Why else would she keep digging the hole deeper for "her" candidate?
Loading comments…
First Posted: 03-13-08 08:05 AM | Updated: 03-28-08 05:12 AM