Shorter RNC Day Three: "Death To Community Organizers!"

You know, one of my great fears about John McCain's approach to national security is that he shows nary a whit of interest in busting out the ol' Google Map to find out the quickest route to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, where our terrorist enemies dwell and flourish, unharmed and unmolested. But after tonight, it appears all but certain that there is one group of people who McCain truly will chase all the way to the Gates of Hell: community organizers.

That's right. Tonight at the RNC, the McCain campaign made their feelings about community organizers abundantly clear. Defeated primary opponents spit on their name. Conventioneers loudly mocked their existence. Sarah Palin told not one, but two jokes about them, which is certainly a comedy foul, because everyone knows you are supposed to use the Rule Of Three.

Tonight, community organizers were made to feel the brunt of the Republicans' smarmy derision. And for what? You know, one overworked conservative trope from tonight was that the American people should not expect the government to solve all of their problems. You know who would agree with that? Community organizers. These men and women serve a public duty, taking care of those who do fall through the cracks of government largesse, motivating citizens to give their time and sweat to serve society's needs without making an unnecessary dip in the taxpayer till.

Community organizers mobilize volunteers that are young and old. They work from churches and community centers. They go to work in small towns and big cities. They assist people of all ages, and all walks of life. They tutor children, care for the infirm, spend time with the elderly, get food to the hungry, clothes to the needy. They expand opportunities and improve lives.

Why, if I'm not mistaken, they even make sure that voters can get to the polls on those odd Tuesdays in November.

It was a little surprising to see the good work of community organizers subjected to such jeers tonight. Was I dreaming when I saw all those people in the hall holding placards that read, "Service?" No, they were in fact carrying such signs, but they were doing so Tuesday, when there was a possibility that a hurricane in the Gulf Coast mattered, and when Hookers And Blow weren't playing the big lobbyist bacchanal. Tonight, they were carrying signs that read "Prosperity," which I suppose is shorthand for, "Don't hope for a better tomorrow, let Cindy McCain buy it for you wholesale."

Here's a little bit of delicious irony. It's been pointed out to me tonight that on September 11, Senators McCain and Obama will appear in New York City, participating in a forum for Service Nation. The topic? Community service and volunteerism. I imagine that many of you might have come out of tonight's RNC festivities with great concerns about the future welfare of our nations' community organizers. You might share your concerns with the event's organizers, by contacting them here. With any luck, this forum could get quite awkward for one of these candidates!

Comments

[NamelessGenXer]

02:38 AM on 09/05/2008

>>busting out the ol' Google Map to find out the quickest route to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border

[Mia23]

01:01 AM on 09/05/2008

LOVE this article, Jason!! .... COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS, Unite!!! .... Join the COO = COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS for OBAMA!!!

(see my comments in Scott K's op-ed, too. Will send you a copy later. THANKS, Jason!!

[lachgirl]

10:32 PM on 09/04/2008

Not only did Obama spend time as a community organizer, but Joe Biden's son, Hunter, gave a year of his life in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (I spent a year in the same program). It proves something to me about where their priorities lie.

Also, I personally believe there is no better way to learn how to shape policy than by working intimately with those most effected. How much time has John Mccain or Sarah Palin spent working with people from the lowest income bracket, other than when campaigning? Yet Obama is elitist and self-serving?

[RonBlack66]

01:29 AM on 09/05/2008

Typical. You are preaching to mostly Obama cheerleaders on this website. Therefore, nobody will challenge your comments...except me. I would say that instead of serving a "specific demographic" because they were members of this "specific demographic", McCain served ALL, and paid dearly for it.
How many poor white areas did Obama assist in his days of community organizing? Unlike the popular assumption on this website, not ALL white people were born with silver spoons in their mouths. So, for those disadvantaged and poverty stricken whites, how much time did Obama spend meeting with them personally and trying to lift up their bleak living conditions? Don't tell me there are no poor, majority white areas in Chicago. Did he help these disadvantaged Americans too, or did he only provide his community organizing skills to a pre-selected demographic that more closely look like him? We already know that the church he attended during these years of community organizing didn't lift a finger to help these poor white communities. We can only assume that Obama chose the beneficiaries of his community organizing skills by race also. Will he continue to be racially selective as to who he helps when he becomes president?

[wadda]

04:45 AM on 09/05/2008

In the 70s and 80s, in the US, I did education and advocacy work for the people of Namibia.

One day I asked a guy if he would like to help on a project. He said that he thought I should direct my energies to problems in the United States...not Africa. He was not interested.

I asked him what was important to him. He listed a number of things; all worthy causes I might add.

I told him I had some very dear friends who are Namibian; this work was as important to me, as his causes were to him.

While I would not stop what I was doing; and I could not devote significant time to what he wanted done; I told him I would help him get involved working on what he thought was important.

I called his bluff. He wasn't really interested in doing anything.

[Joyn]

09:07 AM on 09/05/2008

I'm thinking you don't know what you are talking about.
A community organizer works in the area they are assigned, they don't wander freely. Don't know how many white people were in his area but what difference does that make?
I did work with mostly people that "more closely look like me", white. Does that make work I did less valuable?

But you are way off on the church. They had extensive outreach services for the elderly, disabled, hungry, those with AIDS and many other services. They did serve people of all races, whoever requested it in their area. They have white members too.

The constitutional law students he taught were all races but mostly white. The people in his district were all races but mostly white. The people who elected him to congress were all races but mostly white. The adults who raised him were white.

His work as a community organizer was the first time he was ever in a mostly black community. Should he have refused the job so that people like you wouldn't find him being racially selective?

If you are impressed by military service I'm sure you have great respect for Rev. Wright for his years as a Marine from 1961 to 1967 and the three presidential commendations he got over those years serving everyone.

[RonBlack66]

01:31 AM on 09/05/2008

How much time did Obama spend with poor whites before he began campaigning?

[LAB10]

06:41 PM on 09/04/2008

Mac is on the Double Talk Mental Recession crossing the bridge to nowhere on the road to nowhere driven by a palin' jerk.

[eden4barack08]

06:48 PM on 09/04/2008

And with the speech to nowhere.

[billkarwin]

06:21 PM on 09/04/2008

"...everyone knows you are supposed to use the Rule Of Three."

This *proves* Palin is mavericky to the max! :-)

[corky 08]

06:01 PM on 09/04/2008

Ok I am almost scared of the people called Republicans now ,I was one up until The Texas Primaries when I changed my registration.Conservative christian,but have realized that if we were against abortion,then why in God's name are we not afraid of sending our young men and women to war,when The possibility of them not coming home should be considered an abortion .We send them to get killed in the name of honor for our country "give me a break"thats rubbish .Why not see the difference?The possibility could become more of our men and women get aborted .I consider it an abortion their young lives are gone all for the 666--oil .Christians can become the best hypocrits because we put Jesus aside when we are ready to make fun of others,wherefore our thoughts even go to killing the person because we can't seem to get rid of them."Sound familiar",Wake up Americans! we think the president will be the peoples choice sorry this year it will be God's choice .Go read Judges4:4-24 then come back a tell me what you read. Read !Read! Read! Oh and by the way I hunt I can field dress a deer ,ect. I dove, quail ,turkey ,pheasant and I'M even a pro at clay pigeons does that make ready to cast my name on a ballot.I dont think so! but if you come to my neck of the woods people know me by first name THEN last name .

[ObserverinVancouver]

05:51 PM on 09/04/2008

This is a great, great article, Jason. People also might like:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/105623/5197/586/586233

It had me in tears and I wanted to make sure it got more exposure, even though someone else may already have posted it here.

P.S., you had me in tears, too.

[marc04]

05:48 PM on 09/04/2008

Obama's full answer to the attacks against community organizers and other attacks launched last night are at msnbc.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26548013#26548013

If this link does not work the video is found in the video section labelled 'Obama answers GOP attacks'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

[XME]

06:19 PM on 09/04/2008

VERY nice. I think he handled it great. As a woman, who's disgusted by the tactics from the McCain camp, I especially love the comment about assuming she wants to be treated equally, rather than crying sexism.

[barkanomics]

05:43 PM on 09/04/2008

Yes, she's good at delivering a speech somebody hands her. A perfect instrument for the oppressors.

[NotDemNotRep]

05:52 PM on 09/04/2008

Aren't all good politicians good and giving a speech written by someone else. Obama is masterful at it. Bill Clinton was elected because of that skill. Some how Bush was elected despite his lacking in this skill. Nothing new here at all. Just another speech given by a politician that might mean some of what was said and might not. Same old same old.

[XME]

06:22 PM on 09/04/2008

Everyone but McCain! (Which explains one more reason he wanted Palin)

[395spoons]

05:02 PM on 09/04/2008

With reference to the appearance of Senators Obama and McCain to the September 11th event in NYC, guess who might just not show up!

These little digs from Palin are quite shocking to me. Wouldn't be great if the Republican voters who need help were simply ignored by their local Community Organizers next November!

[NotDemNotRep]

05:14 PM on 09/04/2008

maybe the ignorant and uninformed community organizers won't show up. The ones who actually listened to what she said won't have a problem wtih it since she didn't say a single word about them or what they do. She compared a dig on her and created a dig on him. A little 6th grade ish but the point was clearly aimed at Obama and NOT at anyone else. Again this goes back to my blinders statement from earlier. People on both sides need to take their blinders off and see the candidates and their stances on the issues and stop seeing a man, a woman, a persons color, the party affiliation etc..... In the end, this sort of narrow minded thinking (from both voters and Obama himself) is going to give the election to McCain because Obama doesn't have the ammo or history to win this kind of campaign.

[chitown8]

05:26 PM on 09/04/2008

It not narrow mined. If it wsn't for the community my kids would have starved yet my Mayor still go paid. There is a huge. Look at the diversity at both conventions. The DNC makes up the nation and world. RNC makes up the US views.

[Tyme4chaing]

05:47 PM on 09/04/2008

Then your statement is much more dense than any other statement because you made because community organizers are the ones who report the forecast of the economy and community abroad. Without them you nor I wouldn't know the statistics of the economy as it is today by simply working with the community itself. I am community organizer and a childcare provider. I receive information from other community organizers everyday regarding childcare services, job referral for single parents, housing information, etc. Without the other community organizer feedback no one would not be able to stay in touch with anything if it wasn't for community organizer like me. Yes, I feel that Palin has insulted me and millions of other community organizers such as policemen, firefighters, doctors, nurses, etc.

[grandjam2]

04:50 PM on 09/04/2008

Ms Palin, I am shocked that you had to read what someone else wrote. If you did your own speech writing you would not have done such a disaster on your reputation. DID YOU SEE WHAT YOUR OWN TOWN PAPER SAID ABOUT YOUR SPEECH. You stretch the truth, so that make it all untrue. Regarding community organizers. ALL THOSE PEOPLE THERE GOING AROUND TO GET VOTES for your election are they not community organizers. . Shame on you. I guess the speech writers are just gunning for you both to lose this election which I know will happen. What a job they are doing and you all dont see it.

[NotDemNotRep]

04:59 PM on 09/04/2008

Grandjam, did you pay attention to what you just wrote? Do you think Obama writes his own speaches? Not a single one of the talking heads writes his/her own speaches. And as far as stretching thruth, don't fool yourself into thinking only one side does this. How do you think most politicians get to where they are. Certainly not by telling the whole truth all the time. By your definition of a stretched truth makes everything untrue, then nothing any of the canditates have said going back to the begining of time is true. For that matter, your post is a stretch so by your definition makes it untrue. Obviously not a fair statement on my part but a point nontheless. Don't watch this election with blinders on. The Dems have lied, the Reps have lied. They have also both told the truth. Pay attention to the issues and see what shakes out.

[Levittown]

05:31 PM on 09/04/2008

She cannot change Washington without getting rid of the Republican office holders. They created big time government control of Americas business and finances. We now owe out billions, employment stats are horrible and the market is only good for the " haves ". She won't be part of the old guard
because the ' old guard ' is the Democratic Party that championed a liberal America to the most
desired standing in the world , and one they wanted to business with.

[ObserverinVancouver]

06:02 PM on 09/04/2008

Check out this website (may not be correct usage):

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/

This is from Alaska, from the people who know her best. Read some of these stories and comments. Her new broom may not look that effective after you do. Gov. Palin could easily be described as a nasty piece of work. BTW, did anyone see the slighted sign of any warmth in this woman last night? I think Mike Huckabee's ideas are demented but I enjoy listening to him because of his charm. She's no Huckabee.

[RonBlack66]

04:45 PM on 09/04/2008

Also, one must keep in mind that Sarah Palin is the VP candidate while Barack Obama is the Presidential candidate. Lets compare apples to apples. I submit that inside the beltway McCain is more qualified than inside the beltway Obama, while inside the beltway Biden is more qualified to take over the presidency than OUTSIDE the beltway Palin. Now, if the VP candidate is so important in elections, then should Biden OR Palin be put in a position to take over the presidency, they will both have to pick their own VP candidate. And nobody, including those on this website, know who they would pick. We can only assume that their VP pick would provide strengths to their weaknesses. So lets stop with all this "One heartbeat away from the White House" rhetoric. Its just a smokescreen put forth by those with an agenda to get their candidate elected.

With all this said, it should be a very interesting election and one of historical significance regardless who ultimately succeeds in their quest for the White House.

[RonBlack66]

04:44 PM on 09/04/2008

The attacks on Sarah Palin are fair game, but so are attacks on Barack Obama. The fact that I've seen more Huffington Post articles critical of Sarah Palin and her family (as if taxpayers will have to subsidize these children as they have to do with those living within the boundaries of Obama's community organizing efforts) in one week than I've seen critical of Barack Obama since he took to the national stage several years ago, just proves the bias reporting of this website. If one could, please provide links to Huffington Post articles harshly critical of Barack Obama and his associations to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezco, or any others that I've failed to mention. The fact is that this website is not objective in its writings and instead, conveniently ignores Obama's questionable friendships and relationships with people that participate in criminal activity and that spew anti-American, anti-White rhetoric. And I thought Faux News, CNN, and MSNBC were biased in their own right. Gee Whiz! Huffington Post takes the cake! Such as the popular theme on HP that Obama doesn't surround himself with "Yes Men"! However, I haven't seen anyone in Obama's inner circle that have stepped forward and publicly disagreed with him on any of his positions. So much for Obama's Anti-Yes Man argument.

[chitown8]

05:19 PM on 09/04/2008

Maybe because they don't disagree.
Biden doesn't agree with him.

[RonBlack66]

05:49 PM on 09/04/2008

On what topics does Biden disagree with Obama, and where can I find a Huffington Post article highlighting these disagreements? Thanks.

[helloworld2008]

05:33 PM on 09/04/2008

Somebody call the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahmbulance.

[RonBlack66]

05:47 PM on 09/04/2008

Now that you got that out of your system, helloworld2008, provide Huffington Post links to prove me wrong. Thanks.

[RonBlack66]

04:44 PM on 09/04/2008

Not surprisingly, Huffington Post attacks Gov. Sarah Palin and exaggerates the accomplishments of Sen. Barack Obama. Such as the one put forth by Rusty Russell. Rusty, you say that Obama HELPED people get jobs and lift themselves out of poverty? Do you have any stats that show his direct involvement resulted in a substantial number of people moving from welfare to work? Where are the numbers that prove his success while a community organizer? Just because he was a community organizer does not mean that he was successful at what he did. I submit that those in the area that he "organized" still have above the national average statistics in joblessness, single-parent households, welfare recipients, food stamp recipients, housing subsidy recipients, utility subsidy recipients, and every other government handout statistic. I challenge you to provide proof that, "Because of Barack Obama, there are fewer people in his district of community organizing that recieve (insert government handout) than the national average"? In other words, where are his successes?

[stunnanumma1]

06:43 PM on 09/04/2008

Your responses are a slightly less polished version of what Palin was trying to say as in; "We shouldn't waste our time or resouces helping 'those people'.

In my opinion, that's the basis of the thinking of the average Republican voter: Get poor white folks to think that helping poor minorities are two different things.

In essence, that's the genius of the Republican party. No matter how bad things are going, they can always turn to religion, abortion and guns to win an election. And Caribou Barbie is a symbol of all that wrapped in a tidy package...

[RonBlack66]

12:24 AM on 09/05/2008

Caribou Barbie and racial insinuations. Predictably, there goes the name calling again. As I told someone earlier, now that you have the personal attacks out of your system, lets get to discussing the facts. If Obama is going to tout his service as a community organizer, then put forth his successes, not just that he served. Heck, George Bush served also, but I think we can all agree that just because he served doesn't mean he was successful.
Sooo, give me one example of a government handout that those in his former community organizing boundaries, received BELOW the national average. And if, after all Obama's work on their behalf, they STILL take handouts above the national average, then I would say that he wasn't successful. If he could not rally a small community to become better, more responsible citizens, then why would we believe he could "help" on a national level? Just as when he worked street level, all he will be able to do is give them more free handouts. Same old failed social programs meant to appease rather than promote personal responsibility and accountability. After community centers with state of the art computer systems, work programs and job training, midnight basketball, etc, etc., these communities are STILL plagued by perpetual failure, generation after generation. Sooo, who will do what needs to be done and finally hold them accountable for their lack of personal responsibility in bettering their own lives? Obama? You? Please!

[NotDemNotRep]

04:42 PM on 09/04/2008

Misunderstood comments regarding most of the previous posts aside, she is a very good looking woman. I wonder how much that played into choosing not just a woman VP running mate but needed to be a good looking woman?

In the end it is sad that most people are not going to even pay attention to the issues. They will vote for a specific candidate because of some or several of these reasons.
He's a Democrat
He's a Republican
He's Black (this one will both win and lose votes sadly to say)
He's White (see above)
She's on the ticket
He's not Hillary (again will both win and lose votes)
She's not Hillary (see above)
He is saying bad things about Bush so it must be right
He is in the same party as Bush so he must be bad
His name makes me think of a terrorist
His age scares me
His experience is more or less than the other guy
She said something mean about......
He is affiliated with these bad people or things

You name it and it will get in the way of what is really important. What are their stances on the issues? Lets let them answer real questions with real answers Answer the darn questions and let us decide on your answers how we feel. I guess in an ideal world that would work but too many people are too stubborn to get past their preconceived notions and decide for themselves.