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McCain's Recent Statements About Obama Are Nothing But Racist
Special Correspondent Earnest Harris writes this occasional "Code Words" column for OffTheBus.
John McCain is a coward AND a racist.
There is no other way to put this, nor do I care to. Most people, including many of the mainstream media talking heads, are bending over backwards to find every excuse and rationalization in the world to find a polite way to explain McCain's (and Palin's) latest round of attacks. But I am not buying any of it. I fully expect McCain to come out with the "N-word" sometime between now and election day. And you know what? I would respect him a lot more if he came right out and said it directly, rather than all this silly code word stuff that he and his campaign are engaged in.
In the last few days Obama has been called "that one," "a terrorist's best friend," someone who we should be suspicious of, "a terrorist" by a crowd/mob member, was inferred to be a Muslim again by TWO different surrogates who made issue of his middle name, and most recently "a guy of the street" as McCain co-chair, Frank Keating, referred to him.
What more does McCain have to say or do for people of good conscious to see what he is doing and call him and it by their obvious names, racism and racist. And who cares what all the apologists will say, implying that those of us who see this for what it is are crying racism where there is none, that we are over-sensitive on this issue.
Here is CNN's Glenn Beck in a column he wrote making just that point today:
I'm not sure if this is the new kind of politics we were promised by Barack Obama, but I don't think it's the change most people have in mind. This random name-calling just winds up hurting legitimate claims of racism, which do exist. But they risk being taken far less seriously, if the constant crying of wolf continues.
The truth is, voting against Barack Obama doesn't make you a racist, just like voting against Sarah Palin doesn't make you a sexist. The vast majority of regular Americans understand that. If politicians could catch up and restrain themselves from trying to exploit our differences for their own gain -- we'd all be better off.
BS. It's always interesting to me how white guys can tell those of us who have to bear the brunt of this kind of racism, when it is legitimate for us to call it out. I guess we're supposed to wait until people like Beck tell us when it is o.k. to see racism, and that of course will only be when people like him decide something rises to that standard.
Not gonna happen.
I, and most people of color, know racism when we see it. And while I agree that we have to be careful of misusing the allegation, this is not one of those instances of misuse. This is award-winning racism, mainly because they think by cleverly using code words, they are insulated from charges of being racists and can try to boomerang the charge on anyone who dare see what they are doing.
Good try McCain.
And just like Obama and Biden were right to call McCain out as a coward for being so free to call him names and try to link him to Ayers when they are on the stump, McCain, the war hero, didn't have the guts to bring any of it up when Obama was right there in front of him at the debate the other night. Where I come from that's called cowardice. And I'm sick of hearing everyone, including Biden, refer to McCain with glowing terms, as being an honorable man. He is not. Honorable men do not behave this way. McCain may have been honorable at one time, and he may have been a hero at one time, but he is not now. So let's stop calling him a hero. He is a coward and a racist. And notice I don't even get into talking about Sarah Palin. What's the point? She's just his attack dog, with absolutely no credibility. She's almost pitiful to watch. But don't get me wrong, by going along with McCain on this tack, she is making it clear that she is as much a coward and racist as he is.
Why don't we and the MSM stop avoiding the truth of what we are seeing and hearing? Waiting for more blatant words? Well, just wait, it's coming. McCain's desperation is so out of control, his behavior so erratic, he won't be able to help himself.
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You go, Mr. Harris !!!! Wonderful, refreshing, timely opinion writing. I hope you keep it up. After Nov. 4, when Senator Obama is the President Elect, the stirred pot will still be out there. And I worry for this man.
I have been outraged and really freaked out to see so many people defending and dismissing what Palin-McCain rally's have become. People feel embolded to say things that are hateful in public. It seems like it's become patriotic, courageous and a matter of pride, to attack American's who are different.
I'd love to see minorities come out with stories about the racist attacks they experience everyday in America. Then maybe white American's can start being honest about racism instead of making a bunch of justifications and rationalizations for why hate is okay.
As a minority, I'm scared. I've become scared of white people in this last week. In America! WTF!
My story of racism in America: I had a little old lady ask me is she could touch me. She had never seen one of my kind except for on teevee. Then she poked me a few times with a finger!
That's funny but it's sad at the same time. You must be relatively young because those of us a bit older have stories that aren't too cute. And you seem like you just woke up and discovered this. Minorities should tell their stories, if nothing else than to teach the younger ones how to handle it without the fear and rage and still respect themselves without letting the racism warp their self-image. Because that's the biggest issue with minorities of any hue in this country. Whites have to deal with their hatred internally and stop the denial. It's not like these rallies happened out of thin air. It's always been there.
Okay, I've got my flack jacket on----I support and will vote for Barack Obama but simply wish to point out that John McCain had the courage to stand-up, take the microphone from an ignorant Pennsylvania commenter and set her straight; that Obama is a decent family man with strong values, (and a very cool temperament I might ad).
While this is no excuse for the direction of his campaign, it is a mitigating circumstance to mention the cowardly young RNC Rovians
who design these directions, hiding behind the scenes. Clearly, it has all gotten out of his hands.
It is not John McCain that we have to fear, but the RNC who has given-up on winning the fair and honest fight and will now revert to Voter Purging, protesting registration and the fixing of the Diebold Black Box no paper voting machines that will be used in 33 states.
Remember Florida 2000 - Ohio 2004,......there is a strong chance they will try these again.
A very great thing that an Obama Presidency will do, is the balancing act it can precipitate against the decades of American Racism. It will set a new tone, one for which I am grateful. By 2050 American will be more brown than white.
Not one thing that McCain has said is in anyway racist. He could have used the exact same words when talking about a white man. You are stretching it. What about saving the race card for when it is really called for? In this case it is not warrented.
I bet you are "white". LOL.
So what if I am. I'm not entitled to an opinion if I'm white? Now who is being racist?????????
Earnest, thank you for saying this without mincing words. I've complained about other posters who have made equivocal statements about "decent people" who make racist judgements about not voting for Sen Obama; my view is that if they are racist, there is no decency in them, in the same way that you make the comment about McCain's lack of honour.
Racism is a funny beast: it is what is experienced by the recipient, regardless of the motives or intentions of the speaker. It is not just the overt discrimination; it includes the put down, the sneer, the refrain of skin colour, the insistence on ethnic typecasting, overlaid with a tinge of superiority. And unless you have heard it and experienced it in reference to yourself, you don't recognise it as racism.
I see it, and I am lily white as it were. And I've been howling about it ever since it started. I fear that such talk is dangerous and that some whackjob who attends those 'rallys' might actually go a bit further with a gun and hurt someone. I am honestly scared of the virulent anger because I CAN see it blowing up in all of our faces. The last thing we as Americans need is some whacko to pour more gas on their anger and see the 'base' go further than the talk.
"I fully expect McCain to come out with the "N-word" sometime between now and election day."
BINGO! BINGO!! BINGO!!!
Just had to respond, I've been saying this for two weeks now.
Now I'll finish the rest of the article.
The comment "that one" is definitely racist because it dismisses Obama as even being a human being. This is how racists feel about those who do not have white skin. As a white woman old enough to remember the terrible time protesters of the Viet Nam war had and also the shooting of the 4 college students in Ohio, etc. etc. I have a lifetime of hearing and seeing racism in all its ugly-ness. In addition we are a very fascist nation where racism is tolerated because it fits into that mind-set. I'm glad that someone is not afraid of stating the truth of it. Thank you Ernest for speaking out because the mass media will never do it. The reason has already been stated that they are in the pocket of "big business" and they depend on ratings, not the truth. The McPalins are disgusting and attract that kind of following.
One more thing - We cannot judge someone's feelings. They either feel that way or not. And if they feel slighted it is not for someone else to say they shouldn't feel that way.
Barack Obama will be our next president and I can hardly wait!
Thank you for putting so eloquently what even I as a white woman can plainly see.
I agree with what you are saying. I am African American and I do see McCain & Palin's shameful tactics as racism overtly and covertly. Having said that I also know that a lot of white folks recognize these tactics for what they are as well. I was very pissed off about Beck's commentary on CNN. His statements are baseless and really are a slap in the face for people who experience racism. It's not his call or his job to point out the racist moment.... but that moment came the moment McCain/Palin supporters started talking about Obama being a Muslim, attacking his middle name, and calling him a terrorist. The true definition of a terrorist is someone who incites fear, and McCain/Palin have that title wrapped up, hands down.
As a white woman, I agree with you. McCain/Palin's "base" is now just the haters, just the people with zero common sense.
It's quite ironic the amount of whining about sexism and how McCain can't possibly send e-mail due to his POW injuries, and gnashing of teeth over Obama "playing the race card" (which he clearly has never, ever done), only to be followed by all these thinly-disguised coded racial attacks.
I just thought I despised the Clintons for their race-baiting during the primary. At least they were more honest about it.
And I just thought I had lost all respect for McCain before, based just on all the lies. Now i see he is lower than pond scum.
My great-grandmother, while in the initial throes of dementia, made some very unfortunate racially-charged remarks that would have been "filtered" earlier in her life. Later on she got to a point where color disappeared. I'm hoping McCain gets to the more pleasant stage of his dementia sooner rather than later.
Earnest, I detest McCain and Palin AND racism as much as you. But really, for you to say "I, and most people of color, know racism when we see it" is racism itself. I'm sick of hearing that only black people can detect anti-black racism. BS. Whites could just as easily claim that, being white, they know best how to interpret what a white man says. And that would actually make more sense. Calling McCain's "That one" remark racist is purely unthinking whinery. There's nothing racist whatsoever about it. There are far more concrete reasons to object to the trash coming out of McCain & Palin. Like the sheer stupidity of it. And the hatred that it inspires, which is not only directed at blacks. You are not entitled to call anything racist unless you can CLEARLY support your case. "I know it when I see it" is not even close to proving your case. If feelings alone constituted proof, then Bush could prove he was God.
So you're mad that blacks take offense to certain comments and you claim whites can sense it too, but then you want to tell blacks "that one" has no racist connotations??? Are you serious? BTW, "that one" is the singular form of "those people". And "those people" is an impersonal dehumanizing dismissal of a racial group. It's part and parcel with the historical belittling of black people while leaving just enough room to pass the "he didn't really mean it" test. Is that proof enough? Because your arrogant and ignorant post shows you care more about defending your own pride than recognizing real truth if you didn't see it first. Like Earnest stated, you are best to leave the racism detection to those actually effected by it, because you obviously have no clue.
It was the "you poeple" comment that in itself derailed Ross Perot's campaign for the presidency
Re: "you want to tell blacks "that one" has no racist connotations???"
No such connotations have been proven objectively. It's just your feeling. I could just as easily say that writing "???" is insulting to me; clearly it's a ludicrous claim. Does that make "???" an insult???
You have to examine the alternate possible explanations, instead of just ignoring them for the tastier "racist" theory. Like maybe he's not a good speaker??? Ever thought of that???
He knows racism when he sees it...
He didnt say you as a white person can't sense an injustice.
You'd be suprised as to how many white in this day and age feel that were past racism. If a poll were taken, I'd say up to half would be my guess.
Allow him to feel what does and you feel free to call your spade a spade.
McCain is a coward, and the one thing he is forgetting is whats left of his legacy. All this war hero POW crap is slowly wasting away with his campaign methedology. If his plan was to hun on the higher, morality of Country First and you smirk when a guy yell "terrorist"in your crowd and cowardly pretend as if it didnt happen, you are a coward and no longer have that moral ground to run on.
Remember Cunningham earlier in the election? "Barack Husain Obama!, Barack Husain Obama!, Barack Husain Obama!" McCain gave a vail appology for him months ago. Do you honestly beleive that McCain isn't aware of what said, or AT LEAST THE TONE OF WHAT CAN BE SAID as an introduction for him to appear? Then the same thing happens again by a uniformed officer, who we pay his salary incidently, and McCain has no public statement about it?
Let's be real folks about racism.
Barack "Who's Sain" Obama '08
I , along with millions, once said America is long over Martin Luther days...we are all in a new era...however, McCain-Palin campaigning has gone back to the 30's and 40's , intentionally, where I expect to see Republican crowds separated into white and dark piles of meat , like turkey on a platter. It shows you how desperate and dumb they all are. And it shows you just how far they will go.
If these two are not trying to incite hatred and uncontrollable scenarios, what was the Florida cop, Mike Scott , in black boots and uniform, screaming Barack "Hussein" Obama ! for? It certainly pumped the mob scene into racist remarks and the salute from the abusive copper, sure looked like old-time Alabama to me.
McCain is not only anti-women with keeping wages low and nasty, he participates in anti-gay gatherings and has interaction with people known to use violence against abortion clinics.
The saddest thing I saw last night was one well-known Republican declare that there are now two kinds of Republicans and you are either quiet , Georgetown cocktailers or loud and fat Rush Limbaughs.
Obviously, McCain and Cindy feel very comfortable with the latter....afterall, they are both fused to the hip with "Shotgun Sarah" and on a binge with all those loud and abusive " six-packs".
McCain was no war hero. Do a little research. There are plenty of Veterans' organizations and POW/MIA groups who don't believe he was - some of the people who were in the camp and Navy with him at the time.
yes, this is absolutely amazing to me. First off, I am a 33 year old, white guy, that grew up in areas that weren't exactly "diverse" I can't wrap my head around it. I said a few weeks ago that at this point, if you can still somehow fool yourself into voting for McCain/Palin, it almost HAS to be about race. People will cover it with all sorts of euphamisms, like - "we just don't know enough about him", "not sure about him", "he doesn't see things like i do", "he isn't really 'one of us'". These are some of the more polite phrases used by people like my parents who really are thinking - i'm not voting for a black guy!
The stuff coming from McCain/Palin and the crowds at these "rallies" are much more direct. Glenn Beck and his ilk, are so disgusting. They don't ever take one moment to step into someone elses shoes and think that maybe racism in all of its subtleties is still alive and well. Do you think he would have gone through the extreme scrutiny he's gone through if he were a white guy with a normal name? Not a chance.
Very well said
Thank You Nian, for being a realist. Caucasians often pretend racism does not exist.
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