Hat tip to Michael Fisher over at Assault on Black Sanity, for posting the youtube capture of the brothers in Florida for trying to keep it real with Obama.
Here's the video:
Let's break Obama's response down:
Obama: I've been talking about predatory lending for the past two years in the United States Senate and worked to pass legislation to prevent it when I was in the state legislature.
Truth: Well Mr. Obama did in fact vote against the so called "bankruptcy reform" Act. However; in the process of amending the bill Obama voted in favor of allowing credit card companies to charge interest in excess of 30%. Oh and If you happened to have had a serious medical condition or were called to fight somewhere? Obama voted down that amendment as well.
Obama explained that he voted against the larger bill because he felt it was "written" by the big banks. However; he had his hand in making sure that these banks could charge poor people well over 30% interest on their debt as well as making sure that the sick and active duty could have their life savings taken by creditors. In other words, Obama wants to have it both ways. Unfortunately the questioners were not specific with Obama's record and so Obama managed to squeeze himself out of that particular trap.
Obama: Jena 6. I was the first candidate to say to get out there and say this is wrong there's an injustice that's been done and we need to change it.
Truth: The record shows that Obama did, in fact speak out on the Jena 6 situation. He, like many people, were not there early on, but he did release statements. So the brother in the audience was off the mark in that accusation against Obama.
Obama: When Sean Bell Got shot I put out a statement immediately saying 'this is a problem'
Truth: Obama was in NYC not long after the Sean Bell shooting and made an extremely tepid comment on the shooting. I pointed this out on the blog:
Of course no speech to AIPAC would not be complete without the requisite sympathy for Israeli victims of Hamas and Hezbollah terrorism.
Just six months after I visited,
Hezbollah launched four thousand rocket attacks just like the one that
destroyed the home in Kiryat Shmona, and kidnapped Israeli service
members. And we pray for all of the service members who have been
kidnapped: Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev, and Ehud Goldwasser, and I met with
his family this week. I offered to help in any way I can.
Oh yes Obama, has sympathy for some Israeli citizens and wants to do anything he can to help, but when he was in NYC, right after Sean Belle was murdered by the NYPD in a branzen act of wrecklessness, Obama couldn't even muster up the guts to call the shooting what it was. Nor did he even offer "help" to Sean Bell's family. But i understand, Sean Bell and his family are not wealthy white (and Jewish) donors, so they don't matter. I expect that kind of stuff from Hilary but Obama should know better, especially if he's going to tout the "different kind of politics". But the only thing different right now is the color of the face, and the texture of the hair.
The point above being pretty clear that Obama felt the need to extend "help" to an Israeli, who's not even a citizen, but when a US citizen is shot up by the NYPD, Obama hasn't much help to extend.
Even worse, after the verdict in the case, Obama made a comment to the effect that we must respect the justice system and not be violent. That was all. Meanwhile his remaining Democratic competitor, managed to speak words of comfort for the Bell family and question the validity of the verdict (whether it was sincere or not is a whole other matter). There was no violence in NY and it was because a lot of people expected the verdict to come down the way it did.
But Obama in his answer in St. Petersburg hedged his comments with the: "I may not have said it the way YOU would have." which went over very well with that crowd because you know black folks are just tired of loud, confrontational black men. And you know how white folk are scared shitless of "angry" black men.
In the end though the brothers in audience need to tighten up their game. They should have researched Obama's comments and votes and then hit him with his record. They also should have hit him with his FISA vote. There's no way he could have escaped that question with loose language. When I was in college and in an organization, we had a rule about public speaking: Only the designated speaker may speak. Oh I'm sure people thought it was just ego, but the above video shows why it is so important to have a designated speaker and for that speaker to be up on his or her game.
Technorati Tags: 2008 US Elections, Jena 6, Obama, Sean Bell
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