It only matters who said the words: wife Michelle Obama or candidate John McCain

Michelle Obama on the campaign trail in 2008

The media tend to interpret words and news the way it wants to. In this presidential campaign statements made by Michelle Obama and John McCain are either stated in full or heavily edited to fit into sound bites. Noticeably, if the candidate is someone the media likes the news is favorable. If the media are unhappy with a candidate, and rooting for his or her opponent, every word uttered on the campaign trail is taken out of context.

    

Not to my surprise I watched the media preoccupation with Michelle Obama. It inhaled her every word and gesture. Cindy McCain, also campaigning for her husband, got a free ride. She is rich, a mother, expensively dressed and White. Michelle is educated, a lawyer, a working wife and mother and Black.

      
I went on the Internet to read about other political wives that campaigned for and with their husbands. Hillary Clinton made it known early on that she was not going to bake cookies and serve tea in the White House. That statement started angry tongues wagging in Washington. How dare she does not act like a cookie baking homemaker and tea server! The media went into a frenzy. 

When she refused leave President Bill Clinton after his adultery was exposed, Hillary locked the door and threw away the key! White women were ballistic and condemning. Hillary should have walked out on Clinton! Hillary stood her ground. This was her cheating husband; her game and she knew how to play it.

Women were angry that Hillary stood by her man, Bill.  A few of the political wives who readily jumped on Hillary Clinton’s back later found themselves in the same situation. What did they do? They stood by their cheating husbands, all elected politicians! They even stood by them when they confessed their sins and apologized at press conferences. Muddy snow is not clean! 

    

On Friday while looking at MSNBC I watched Dan Abrahams and a panel of four discuss a statement made by McCain on Sean Hannity's, March 13, 2008, Fox news. 

    

I did not see the statement hawked on TV, in newspapers, or conservative talk radio. I found that odd  because these outlets repeated Michelle Obama’s words at nauseam, painting her as an angry Black woman, who has a deep-seated grudge and hatred for America. The same media are blaming her in advance, in the event Barack Obama is defeated by McCain in November. The media and pundits are jaw jacking overtime, desperate to assure voters that Obama's loss to McCain is inevitable. After all, McCain is a Vietnam hero. He should automatically receive more votes than Obama, who has never served in the armed forces.

    

Michelle Obama said in February 2008: “What we’ve seen over this past year is that hope is making a comeback, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for a change, and I’ve been desperate to see our country moving in that direction, and not just feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country".

    

Discussing McCain's capture as a POW, Sean Hannity, asked McCain, “What does that do to a person to spend that much time in solitary confinement?”

Hannity had actually written off McCain's candidacy. Frankly, they did not like him. They talked more against him than for him. When McCain left the other Republican candidates in the dust, the GOP had no choice but the accept that he would get the nomination. Some Republicans publicly admitted that they would have to "hold my nose" to vote for McCain. 

Conservative talkers on radio had nothing good to say about McCain. On the other hand, they had wet dreams about Sarah Palin. They wanted her without McCain.

    

Here is McCain's statement, compared to Michelle Obama's statement: “I think it makes you a better person. Obviously it makes you love America. I really didn’t love America until I was deprived of her company. But probably the most important thing about it, Sean, is that I was privileged to have the opportunity to be in the company of heroes.” 

The media and pundits praised McCain statement. Attacks on Michelle Obama rolled on.

    

Abraham said: “He used a similar phrase about not loving America until he was deprived repeatedly on the trail in his 1999 campaign. I said it last night and I’ll say it again, I think McCain’s comments are eloquent, but why is the right wing and the media in particular, obsessed over Michelle Obama’s comments and basically ignoring McCain? Fox news does not have that video clip online, and get this, any reference to it is now gone from the transcript on foxnews.com.”

    

Two of the panelists agreed with Abraham’s assessment. The other two said what McCain stated was not comparable to Michelle Obama. One of the four, a female, said she is a conservative who does not want to see Barack Obama win the presidency. She is in absolute agreement with Hannity’s constant attacks on Michelle and Barack Obama and everyone connected to them.

    

 “Listen, we are talk show hosts. We are not reporters. So as talk show hosts we are paid for our opinions,” the conservative said, responding to the question of fairness.

    

She added, “Nobody can question McCain’s patriotism when it comes to this country. And the idea that he certainly appreciates America more, when he lost all the wonderful things about America, all the years he was in captivity--who can argue with that.”

    

The second female  said, “John McCain, because of his singular sacrifice, unlike any other we’ve known with our public servants today, is always seen through the prism of this experience, and so it doesn’t matter if he sat on a bar stool and threw back a six pack and said, ‘I’ve never loved my country', we still probably wouldn’t believe him because he has served his country.’”

    

I guess that means Michelle Obama had better watch her words. McCain can freely urinate in America’s face and tell her it’s raining just because he was shot down by the enemy in Vietnam, a country in which he was attempting to bomb.   

The media, pundits never take Black presidential candidates seriously

  Frederick Douglass

Many firsts for African  Americans

Despite Democrat Barack Obama nailing the 2008 presidential election, he was not the first African American to run for the office. I heard numerous times that Abraham Lincoln was a Black man. It was rumored there were plans to exhume his body to conduct a DNA test. 

What if tests were conducted, and it was discovered that Lincoln is actually Black? Would the results get published by the America media? Probably not. All that hero worship would have been erased from history books, and from the mouths of politicians who love to cite him. Nevertheless, the thought is fun to entertain.  Imagine that! Ol' Honest Abe got away with "passing" for White!

Imagination is a terrible thing to waste. But I digress.

In 1872 Victoria Woodhull and members of the newly formed Equal Rights Party picked Frederick Douglass--orator, statesman and social reformer--to be her vice president. Woodhull was nominated by the Equal Rights Party. Douglass did not know that he had been designated; therefore, he did not accept the nomination. 

White people, who did not cotton well to race mixing on any level, were upset at the prospect of this White woman and Black man working together. Oddly, Woodhull's name was not printed on the ballot. Douglass went on to serve as a presidential elector in the United States Electoral College for the city of New York.

June 19, 1888 Frederick Douglass delivered a speech at the National Republican Convention in Chicago. He reminded Republicans and delegates that they should fight for the rights of Black Civil War veterans, who were being denied the right to vote in southern states.

Amid his speech Douglass said, “When your army was melting away before the fire and pestilence of rebellion, when your star-spangled banner trailed in the dust heavy with blood, you called the Negro. And he came 200,000 strong! Let us remember that these brave Black men are now stripped of their right to vote. Do not leave them to wade through blood to the ballot box. Make their pathway to the ballot box as smooth and safe as that of any class of citizens.” (The Frederick Douglass Foundation of New York)

Shirley Chisholm makes a run for the presidency

Abraham Lincoln aside, and the prospect of Democrat Shirley Chisholm running for president was a first for African American

1972 Pres. Candidate Shirley Chisholm

women.  The year was 1972. Jesse Jackson ran in 1984 and 1988; Republican Alan Keyes ran for president several times: 1992, 19996, 2000 and 2008. He ran for the Senate against Barack Obama in Chicago. Carol Mosley Braun and Al Sharpton were also presidential candidates in 2004.

Chisholm campaigned in 12 states, winning Louisiana, Mississippi and New Jersey. She lost the nomination to George McGovern at the Democratic Convention held in Miami Beach, Florida. McGovern's opponent, Hubert H. Humprey, turned over his African American delegates to Chisholm, giving her a total of 152 delegates.

Chisholm was a former educator. She was the first Black woman to run for Congress, winning office in 1969, representing New York's 12th Congressional District. She served seven terms. Chisholm once said, "Of my two handicaps, being female puts more obstacles in my path than being Black".

Getting into the presidential race, her campaign slogan was "Bring U.S. Together. Vote Chisholm 1972. Unbought. Unbossed."

She had thought about running in 1971 but stepped away from the idea for a year. In 1972 Chisholm announced her decision at a Baptist church that she frequented in the district she represented. She told who attended: "I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud of that. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of the country. I am the candidate of the people and my presence before you symbolizes a new era in American political history". Chislom did not have the funds to sustain a long campaign. She was the first woman to participate in a presidential debate.

Tea Party uses candidate Herman Cain skin color 

to prove they are not racist

One of the Tea Party favorite candidates for the presidency is a Republican businessman Republican named Herman Cain. The Tea Party is predominately comprised of White males and females. Minorities are hard to spot at their conferences, town hall meetings and protests. As a Black man, who owns a Domino Pizza franchise, Cain have made statements that lingered on the edge of racism and self-hate. He sometimes demonstrated that he is a first-class panderer. He played his role like a professional minstrel man.

The Tea Party utilized Cain's skin color to verify that they are not racist. He was lulled into believing that he was their morning star. He believed they would help him get the nomination over his White opponents. 

Cain's White supporters, on the other hands, despised President Barack Obama, an African America. First Lady Michelle Obama was equally hated by them. Tea Party members, when in front of the TV cameras, declared that Herman Cain is more like them than Obama! Cain is a dark skin man; too dark to pass for White. The real differences are that Cain is buffoonish. President Obama, on the other hand, is mature, cool, calm, collected and has a firm grasp on the world of politics, the Constitution and history.

Former candidates Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton

As with prior candidates of color the media and pundits were amused by their audacity to run for president of the United States. Black candidates were ridiculed and made fun of.  Anyone who watched the Democratic primaries, Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988) and Al Sharpton (2004), clearly saw that they won the debates.

White competitors felt free to rake each other over hot coals, throwing out corny jokes rather than talk seriously about issues of interest to voters.  Jackson and Sharpton had to be serious 99.9 percent of the time when they campaigned and took part in debates. 

Republican Allan Keys, an African American candidate from Chicago, ran for president several times:  1992, 1996, 2000 and 1988. In 2004 Carol Moseley Braun, D-Chicago, sought the Democratic nomination. She withdrew from the presidential race prior to the start of Iowa caucuses. She had the distinction of being the first Black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was a Congresswoman prior to getting elected to the Senate. 

Vilified by the media: Candidates Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton

Both Jackson and Sharpton were vilified and treated like wayward children by the media and pundits. They were labeled "race hustlers", "race pimps" and "race baiters", and deemed unfit to be president of the United States. Some of their critics even called them buffoons and clowns. None of these labels were plastered on the backs of White candidates.

1988 Jesse Jackson supporters at a rally

On April 6, 1988, The Nation wrote: "Jesse Jackson  is a serious candidate for the presidency. He was always serious; it was just the political scientists and the other politicians who belittled his campaign, trivialized his efforts. and disdained his prospects. 

"Despite the contempt and condescension of the media--or perhaps because of it--Jackson went to the most remote and isolated grass roots in the American social landscape to find the strength for a campaign that has already begun to transform politics.

"The enormous energy that his campaign releases has created a new populist moment, overtaking the languid hours and dull days of conventional politics and imagining possibilities for substantial change beyond the usual incremental transactions of the two-party system. 

"It offers hope against cynicism, power against prejudice and solidarity against division. It is the specific antithesis to Reaganism and reaction, which, with the shameful acquiescence of the Democratic center, have held America in their thrall for most of this decade and which must now be defeated. For that reason, The Nation is endorsing Jesse Jackson for the Democratic nomination for President."

April 16, 2004, CNN---"Controversial, conversational and confrontational, the Rev. Alfred

Charles Sharpton Jr. staged a colorful but ultimately unsuccessful 2004 presidential campaign on a platform of racial equality, education and health care rights.

President candidate Rev. Al Sharpton

"The longtime activist ended his bid at the Democratic nomination on March 15, 2004, conceding defeat to Sen. John Kerry but pledging to continue campaigning for his 'urban agenda.'

"The outcome was predictable, according to analysts who said Sharpton would have difficulty overcoming his political inexperience and limited appeal before becoming a top White House contender. Sharpton's reputation would seem to work against any challenger for the presidency, said CNN political analyst William Schneider. 'He's seen as divisive, contentious, confrontational,' Schneider said, 'all the things the Democrats don't really need."'

Jesse Jackson was schedule to speak at the Democratic Convention. He has been accused of making an anti-Semitic statement while campaigning. Jackson addressed the incident in his speech. It was so soul stirring and emotional, there were few dry eyes in the convention center. Al Sharpton spoke at 2004 convention.

Barack Obama's chance of winning the presidency

When candidate Barack Obama sailed through the campaign storm unscathed, the media and crystal ball pundits were dumbfounded. Hillary Clinton had been automatically cast as the Democratic nominee by the media, womens' organizations, bloggers, politicians and pundits. 

Republican Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York, was the preordained Republican nominee. The final showdown was supposed to be between him and Hillary Clinton. Giuliani, nicknamed "America's Mayor" by the media after the September 11 tragedy, fizzled before the primaries began. He campaigned on his actions after the September 11, 2001, terrorists attack in New York, where the Twin Towers were stuck by planes highjacked by 18 Middle East terrorists. Democrat Joe Biden said during a debate that Giuliani's campaign consisted of "a noun, a verb and 9/11".

Realizing that Obama was actually an earnest candidate with a good chance of winning the presidency, the media shifted into high gear, driving up their single themed message created to marginalize this young and handsome Black candidate from Chicago. 

They relied on skewed polls, fact-challenged opinions and "news" stories to prove their assertions. They pushed unsubstantiated scandals and gossipy tales initiated by Sean Hannity on Fox TV. Barack Obama was even accused of being a homosexual. Hannity promoted on his Fox show that he had found a man who said he had an affair with Obama, and regularly partook in drugs. Critics talked about the way Obama talked. The way he walked (with swag). The way he spoke perfect English, no use of slang and broken English.

It was Hannity who started the ball rolling regarding a Sunday sermon delivered by Obama's minster Rev. Jeremiah Wright. An edited except from one sermon took a life of its own. Wright made the statement "God damns America", Hannity changed the meaning, suggesting that Rev. Wright said "goddman America"! The media and pundits followed Fox's lead. The lie was the perfect bumper sticker slogan for Obama haters. They did not take time to read a transcript of the sermon.

Hell broke loose, but Satan's fire could not burn down Barack Obama's campaign. Every sermon ever preached by Rev. Wright was suddenly scrutinized by the media and Hannity. They even went after Michelle Obama, reading her college thesis, talking to some of the White students that went to college with her. 

The media and Hannity were on a fevered hunt, searching for something scandalous prior to Obama running for president. The lies flowed like salmon swimming upstream. None of the lies and twisted words stuck. Unfortunately, candidate Obama broke ties with Rev. Wright, severing their 20-year association and friendship.

Herman Cain's dream was pulled to the curb by a sexual scandal

The same media animosity towards Cain eventually took hold of his campaign. The media uncovered a sexual scandal in his past. While he was president of the National Restaurant Association two White females said he sexually harassed them. They were paid undisclosed amounts of money that was included in their severance packages. One woman, married, came forward and told her story. Cain's campaign went downhill after that. Both women disappeared from sight.

David Weigel, writer with The Slate, wrote 12/2011: "Amazingly, in the first weeks of the scandal, conservatives largely stuck by Cain. As it released its newest poll showing Cain collapsing back to single digits, the Des Moines Register noted that Cain weathered the harassment scandals. What did him in was sloppiness in how he responded to those stories and how he bumbled other ones. 

"But none of that should have been surprising. When I first interviewed Cain in December 2010, I asked him for some details on how he'd wind down the war in Afghanistan. 'The first thing that I'd do [if elected]," he said, "is summon the experts to find out can we win.' The experts dodge became part of his answer to every serious foreign policy question. Why did it take until November to catch up with him? And what exactly was he adding to the race -- what was King thanking him for"?

The Week magazine wrote six reasons Cain was not electable, predicting his candidacy would fail. The reasons listed did not apply to the White candidates.

1. Presidential campaigns are no place for amateurs.
2. GOP wants a positive message.
3. GOP voters don't really want an outsider.
4. It's awfully tough to escape a juicy sexual scandal.
5. Candidates can succeed by keeping it simple.
6. Republicans should be wary of 'baggage'.

Herman Cain also raised the ire of Vanity Fair contributing editor James Wolcott, who wrote May 21 that, "Herman Cain sure has some steep gall copycatting Martin Luther King’s most famous rhetorical crescendo to trumpet his vain, grinny, substance-free candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. Cain, pounding his fist on the podium, is confident that he will be president in 2013".

It's more than hard to believe this writer is furious about Cain imitating Martin Luther King. I'm not buying the taint cheese Wolcott is selling. He is daring Cain to have to gall to run for president of the United States! Cain was not the only Republican candidate who has a "substance-free candidacy." Wolcott did not talk about any of them in his article. The Republican primary candidates are showing that all of them are substance-free.

Candidate Herman Cain

Historic election: A first for America

Wiley Online Library, in writing about African Americans and the presidency, states: “The historic election of Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States brought issues of race to the center of the American political process. During the campaign, media reports were replete with discussions about the effects that hidden racial bias might have on the election.

"One of the most frequently mentioned concerns was the so-called Bradley effect, whereby 'White voters openly express support for a Black candidate but then fail to vote for the candidate in the privacy of the voting booth. 

"An AP–Yahoo News poll conducted shortly before the 2008 election raised concerns that racial bias might cost Obama the victory in a close contest, as negative stereotypes of Blacks as 'lazy' and 'violent' were endorsed by one-third of White Democrats. Although Obama won a decisive victory, the effects of underlying racial biases may have been mitigated by other pressing factors weighing on the minds of the voting public, especially the mounting economic crisis".

On Sunday’s Face the Nation, June 26, it might have been a deliberate oversight, or maybe host Bob Schieffer just forgot that Herman Cain is running for president. Discussing a presidential straw poll, Schieffer described Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney as front runners. He mentioned Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, who garnered seven percent of the vote and Tim Pawlenty, six percent. Photos of these five candidates were shown.  Herman Cain was not mentioned nor was a photo of him shown.

A poll was conducted June 19-22, contacted 400 “likely” Republican voters. Schieffer decided to eliminate Cain from the presidential race for reasons only he can explain. In my mind, he overlooked Cain because he does not take him seriously. Schieffer did not think candidate Barack Obama had a chance of winning the presidency, either. He admitted that he voted for John McCain, a frequent guest on his Sunday morning show.

The Des Moines Register, June 25, wrote: “The poll shows that Mr. Romney and Ms. Bachmann leads the crowded Republican field. Mr. Romney received 23 percent of support, while Ms. Bachmann received 22 percent . . .  Among the most surprising results was former Godfather’s CEO Herman Cain, who received 10 percent of support.” 

Translation: The newspaper expressed surprise that Herman Cain is on the same highway with the other candidates, all of whom are White males and one White female. The media are deciding who will be viable candidates, an idea it will pound into the heads of voters and potential voters. The subliminal message is to erase the Black guy from your mind.