Interesting back-and-forth going on between me and another Xangan. This featured post on Revelife (Christian Xanga) was about John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as VP. The author surmised that perhaps she was chosen specifically because of her conservative Christian and anti-abortion position. The author posited these questions:
“If you are pro-life, could you vote for a candidate who was pro-choice? If you are pro-choice, could you vote for a candidate who was pro-life?”
“I guess I am also wondering, should abortion be the only factor deciding our presidential elections?”
Among the responses was this one from Big_Esh. (Emphasis mine)
Well, he might support pro-life, and he might want that quality in his running mate, but I seriously doubt a veteran politician as he would choose his second in command based on one moral value. The media, as I am sure everyone out there knows, tends to be liberal in how they portray everything that goes on in this nation, and of course they are going to pick McCain apart.
Nevermind that Obama comes from what looks like a racist background and has no real clue how to “change the face of politics” (see his speech at the DNC for proof of that)…let’s attack McCain because of one value that his running mate happens to have.
Huh? Obama comes from a racist background? With a Kenyan father, a white mother from Kansas, and a very diverse extended family? How do you figure that as a racist background?
To which she responded:
I am, of course, referring to that awful pastor who is so blatantly racist it makes my teeth hurt.
Say what you will, but if you sit and listen to a man spew out such hatred, and continue to show your support by your membership of his congregation, then you are in essence showing support for what is being preached. People leave a church when they are offended enough, and this clearly didn’t bother him enough to leave. I know he “denounced” such hate, but actions speak louder than words, and Obama continues to support that man. Red flag…not to mention his wife said she had never been proud of America until Obama became a candidate…where the heck has she been living?
Being of a diverse background does not give someone a get out of jail free card for racism. And being black, or another minority does not give someone the right to be racist towards whites, although that seems to be more accepted these days.
I’m not sure where Sarah (the name Big_Esh gives in her profile) lives, but felt it was worth addressing some of her – what I preceived as – slips of logic:
Thank you for responding. Would you agree that Senator McCain’s “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” (sung to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann”) would not be an accurate or fair way to encapsulate his foreign policy positions?
Would you agree that even though Governor Palin doesn’t disown her daughter after it turns out she’s engaged in premarital sex, that it would be out of context to construe the Governor’s continued support of her daughter as an endorsement of her actions?
If you agree that we should try to judge candidates by considering their words in their original context rather than out of context, if you agree that it is okay for people to support those they are close to, even if they don’t agree with their words and actions, then I think you and I will agree that labeling Senator Obama a racist because of out of context comments his minister and his wife made, really isn’t a sound way to make decisions.
Much in the same way that, even though I’m not a McCain-Palin supporter, I don’t think that Senator McCain is chomping at the bit to bomb Iran and I don’t think that Governor Palin’s support for her daughter is an endorsement of unwed motherhood and premarital sex. Although I do have to chuckle, now that we have a good example of why “abstinence only” education isn’t so effective.
I’m wondering what her response will be or if she will have one at all. It is frustrating that in this election, people seem to form their opinions more from pundits than facts. I’m curious if she ever watched (or read) the sermons in context? Surely we can agree that we need to have more substantive discussions.
Interesting quote that I came across while preparing this entry. In the May 5, 2008 edition of the Huffington Post, Lara Cohen, news director at Us Weekly, which is regularly lambasted because of its focus on supermarket tabloid concerns, turned the criticisms back on the mainstream media and their coverage of the Reverend Wright controversy:
“The true hallmark of sensationalized journalism is ginning up controversy to drive sales, and for the mainstream news media Wright was a tailor-made tabloid icon. With newspaper sales at record lows, network news ratings tanking and 24-hour news channels desperate to fill up all 24 hours, Wright’s outbursts were the mainstream media’s equivalent of Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch—a train wreck no one could turn away from. And so they milked it, regardless of the impact on the very race they were supposedly covering objectively.”
christao408 
But but but… the pundits would never mislead us, right? Sigh, unfortunately people are good at listening to sound clips and not so good at doing the research to see where the sound clips came from and the context from which they came.
We’ll probably have a fall election in Canada. I just hope voters take their time to listen to the candidates, understand the issues and analyze who’s better for the country. The sound bites, the clever ads, the distortion and/or omission of facts are noise but most people just gobble them up.
I agree, sounds clips are a wonderful way to make it seem like you know what you are talking about….they are such viruses. When you confront someone using them they always seem to take an affront to you correcting them with the actual background information and you get nowhere with the discussion. I to had a discussion thread going about the election with someone and quickly realized the zealousness of some people. I usually avoid these people when I meet them but it’s hard to do without seeing them in person now.
the only person who may sound racist is Biden when he said said this of Obama: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” and also what he said of Indian immigrants: “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. It’s a point. I’m not joking!” he may not be racist at heart, but those statements aren’t very sensitive. 🙂
Sound bites…aaahhh. Have we reduced our information to just sound bites? Not only that but why on earth would a person choose the next leader of the US based on sound bites? Or more accurately, the out-of-context phrases the producers of TV news CHOSE to air? Do we want the TV news producers to make our decisions for us? WE truly need to encourage everyone to look beneath the sound bites and find out if that candidate has the platform you believe in
I’m hoping that reason, intelligence, and compassion will win the day.
I really don’t understand why a person’s personal/family life becomes such a important factor for elections in US;unless of course the presidency is family matter!
Excellent responses to the Big_Esh non-intellectual. Ooops. Was that elitist of me to say?I was accused earlier today of being an elitist when I pointed out to a Republican the embarrassing ways in which some BIG conservative pundits have contradicted themselves in this election since Palin entered the picture. The amount of hypocrisy is staggering. Instead of refuting any of the observations I made or trying to defend them or rationalize them, I was simply called a name. An elitist. Okaaaaaaay. “Sticks and stones…” Um, are we children or adults here? If you cannot handle the truth, Mr. Conservative, get thee out of the courtroom or face the wrath of Jack Nicholson, er, I mean Barack Obama — AND ME! ‘Cause I’ll be just ITCHING to call out your and your party’s lies and exaggerations and contradictions, lickety split!/rant
Good Lord. I just finished watching McCain’s speech today. Aside from the surprise that he could actually stand there for 1 hour and 45 minutes, I must say, I think his speech was well written and a bit moving. I am a registered democrat, but I must say, I was somewhat swayed by McCain today. Very interesting…
@ElusiveWords – I like to hold the illusion that Canadians may be a little more sensible than Americans. Don’t shatter it for me! =)
@generasianx – Senator Biden’s mouth often engages before he thinks, which adds to some colorful remarks that are, as you point out, not the most sensitive things to say. The upside of this is, unlike a lot of politicians, you can be certain he is telling you what he really thinks. (I’m such a glass-half-full type…)
@Chamais – What frustrates me is that those people aren’t willing to question their positions or beliefs when presented with contradictory positions or evidence. I’m all for freedom of speech and personal opinion; just wish it also came hand in hand with a little bit of thinking.
@stebow – Good points, Sandy. That’s one reason I try to seek out the transcripts or full broadcasts of the speeches and remarks of candidates, so that I can form my own opinion of them. News McNuggets just don’t give us enough information.
@jojobaDESIGNS – Well, let’s hope they do.
@TheCheshireGrins – Yes, I suppose we’re basically lazy – easier for someone to digest the news and tell us what to think rather than to form our own opinion. I miss the days of neighbors discussing politics across the backyard fence…
@Dezinerdreams – I think in this case (Governor Palin’s teenage daughter and her pregnancy) it is specifically because the far-right Republicans (generally, the Christian fundamentalists) make such a fuss about taking the “moral high ground” and telling us that teenage pregnancy is a liberal evil and that we should only teach abstinence in the schools, not safe sex because safe sex would promote teenagers having sex.
Well, as the situation of Governor’s daughter shows us, those moral high grounds don’t really work in real life. I’d just like for the conservatives to acknowledge that and maybe get out of their pulpit and come back down to earth. It is the hypocrisy that makes the situation – not the daughter herself – fair game.
Usually, the conservatives talk about teenage pregnancies in terms of “welfare mothers”, casting it as an issue that is solely the province of uneducated, irresponsible poor (mostly non-white) people and using it as an illustration of the failure of “liberal” (i.e. Democratic) policies. Again, the situation – not the daughter herself – should serve as an illustration that we should have a more meaningful and realistic discussion about these issues, not one wrapped in Old Testament morality.
@UFFda_oyVEY – I am particularly amazed at how the Republican Convention offered only name calling and no specific policy positions, especially when it comes to the economy.
@kenpcho – I need to set some time aside this weekend to listen to the whole thing. Before the election season started, I was a fan of John McCain. Unfortunately, that “old McCain” seems to have disappeared and the new one (who I suspect hasn’t really changed but is pandering to the religious right and ultra-conservatives) isn’t really impressing me. The upside, though, is that if the old McCain is still underneath all of that, he would probably be an okay President. Still, I don’t think he’s the direction the country needs to go in, especially in terms of foreign policy.