The Candidates
I admit I haven’t seen The Factor’s Obama interview but I did see Hillary and Jesse’s.
Well, he was The One before McCain went and got One that will raise the obvious questions, i.e. former mayor that can field dress a a Moose.
I watched Bill get red-faced over Jesse Jackson for over two years with challenges to the Reverend Obama Castrator wanna be, and then saw Bill Pussycat when Jackson showed up on the set. Jesse was treated like an esteemed moral arbiter. No tax, love child, etc. questions. Same with Hillary.
Obama has seen this dichotomy as well, and knows its safe to go on O’Reilly, who is no different than Wolf Blitzer, Chris Wallace, Tom Brokaw et al, as he also wants FOLLOW-UP interviews, which apparently means he dare not ask the following simple basic questions:
1 - Have you tried a case Lawyer Obama? If so, please name your client(s).
2 - Can you provide the names, addresses and phone numbers of at least three members of any communities you organized?
3 - Did you attend the Million Man March?
4 - Have you ever met Louis Farrakhan? How many times? Ever broke bread with him?
5 - When did you become aware that your Church honored Louis Farrakhan?
6 - Did you see the standing ovations of Trinity church members during Wright’s sermons?
7 - Why didn’t you leave the church when Wright’s successor, in his first sermon, endorsed Wright’s hate speech?
8 - Why did you submit to having your first political fundraiser in the home of a man that hates America?
9 - How old were you when James Earl Ray killed MLK?
10 - Was your birth a punishment to your Mom?
Of course, given the stuttering each question would incite, a DeVine Law interview might not end before the landslide defeat at the hands of McCain-Palin occurs on Election Day.
Earlier today I challenged Obama to name a community he organized or a client he represented. It seems that witnesses to his achievements have to hide in Church basements, behind court orders sealing documents or behind the Fifth Amendment pending charges. I specifically ruled out former starry-eyed sophomores claiming he inspired them to go on to care so much about people that they favor taxing others to provide their Jesus-like charity for the least of these.
Then, five minutes later I hear that he is now playing down the legal community work and wants to emphasize that he was a professor. Apparently some Ivy will talk in public?
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Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” - The Chief Justice
Legal Editor for The Minority and HinzSight Reports
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
September 5th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
great questions, and GO DORES!
September 5th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I’m gonna have to dissent here. I think that the majority of these questions add nothing to the political discourse and are of the odious guilt-by-association variety. The only one that I think is valid is #8, and I’d phrase it differently. The problem with Ayers isn’t that he hates America - we’re all free to do that - it’s that he’s an (unrepentant) domestic terrorist. The follow-up question is also apt.
The lawyer question is just plain dumb - the vast majority of practicing attorneys never try a case. There’s nothing wrong with being a con-law professor and teaching. Criticize him for not running a business/firm, but this line of questioning/accusation is just ignorant of the legal field. (I mean, Edwards tried plenty of cases, and I don’t think we’d give him much credit for having done so.)
Question #2 has a whiff of McCarthyism about it to me; is everything a candidate says now a lie until proven otherwise? Haven’t we been going nuts for the media treating Palin much the same way? Let’s have some consistency. Also, I’d be cautious about pressing the Wright thing too hard, given that some pretty nutty things have been said at Palin’s church (and with her on stage!).
Don’t me wrong; I love this ticket and am working for it (do I have to prove that?). But hypocrisy drives me beserk, and there’s plenty of more substantive avenues of criticism with regards to Obama.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Here’s mine: Barry, in a very public display, you and your wife got tested for AIDS. Have you been tested for Hepatitis, Gonorrhea, Herpes and/or other sexually transmitted diseases?
September 5th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Heck - I’d like to know if how well he did on the bar exam.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Mr. Obama, you are running as an agent of change, and came up through the ranks in one of the most corrupt cities in America. Can you give us a couple examples of how you fought corruption- both as a community organizer and a state senator- there in the city of Chicago?
September 5th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Mr. Obama, what other questions regarding human rights and the law would be above your pay grade if you were President?
September 5th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
#3 - Please tell me that’s a joke. I’m just gonna assume it is, because that’s too appalling to contemplate if it’s not.
#5 - I think that’s a good question. I’d just like to hear him talk about his community organizing experience, period: what he did, what causes he worked for, etc.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
#4 That is irrelevant.
#5 and #6 great questions
September 5th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
#4 - Also, when you pass the bar exam, you don’t receive your score.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
3 isnt a joke.
http://outfordemocracy.org/arch/000688.html
September 5th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I am a lawyer. I passed the bar exam. If I were running for President that would be irrelevant.
Elitist libs judge people on academic awards and test scores.
The dumbest ideas ever advanced in politics usually require a Phd.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
#11, if you’re getting Phd in a real field (like physics, engineering or economics) it’s bit different than a Phd in womyn’s studies, political science or literature.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
What the heck is question 9 about? Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961. James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968. So Obama was 6 years old at the time. I don’t know why you are talking about asking that question. Do you think Obama doesn’t know when MLK was killed? Or, for that matter, his own birthdate?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Academics across all fields definitely has the highest concentration of dumb smart people.
He needs to be asked about the only thing he has actually ever run, the charity with Ayers when he possibly squandered millions of dollars.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I really hope that McCain goes on O’Reilly and gets a 4-part series like Obama.
He will shine in that setting and it will really help him with Independents since almost all of McCain’s “tough questions” are regarding issues that demonstrate he is moderate and not afraid to take on conservative interest groups.
Every one of Obama’s “tough questions” go completely against the theme he is running on and alienate moderates. McCain on the other hand needs to bring up his traditional “negatives” because I think Palin will hold the base well enough that McCain can highlight his lurches to the middle.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
mccain was on oreilly a few months ago. it was pretty lame actually. oreilly likes to talk about bill oreilly and fox news too much.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Mr. Obama, do tax increases help or hurt an ailing economy?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Mr. Obama, what would the tax rate have to be on the top 5% in order to pay for all of the programs you’ve promised, the tax credits you’ve promised, and balance the budget?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Mr. Obama, besides the military, are there any government programs or agencies that ought to be scaled back or eliminated?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
MWS,
I think you’ve got a future in journalism. You have some great questions.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:43 am
#10 - I knew about the AIDS test. Perhaps I’m missing something, but asking Obama about being tested for herpes…? Help me out here.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:54 am
#13 Obama says that its ok to hang with Ayers since he was only 8 yrs old when Ayers committed his crimes.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:55 am
#20 No, his competence disqualifies him.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Sampo you are the reason some people are tempted by the Dems. And yet this site bans Alex for daring to question Miss Sarah. Unbelievable!
September 6th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Bill O’Reilly is a f-ing WIMP and he will only throw Obama softballs.