Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

wrecktafire — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:23:38 GMT

If Obama actually "oozed" authenticity, you wouldn't have, for example, anxious people at Talk Left wondering aloud what BOM's actual beliefs are. Even Obama's supporters are starting to get nervous that they've fallen for the smooth, post-racial oratory of somebody who goes to a "Black Power" type of church.

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

mdenhof — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:44:57 GMT

When it comes to authenticity, the Clintons have proven themselves beyond the shadow of a doubt--they are inauthentic.

With Obama we at least have a chance.

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

dissertator08 — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:17:34 GMT

Obama is not authentic:

1. He said he was conceived after Selma. Not true.

2. He said the Kennedy's financed his Dad's trip to the U.S. Not true.

3. His autobiography contains composites of people -- how can we tell the truth about this?

4. some of his most eloquent words in his speeches are taken from someone else's speeches.

5. He lied about what he knew about Rev. Wright.

6. He lied about his Rezco relationship.

7. And he has embellished his record to the same degree, if not more than other politicians.

Obama is not authentic. The media is partly to blame for "letting him off."

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

lillea — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:40:45 GMT

Obama has been caught in lies, yet he doesn't attempt to correct them.

1. Lie. Obama said his mother and father met at the 1965 Selma civil rights march and began their relationship from there....

Truth. Obama was born in 1961

2. Lie. Obama said "The Kennedy Brothers" made it possible for African young men to come to the US for education and that his dad was one of those young men.

Truth: Obama's dad arrived in the US in 1959--the Kennedy's deal was in 1960

3. Lie. Obama said he had never heard any of the antiAmerican rants from Rev. Wright.

Truth: Next day or so he admitted that he had been present when some of those sermons were preached.

4. Lie. Obama said that McCain said that he would keep fighting in Iraq for 100 years.

Truth. McCain said we would probably need a military presence in Iraq for possibly 100 years like South Korea and Germany.

Obama will lie and try to get away with it. He is a slick politcian if I have ever seen one. Same ole, Same ole.

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

cbaker31222 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:03:24 GMT

Well you forgot one really important lie because the lie contributes heavily to this "rags to riches, salt of the earth" image Obama wants us to believe.

The big lie goes that Obama was raised by a poor single mother and he pulled himself out of poverty through grit and determination.

That's not just a lie, its complete nonsense. Obama actually attended grade/high school at the most expensive school in Hawaii, paid for iN FULL by his "typical white" (read racist) grandmother and grandfather.

And remember that's where he repaid his grandparents' generosity by getting all he could out of the high school learning experience, like learning how to snort coke and smoke pot. It gives me the dry heaves just thinking of how twisted is this myth of Obama's "disadvantaged" childhood.

Yuck.

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

clikdawg — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:06:16 GMT

Authenticity, my ass. If any one of the remaining Big Three represented anything but a face-lift for the status quo they wouldn't have been allowed to get as far as they've gotten; yet all three are running as "change agents" of some sort.

The early Messiah-like plaudits for Obama have pretty much dwindled down to "Well, I still think he's the best shot at real, positive change we've got left, even if he IS pro-bail-out, pro-escalation-in-Afghanistan, and sort of hedges on when he'd get us outta Iraq ... "

I mean -- Jeez, Louise, how much more same-old-same-old can you get and still breathe? (Yes, yes, the other two are every bit as worthless ... but I've spent entirely too much time trashing Clinton and McCain lately: Barack's turn tonight, I guess ...

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

mjno — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:39:30 GMT

The best part is OBAMA having a lack of "thereness." So, people project onto him all kinds of attributes. This is so true. HOW NAIVE WE ARE!!! SO, who is OBAMA???

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

Penny Little — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:47:56 GMT

to cbaker31222 I've followed the Obama campaign pretty closely for months and never heard of anyone saying Obama had a "disadvantaged" childhood. Being raised by a single mom does not automatically mean living in poverty. One of my best friends is a single mom raising three kids in a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. As for "rags to riches", I think his story is like a lot of us: after college, you start out with pretty much nothing and start to make your way in the world. His chosen profession,Law, pays well. Even so, he has said that their college loans have just fairly recently been paid off, thanks in part to his book sales which have done well.[ His recently released financial statements show a big jump in income due to those sales.] His books have been pretty open about his life, showing both the good and the bad. He has said he is not a perfect person or candidate. It's not his fault that enthusiastic supporters give that impression. We voters should all be more realistic about our chosen candidates. They are only people for heavens sake! All you can do is choose the one you think has the best judgement , temperment, work ethic, etc. to lead the executive branch of our goverment. Remember checks and balances? The legislative and judicial branches govern hand in hand with the president and his branch. It's so much more than a personality test , which is how so many people choose, siting all the nasty litle tid-bits about this one or the other. As for me, I'm not afraid to be a little bit idealistic about change. I'd rather shoot for the moon and end up being a little dissapointed by humanity's weakness than to settle for ordinary. Penny : Obama voter and supporter

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

Not stupid in Alabama — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:37:30 GMT

Obama may be undermining his "thereness" with his recent comments. And there have obviously been plenty of people who do NOT see themselves in him. Obama's comments this morning to the AAM show how out of touch he is with both workers and their managers. Instead of focusing on what could unite them behind the Dems this year, like restoring steel manufacturing jobs the way Birmingham Steel and Nucor have done in Alabama, the way Alabama has brought new automobile manufacturing jobs to the state, he focuses on what separates union workers and managers like NLRB voting rules, organization fights, negotiations, and CEO salaries. It's like he's got his talking points from who ever is writing his speeches, and doesn't know how to address a mixed audience like this group. The applause from the crowd was underwhelming.

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

Not stupid in Alabama — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:43:54 GMT

Authenticity can be measured in many ways. I like the idea that you reveal who you are by what you do, what you have to show for your life. Clinton's about as authentic a spokesperson for the middle class as voters are going to find this election year. She is far more a "rags to riches" story than Obama. He only has his book to point to.

Hillary Clinton's father was the descendant of coal miners who became a small business entrepreneur. Her mother was an office worker who supported herself before she became a homemaker. Like them, Clinton went to work early. he year Hillary Rodham graduated from college, instead of all expense paid travel abroad, she went to work. She worked her way across Alaska, washing dishes in Mount McKinley National Park and sliming salmon in a fish processing cannery in Valdez (which fired her and shut down overnight when she complained about unhealthy conditions).

In the summer of 1970, she applied for and was awarded a grant to work at Marian Wright Edelman's Washington Research Project, where she was assigned to Senator Walter Mondale's Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, researching migrant workers' problems in housing, sanitation, health and education.

In law school, instead of lobbying to become editor of the Law Review, Clinton went to work. During her second year, she worked at the Yale Child Study Center, learning about new research on early childhood brain development and working as a research assistant on the seminal work, Beyond the Best Interests of the Child (1973). She also took on cases of child abuse at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and volunteered at New Haven Legal Services to provide free advice for the poor.

Her life has continued in that way, working hard for causes she believed in, children, Legal Services, education, health care in rural Arkansas.

What has Obama done to be considered "authentic"?

re: Expertinent: The 'Authenticity' Election

Not stupid in Alabama — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:11:57 GMT

Penny Little, what happens if you shoot for the moon and end up a lot disappointed? Would you bitter then? Would that make you turn to religion or guns?