Yeah, Right, Whatever

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

If you read the rest of Dr. King's speech, you'll see just how far we've come in race relations since he gave the speech in 1963. There is still prejudice (that goes both ways), but it is so different than it once was.

You wouldn't know that, though, if you listened to Senator Obama's remarks recently:

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid.

"They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?"

He said he was also set for Republicans to say "he's got a feisty wife," in trying to attack his wife Michelle.

"We know the strategy because they've already shown their cards. Ultimately I think the American people recognize that old stuff hasn't moved us forward. That old stuff just divides us," he said.

Wow. Let's break this down, ok?

• "It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy" Congress (whether or not it's really their Constitutionally granted job) is to blame for the crappy economy (threatening to roll back tax cuts and pass assinine legislation makes investors nervous). The President's foreign policy is suspect only in that he didn't take a tough enough stance when he had the chance. Besides, it's the foreign governments who don't like us, not the general populace in other countries.)
• “We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid." Afraid of your socialist (at best) agenda, maybe. Afraid of you as a person? Not so much.
• “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name." uh... he is young and inexperienced. How is that pandering to fears? It's the truth. In another candidate, it might just be an asset. In Obama? Not so much. As for his "funny name," I don't really give a flip if his dad was Muslim or Hindu or whatever. His liberal policies will end up supporting radical Islam in the Middle East and around the world, no matter how he worships. And, I'd like to point out that it was the Hillary Clinton campaign that leaked the photos of Obama in African clothes, not the GOP.
• "And did I mention he’s black?” He is? Who knew? I mean, it's not like his campaign hasn't been shouting it from the rooftops at every opportunity. His presumptive opponent, Senator McCain, has been intentionally avoiding the race issue, and has come down pretty hard on anyone who brings it up.
  
• He said he was also set for Republicans to say "he's got a feisty wife," in trying to attack his wife Michelle. She's the one who promotes many of her husband's socialist ideals. She's the one who has put herself out there for public scrutiny. She's the one who is "really" proud of her country for the first time, not me. I've been proud of this country (but not always all of Her citizens) since Day 1.

The quote ends with this:

"We know the strategy because they've already shown their cards. Ultimately I think the American people recognize that old stuff hasn't moved us forward. That old stuff just divides us," he said.

The GOP has shown their cards? When did that happen? Was that when Bill Clinton (you remember him, don't you?) said that Obama's victory in South Carolina was strictly a racial thing? Was that when Hillary went after poor white voters late in the primaries? Or could it have been when the McCain campaign refused to comment on the Jeremiah Wright fiasco and chastizes anyone who brings up race as a divisive issue?

For years, somehow the GOP has been labeled the "racist" party. It doesn't matter that the GOP was the party that passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s, against the wishes of many Democrats (including "the Conscience of the Senate"). The GOP is the party who wants to get the poor out of their cycle of poverty and into the work force. The GOP is the party who wants to affirm the family (and, well... the father's role in the family). The GOP is the party that wants equality for all, both the privileged and the wanting.

I guess I might sound a bit... defensive about all of this. I've spent far too long being told that I have a certain set of beliefs because of the color of my skin or where I lived or what God I have placed my beliefs and faith in. I'm tired of being made into a villian because I look a certain way, dress a certain way, talk a certain way. I'm sick and tired of being accused of hatred with no proof.

The GOP has shown their cards? Prove it. Show us just how racist and evil you think we really are. You just might shine the light into the corners of your own party in the process, Mr. Obama.