tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post1959867072301454549..comments2024-03-19T05:50:55.970-05:00Comments on Althouse: Did affirmative action hurt Barack Obama?Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-12071428211131165772010-11-21T17:08:08.670-06:002010-11-21T17:08:08.670-06:00President Barack Obama:
A Magna Cum Laude graduate...President Barack Obama:<br />A Magna Cum Laude graduate of The Harvard Law SchoolUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15881228621688095665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-68859859470288757942010-11-08T11:21:16.508-06:002010-11-08T11:21:16.508-06:00The basic result of affirmative action is that Oba...The basic result of affirmative action is that Obama, like most of the people who use it, wasn't prepared.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16967895317156770810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-74423823564188433212010-11-08T09:58:10.483-06:002010-11-08T09:58:10.483-06:00Are we even sure he was an AA beneficiary? I have...Are we even sure he was an AA beneficiary? I haven't seen anything.<br /><br />Regardless, identity politics is the problem, not AA. He has been encouraged in excess of his accomplishments everywhere he's been. The liberal establishment does this to prove its lack of racism, but the effect is that people confuse their background with accomplishment. <br /><br />So where do we see the effects? Try Michelle's 'for the first time I'm proud of America', or 'Barack doesn't need America, America needs Barack'. What exactly has he accomplished that warrants such enthusiasm? He's a law professor? He graduated from an Ivy League school? His work as a political activist? There is nothing else that isn't shared by literally thousands of others. He won his House and Senate elections with chicanery. He did somehow manage to spend 100 million dollars without improving education at the Annenberg Foundation, but I doubt too many people see such failure as warranting Presidential aspirations. <br /><br />Frankly I think it's ok to root for poor people or minorities to succeed in areas they traditionally haven't. But it's not ok to rate them on an easier scale because of it. Consider Tiger Woods. Is there any doubt many people desire success for him in part because he's black? I do. But this isn't an issue because his success cannot be effected by those desires. <br /><br />To see how it effected Obama's thinking, consider his effort to win the Olympics. He gives a speech which basically says 'America deserves the Olympics because it elected me President, and aren't I great'. Everyone else thought the focus on his life was embarassingly inappropriate. But identity politics taught him that his story is an accomplishment. <br /><br />Obama has moved forward faster than his accomplishments warrant because the establishment is pushing identity politics. Now Obama is in a world both domestically and internationally where people are not willing to back away for those reasons. And he's learning that without that willingness to yield on the part of your competitor it's much harder to get what you want.testhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09478829894294731159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-10738221681145355642010-11-08T09:41:28.515-06:002010-11-08T09:41:28.515-06:00Affirmative Action? No, it didn't hurt him. As...Affirmative Action? No, it didn't hurt him. Ass-kissy, Northeastern, White liberals are what crippled Obama. <br /><br />They saw him as the fulfillment of all of their Legend of Bagger Vance fantasies. He was black, but not BLACK. And he was soooooo bright! So they made him head of the Harvard Law Review and a law professor and the University of Chicago. But when he turned out to be a dud, none of them had the guts to admit it. He never got enough feedback to learn he wasn't infallible.<br /><br />That's what hurt Barrack Obama.FormerTucsonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948802848037811061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-34174775931606150802010-11-08T09:38:40.519-06:002010-11-08T09:38:40.519-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.FormerTucsonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948802848037811061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-13835960293871132922010-11-08T09:14:27.619-06:002010-11-08T09:14:27.619-06:00The most insidious thing about affirmative action ...The most insidious thing about affirmative action is that it makes it a forgone conclusion that Obama got ahead in life due to affirmative action. It undermines whatever talents Obama has that allowed him to become a US Senator. <br /><br />And while I agree that many people voted for him as President based solely or partly on his race, in spite of the fact that he had no executive experience, that's not really AA; that's people voting their heart and not their head.Carolinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11577584676839171856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-59092561589019689772010-11-08T07:28:31.777-06:002010-11-08T07:28:31.777-06:00Affirmative action?
True, in part.
But I go with...Affirmative action? <br />True, in part.<br /><br />But I go with Samuel Johnson here:<br /><i>"Keep always in your mind, that, with due submission to Providence, a man of genius has been seldom ruined but by himself.</i>"<br /><br />Being able to turn the world on with your smile remains his primary, if not his only, skill. His mistake was thinking that was all that was required. For that hubris, he has come undone in a flash.<br /><br /><i>'Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;<br />The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,<br />And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;<br />But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Barry has struck out.</i>'KCFleminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00124201866124646626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-67035546047668540022010-11-08T06:26:40.592-06:002010-11-08T06:26:40.592-06:00Did affirmative action hurt Barack Obama?
With ou...<i>Did affirmative action hurt Barack Obama?</i><br /><br />With out affirmative action, he wouldn't have gone very far in life.AllenShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08848966772462502893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-81756547022991150252010-11-08T02:31:58.809-06:002010-11-08T02:31:58.809-06:00Sixty Grit said...
I used to work with a woma...<i>Sixty Grit said...<br /><br /> I used to work with a woman from Rhodesia. She was African. Pale as can be. Have known many South Africans who were as white as can be, even though their families had lived in Africa for generations. Facts can be confusing to liberals who don't even recognize the racial diversity among black Africans.<br /><br /> If we are fortunate, O****'s rise will kill affirmative action forever.</i><br /><br />Oh, I know several white Africans who have told me in no uncertain terms that they will tell any American black they are from anywhere else besides Africa for fear of being ridiculed or worse because they have been shown utter indignation from the ignorance that many blacks in America have at the fact that a white man or woman can be African.Methadrashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07828014989470539375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-17625160207763475052010-11-08T01:50:27.478-06:002010-11-08T01:50:27.478-06:00former law student said...
Why would the son ...<i>former law student said...<br /><br /> Why would the son of a Kenyan receive affirmative action? Obama didn't even know he was African-American till he moved to Chicago. Do Egyptians and Berbers receive affirmative action? They're "African" too.</i><br /><br />Do you even understand what you are defending? What in the holy name of fuck, are you defending? And why? What are you possibly trying to gain other than clinging to your dead ideology with the last fiber of your colon polyp?Methadrashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07828014989470539375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-87236516726087356062010-11-08T01:30:03.228-06:002010-11-08T01:30:03.228-06:00Obama can always distract everyone from his shortc...<i>Obama can always distract everyone from his shortcomings in the established way: Start a war.</i><br /><br />It didn't work for Bush or Clinton.Revenanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374515200055384226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-17257361973398697822010-11-08T00:49:36.811-06:002010-11-08T00:49:36.811-06:00Man, it finally struck me. The root of all this cr...Man, it finally struck me. The root of all this criticism, all these accusations of affirmative action, is not that Obama was ineffective but that he was successful. He hammered while the iron was hot, he made hay while the sun shone, he pulled off what Bill Clinton couldn't -- he did things for the American people.<br /><br />Barack Hussein Obama -- a great American hero. He'll be ranked with Lincoln and FDR.former law studenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15196697206046544350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-65042430900159199212010-11-08T00:30:41.244-06:002010-11-08T00:30:41.244-06:00You jamokes should watch this list of Obama's ...You jamokes should watch this list of Obama's accomplishments over his first 21 months:<br /><br />http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/<br />26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-<br />rachel_maddow_show/#39959392former law studenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15196697206046544350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-88876398644684860352010-11-08T00:08:54.756-06:002010-11-08T00:08:54.756-06:00It's affirmitive action that's hurt by Oba...It's affirmitive action that's hurt by Obama. This is a good thing IMONorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15401100627066769252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-33628078877510239612010-11-07T23:49:29.623-06:002010-11-07T23:49:29.623-06:00I think the issue is beyond affirmative action. We...I think the issue is beyond affirmative action. We have whole generations of people like Mr Obama: whose self-esteem has not been modulated by a word of criticism, until they waft into a position where their performance <i>matters</i>. <br /><br />Affirmative action is one kind of free ride, but it's not the only one, and may not be the only ride that Obama took: there's the Ivy-league ride, the nonprofit-Mafia ride, the right-kind-of-academic ride, etc.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11502390161613058873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-10463858118610138582010-11-07T23:00:52.713-06:002010-11-07T23:00:52.713-06:00Obama can always distract everyone from his shortc...<i>Obama can always distract everyone from his shortcomings in the established way: Start a war.</i><br /><br />Your satire notwithstanding, FLS, Obama would be better off fixing his shortcomings. If he does want to start a war, though, Iran would be the obvious and sensible target.<br /><br />No point in taking over Mexico. That country already pays tribute to us in the form of hardworking laborers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-34323040290297070652010-11-07T22:53:51.722-06:002010-11-07T22:53:51.722-06:00Obama's piss-poor failure and general ineptitu...<i> Obama's piss-poor failure and general ineptitude...</i><br /><br />Obama can always distract everyone from his shortcomings in the established way: Start a war.<br /><br />I suggest he invade Mexico, then annex it when they surrender. At one stroke the problem with illegal immigration will be slashed by 90% -- Mexicans will all now be Americans. (We'll still get Salvadorans, etc. Luckily our new southern border will be much smaller, making a border fence quite cost-effecive.) Presumably, US government agents can stop the drug cartels. Even the conservatives will sing hosannahs to Obama. <br /><br />The US will become officially bilingual, but we were heading in that direction anyways. The safety of our winter vegetable supply will be assured, NAFTA will be simplified -- I'm really looking forward to it.<br /><br />The war should las just long enough for Obama to be reelected.former law studenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15196697206046544350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-86891047441846704712010-11-07T22:28:27.969-06:002010-11-07T22:28:27.969-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.The Dudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05354536924604187137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-14008998195768682332010-11-07T22:22:11.506-06:002010-11-07T22:22:11.506-06:00The problem for Obama is that, for the first time ...<i>The problem for Obama is that, for the first time in his career, he's being judged simply on his merits and the red herring of racism won't help him now. </i><br /><br />Ridiculously true. Many people are fine and good with affirmative action, especially in the private sphere. Many people are fine with having a black person rise in middle management or in some bureaucracy.<br /><br />But the presidency matters. People are actually having their lives and their values and their livelihoods affected here. In this case, people are rejecting Obama because he sucks. He's ineffective. <br /><br />Race helped Obama. It's not hurting him. Obama's piss-poor failure and general ineptitude will hurt the next black presidential candidate, though. That's wrong and that's bad logic, but that's the fact.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-21247323769028850402010-11-07T22:07:52.153-06:002010-11-07T22:07:52.153-06:00Mickey makes the mistake of letting Bob get away w...Mickey makes the mistake of letting Bob get away with bringing the red herring of racism into the debate. <br /><br />The problem for Obama is that, for the first time in his career, he's being judged simply on his merits and the red herring of racism won't help him now. <br /><br />With unemployment at 15%, and with the way the universal health insurance reform bill was jammed down our throats, the 90% of the electorate for whom race doesn't matter believes his performance as president merits a big fat "D." <br /><br />Unfortunately and ironically for Obama, most of America really has become post-racial. And his affirmative action extra credit is all used up.Meadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00117933390338651739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-87190066462194384372010-11-07T21:56:00.020-06:002010-11-07T21:56:00.020-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.The Dudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05354536924604187137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-28816312487272848432010-11-07T21:32:55.847-06:002010-11-07T21:32:55.847-06:00Christy -- The answer is that he is now in a posit...Christy -- The answer is that he is now in a position that he is not qualified to be in. Barring some substantial change of direction, he's going to be remembered as a presidential failure and the country is mired in a mess.<br /><br />Had Obama been an ordinary white person, like his grandmother, he'd have had to serve a full Senate term and then a term or two as governor. He'd have learned a lot in spite of himself.<br /><br />Cue the Blame Bush crowd in 3...2...1...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-61894618928788041392010-11-07T19:46:45.337-06:002010-11-07T19:46:45.337-06:00What a bullshit question with all kinds of implica...What a bullshit question with all kinds of implications made by the person who asks the question. Chip seems to understand that all too well. As far as I know affirmative action did not play a role in his admission to college, so just where has this been a factor other than in the minds of white conservatives?roesch-voltairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802616989806761662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-53094759513312031122010-11-07T19:40:28.998-06:002010-11-07T19:40:28.998-06:00kcom wrote: ...Obama was, in terms of qualificatio...kcom wrote: <i>...Obama was, in terms of qualifications, basically John Edwards Lite. White liberal guilt did the rest.</i><br /><br />Emphasis on Lite. Edwards, as piss-poor an excuse for a human being who has ever run for national office, at least had his accomplishments in his legal career (if you want to call glorified ambulance chasing a career) to point to as an example of competence.Quaestorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688608372863540573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-20365656068126243272010-11-07T18:05:05.483-06:002010-11-07T18:05:05.483-06:00My question is: Has Barack Obama hurt affirmative...My question is: Has Barack Obama hurt affirmative action?Christyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12623422545436294378noreply@blogger.com