Althouse: "Well, I think it's given him a lot of depth and a broadness of view."

April 9, 2008

"Well, I think it's given him a lot of depth and a broadness of view."

In the new Barack Obama ad: the grandmother he was big enough not to denounce. (What's given him a lot of depth is listening.)

(Via Memeorandum.)

28 comments:

rhhardin said...: Looking over the crowd into the middle distance has given him broadness of view.; 4/9/08, 10:11 AM
P_J said...: Barack wants to make sure that everyone's daughters have the same opportunities his have?

Great! I imagine they've got an extra bedroom or two at their mansion, and I'm sure my daughter will enjoy attending an elite private school. Whom should I call to pick up my daughter at O'Hare?

Or was Michelle not talking about herself when she mentioned taking away people's stuff so that others can get ahead?; 4/9/08, 10:18 AM
AlphaLiberal said...: Liar.

He did not denounce his grandmother.; 4/9/08, 10:29 AM
tjl said...: "He did not denounce his grandmother"

Alpha, perhaps you missed the part of his race speech where he said he could no more disown his grandmother than Rev. Wright. He may not have literally denounced her. He just implied that poor granny was the same as a racist demagogue.; 4/9/08, 10:38 AM
MadisonMan said...: He may not have literally denounced her.

So you agree with alpha then. I think alpha should read more carefully -- Ann A. did not say he denounced her.

I think it was a somewhat cheap shot on our hostess' part. She might also have said the grandmother he was big enough not to mug or the the grandmother he was big enough not to push down the flight of stairs while giggling.; 4/9/08, 10:54 AM
Synova said...: If it was a cheap shot it was because it was an *easy* shot.

Poor old typical white grandma, afraid of black people. But I got to love her.; 4/9/08, 10:58 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: Alpha is starting to sound like Al Franken- everybody except him is a liar.; 4/9/08, 11:00 AM
AlphaLiberal said...: My bad. I thought she was referring to a different Obama grandma and echoing, as she so often does, the right wing talking points. Which get me angry.

I'll own up to my error.

As far as the Rev Wright, it's telling that so many white conservatives pass judgment on a guy after seeing less than 60 seconds worth of clips.

Were those clips typical of his sermons? How do you know? Did he ever preach love, forgiveness and tolerance, i.e., the message of Jesus Christ?; 4/9/08, 11:04 AM
P_J said...: I think it was a somewhat cheap shot on our hostess' part.

I think Ann was suggesting that the cheap shot was equating a lying, paranoid, racist hatemonger with one's grandmother who expressed shame over her private fear of a black man who accosted her.; 4/9/08, 11:04 AM
P_J said...: As far as the Rev Wright, it's telling that so many white conservatives pass judgment on a guy after seeing less than 60 seconds worth of clips.

Is there a reason the race of his critics matters? That would seem to imply that white criticism of Wright is automatically suspect, but I know that can't be true because that would itself be a racist comment.

Of course, there are a number of blacks who've criticized Wright, but they can similarly be dismissed because they must be race traitors.

And as far as content, it's easy enough to read up on Wright's and Trinity's black liberation theology which blames whites for just about every imaginable evil and actively encourages race hatred and paranoia. Or you could look at Wright's praise of Farrakhan. Or his giving a platform to Hamas terrorists. Or his telling his congregation that whites invented AIDS to kill people of color.

But why do that when it's easier to blame it on a vast, right-wing white conspiracy?; 4/9/08, 11:10 AM
Ann Althouse said...: AlphaLiberal said..."Liar. He did not denounce his grandmother."

Who are you calling a liar? I wrote "the grandmother he was big enough not to denounce." So if you are referring to me, you owe me an apology.; 4/9/08, 11:34 AM
Anonymous said...: The ad makes me dislike him, in addition to not agreeing with his politics.; 4/9/08, 11:42 AM
Swifty Quick said...: Granny. The good old "typical white person."; 4/9/08, 11:47 AM
Joe said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/9/08, 12:14 PM
Elliott A said...: If electe, six figure incomes won't help you; the government will take most of it.; 4/9/08, 12:21 PM
Sloanasaurus said...: They forgot to mention the "how" in the video. Michelle Obama stated yesterday that some will need to make people "give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more." I wonder who will be giving up and who will be getting more?

As far as the Rev Wright, it's telling that so many white conservatives pass judgment on a guy after seeing less than 60 seconds worth of clips.

Wait. There is a new one out. Apparently while debating Black Panther Bobby Rush in 2000, Obama stated "I don't think there are a lot of ideological differences between us." So not only does Obama not reject Black Panthers, he says their views are the same as his views. Wait, I thought Obama rejected the views of Rev. Wright?

The list gets longer.....; 4/9/08, 12:41 PM
George M. Spencer said...: The ad focuses on his caring, sharing, and understanding—the three traits that polls say he is most admired for, according to Dick Morris.

How he is like Oprah—He cares! He understands. He listens.

I know this is off topic...but what does she get from an Obama presidency (or vice presidency)? UN Ambassador? Secretary of HUD or HHS? Then what? Governor of Illinois? President? She's only 54.; 4/9/08, 12:56 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Michelle Obama stated yesterday that some will need to make people "give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more." I wonder who will be giving up and who will be getting more?

How about everybody make their own pies.

I'm willing to teach someone how to make a pieif they are willing to learn and will make their own pies in the future.

I'm even willing to share some of my pie with people who don't demand that I give it to them and who dont' consider it their right to take the pie that I have worked hard to make. I'll even make tea.

Oh yeah. Speaking as "typical white woman" to a non-typical black woman, Michelle and her husband can just keep their grubby paws off of my money, not to mention my pies. I don't recall inviting either of them into my home.; 4/9/08, 1:13 PM
former law student said...: My problem must be that I read the Mainstream Media. Here's what the dread MSM reports that Michelle said:

Most Americans, she said, don't want much.

"They don't want the whole pie," she told the women. "There are some who do, but most Americans feel blessed just being able to thrive a little bit. But that is becoming even more out of reach."

No mention of pie redistribution. At all. But for the benefit of pie enthusiasts, here's MO's recipe for apple cobbler from Yankee Magazine:

Michelle Obama's Apple Cobbler

"I've been making this cobbler for a long time, so I usually just eyeball how much needs to go in. People might want more or less sugar, but this is how our family and friends like it. This recipe makes one cobbler, which is like a double pie."
Filling:

* 8 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced [or a bag of frozen peeled apples]
* 1-1/2 to 2 cups of brown sugar
* 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup white flour

Mix these ingredients together in a bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight so the spice goes all the way through the apples.
Crust:

* 3 sheets refrigerated pie crust
* 1 stick of butter

Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Butter and flour the bottom of a large baking dish. Roll out three pie crusts real thin -- as thin as possible. Layer the bottom of the pan with 1-1/2 of the pie crusts and prick a few holes in it. Pour the apples with the liquid into the pie pan. Dot 3/4 of a stick of butter around the apples. Use the final 1-1/2 pie crusts to cover the apple mixture entirely (let the pie crust overlap the pan).

Pinch the edges of the dough around the sides of the pan so the mixture is completely covered.

Melt final 1/4 stick of butter and brush all over top of crust.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Bake at 300 for up to 3 hours -- that's what makes the crust flakey, like Barack likes it. Put the cobbler in the oven and go for a walk, go to the store, or do whatever you have to do around the house. Start looking at the cobbler after two and a half hours so it doesn't burn.

Serve anytime.; 4/9/08, 1:51 PM
P_J said...: FLS,

Doesn't sound like a bad recipe, but we make scratch crusts in our house.

By the way, I'm not sure what reports you read, but the Charlotte Observer has this:

"The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more."

Of course, you can always ask the doctors in Mass. how universal health care is working out.; 4/9/08, 2:17 PM
former law student said...: thanks, pastor jeff. yeah I bet MO wishes she could take back that unpleasantly Hillaryesque statement. The Associated Press did her a big favor by omitting it from their story.; 4/9/08, 2:35 PM
MadisonMan said...: Why make cobbler when you can make crisp? I ask: is anything more delectable than brown sugar, cinnamon and butter all cooked into a crisp on top of fresh fruit?

Re: MO. The perils of talking off the cuff. She should be more scripted like other politicians.; 4/9/08, 2:41 PM
P_J said...: Apple crisp is awesome. We don't do many fruit pies -- coconut cream, chocolate silk, pecan (but not too sweet). My wife makes a coconut pound cake that is to die for. Apollo would have given up ambrosia for this.

Speaking off the cuff is always dangerous for politicians. Too much risk of saying what you really believe.; 4/9/08, 3:02 PM
Anonymous said...: As I watch this ad again, it comes to me--Obama and Co. speak about their reverence for Obama; McCain and Co. speak about their reverence for America.

Which one would you like to lead America?; 4/9/08, 5:00 PM
Jeremy said...: There's a lot that divides people across the political spectrum, but good food is a powerful reconciler. Good food can save the Union. Mario Batalli for president!; 4/9/08, 5:42 PM
Trooper York said...: Wow, Barry's sister is really white. Is that his half sister?; 4/9/08, 7:27 PM
former law student said...: tj: Barry's sister is what we call a happy hapa. His mother later married an Indonesian guy.; 4/9/08, 9:40 PM
PG said...: At least Michelle Obama can make her own pie instead of nicking recipes from Food Network.

As for Obama's speaking of Rev. Wright as holding a similar place in his life as his own grandmother, to those who hate Rev. Wright, of course it sounds like Obama was calling his grandmother a loathsome, racist, anti-Semitic, hate-mongering secret Muslim. To those who think Rev. Wright has done both good and bad and is an imperfect human being who should receive both correction and compassion, it sounded like Obama was saying his grandmother also was an imperfect human being.; 4/16/08, 1:09 PM