Criminal Profling Topic of the Day: What do James Frey and Barack Obama have in Common?
This is going to be my last bit of my three day Barack Obama commentary. I was going to move on to a different subject today, but then I ran across an excerpt from Obama's book, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" (which I had already read and I remember thinking something rang wrong about that particular bit as did much of the book which seemed awfully narcissistic and self-serving). The story goes that Obama's white grandmother who was raising and supporting him, was hassled by a bum at the bus stop. She wanted a ride to her work from Grandpa.
"Her lips pursed with irritation. 'He was very aggressive, Barry. Very aggressive. I gave him a dollar and he kept asking. If the bus hadn't come, I think he might have hit me over the head."
Apparently, Grandpa doesn't want to give her a ride and feels a need to explain this to the teenage Barack who apparently is totally in the dark about what the big deal is.
"He (Grandpa) turned around and I saw that he was shaking. "It is a big deal. It's a big deal to me. She's been bothered by men before. You know why she's so scared this time. I'll tell you why. Before you came in, she told me the fella was black." He whispered the word. "That's the real reason why she's bothered. And I just don't think that right.
"The words were like a fist in my stomach, and I wobbled to regain my composure. In my steadiest voice, I told him that such an attitude bothered me, too, but reassured him that Toot's fears would pass and that we should give her a ride in the meantime. Gramps slumped into a chair in the living room and said he was sorry he had told me. Before my eyes, he grew small and old and very sad. I put my hand on his shoulder and told him that it was all right, I understood.
"We remained like that for several minutes like that for several minutes, in painful silence. Finally he insisted that he drive Toot after all, and I thought about my grandparents. They had sacrificed again and again for me. They had poured all their lingering hopes into my success. Never had they given me reason to doubt their love; I doubted if they ever would. And yet I knew that men who might easily have been my brothers would still inspire their rawest fear."
Obama then drives over to his Frank's house, an old black communist party member and friend of Grandpa.
"What I'm trying to tell you is, your grandma's right to be scared. She's at least as right as Stanley is. She understands that black people have a reason to hate. That's just how it is. For your sake, I wish it were otherwise. But it's not. So you might as well get used to it."
"Frank closed his eyes. His breathing slowed until he seemed to be asleep. I thought about waking him, then decided against it and walked back to the car. The earth shook under my feet, ready to crack open at any moment. I stopped, trying to steady myself, and knew for the first time that I was utterly alone."
OH, PUHLEESE! Didn't we not learn anything about fabrication and self-promotion from James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces?" Think about this. Barack Obama is raised up by this loving grandmother who he obviously never thought of as racist in all his growing years. She is threatened by a scary street man who "happens to be black" (and it surely would be unusual because they live in Hawaii so a black man on the street begging is likely to be doing so serious drugs like ice or crack). She mentions he is black because it IS unusual and the word black functions as a description of the man, not a condemnation of blacks everywhere.
I have said similar things around my kids. My black husband said similar things around our kids. My husband might have said, "Some crazy white man came into the store," or I might have said "Some drunk black guy at the hospital threw a urinal at me," and just as likely my husband might have said, " Some weirdo black guy started harassing me in the parking lot, " or I might have said, "I got freaked today because while I was walking to pick up the kids at summer camp, a bunch of lowlife looking white guys were hanging on the corner and made comments at me."
I guess my husband and I could have left out those descriptors and just said guys or men but humans tend to try to conjure up pictures when they talk so they add in color of skin, hair, clothing, and any other significant feature. None of this means the person giving the description is a racist.
My kids never felt "blows to their stomachs" or felt that "their brothers" were terrifying their Mom. They never were so torn up by such comments that they lost their sense of identify and felt utterly alone. Furthermore, if they had, they wouldn't have immediately been so humble and kind and reasonable as Barack purports he was, the peacemaker and forgiver::rolls eyes::Obama is forever the good guy, the victim and never the victimizer. He is either a saint or a liar.
First of all, I doubt the entire scene happened as Obama relays it. I have a hard time believing his Grandpa would have gotten that angry over a simple comment and request for a ride to work unless he were one heck of a bastard. Maybe he was, but, if that is the case, the issue should be about him, not Grandma. Grandma had every right to be afraid and if Grandpa was that bent out of shape because the man she was afraid of just happened to be black, then Grandpa was mixing his political ideology with reality. Grandpa's communist friend would be doing the same if he came up with the bit about Grandma should be afraid of blacks because of history and not simply because this one black man was possibly a violent, desperate drug user who happened to be lurking on her street. Grandpa's friend made that man into a racist as well when all he might have been whacked out druggie. Everything in life is not politics.
So, this supposed incident becomes a pivotal moment in young Obama's life. For god's sake, Obama. Either you are blowing up a little incident into a political issue or you are seriously a narcissistic wuss and a drama queen. I remember my black son (adopted) who was barred from leaving the church (because after the program ended, the very careful lady at the door only opened it when she saw the child's mom approaching). The woman kept telling him I wasn't his mother as I came up the walk to the church. He kept saying, "Yes, she is!" and the woman thought he was just pulling her leg. Finally, she realized her mistake and let my son go with me! We all had a good laugh over it! My son didn't have an epiphany and realize the horrors of racism and think the woman was demented by history. He learned that she hadn't met to many black kids with white moms.
So, either, the people around Obama blew up minor incidents or he did the blowing up to make a good story and forward his very socialistic values. My guess is the latter because he has hooked up with Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
James Frey and Barack Obama may have a lot more in common than just authoring books. Oprah apparently hasn't figured that out and neither have a lot of goodhearted Americans who want to see this man as a messiah and a fresh voice for the future of America. I hope they don't vote the man into office only to wake up one day and realize that they had been fooled by a bunch of pretty words and nice smile. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Criminal Profiler Pat Brown
"Her lips pursed with irritation. 'He was very aggressive, Barry. Very aggressive. I gave him a dollar and he kept asking. If the bus hadn't come, I think he might have hit me over the head."
Apparently, Grandpa doesn't want to give her a ride and feels a need to explain this to the teenage Barack who apparently is totally in the dark about what the big deal is.
"He (Grandpa) turned around and I saw that he was shaking. "It is a big deal. It's a big deal to me. She's been bothered by men before. You know why she's so scared this time. I'll tell you why. Before you came in, she told me the fella was black." He whispered the word. "That's the real reason why she's bothered. And I just don't think that right.
"The words were like a fist in my stomach, and I wobbled to regain my composure. In my steadiest voice, I told him that such an attitude bothered me, too, but reassured him that Toot's fears would pass and that we should give her a ride in the meantime. Gramps slumped into a chair in the living room and said he was sorry he had told me. Before my eyes, he grew small and old and very sad. I put my hand on his shoulder and told him that it was all right, I understood.
"We remained like that for several minutes like that for several minutes, in painful silence. Finally he insisted that he drive Toot after all, and I thought about my grandparents. They had sacrificed again and again for me. They had poured all their lingering hopes into my success. Never had they given me reason to doubt their love; I doubted if they ever would. And yet I knew that men who might easily have been my brothers would still inspire their rawest fear."
Obama then drives over to his Frank's house, an old black communist party member and friend of Grandpa.
"What I'm trying to tell you is, your grandma's right to be scared. She's at least as right as Stanley is. She understands that black people have a reason to hate. That's just how it is. For your sake, I wish it were otherwise. But it's not. So you might as well get used to it."
"Frank closed his eyes. His breathing slowed until he seemed to be asleep. I thought about waking him, then decided against it and walked back to the car. The earth shook under my feet, ready to crack open at any moment. I stopped, trying to steady myself, and knew for the first time that I was utterly alone."
OH, PUHLEESE! Didn't we not learn anything about fabrication and self-promotion from James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces?" Think about this. Barack Obama is raised up by this loving grandmother who he obviously never thought of as racist in all his growing years. She is threatened by a scary street man who "happens to be black" (and it surely would be unusual because they live in Hawaii so a black man on the street begging is likely to be doing so serious drugs like ice or crack). She mentions he is black because it IS unusual and the word black functions as a description of the man, not a condemnation of blacks everywhere.
I have said similar things around my kids. My black husband said similar things around our kids. My husband might have said, "Some crazy white man came into the store," or I might have said "Some drunk black guy at the hospital threw a urinal at me," and just as likely my husband might have said, " Some weirdo black guy started harassing me in the parking lot, " or I might have said, "I got freaked today because while I was walking to pick up the kids at summer camp, a bunch of lowlife looking white guys were hanging on the corner and made comments at me."
I guess my husband and I could have left out those descriptors and just said guys or men but humans tend to try to conjure up pictures when they talk so they add in color of skin, hair, clothing, and any other significant feature. None of this means the person giving the description is a racist.
My kids never felt "blows to their stomachs" or felt that "their brothers" were terrifying their Mom. They never were so torn up by such comments that they lost their sense of identify and felt utterly alone. Furthermore, if they had, they wouldn't have immediately been so humble and kind and reasonable as Barack purports he was, the peacemaker and forgiver::rolls eyes::Obama is forever the good guy, the victim and never the victimizer. He is either a saint or a liar.
First of all, I doubt the entire scene happened as Obama relays it. I have a hard time believing his Grandpa would have gotten that angry over a simple comment and request for a ride to work unless he were one heck of a bastard. Maybe he was, but, if that is the case, the issue should be about him, not Grandma. Grandma had every right to be afraid and if Grandpa was that bent out of shape because the man she was afraid of just happened to be black, then Grandpa was mixing his political ideology with reality. Grandpa's communist friend would be doing the same if he came up with the bit about Grandma should be afraid of blacks because of history and not simply because this one black man was possibly a violent, desperate drug user who happened to be lurking on her street. Grandpa's friend made that man into a racist as well when all he might have been whacked out druggie. Everything in life is not politics.
So, this supposed incident becomes a pivotal moment in young Obama's life. For god's sake, Obama. Either you are blowing up a little incident into a political issue or you are seriously a narcissistic wuss and a drama queen. I remember my black son (adopted) who was barred from leaving the church (because after the program ended, the very careful lady at the door only opened it when she saw the child's mom approaching). The woman kept telling him I wasn't his mother as I came up the walk to the church. He kept saying, "Yes, she is!" and the woman thought he was just pulling her leg. Finally, she realized her mistake and let my son go with me! We all had a good laugh over it! My son didn't have an epiphany and realize the horrors of racism and think the woman was demented by history. He learned that she hadn't met to many black kids with white moms.
So, either, the people around Obama blew up minor incidents or he did the blowing up to make a good story and forward his very socialistic values. My guess is the latter because he has hooked up with Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
James Frey and Barack Obama may have a lot more in common than just authoring books. Oprah apparently hasn't figured that out and neither have a lot of goodhearted Americans who want to see this man as a messiah and a fresh voice for the future of America. I hope they don't vote the man into office only to wake up one day and realize that they had been fooled by a bunch of pretty words and nice smile. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Criminal Profiler Pat Brown
9 comments:
Pat, why, oh, why are we not hearing these things on news television? It seems every media outlet is bending over backwards to shed the best light on Obama. No one is questioning his affiliations with people who, as you said, could set back race relations another two decades.
That Smokey thing was GREAT! I remember sometime in the '90s Bill Cosby came out trying to talk sense in a similar vein, only more bluntly, and he was severely castigated by the black community for it. I've loved Bill Cosby since I was a kid, in a household with racist parents. He changed perception of my generation, and he's a hero to me. His was the first album I bought with my meager allowance. I cried when he tragically lost his son. For blacks to criticize him for speaking the truth, for trying to break that cycle just seems wrong.
I had the privilege of meeting Smokey Robinson once. I felt privileged then, and even more so now after that brilliant message.
My decision to back Hillary in this election goes back to when the Clintons were in the White House. On paper, comparing the platforms of Clinton and Obama, there aren't any huge glaring differences. But I've lived long enough to know that platforms are a construct of the most mainstream of issues, designed to offend the least number of people, and they rarely reflect the intent OR ability to carry out those intentions once in office.
Despite its flaws, the Clinton administration was the first administration in my 55 years when I felt represented. I sort of know what to expect, good and bad, if Hillary is elected, and there's an old saying "Better the b*tch you know than the one you don't." Anyone can SAY they're going to act in your best interests. I felt that Clinton did try to reach down and help some of the disenfranchised working class. I believe, if anything, Hillary's ethics will surpass Bill's, and I am saddened by the stubborn refusal to even consider voting for her in my Texas community.
While campaigning here, she visited a favorite Tex-Mex spot. I saw the photo on the wall and asked about it. The Hispanic woman at the register said, "You know, just about every woman who sees it asks about it -- but the men never do." It's not a tennis match, guys.
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Pat, I read where Oprah attended Wrights church but quit because she did not like his style of preaching or his message.
Anyone that says the United States government created aids to destroy the black community needs not to be a preacher, but to be a patient at the nearest nut house. As I was watching this crazy lunatic rant and rave, I thought I would see some nurses run up and put a straight jacket on him and carry him out on a stretcher.
Oh and one more thing. Wright said "God Damn America" and repeated it over and over. And I heard on the news where Michelle Obama said "This is the first time I've been proud of America."
I'm noticing a lot of Anti American sentiment from the people that surround Obama. I'm just wondering if they hate America so much, if they have never been proud of it, if they want god to damn America. WHY don't they just get their ass out of dodge?
Preraphazon, Me and you could really go at it about Hillary LOL. ;-) I think she is a socialist. And I think if she were President, we can say good bye to personal responsibility and HELLO to the government doing everything: BIG GOVERNMENT. If she is President (I doubt she'll get the nomination) our taxes will skyrocket.
But at this point, despite my differences with her. I'd take her over Barack Obama any day!
I really liked Ron Paul from Texas. He was the most blunt one and the most clear one. You knew where he stood, and he didn't pussyfoot around things. He didn't try to get the liberal, moderate, or conservative base. He just gave his opinions and gave his plans.
But we in America keep getting fooled by these smooth talking empty suits. OR we let the media decide, and people like Oprah decide who the best candidates for us are.
We are stuck with someone who says he will stay in Iraq 100 years if that is what it takes: McCain, and a socialist who condones racism and Anti American sentiment: Obama... GOD BLESS AMERICA, because we are gonna need it LOL
Yes, I would have to agree that both Hillary and Obama will head the United States into socialism. I like Ron Paul as well but he wouldn't have a chance in hell of making it any where near the Oval Office. I have a new saying to keep myself from getting too upset about unfortunate things...after they happen, when someone asks, "How did it go?" I answer, "well, I learned something..." I think I am going to be learning a lot in the next four years!
Well, now, my friends, lest we forget, the other Clinton, Mr. Bill, actually drastically reduced government during his administration, trimmed a LOT of fat. Do you not remember going to the passport office and finding it closed? I do. Seriously, YES, she and Obama will both go for some sort of healthcare that may resemble (I hope) socialized medicine. Now, I am not a socialist, but I do think some things should be available and NOT just to children! And healthcare is one of them.
I do not at all fear Hillary will lead us to big government. Why undo what Bill has done in reducing its size? I see her renovating some programs, but that is a good thing. In this day and age, liberal does not really mean Robin Hood anymore.
Keep in mind these platforms, which are, all around for all candidates, heavy on helping children and that sort of rosy stuff, are just that: platforms, the common denominator of the most mainstream of issues that offend the fewest people. And just because you talk about it doesn't mean you can or will accomplish it. I think our nation's rich elite are secure in their McMansions for now.
And P.S. -- God bless ya for questioning the motives of politicians!
Preraphazon, People should be responsible to get their own health care, instead of expecting the government (tax payers) to pick up the tab. I believe in PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Socialist health care sucks. Plain and simple. Everything the government is involved in, it SUCKS. Look at the response to Hurricane Katrina.
I suggest reading the works and reporting of ABC's of John Stossel.
The waiting period is terrible. And there have been some people who have been denied health care treatment because they SMOKE.
I do not want the government to control my health care. The free market system works best. With government controlled health care it would wipe out the competition. If I do not like my Doctor, or the care I'm getting I can switch, I can have MY CHOICE of which Doctor treats me. Not with Government controlled health care.
The problem is that most people cannot afford a big healthcare hit, and everyone needs healthcare, even more than everyone needs education (since not everyone has kids), but we all have to pay for that. For example, I am paying for other people's healthcare through taxes, but I can no way afford my own. Most bankruptcies are brought on by perfectly responsible and normally solvent people who get hit with a $200,000 hospital bill. Everyone needs it, and people who don't have it certainly should not have to pay for others to have it, so we need it to be nationalized.
Contrary to American popular belief, US does NOT have the highest health care standards in the world, though it's among the best.
As for waits, well, I'm ALREADY having long waits every time I go to the doctor or dentist and I doubt it could get much longer.
A lot of insured Americans are living under a false sense of security. I edit depositions for a living, half of which are injury and medical malpractice, and insurance frequently refuses to pay the full balance on a huge hospital bill. That's why there's so many lawsuits. Furthermore, our present system is letting insurance companies dictate to physicians what care they will provide, and they will drop them as a provider if they do not comply. When my GYN joined an insurance program, his price for his annual phyical went from $120-$300 overnight. But the worst of it is that he always recommended a PAP and blood tests every year as well as a mammogram -- and suddenly he would only
do the tests every three years, to comply with the insurance companies.
This insurance-driven care isn't good for anyone.
Wow, I'm flabbergasted that your husband is black Pat, considering the racist crap you said on Nancy Grace, regarding the Anthony Sowell case. Calling black women "pigeons" and talking about malt liquor, in a stereotypical, pseudo "black" speech pattern?......Shame on you, Pat.
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