Obama on Fatherhood
Barack Obama celebrated Father’s Day by calling on black fathers, who he said are “missing from too many lives and too many homes,” to become active in raising their children.
“They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it,” the Democratic presidential candidate said Sunday at a largely black church in his hometown.
“Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father,” he said. “It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”
He compared helping children succeed to his own presidential campaign and early comments from black voters who said they liked him but didn’t think a black man could ever be elected president. He said they were admitting defeat before the competition had even begun.
“That was when I wasn’t black enough. Now I’m too black,” he said in a joking aside.
He said parents who proudly tell him their child gets great grades, all B’s, should encourage them even more.
“All B’s? Is that the highest grade?” Obama said. “It’s great that you can get a B, but you can get a better grade. It’s great that you’ve got a job, but you can get a better job.”
More. In other news, a lot of prominent black conservatives are feeling conflicted over the Obama nomination. That’s not so surprising. If Obama keeps giving speeches like this, I’d imagine lots of white conservatives will start feeling a little conflicted too.
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I was an ardent Hillary supporter right through the end, and decided reluctantly to support Obama. This speech removed any doubts that remained with me. Obama shares my view of government; it should be there to help people out a bit when they need it, so long as personal responsibility is always demanded from citizens. His way of challenging people to live better lives without the callousness so often found in GOP talking points is what it will take to win this election. Obama 08
I heard trice in person Seator Obama express these sentiments– in Youngstown, OH, Pittsburgh PA and Hempfield, PA.
He has in fact said them all over the place throughout his pathway to the Democratic presidential nomination.
But let us see if the GOP can succeed in painting him as an ‘elitist’ , liberal social engineer, somehow nefariously all too willing to tinker with the basic role and responsibilities of the family.
Given how in 2004 the Rove Machine made the AWOL National Guardsman Bush into some kind of war hero and the Purple Heated Veteran Kerry into a committer of national treason, I’d would not be too write off to their possible success; they may indeed make the ex- philandering McCain into a modern day St. Joseph; and the faithful father of two Obama into that evil Plato that all the poor freshmen Western Civilization 101 readers of the Republic fear.
McCain Suppoters Beware:
Alito and Scalia or Breyer and Ginsberg?
By Mickey Kaus
Updated Monday, June 16, 2008, at 5:20 AM ET
Suckers! Part XVIII: John McCain met privately with some Clinton supporters in the diehard group Party Unity My Ass, and tried to wobble his way into their hearts:
“He stayed for a good almost half hour afterwards shaking hands, listening to our concerns, talking to us,” said PUMA founder Will Bower, who said he thought many of the people there would vote for McCain.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina stayed to mingle with the crowd, whose members also included Clinton backer Harriet Christian, made momentarily famous on YouTube for getting ejected from the Rules & Bylaws press area.
Bower said he’d liked McCain’s answer on judges, in which he “pointed out that he supported Bill Clinton with both Ginsberg and Breyer.” [E.A.]
Obama’s certainly a new kind of candidate for the Democrats. His pro-family rhetoric is reminiscent of the Religious Right in the early ’80s, and his moves to meet with religious leaders and advisors is reminiscent of the tactics Jimmy Carter employed in 1976. Of course, his strong, strong, unbridled support for abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and same-sex marriage may keep “white conservatives” from being too conflicted.
I’m always struck that Father’s Day is chosen as the day to remind people that there are men who don’t live up to their duties. Needless to say Mother’s Day (or any other day for that matter) isn’t chosen as a day to reflect upon bon bon eating, motherly abandonment, or abortion. Yes, I have received the memo noting that all the problems of the black community can be traced to irresponsible fatherhood.
This is one of the two main reasons why I’ve always liked Obama (the other being his refusal to support the Iraq war in an atmosphere of virulent “patriotism’) — the fact that he realizes that both culture and economics matter, not just one or the other. This has been a consistent theme of his. He also has some tough words for teachers’ unions.
That Obama saying this is considered remarkable strikes me as strange. It’s essentially sound advice that anybody regardless of political affiliation would support. Bill Cosby has been saying much the same to black fathers for years.
Bill Cosby has been saying much the same to black fathers for years.
And Bill Cosby definitely made the headlines when he said it, because I watched on the cable network news, NPR, Internet news and more… so why wouldn’t it make the headlines if a black presidential candidate is saying it as well?
Speeches are one thing, actions are another. Any conservative of any skin tone who takes one look at what Barack has actually voted on will not likely be in his camp. He DOES have the most liberal voting record in the Senate (the few votes he’s been around for).
And Bill Cosby definitely made the headlines when he said it, because I watched on the cable network news, NPR, Internet news and more… so why wouldn’t it make the headlines if a black presidential candidate is saying it as well?
Precisely my point.
Why should such sound advice, which could come from practically any parent — “It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father”; one should strive to get more than a “B average” in grades — be so absolutely remarkable that it would make headlines in the media?
That’s Obama’s statements were noteworthy and remarkable may be an indication of the sorry state into which our public culture has fallen. Nevertheless, they were noteworthy and remarkable.
“He DOES have the most liberal voting record in the Senate (the few votes he’s been around for).”
Here we go ahead with the tired old attempt to label people with meaningless slogans.
Here we go ahead with the tired old attempt to label people with meaningless slogans.
Pot, meet Kettle.
So what are you saying – you should ignore a candidate’s voting record when deciding whether or not to vote for him? Just go on whatever his latest speech proclaims?