Kerry on Imus this morning

[karynnj]

Things they spoke of:

John Lewis switching to Obama. Kerry said it was a decision to follow his heart and gut, though he had been a long time Clinton friend and supporter. He spoke of having gotten to know Lewis, riding in cars together when campaigning. That he was a great dignified thoughtful man - a civil rights icon.

Imus asked about some black pudit (missed name) who thought that to be black your ancestors had to have been slaves. Kerry acknowledged their were some who thought that, but that everyone had different battles - and Obama was identified as black and had dealt with those issues. He said that Obama faced hurdles and closed doors, but there were many victories - he got into Columbia without a dad making a call. He got into Harvard law - and not only made the Law Review (a major accomplishment) but became the head. He then returned to work for people rather than cashing in working for any major law firm. He spoke of this showing his character and values.

Kerry, who had been coughing, was asked if he had a cold - he said it was algergies that he seems to get this time of year.

He was asked about Louis Farrachan - Kerry said that LF's comments on Jews and Israel are in his opinion despicably unaccepable - and that Obama thinks so too. Kerry disputed that denounce was weaker than reject.

He was asked about HRC winning Ma - said HRC had been 37 points ahead and she was at least 20 pls percent ahead when they made the endorsement. They didn't want HRC to get all the MA delegates and they succeeded in holding down the numbers. He said that there has no been one day when HRC earned more delegates. That Obama is forging a coalition across the county. He then spoke of all the red state endorsements.

Asked what happens if she wins Texas and Ohio, he said that it will continue to PA. He also said the math doesn't work unless she wins both big. Asked what happens if she loses one, he said that she will have a hard time continuing.

Imus said he was for McCain, but he wouldn't go to Canada if Obama won. Kerry dryly responded by saying that his listeners would appreciate that. Imus laughed and told him he was a jerk and that he (Imus) had been humiliated because he had supported Kerry and lost. They joked around then Imus changed the story to the fact that Kennedy is writing a book and mentioning that Kennedy knew him when he single - Kerry reminded him that he was completely vetted having run for President.

[MBS]

1. thanks for this account!

I agree that John Lewis is a "great dignified thoughtful man". I saw a snippet of an interview in which he explained his endorsement of Obama, and the difficulty he had in switching from Hillary. It was quite moving; I thought to myself, "this is a really good man."

[politicasista]

2. I wish Imus didn't ask him about....

Farrakhan and other race spin (i.e. slaves). It allows his words to get twisted. (sigh)

The Lewis comment was good, but the Farrakhan question was clearly a "gotcha" question that Obama answered well in the debate (connecting Jews' involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and getting the strong support from the Jewish community). He (Obama) has had to tread lightly on that issue. However, I don't agree with Farrakhan's views, but the media has taken some things out of context. (Ok, got a family member that likes his teachings).

I think far more better talk radio shows are starving for a good Obama surrogate. :)






edit for grammar

[beachmom]

4. Want to hear something funny, Politicasista, about our clueless MSM?

I watched the Morning Joe yesterday, and they were talking about the Farrakhan thing quite a bit. Then later on, they had Chuck Todd on to discuss the numbers on delegates, and then went back to talking about how right wingers were using Obama's middle name. So Joe asks Chuck what his middle name is. Chuck wouldn't say what it was, but then said everyone could call him "Chuck D" like his buddy in Public Enemy. So they're all laughing and then Joe says, well whatever you do Don't Believe the Hype. More laughter. I think they thought they were so cool bringing up the legendary hip hop group, but OBVIOUSLY they know NOTHING about P.E. or they wouldn't have seen the irony:

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/public+enemy/dont+believe+the+hype_20111975.html

Public Enemy -- Don't Believe the Hype

Back
Caught you lookin for the same thing
Its a new thing - check out this I bring
Uh oh the roll below the level
cause Im livin low next to the bass, cmon
Turn up the radio
They claim that Im a criminal
By now I wonder how
Some people never know
The enemy could be their friend, guardian
Im not a hooligan
I rock the party and
Clear all the madness, Im not a racist
Preach to teach to all
cause some they never had this
Number one, not born to run
About the gun...
I wasnt licensed to have one
The minute they see me, fear me
Im the epitome - a public enemy
Used, abused without clues
I refused to blow a fuse
They even had it on the news
Dont believe the hype...

Yes
Was the start of my last jam
So here it is again, another def jam
But since I gave you all a little something
That we knew you lacked
They still consider me a new jack
All the critics you can hangem
Ill hold the rope
But they hope to the pope
And pray it aint dope
The follower of farrakhan
Dont tell me that you understand
Until you hear the man
The book of the new school rap game
Writers treat me like coltrane, insane
Yes to them, but to me Im a different kind
Were brothers of the same mind, unblind
Caught in the middle and
Not surrenderin
I dont rhyme for the sake of of riddlin
Some claim that Im a smuggler
Some say I never heard of ya
A rap burgler, false media
We dont need it do we?
Its fake thats what it be to ya, dig me?
Dont believe the hype...


If I recall, many in the Jewish community were incensed by P.E. for some of their lyrics and defense of Farrakhan (one member of P.E. was kicked out of the group after blatant anti-semitic remarks uttered to a Wash Times reporter). But I also don't remember the subject of Farrakhan being so, well, "black and white". Like this Time magazine article from 1989:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969834,00.html?promoid=googlep

Also, don't forget the million man march. What strikes me is that the ambiguities of Farrakhan (anti-semitic devil? or bettering the black community with anti-drug anti-crime pro-family activism and rhetoric?) have disappeared, and now he's suddenly the black equivalent to Adolf Hitler. I think his anti-semitic remarks were horrible, but I just remember him being on 60 Minutes, and he was depicted as more complicated than that. Or am I completely off base here?

Back to MSNBC, should we demand they reject and denounce fun remarks said about Public Enemy?

[beachmom]

5. Related - Must read by Glenn Greenwald:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/28/hagee/

This was the sneaking suspicion I had with the Farrakhan flap, and indeed the example Greenwald gives is of a bigoted minister who endorsed McCain. His hate is aimed at Muslims, gays, Catholics, and of course, he is a cynical End of Timer, seemingly pro-Israel but only until the Rapture. Russert doesn't seem to have a problem with McCain's endorsement. Sigh.

[politicasista]

6. Yep. I want to hear it from the clueless MSM

No, you're not off base. I remember the Public Enemy incident. The member that made the Anti-Semitic comments was Professor Griff and the outrage over that. If anyone knows about Chuck D and Flavor Flav (before Flavor of Love) and Public Enemy overall, they were known for their strong, militant views of society as a whole (I remember Don't Believe The Hype, Fight The Power, etc :)). I wasn't a big fan (nor did I care for the Anti-Semitism), but I thought they had a right to speak their mind.

I had just went to college when the Million Man March happened. Some of my friends that went were impressed also. I didn't see the 60 minutes interview, but he has always been a complicated figure because he says things that people don't want to hear, and it gets portrayed by the media as Anti whatever (like he calling Caucasians "crackers", blasting white Democrats, politicians, and so on). I don't follow his works, but I have some pro-black power folks in my family that think he gets a bad rap.

Thanks for digging all that research up and I agree with your last line too. :hi:

[sandnsea]

3. I still hate that he goes on Imus

and Imus continues to show why America votes nutballs into office. He's been appalled by the war and the White House, but supports McCain, who has helped them enact every horrifying policy over the last 8 years. What an ignoramus.