KOEB'ers... I need some help please!

[greenmutha]

First of all.. Hi! :hi:
Long time no, (ummm), see?
(What *is* the correct vernacular for online groups, anyway?) :shrug:

It's been difficult for me to be able to get much time online; it seems like all I ever get is a spare moment here and there to check my email... and now I have an email problem that sure could use all of your wise advice:

I have a long distance friend who has turned into a (gasp) Bush loving :puke: Repub ever since she married her redneck husband many years ago. We were having some "lighthearted" banter about the candidates back and forth in emails when suddenly she turned basically rabid in one and stated "Obama is a wolf in sheep's clothing!" I replied and asked her "Why on Earth do you say that?"

Here is her reply to me:

"Well, let me tell you! Don't you have any questions in your mind regarding his ex-pastor, first of all? If one can brush that one under the table with a full understanding of the LONG relationship they had (from what has been in the media) then one must be blind and deaf. The only reason Obama cut him off is because it was jeopardizing his position! Obviously I don't know him personally but there is no way I would have EVER stayed in that church. So clearly he and his wife agreed with at least most of the stuff that was being taught there. And I don't buy the story that all black churches are just "like that" as I have heard said. He continues to have strong Muslim ties and he cannot deny it. Secondly, he currently belongs (and I believe his father also) to an African tribe that basically is a terrorist group in Africa. The book called "The Obama Nation" reveals much of these hidden dark secrets that most people don't know about him. But more importantly than that, I honestly don't believe the man cares at all about this country. I think his agenda is a pretty short list catering to the blacks and minorities and his personal interests. And I gotta say, that scares the heck out of me! Living where I do which is the HUB of illegal immigration has slowly eaten away at me. I see these darn minority groups getting all sorts of free services and benefits that I don't get because I am a WASP! I often feel like a stranger in my own country here and he would only make the problem worse. And he has changed his mind often and still said absolutely nothing with substance in my opinion. I could go on but I don't want to sound like I am preaching nor am I some authority on him. I only know that deep in my soul I see that he is not who he claims to be OR his wife for that matter.
I am not crazy about our republican candidate but I love Sarah Palin. I think SHE should run for president! She embodies everything that America was built on why America became great in the first place!----"

OMFG! My first reaction was :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: I cannot believe this is the same woman I used to know! I picked my jaw up off the floor and I realized that I want to write something back, something eloquent and informed, but I feel *woefully* unprepared.
(I really don't think "WTF are you talking about?" qualifies as eloquent!) :wtf:

I have been going 100 mph trying to "pull myself up by my own bootstraps" and, (I'm embarrassed to admit this), am very ill-informed on the Reverend Wright situation. And WTF is this BS about Obama and his father belonging to a terrorist group in Africa? That's the *first* time I've even heard a whisper of that crap! Has anyone read this (apparent) book of tripe she is referring to?

As for the last paragraph about Sarah Palin.... words just absolutely escape me. I am totally flabbergasted. Apparently my friend drank all the koolaid. :cry:

[Gogi]

1. My Mom told me one day that she would'nt vote for Obama because...

he's a "flake" (yes, she listens to el Rushbo)so I asked her why she thought he was a "flake". She said: "There's just something I don't like about him". So I said: "I'm afraid the something you don't like is that he's black." Her response: "I'm afraid you're right." All this mish-mash of silly claims and folderol about Obama's terrorist ties comes from people who aren't as honest as my Mom and aren't courageous enough to just say, "I won't vote for Obama because he's black".

[SeattleGirl]

2. I agree with Gogi.

I think that is your friend's way of saying she won't vote for Obama because he's black.

It's a pity that people still think that way, but they do.

[RevCheesehead]

3. Hi, Greenie!!!

It's great to see you again!!! :hug:

As to the e-mail thing, here's what I'd do. But remember, I'm certifiably crazy and unstable, so take with a grain of salt:

Hit reply, then delete her entire message except for this part:
"I love Sarah Palin. I think SHE should run for president! She embodies everything that America was built on why America became great in the first place!----"
And I'd say,
"That's exactly why I'm voting for Obama."

Then again, sometimes the best reply is to say nothing at all. O8)

[greenmutha]

4. Thank you to all that responded...

I had to think about this one for a long time before I replied to it! I've always considered her a friend, but we never see each other anymore. It's down to a few emails here and there and Christmas cards, ya know? But as much as I felt like ripping in to her, I just couldn't do it. I guess I'm a wuss.

Rev, thank you for your words of wisdom. I toyed with the idea of just not replying to her at all, but somehow I felt she would take that as a "she has no comebacks, she is beaten" attitude.

Gogi & SG, you are probably right - it was most likely "the black thing" - but without her coming right out and saying so, I didn't feel I could address that issue.

This is what I finally ended up sending her:


"To answer your first question - no, I don't have any questions in my mind about his ex-pastor. Reverend Wright is a media whore that saw an opportunity for the national spotlight, and he jumped all over it. And yes, some black churches ARE "like that." I spent TEN years in the Deep South (remember when I worked for that company based in Atlanta, Georgia?) and I went to all kinds of different church gatherings, just to check 'em out. From what I'm hearing from that same media you make reference to, Sarah Palin's former pastor was a total loony, too. Does that make *her* a bad person? Not by my book. I don't believe "one bad apple spoils the whole group." Just because you listen to speeches by a nutjob, it doesn't make you one - at least in my book - but apparently your viewpoint is different.

I am assuming that you are getting your opinion that Obama has "strong Muslim ties" and that he belongs to a "terrorist group in Africa" by whomever it was that authored that book you spoke of in your email. Such drama! If writing something in a book and publishing it makes it true, then I've got a few choice ones for you to read, too. Just saying something - orally or in print - does not make it true. Do the research yourself if you want to know the truth of the matter... and *most* of the news media are not a source of truthfulness!

You say you don't believe the man cares about this country, and I say I've never seen a candidate that TRULY cared about this country and its people as much as he does. I have repeatedly been moved to tears of joy watching his speeches yet you say he has nothing of substance to say. I guess we'll have to agree that we've reached our "toe-may-toe" "toe-mah-toe" moment on that one. How anyone can *actually listen* to him and not get it is beyond me.

As far as "agendas" go - there is no bigger agenda than the one that is taking place in the White House right now - and has been for the last eight years. Do a little research.

I'm sorry you feel like "a stranger in your own country." I don't believe there is anything anyone can do to make you feel any different about that. This country was founded on "bring us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" and therefore we are all from very different backgrounds. I guess you and I have grown up very differently. I don't have the "us and them" mentality; I believe that we are all one big family on this Earth, that there are good people and there are bad people, but in the end we are all people just the same, undivided by race, creed or color.

I share your feeling of "not being wild" about your republican candidate, so at least we agree on one thing! :-) As for Sarah Palin - wow, just wow. There are a million things I cannot stand about her, but here is just one: Do you know that she is against abortion even in cases of rape and incest? How would you feel if (God forbid) (her daughter's name was here) was violently raped and got pregnant, and then was forced to bear the child from that violation? How about when a father abuses a daughter and then she gets pregnant... do you really believe the child should be forced to have that baby? I am pro-choice. My feeling is... If you are against abortion, then don't get one! But please do not force your beliefs on others.

As you stated in your email "I could go on but I don't want to sound like I am preaching..."
Well, nor do I... I just know deep down in MY soul that Obama is a loving, caring, intelligent, honest, trustworthy person and would make the *best* President we have ever had in our lifetime.

[Berry Cool]

5. Good job, greenmutha.

I didn't see this until now, but one thing I would have added is that it's pretty well known that "Obama Nation" is a book of lies, and that its author has some other really cockamamie notions that no sane person would find credible.

I remember one young AA woman on MSNBC, I can't recall who now, saying that she was experienced with the Chicago church scene and that there are about two really big politically and socially active black churches there and if you want to join a church and have a social life and make some difference in the world, you join one or the other of them. That doesn't mean you adhere to the beliefs of every single minister they put in the pulpit.

It seems to me that a lot of the hate and fear of Obama comes from people of white European origins who imagine that people of other ethnic and racial groups, including illegal immigrants, are getting all kinds of freebies they are not despite having been born here and having ancestors who lived here for a long time. This is not necessarily true, but someone tells them it is, and they come to believe it, and that belief ferments and causes them to come to believe that as white Americans they have some sort of birthright to the benefits of being American that has been "stolen" from them by people unlike themselves. What might be helpful to remind them of is that white European Americans are only here because they conquered the natives and that if the Indians had anything to say about it, they might cram us all into ships and make us go back where we came from! Talk about people who have a right to this land and who have been ripped off by people not like them...!!!!