REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Obama Speaks Out on Trayvon Martin: A Personal Appeal with Political Risks

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 07:55
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 574
PAGE 1 of 1

Friday, March 23, 2012 7:55 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Yup, it'll hurt him in some corners, but I'm glad he spoke out. I'm curious to see if any of the Republican contenders dare TOUCH his remarks, openly or even obliquely:
Quote:

“If I had a son he would look like Trayvon,” President Obama said Friday of the recent killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, black teenager who was shot last month in Florida by a neighborhood watch volunteer, who has not been charged. “I think [Martin's parents] are right to expect that all of us as Americas are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we will get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”
In a flash, by answering an unplanned question shouted during an unrelated event, Obama had erased the careful distance from the case that his aides have maintained for days. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Trayvon Martin’s family,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said on March 19. “But obviously, we’re not going to wade into a local law enforcement matter. I would refer you to the Justice Department and local law enforcement at this point.”

Obama’s press handlers have discouraged the President from getting involved in local issues. It took them weeks to deal with the fallout from his comments on Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates run in with local law enforcement in 2009. In 2010, Obama’s comments supporting the concept of an Islamic Center in lower Manhattan undercut weeks of Democratic messaging on the economy before the 2010 elections.

But on Friday, Obama did it again, deliberately. The Martin case has laid bare racial tensions nationwide. And in speaking out, the President was taking real political risk.

Racial suspicion and bigotry is likely to play at least as big a role in the 2012 election as it did in 2008, when Obama generally tried to avoid any rhetorical or policy actions that could be portrayed by his opponents a favoring one group over another. Obama’s reelection is expected to be a much closer race, and any alienation of working class white voters uncomfortable with the controversy over Martin’s death could hurt him. http://swampland.time.com/2012/03/23/obama-speaks-out-on-trayvon-marti
n-a-personal-appeal-with-political-risk/?iid=sl-main-lede

And it probably will. But those people wouldn't have voted for him anyway, so I think speaking out about something which DOES still exist around our country is a good thing, despite my belief that it will make no difference to those harboring racist beliefs.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

OTHER TOPICS

DISCUSSIONS
Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
Mon, July 7, 2025 14:06 - 8584 posts
Legitimate gripes about Trump
Mon, July 7, 2025 13:44 - 137 posts
Trump: I've Ordered the Eradication of Houthi Terrorists In Yemen
Mon, July 7, 2025 13:39 - 13 posts
The Texas Disaster
Mon, July 7, 2025 13:31 - 149 posts
Once again... a request for legitimate concerns...
Mon, July 7, 2025 13:29 - 34 posts
In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2)
Mon, July 7, 2025 11:55 - 5629 posts
Tariffs.... Wins/Losses
Mon, July 7, 2025 09:33 - 39 posts
Here comes sharia!
Mon, July 7, 2025 08:13 - 166 posts
Do you feel like the winds of change are blowing today too?
Mon, July 7, 2025 08:01 - 2453 posts
Geopolitics failure, has the Israeli, Biden/Trump British Admin succeeded in pushing China, Mexico, Japan, Nicaragua, Iran, Chile, Canada, India, South Africa, Brazil, Russia into 1 ma$$ive economic block?
Mon, July 7, 2025 07:49 - 27 posts
Maybe us Libertarians should vote for Bush?
Mon, July 7, 2025 06:53 - 29 posts
Convicted kosher billionaire makes pedophile Roman Polanski blush
Mon, July 7, 2025 06:49 - 35 posts

FFF.NET SOCIAL