It’s very deep and very obvious at the same time.

Here’s what will happen… Obama will win the nomination and lose the election to Mccain..

Because McCain will use these three words to prove that Obama is racist and McCain will win the race..

If Hillary doen’t bring it up first…

Now is your deal “liberal fair or republican fair”? J/K ;-) Accetto…err agreed!

Also, how I regard commenters has nothing to do with somebody’s political opinion, but it does have to do with my opinion about whether somebody is trying to have a truly honest conversation. Like I said, I’ve defended you in the past from people who were calling you names, but please don’t pretend that you don’t stir the pot with pretty standard Republican talking points. It’s that I don’t necessarily appreciate.

In any event, I’m willing to hit the reset button if you are. I’ll consider your comments more fairly and you do the same. Agreed?

Staying or leaving has always been my choice. Are you holding the door open?

The thrust of this argument are the not-so-subtle allegations intended to undermine any credibility on my part, even more so as they were preceded by this low blow,
“If you wonder why hardly anybody takes you seriously around here, it’s because of meme spreading like this.” That inferred a pattern of sort or previous incidents. Neither was true.

Undoubtedly, you go to great lengths to present as honest and accurate picture of candidates and news. I would hope the same effort would be made when dealing with people on this blog, regardless their political opinions.

After 4 months and over 220 posts it should have been transparent I don’t play idiotic games. Clarity absent, allowing me to explain, would have prevented unnecessary aggravation. In the future, please, ask me first.

With regard to holding people to different standards, the danger becomes one of mixed messages, as exemplified by this incident.

You’re right that Dos said BHO, and while I shouldn’t apply a double standard for him, I do. The reason being is he has been here since 2005, and is known to say things simply for pointed, comedic effect. I don’t usually correspond with him very much anymore because of this.

You, however, are new. And yes, there are different standards for new commenters. That’s how we maintain a marginally reasonable forum.

But let’s revisit my comment concerning your BHO comment:

Why do you say BHO? Is Obama too much to type?

If you wonder why hardly anybody takes you seriously around here, it’s because of meme spreading like this. Please, cut it out. Call the guy by his last name or his first name please and quit playing this crypto-islamic, right-wing game. It’s nonsense and you know it.

If this is somehow proof of a smear, then you really need to get a thicker skin.

The “Hussein” meme is, and alway has been, a way to mark Obama as a crypto-muslim. And yes, I thought you’re playing games when you made a point of saying “BHO”. Maybe you thought it was okay because of Dos, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.

As far as other commenters, I’m sure you’re aware that I have defended you in the past, but I can’t read everything.

So again, if you don’t want to be here you don’t have to be here. The choice is yours.

Something worth pondering.

Let me start with my participation here. When I “popped” in few months ago after googling ‘MA mandated insurance,’ I was sent to a specific thread. Didn’t know what this blog was about until afterwards. So, I picked a nick and used that to post my comments on healthcare as it was fitting to the conversation.

However, once I noticed the blog conversation, expanded past healthcare, I went with my name. It was as simple as that. So I don’t understand your need to bring that up.

In all fairness, there are many reasonable people here, I disagree with, and a number that thrive on attacking people rather than issues. However, being smeared by the owner of the blog, you, is a whole different ballgame.

Let me clear a misunderstanding. My last comment in this thread revolved around you scolding me in the thread, “Finding Obama Craven” http://donklephant.com/2008/03/20/finding-obama-craven/#comments and attaching all kinds of hogwash to me for writing the initials BHO.

Now, that was pure drama that blew me away. I am pretty sure you read my response, as of yesterday in that thread, but you didn’t see the need to rectify your misjudement.
So I thought opportune to readdress it here.

First, your overreaction to my using a valid abbr. showed hypocrisy when one considers that BHO has been employed by others w/o repercussion. In fact, DOS used it twice before me, in same thread. Now, I don’t read anything into it, as we abbreviate other politicians names (GWB, HRC, etc.) but you apparently did. Or to be correct, you only minded it when I wrote it, because you didn’t lose it with anyone else.

Then, there was the bias, that just because I am a conservative, I “must” have ulterior motives for referring to Obama by his initials, as esemplified by these words,
“Call the guy by his last name or his first name please and quit playing this crypto-islamic, right-wing game. It’s nonsense and you know it.”

No, I didn’t know you had a problem with Obama initials and I surely wasn’t playing any games. I was tired and in a hurry when I posted that comment and used the abbr. You chose not to give me the benefit of the doubt.

Thus, in my last answer in this thread, I drew a comparison between you ‘giving the benefit of the doubt’ toward someone who would make the statement, “Typical black/white person” and overreacting to initials by me and no one else.

Your political stances are clear to me too, but I don’t hold them against you and I would appreciate if you did the same.

Lastly, if you want to come across as fair, apply the same standard for all involved and be also outraged when people refer to conservatives as “KKK conservatives.”
That, is clearly derogatory and inflammatory.

Were a white to say ” typical Black person” many here to woould characterize that person a racist!

Obama says the same in reverse and it’s a gaffe!?

What is one supposed to take from that exclamation? That you’re NOT saying Obama should be called something harsher, like, I don’t know…a racist? And if not, then what?

In other words, you can’t claim a double standard and then back down from what that argument suggests Obama should be called.

Also, which thread are you talking about where there’s unwarranted rhetoric where it suggests I wouldn’t give a white person the benefit of the doubt? If you don’t link, I can’t explain.

Lastly, for somebody who popped up 4 months ago under the name “Outraged!”, you have a lot of nerve saying conservatives aren’t welcome here. On nearly any other political blog where people don’t agree with your views you would have been shouted down LONG ago, but you haven’t been and it’s because this forum has been designed specifically so people like yourself can debate Dems. Nobody said it’s perfect and nobody said it wouldn’t get heated or pointed. But how much rhetoric, partisan hackery and bomb throwing do you see here compared with other forums? If the answer is “just as much,” well, you need to find another place to comment then. But given that you’ve posted 220 times here, I’m guessing we’re doing something right. So please, spare me the histrionics.

Your foregone conclusion toward me – since I have never engaged in smearing tactics – was extraordinarily out-of-bounds. Especially, when others doing the same thing got a pass.

It’s a constant reminder that conservatives are not popular around here, but I thought the blog’s statement, “Here we offer a respectful, honest forum for people who want to have a conversation about politics, the world and beyond” applied across the board. Guess I was wrong.

To answer the “were a white person to state,” no, I wouldn’t think that person is a racist. I would, however, think they made a clumsy comment, as Barack did here. It takes a lot more for me to think somebody is a racist. However, let me state that I do call out people for “racial” comments, such as Bill Clinton trying to marginalize Obama’s win in South Carolina. Again, it wasn’t racists, but it was definitely using race to try and explain away Obama’s large margin of victory over Hillary.

It’s beginning to look, increasingly, like you take [personal]offense to any comment I make about Barack. Granted he is your man, but, please, don’t throw away any semblance of objectivity.

C. Stanley sharing her thoughts doesn’t impinge on my ability to answer your question.

Undoubtedly, two different standards are in use. One for Blacks, another for Whites.
Therefore I ask you, were a white person to state, “A typical black person” would you characterize him or her a racist?

– Barack Obama from ‘Dreams of My Father’,
“When his grandmother wants a ride to work because the day before, while awaiting the bus, she was threatened by a black panhandler, he is outraged — at his grandparents. . . Later, when he moves to the South Side of Chicago in 1984, he eventually discovers that, like his grandmother, he’s sometimes scared of black males on the street, too.”

And the concerns are shared by others:

– The Reverend Jesse Jackson, as quoted in US News, 3/10/96,
“There is nothing more painful to me … than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery, then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved. ”

The point being, if Jesse, Barack and his grandmother all admit to stereotyping in this case, why didn’t Barack simply say “typical person”.

“The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn’t. But she is a typical white person.”

Poor choice of words, as all the haters are reacting predictably, but if you take his words as said that’s a compliment. He’s saying the “typical” white person is NOT a racist. His grandmother harbors no racial animosity. That’s typical. In other words, the average white person isn’t racist. He’s being kind.

Of course the real racists and/or the stupid people will try and use this against him. Geez, this is so tired already.

First off, I think Elisabetta can answer for herself. She said that somebody would be called a racist if it were reverse and then asked of my comment, “And it’s a gaffe?” What is the flip of that? She has presented me with ONE option, which is the word racist.

Second, you’ve been defending people recently and giving them cover by saying, “I’m sure they meant X.” and the person then gets to say, “Why yes, I did say X.” It’s not in keeping with the spirit of personal responsibility and open debate. So please, for honesty’s sake, let people respond for themselves.

Last, my name is Justin.