Unfiltered Opinion

Is Bob Johnson Jealous Of Obama?

Bob Johnson is a rich man, but that does not necessarily mean that Johnson is an intelligent man.  Johnson made millions when he found Black Entertainment Television (BET) and sold it years later to Viacom for 3 billion dollars.  He is currently the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA.  Johnson is also friends (translation - campaign contributor) with Bill and Hillary Clinton.  Naturally since he is a Clinton supporter, he is upset that Barack Obama is on the verge of becoming the Democratic nominee for president.

I don't have a problem with Johnson supporting Clinton - that's his choice.  My problem with Johnson is that for a man who is going around the Charlotte area and whining about how much money he is losing with the Bobcats franchise, he sure has a strange way of trying to attract fans to support the team.  Most owners keep their politics out of public view because they do not want to offend members of their ticket buying public.  Some owners will donate money to various political causes and candidates, but none of them make the front page of the newspaper every time they open their mouth.

Every time Johnson talks about Obama, something stupid comes out of his mouth.  A few months ago, he made dumb comments about Obama and his use of drugs.  Now Johnson feels like he needs to expound on the comments Geraldine Ferraro made a few weeks ago about Obama.

"What I believe Geraldine Ferraro meant is that if you take a freshman senator from Illinois called `Jerry Smith' and he says I'm going to run for president, would he start off with 90 percent of the black vote?" Johnson said. "And the answer is, probably not... ."

"Geraldine Ferraro said it right. The problem is, Geraldine Ferraro is white. This campaign has such a hair-trigger on anything racial ... it is almost impossible for anybody to say anything."

If Johnson is truly supports Clinton then he needs to keep his thoughts on Obama to himself.  Why on earth would you want to remind any undecided voter about the comments that Ferraro made.  Don't get me wrong, Johnson is not entirely wrong with what he said.  It's just that when Johnson comments on Obama he always sounds like he's jealous of Obama's success. 

However this jealous or resentful behavior is something that Johnson has common with many older and successful blacks in regards to Obama.  They don't think he has paid his dues yet to be in the position that he is in.  They believe his road to success has been easier than theirs.  I believe Obama has traveled a different road than most blacks, but that does not make his road traveled any easier.  It may have been more difficult.  You would be hard pressed to find a black person who can talk about being discriminated against by black and white people.  This is what some biracial people have to experience during the course of their lives. 

Sorry Johnson - this is 2008.  Obama has paid his dues - he  just had to do it in a different way.

I Never Thought I Would Agree With Him

Pat Buchanan is a man that I usually do not agree with what he says or writes.  I have always respected Buchanan, but I do not like Buchanan.  I respect Buchanan because he does not care if you like him or not because he is going to say what he wants to say. 

Buchanan wrote this article in response to the Obama campaign's reaction to Geraldine Ferraro's comments last week.  Buchanan believes that the Obama campaign are the ones that keep injecting the subject of race into the campaign when it is convenient for them. 

I strongly agree with him on this point and I have talked about this before.  Hillary Clinton made a big mistake by allowing Obama's campaign to paint her as a racist when ever she attacked Obama.  Clinton got to the point that she was apologizing on a daily basis for something that someone said that Obama's supporters thought was racist.  I always thought Clinton was a fool to apologize if she did not do anything wrong.  That's why I like the fact that Ferraro has refused to apologize for making "racist" comments.  She didn't make any so why should she apologize?

McCain will not beat Obama in the fall if he falls into that same trap.  He will have to criticize Obama and not worry about being called a racist.  Obama's a big boy - he can handle it.  Well, McCain better not say "boy" because there are some people who believe that it is a white racist word.

He's Not Luke Skywalker

As I have said many times, I like to read and listen to different opinions on a wide range of subjects.  The Obama and Clinton campaigns each had to endure controversies last week.  Well, I wanted to see how the supporters of each candidate responded to the media's coverage of Wright and Ferraro's comments.  Clinton supporters were predictably upset over the response to Ferraro's comments about how lucky Obama is that he is black.  This was the reaction I expected to see.  On the other hand, Obama supporter's were very also upset with the media coverage of the Wright sermon's.  The message board on Obama's site was littered with people blaming the right wing media and Clinton for making this a big deal.  I also thought their emotions were predictable.

What I found unsettling was how many of the Obama supporters think that electing Obama is the answer to all of our country's problems.  There were a couple of supporters who wrote that Obama is our last hope.  As I read that posting, I started shaking my head in amazement.  My wife asked me what was wrong as I started laughing out loud.  I turned to her and said, "Some people act as if Obama is a Jedi Knight - like he's the last hope."

Wake up people - all of these candidates are politicians - nothing more and nothing less.  They are not special except for the fact that they are willing to expose their private lives to be examined by the whole world.