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January 14, 2008

The Clinton's are falling

When Senator Barack Obama first announced he was going to run for president, I did not jump onto the bandwagon. Senator Hillary Clinton was getting my vote, and that was it. I hadn’t learned much about Senator Obama and even though he was gaining a support base that no one predicted, I thought that he would have a better chance of making it to the White House as Vice President to Senator Clinton.

I have since come to not only support Senator Barack Obama, but I am a huge fan of his and have been inspired like never before. The recent comments made by the Clinton’s have caused me to view them in a new light. They now strike me as regular politicians and I question whether they haven’t been that way all along. They were adept at positioning themselves as progressive politicians, tired of the status quo. Now I believe that we (Blacks/African-Americans) have been getting a good, old-fashioned political song and dance from some of the best status-quo politicians of all time. Well, kudos to them for fooling me and countless others, and kudos to Senator Obama for showing us the difference.

How could Senator Clinton possibly say that Lyndon B. Johnson deserves more credit than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for civil rights progress? Yes, President Johnson did pass a few bills that had the words “civil” and “ rights” in the subject lines (i.e., the Civil Rights act of 1964, the Voting Rights act of 1965, and the Civil Rights act of 1968). He also did these things during a time when our country was seemingly not far from an all out repeat of our first civil war.

How hard did President Johnson work for civil rights before regular citizens starting organizing to demand basic human liberties? Where was President Johnson when those people were being degraded and killed? Was he walking the same path as Dr. King? Was he risking his life, and those of his family, for civil rights? Senator Clinton’s comments, combined with former President Clinton’s later comments, could very well cost her the election. One must wonder why two people with so much experience at campaigning would steep so low and make a poorly veiled, underhanded attack on Senator Obama while insinuating that he is no Dr. King. There actions smell of fear and desperation.