Keyes and Obama interview transcripts

Renewamerica.us ^ | 8-15-2004 | Transcripts

[outlawcam]

Alan Keyes on the Steve Malzberg Show (WABC, New York)
August 15, 2004

This Week with George Stephanopoulos (ABC)
Alan Keyes & Barack Obama August 15, 2004

Alan Keyes on Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer (CNN)
August 15, 2004

[outlawcam]

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[Diogenesis]

Things that make America go .... "Hmmmmmm"

[MSSC6644]

Obama: Well, keep in mind, first of all, that my grandfather in Africa was a domestic servant for the British and carried a pass book around. I don't know whether the point he was trying to make is that on the hierarchy of victim-hood, that somehow, you know, he is more qualified to speak for the oppressed.

Isn't it interesting that Obama can equate being a domestic servant to being a slave. When I first heard Keyes make this distinction, I thought it was too fine a point to draw, but looking at Obama's answer makes me realize that Obama JUST DOESN'T GET IT. One debate might be enough!

[TigersEye]

STEPHANOPOULOS: Ambassador Keyes' answer to the carpetbagger argument seems to be that he's acting in the spirit of Illinois' favorite son, Abraham Lincoln. He's going to save unborn lives in the same way that Lincoln freed the slaves. Where does the analogy break down?

OBAMA: Well, it breaks down on several levels. First of all, what he's assuming is that the women of America who want to have some control over their bodies are the equivalent to slaveholders, and obviously the women in America don't feel that way. They feel that these are extraordinarily intimate issues that they've got to make decisions on, in consultation with their families and their ministers and their doctors.

Ah, but that's where the analogy cements itself, Obamba. The slaveholders didn't feel that they were doing anything wrong. They felt that they were doing those poor unfortunate "savages" a favor. They felt that they were morally superior, the same way women who choose abortion feel morally superior to the lives in their wombs. Slaveholders felt that slavery was an extraordinaryily intimate decision to be made with family, clergy and God. They were wrong. Feelings don't count in matters concerning the life and liberty of others.

[outlawcam]

Where does the analogy break down?

Also note the bias in the question. It asks where the analogy breaks down, not if it breaks down. To be expected from Clinton's ally, IMO.

Your analysis is correct, as well.

[TigersEye]

Good old Steponallofus.

[Aquinasfan]

CLIP, ALAN KEYES: "Barack Obama is not, is not a rising star. He is a fading phony!"

My personal favorite. 8-)

[Aquinasfan]

Ah, but that's where the analogy cements itself, Obamba. The slaveholders didn't feel that they were doing anything wrong. They felt that they were doing those poor unfortunate "savages" a favor. They felt that they were morally superior, the same way women who choose abortion feel morally superior to the lives in their wombs. Slaveholders felt that slavery was an extraordinaryily intimate decision to be made with family, clergy and God. They were wrong. Feelings don't count in matters concerning the life and liberty of others.

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Also note the bias in the question. It asks where the analogy breaks down, not if it breaks down.

Excellent points. You nailed it.

[TigersEye]

Thank you. I think Dr. Keyes nailed Obambi when he called him a phony too.

[TigersEye]

OBAMA: Well, keep in mind, first of all, that my grandfather in Africa was a domestic servant for the British and carried a pass book around. I don't know whether the point he was trying to make is that on the hierarchy of victim-hood, that somehow, you know, he is more qualified to speak for the oppressed.

I'd like to thank Obama for making this point though. My forefathers were serfs and indentured servants in Scotland so I don't think any American black is more qualified than I am to speak for the oppressed than I am either. Let's just drop the hierarchy of victimhood thing altogether shall we? In fact let's just move on from all the victims of the past.

Let's talk about today's victims. Aborted children. Disarmed women and senior citizens who are easy prey for criminals. Disarmed citizens period. The victims of confiscatory tax rates. Young adults seeking a higher education who are discriminated against on the basis of skin color instead of accomplishment.

[Keyes2000mt]

My wife grew up in a Majority black neighborhood and was the only White Student in her Upward Bound group. Her analysis of the ABC interview was interesting.

First, she said the domestic servant thing will not play well in the Black Community. It signals a lack of understanding of the racial issues and past. "If they think he doesn't understand them, he'll lose them."

She also thought they'd be off-put by the fact that Obama's general attitude seems to be to take the Black vote for granted while downplaying his ethnicity to garner the White vote. The comments were interesting, although Black voters are generally 13-18% of the vote in Illinois.