xrayzebra
12-11-2007, 09:55 AM
A column by Gary Clack in this morning E-N. Funny
there was no other story on this on newscast or elsewhere
in the paper. Anyhow I found very humorous and I am
certain it just tickled Bill and Billary pink. You have to
wonder on who's side Andrew is really on.
Cary Clack: Black icon 'helps' Hillary
Web Posted: 12/10/2007 05:43 PM CST
San Antonio Express-News
Any retrospective on Andrew Young will have to conclude that his is one of the great public-service careers of the past century. From his days as one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most trusted aides during the civil rights movement when he suffered beatings and incarceration through his time as a United States congressman, United Nations ambassador, and mayor of Atlanta, Young has done much good for his country.
Any retrospective will also have to wonder at the capacity of Young's mouth to repeatedly get him in trouble. He's that uncle who will say anything at any time but ends up apologizing for what he said because he either shouldn't have said it or could have said it in a different way.
Last Friday, at a forum in Atlanta, the 75-year-old Young explained why he was supporting Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. One could argue with the reasons he stated, but they were valid and well thought out, until — and there's often an until when Young is feeling verbally expansive.
His "until" moment on Friday came when he said, "Bill (Clinton) is every bit as black as Barack. He has probably gone out with more black women than Barack."
Somewhere, you could hear the Clintons saying, "Ah, thanks Andy but you shouldn't have. You really shouldn't have."
A few seconds after he made that comment, Young said that he was "clowning."
But Young wasn't finished. In speaking admirably about the potent Clinton political machine, he said, "If you read about the Clintons, when Clinton decided to run, Hillary set up a defense committee and that's what they called it. You know what it was? It was to go around and neutralize all the women he had ever been involved with."
This is Young supporting Hillary. What would he have said about her and her husband if he'd endorsed Obama?
Young is that well-meaning but harmful character witness you don't want speaking up for you in court.
"Your honor, I know this man well and he could never have killed anyone. He has so much to lose, what with the millions of dollars he's embezzled from his company and the income taxes he hasn't paid in seven years to support his wife and four mistresses."
If Young was playing at the Apollo Theater and the Clintons owned it, they would have resurrected Sandman Sims to drag Young offstage with his hook before he opened his mouth again.
Young did resurrect the silliest non-issue of this presidential campaign when he talked about Obama's blackness, or lack thereof, compared to Bill Clinton. This dovetails with a new book on Obama by Shelby Steele titled, "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win."
Steele, a black conservative, writes, "Because Hillary Clinton always identifies with black challengers like Al Sharpton. This makes her 'blacker' than Barack Obama."
Please. Stop. This. Now! For the love of melanin, make it stop.
The great Toni Morrison started all of this when she wrote that Bill Clinton was our first black President, and Clinton has played into it so much he probably believes it. Any day now he'll be claiming to be the author of "Black Like Me."
We can all agree that no one should vote for or against Obama because he's black. We can all agree that no one should vote for or against Hillary Clinton because she's white. But can't we also agree that no one should vote for or against Hillary because they think she, or her husband, is black?
What's ironic is that throughout this campaign, the preoccupation with Obama's blackness hasn't come from white people but from black people, as reflected in the comments of Young and Steele.
Maybe it shows how far we've come that there are African Americans who will reject the most viable African American presidential candidate in history because he's not black enough.
Perhaps, with James Brown now dead, they're ready to make it official and name Bill Clinton as his successor to the title of Soul Brother No. 1.
Cary Clack's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. To leave him a message, call (210) 250-3546 or e-mail at [email protected]. Online at: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnists/cclack/stories/MYSA121107.01P.clack.17fb647.html
there was no other story on this on newscast or elsewhere
in the paper. Anyhow I found very humorous and I am
certain it just tickled Bill and Billary pink. You have to
wonder on who's side Andrew is really on.
Cary Clack: Black icon 'helps' Hillary
Web Posted: 12/10/2007 05:43 PM CST
San Antonio Express-News
Any retrospective on Andrew Young will have to conclude that his is one of the great public-service careers of the past century. From his days as one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most trusted aides during the civil rights movement when he suffered beatings and incarceration through his time as a United States congressman, United Nations ambassador, and mayor of Atlanta, Young has done much good for his country.
Any retrospective will also have to wonder at the capacity of Young's mouth to repeatedly get him in trouble. He's that uncle who will say anything at any time but ends up apologizing for what he said because he either shouldn't have said it or could have said it in a different way.
Last Friday, at a forum in Atlanta, the 75-year-old Young explained why he was supporting Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. One could argue with the reasons he stated, but they were valid and well thought out, until — and there's often an until when Young is feeling verbally expansive.
His "until" moment on Friday came when he said, "Bill (Clinton) is every bit as black as Barack. He has probably gone out with more black women than Barack."
Somewhere, you could hear the Clintons saying, "Ah, thanks Andy but you shouldn't have. You really shouldn't have."
A few seconds after he made that comment, Young said that he was "clowning."
But Young wasn't finished. In speaking admirably about the potent Clinton political machine, he said, "If you read about the Clintons, when Clinton decided to run, Hillary set up a defense committee and that's what they called it. You know what it was? It was to go around and neutralize all the women he had ever been involved with."
This is Young supporting Hillary. What would he have said about her and her husband if he'd endorsed Obama?
Young is that well-meaning but harmful character witness you don't want speaking up for you in court.
"Your honor, I know this man well and he could never have killed anyone. He has so much to lose, what with the millions of dollars he's embezzled from his company and the income taxes he hasn't paid in seven years to support his wife and four mistresses."
If Young was playing at the Apollo Theater and the Clintons owned it, they would have resurrected Sandman Sims to drag Young offstage with his hook before he opened his mouth again.
Young did resurrect the silliest non-issue of this presidential campaign when he talked about Obama's blackness, or lack thereof, compared to Bill Clinton. This dovetails with a new book on Obama by Shelby Steele titled, "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win."
Steele, a black conservative, writes, "Because Hillary Clinton always identifies with black challengers like Al Sharpton. This makes her 'blacker' than Barack Obama."
Please. Stop. This. Now! For the love of melanin, make it stop.
The great Toni Morrison started all of this when she wrote that Bill Clinton was our first black President, and Clinton has played into it so much he probably believes it. Any day now he'll be claiming to be the author of "Black Like Me."
We can all agree that no one should vote for or against Obama because he's black. We can all agree that no one should vote for or against Hillary Clinton because she's white. But can't we also agree that no one should vote for or against Hillary because they think she, or her husband, is black?
What's ironic is that throughout this campaign, the preoccupation with Obama's blackness hasn't come from white people but from black people, as reflected in the comments of Young and Steele.
Maybe it shows how far we've come that there are African Americans who will reject the most viable African American presidential candidate in history because he's not black enough.
Perhaps, with James Brown now dead, they're ready to make it official and name Bill Clinton as his successor to the title of Soul Brother No. 1.
Cary Clack's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. To leave him a message, call (210) 250-3546 or e-mail at [email protected]. Online at: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnists/cclack/stories/MYSA121107.01P.clack.17fb647.html