SD> Typical liberal politician: when all else fails, blame skin   
    SD> color!   
      
    Blame skin color for what? It would be absurd to deny there is   
    some racial antagonism.   
      
    ...   
      
    SD> WASHINGTON — House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn,   
    SD> the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, on   
    SD> Wednesday blamed most of President Barack Obama's political   
    SD> problems on racism.   
      
    No, he didn't. I suggest you read the transcript. He did not   
    specify political. If you read it, what he specifically   
    references is not political at all. They are personal attacks.   
      
    **************************************************************************   
      
     Clyburn protests article on Obama, race   
      
     By JAMES ROSEN   
     McClatchy Newspapers   
      
      
       U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn objected Thursday to coverage of his   
       views on the impact of President Barack Obama's race on   
       assessments of the president's performance in the White   
       House.   
      
       ...   
      
       In his letter, Clyburn noted his interview hadn't been   
       arranged to discuss the influence of Obama's race as the   
       first black president.   
      
       'there were four people in the room when McClatchy reporter   
       Jim Rosen came to interview me regarding my position on the   
       Vice President's deficit-reduction committee," Clyburn wrote   
       in the letter.   
      
       Clyburn answered questions about his role on that panel for   
       15 minutes. The interview then turned to several other   
       issues, which he addressed without objection.   
      
       Clyburn was asked for his views on Obama's re-election   
       prospects. After saying "They're improving every day,"   
       Clyburn said Obama had "been a good president, a great   
       commander in chief."   
      
       Without any prompting or further questioning, Clyburn then   
       brought up Obama's race. Clyburn said "the president's   
       problems are in large measure because of his skin color."   
      
       In his letter, Clyburn didn't retract or otherwise repudiate   
       anything he was quoted as saying.   
      
       "I do believe President Obama faces challenges other   
       presidents have not due to the color of his skin," Clyburn   
       wrote in his letter to the editor. "To think otherwise, I   
       believe is naive and fails to consider our nation's historic   
       struggle on the issue of race. But it's not the only issue   
       that defines him, or the only issue for which I relate to   
       him."   
      
          *PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT*   
      
       A transcript of the relevant portion of the McClatchy interview   
       Wednesday with U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia:   
      
       ... I'm 70 years old. And I can tell you; people don't like   
       to deal with it, but the fact of the matter is, the   
       president's problems are in large measure because of his skin   
       color. All you got to do is look at all the signs they're   
       carrying out there and look at the mail that I get. As I   
       said, I'm 70 years old, I been going through this kind of   
       stuff all my life. I know what kind of mail I get, I know   
       what kind of phone calls I get, I know what people are saying   
       who call the office.   
      
       QUESTION: How does that relate to the president?   
      
       CLYBURN: We have the same skin color; that's how it relates to him.   
      
       QUESTION: So they're willing to say these things to you, you're a   
       congressman, they're maybe not as willing to say them as directly to   
       the president?   
      
       CLYBURN: Well, who said that? I'll tell you about the president. The   
       president can read. I read the (unintelligible), he can read the   
       same (unintelligible) as I'm reading. When he sees his face being   
       put on a chimpanzee's body, do you think he didn't see that? And I   
       suspect they send the same faxes to his office they send to mine.   
      
       QUESTION: Do you agree with his decision to release his full-form   
       birth certificate?   
      
       CLYBURN: Well, yeah, I agree with that. I don't know why anybody   
       didn't ask for John McCain's. He wasn't even born in this country.   
       Nobody asked for his birth certificate.   
      
      
           © 2011 TheState.com and wire service sources. All Rights   
           Reserved. http://www.thestate.com   
      
    **************************************************************************   
      
    ...   
      
    SD> Clyburn, who met his wife at a 1960 court hearing after   
    SD> spending a night in jail for having engaged in a civil   
    SD> rights protest in Orangeburg, S.C., then brought up Obama's   
    SD> race as the first black president.   
      
    SD> "You know, I'm 70 years old," he said. "And I can tell you;   
    SD> people don't like to deal with it, but the fact of the   
    SD> matter is, the president's problems are in large measure   
    SD> because of the color of his skin."   
      
    That portion is obviously taken out of context, as you can see   
    above.   
      
       ...   
      
    SD> Marilyn Davenport, a member of the Orange County Republican   
    SD> Central Committee in California, forwarded an email to   
    SD> friends last month that displayed a photograph of a   
    SD> chimpanzee with Obama's face superimposed on its head.   
      
    SD> In response to the immediate uproar, Davenport apologized   
    SD> but rebuffed demands from the California NAACP that she   
    SD> resign her GOP post.   
      
    SD> Clyburn suggested that the "birther" movement of Americans   
    SD> who say Obama wasn't born in the United States is fueled by   
    SD> racism.   
      
    This is also clearly distorted. You can see, above. Rosen asked   
    about the birth certificate. Clyburn did not even mention race.   
    Though ascribing it all to race would not be far fetched either.   
    George Romney was born in Mexico, not on a US military base, but   
    nobody asked for his birth certificate when he tried running for   
    president.   
      
    SD> "I don't know why anybody didn't ask for John McCain's"   
    SD> birth certificate, Clyburn said. "He wasn't even born in   
    SD> this country."   
      
    SD> The Republican senator from Arizona, whom Obama defeated in   
    SD> the 2008 presidential election, was born at the Coco Solo   
    SD> Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, where his   
    SD> father served as an officer who'd later become an admiral   
    SD> and commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.   
      
    Then authored the report that let Israel off the hook for the   
    attack on the Liberty, but that's another matter.   
      
    SD> White House spokesman Adam Abrams declined to comment on   
    SD> Clyburn's remarks.   
      
    SD> Clyburn said he agreed with the president's decision last   
    SD> month to release his long-form birth certificate from   
      
    And this is out of order. This came before the above remarks   
    about Obama's birth certificate and McCain's.   
      
    ...   
      
           © 2011 TheState.com and wire service sources. All Rights   
           Reserved. http://www.thestate.com   
      
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
   ... Race is an idea whose time has passed.    
   --- Via Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg]   
    * Origin: Since 1991 And Were Still Here! DOCSPLACE.TZO.COM (1:123/140)