http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/25/ralp...-to-talk-white/
Ralph Nader: Barack Obama wants to ‘talk white’
By David Edwards | Uncategorized | Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Ralph Nader says the only thing different about Barack Obama is that he is “half African-American.” The Independent presidential candidate also accused his Democratic rival of attempting to “talk white.”
“There’s only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He’s half African-American,” Nader said in an interview with a Denver newspaper Monday. “Whether that will make any difference, I don’t know. I haven’t heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What’s keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn’t want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We’ll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards.”
In response, Obama campaign spokeswoman Shannon Gilson told the paper, “We are obviously disappointed with these very backward-looking remarks.”
Rocky Mountain News has more details of their interview with Ralph Nader here. A partial transcript of the interview is here.
Full Version: Ralph Nader: Barack Obama wants to ‘talk white’
OLD American Century / White Rose Society message boards > Political Discussion forums > Politics In General
Partial transcript of Ralph Nader's comments
By Rocky Mountain News
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Below is a partial transcript of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's comments to the Rocky Mountain News about presumed Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. The interview was conducted on Monday at Nader's campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Q: "Do you see Barack Obama as qualitatively different than Al Gore or any other Democrats. He talks about taking on lobbyists, not taking money directly from lobbyists ... People portray him as being different. Do you see him as being any better than Al Gore or any of the other Democrats that you've opposed over the years?"
Nader: "No. I mean, he's deceiving people. He takes, he takes ... In this very building he would take money from corporate lawyers who are not registered lobbyists but whose desks are across the aisle from corporate lawyers who are registered lobbyists in the same law firm. That has been reported more than once in the mainstream press ... Six out of seven industries, as of a month ago, have given more money to Obama than they have to McCain, only the transportation industry is more equal opportunity corruption.
"Look at the health care industry. It has poured money into his campaign. The securities industry, the defense industry. No.
"There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He's half African-American. Whether that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards."
"I think his main problem is that he censors himself. He knows exactly who has power, who has too much, who has too little, what needs to be done right down to the community level. But he has bought the advice that if you want to win the election, you better take it easy on the corporate abuses and do X, Y, Z. When I hear that I say, 'Oh, I see. So he's doing all this to win the election, and then he'll be different.
(this is where the video is cut on rawstory's page)
"Well let's see if it worked. Did it work for Mondale? Did it work for Dukakis? Did it work for Clinton? Yes, but only because of Perot? Did it work for Gore? Did it work for Kerry ... ?"
by the way, dot. dot. dot. means this is where it was edited. I wonder what he said here, before it was edited to try to make nader sound like a racist? maybe he is a racist, but I doubt it, considering his background, and I'm a little disgusted by both this "even less" edited piece, and Rawstory trying to paint him as such. I'm not going to vote for the guy again, and I believe that even though Obama looks more and more like a sell out every day, I still believe he'd lead us better than Nader... but Rawstory's piece that Sky posted belongs in the hall of shame below some of Fox News' "information."
Q: "Do you think he's trying to, what was your term, 'talk white?'"
NADER: "Of course. I mean, first of all, the number one thing that a black American politician aspiring to the presidency should be is to candidly describe the plight of the poor, especially in the inner cities and the rural areas, and have a very detailed platform about how the poor is going to be defended by the law, is going to be protected by the law, and is going to be liberated by the law. Haven't heard a thing.
"I mean, the amount of economic exploitation in the ghettos is shocking. You'd think he'd propose a task force to at least study it. I mean, these people are eroded every day. The kids, bodies are asbestos and lead, municipal services discriminate against them because it's the poor area, including fire and police protection and building code enforcement. And then the lenders, the loan sharks get at them, and the dirty food ends up in the ghettos, like the contaminated meat. It's a dumping ground for shoddy merchandise. You don't see many credit unions there. You don't see many libraries there. You don't see many health clinics there. This is, we're talking 40-50 million Americans who are predominantly African-Americans and Latinos. Anybody see that kind of campaigning? Have you seen him campaign in real poor areas of the city very frequently? No, he doesn't campaign there."
Q: "What do you think the purpose of that is?"
NADER: "He wants to show that he is not a threatening, a political threatening, another politically-threatening African-American politician.
"He wants to appeal to white guilt. You appeal to white guilt not by coming on as a black is beautiful, black is powerful. Basically he's coming on as someone who is not going to threaten the white power structure, whether it's corporate or whether it's simply oligarchic. And they love it. Whites just eat it up."
© Rocky Mountain spews
By Rocky Mountain News
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Below is a partial transcript of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's comments to the Rocky Mountain News about presumed Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. The interview was conducted on Monday at Nader's campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Q: "Do you see Barack Obama as qualitatively different than Al Gore or any other Democrats. He talks about taking on lobbyists, not taking money directly from lobbyists ... People portray him as being different. Do you see him as being any better than Al Gore or any of the other Democrats that you've opposed over the years?"
Nader: "No. I mean, he's deceiving people. He takes, he takes ... In this very building he would take money from corporate lawyers who are not registered lobbyists but whose desks are across the aisle from corporate lawyers who are registered lobbyists in the same law firm. That has been reported more than once in the mainstream press ... Six out of seven industries, as of a month ago, have given more money to Obama than they have to McCain, only the transportation industry is more equal opportunity corruption.
"Look at the health care industry. It has poured money into his campaign. The securities industry, the defense industry. No.
"There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He's half African-American. Whether that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards."
"I think his main problem is that he censors himself. He knows exactly who has power, who has too much, who has too little, what needs to be done right down to the community level. But he has bought the advice that if you want to win the election, you better take it easy on the corporate abuses and do X, Y, Z. When I hear that I say, 'Oh, I see. So he's doing all this to win the election, and then he'll be different.
(this is where the video is cut on rawstory's page)
"Well let's see if it worked. Did it work for Mondale? Did it work for Dukakis? Did it work for Clinton? Yes, but only because of Perot? Did it work for Gore? Did it work for Kerry ... ?"
by the way, dot. dot. dot. means this is where it was edited. I wonder what he said here, before it was edited to try to make nader sound like a racist? maybe he is a racist, but I doubt it, considering his background, and I'm a little disgusted by both this "even less" edited piece, and Rawstory trying to paint him as such. I'm not going to vote for the guy again, and I believe that even though Obama looks more and more like a sell out every day, I still believe he'd lead us better than Nader... but Rawstory's piece that Sky posted belongs in the hall of shame below some of Fox News' "information."
Q: "Do you think he's trying to, what was your term, 'talk white?'"
NADER: "Of course. I mean, first of all, the number one thing that a black American politician aspiring to the presidency should be is to candidly describe the plight of the poor, especially in the inner cities and the rural areas, and have a very detailed platform about how the poor is going to be defended by the law, is going to be protected by the law, and is going to be liberated by the law. Haven't heard a thing.
"I mean, the amount of economic exploitation in the ghettos is shocking. You'd think he'd propose a task force to at least study it. I mean, these people are eroded every day. The kids, bodies are asbestos and lead, municipal services discriminate against them because it's the poor area, including fire and police protection and building code enforcement. And then the lenders, the loan sharks get at them, and the dirty food ends up in the ghettos, like the contaminated meat. It's a dumping ground for shoddy merchandise. You don't see many credit unions there. You don't see many libraries there. You don't see many health clinics there. This is, we're talking 40-50 million Americans who are predominantly African-Americans and Latinos. Anybody see that kind of campaigning? Have you seen him campaign in real poor areas of the city very frequently? No, he doesn't campaign there."
Q: "What do you think the purpose of that is?"
NADER: "He wants to show that he is not a threatening, a political threatening, another politically-threatening African-American politician.
"He wants to appeal to white guilt. You appeal to white guilt not by coming on as a black is beautiful, black is powerful. Basically he's coming on as someone who is not going to threaten the white power structure, whether it's corporate or whether it's simply oligarchic. And they love it. Whites just eat it up."
© Rocky Mountain spews
Naders train has jumped the tracks.
Who asked you, Ralph?
[x] Barack Obama is better at speaking than Ralph Nader
[ ] Ralph Nader is relevant.
[x] Barack Obama is better at speaking than Ralph Nader
[ ] Ralph Nader is relevant.
QUOTE (Libertas @ Thursday, 26 June 2008, 6:39 pm) 
Who asked you, Ralph?
[x] Barack Obama is better at speaking than Ralph Nader
[ ] Ralph Nader is relevant.
[x] Barack Obama is better at speaking than Ralph Nader
[ ] Ralph Nader is relevant.
Bravo.
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