Obaba scares the beejeeziz outa me!

[fencesitter]

This quote shows up a lot from attendees after a Palin rally, I heard it again on NPR this morning. I wish they would elaborate, why?. I feel the need to point out to anti-Obama folks that with McCain comes the same bunch of nutjobs and neocons that have dictated policy for the past eight years. They don't simply go away, they'll hole up in an Obama administration, but they are the party, the advisers, the plotters and scheamers who will have access to any repub president who sits in the WH. If you're okay with the Rove propaganda of fear and smear, government access in the style of Abramoff, Reed and Delay, business models in the image of Enron, and gov't intervention in the example of Terry Shaivo, yeah go ahead, MCain's your guy.

[Bettie]

1. My in-laws say it all the time...

...I'm pretty sure its simply code for "he's black".

[NewJeffCT]

4. I think you're right on that one

they can't come out & say that they don't like him because he's black.

[jberryhill]

29. They won't say it, because they probably don't even recognize it for what it is

Except for confirmed loons, nobody walks around thinking "I'm a racist".

This is a feeling they have, and they cannot articulate it because they are not perceiving it at an intellectual level.

And, it's not a matter of "being a racist" or "not being a racist".

Coming to grips with one's own "race consciousness" is a process of recognizing within yourself certain thoughts, certain feelings, and seeing them for what they are and where they come from.

Some of the "I'm afraid of Obama" voters are going to see that when they look at the rhetoric of the McCain campaign and others, react with that "But I'm not a racist" internal mechanism, and eventually think hard on "Just what is it that I'm afraid of."

Don't write them all off. Change is hard and it can only come from within the individual.

[liberal N proud]

7. Every time I hear it from someone I pressure them to say why

I push back asking what is so scary about Obama.

You can feel it when they reply, they will never say it but you can sense the racism behind the comment.

[bdamomma]

11. for sure.

[Courtesy Flush]

15. You must not live in the South

I've had several people say they won't vote for him because he's black.

And no. I don't challenge them on it, because it's pointless to confront someone on their racism when they're proud of it. If they didn't like Obama because of his policies I could hold out hope of turning them around. But when they admit that they're racist, there's no hope for them.

[liberal N proud]

16. Suburban Cleveland

[tsuki]

18. I live in a rich community in FL (being native and here before they

arrived, I can still afford to live here for the time being.)

I hear it all the time from people who moved here with their pile from the northern 'liberal' states. They even use the 'n' word. Racism is universal in this country.

[five_horizons]

21. Same here

I grew up in rural West Virginia where racism was pretty bad. I thought when I moved to FL things would change, but if anything the racism is even worse among the rich elite than it is with the rural white coal miners. I've been to a few of my millionaire inlaws' dinner parties, and it's shocking to hear some of the things that come out of their friends' mouths.

[Kalyke]

19. I live in the South and don't hear that.

I hear what the OP pointed out... "Obama scares me" with no elaboration (and I think it's not only racism, but also because he's young and, more than racism to Southerners, because he's from "up North.")

To which I reply, "Really? Well, four more years of Bush's policies channeled through McCain scares me far worse than anything Obama says or does."

That freaks 'em out.

[Doityourself]

22. They say it right here in NJ...I won't vote for a black man...yep in the northeast too

[cameozalaznick]

28. Do you ever ask them specifically why he scares them?

The other day, a lady I work with said she didn't like Nancy Pelosi. I asked her why. She looked like Sarah Palin trying to answer a question about SCOTUS. She couldn't identify one thing she didn't like about Pelosi. Then I offered her a reason she should like Pelosi. Because for the last eight years, she's been the main thing standing in the way of impeachment.

[jakem]

2. NPR really pissed me off this am

I have no problem with interviewing people who have trended toward either candidate-

but why are only the people scared of Obama put on the sound bite?


MCAnus scares the bejeebus out of me!

[Essene]

3. a lot of people WANT to feel this way... for various reasons. Ignore their rationalizations...

They are rationalizing their disgust and honestly... it doesn't much matter WHY they say they feel that way.

Ignore them.

[seabeyond]

5. sons 8th class talking about politics. a friend says, he's muslim. he is not says son

the guy insists. they will not let that go.

just to blatantly repeat lie. i dont get that. in my intellectual, pragmatic, reality base mind, that makes no sense to me at all that someone can buy into a lie and not be moved from it.

[pipi_k]

25. I try to wrap my mind around that but

as much as I try to understand, I just can't. I have friends who also say the same thing..."He's Muslim".

There's no way in Heaven, Hell, or Earth they can be persuaded otherwise.

I honestly don't think in their case that it's racism...these people are die-hard Christians (or, in other words, recovering addicts who have transferred their addictions to substances to an addiction to religion) whose fear/distrust of anything outside the realm of "Christianity" (and let's make it plain it has to be THEIR form of "Christianity) is profound.

If someone on their favorite Evangelical TV show says Obama is a Muslim, then by God, that's the way it is, and nobody....NOBODY is gonna tell them any different. Because, by God, Pastor Pete Poopshoot said it, and that's the way it is. It would almost be funny if it weren't so pathetic....kind of like a four year old thinking his daddy is GOD.

Anyway, it must suck to be them....

[seabeyond]

27. you get it. lots of people dont have a clue, you must live in it. lol

my kids went to a christian private school. i pulled them out nov 2004 and put them in public. when i did the minister/superintendent was so sad and wanted to know why. i told them.... people follow the ministers, they truly are sheep. the minister has such a huge responsibility and they are failing miserably and irresponsibly. it is shameful how they are teaching hate and lies to these people that trust them, trust them with their very spirituality.

[JohnMcCant2008]

6. "he scares me" = "he's a scary black man" n/t

[blue-kite]

8. It's racism of a sort... pure and simple.

We've all got it inside but it doesn't take much to rise above it.
Travel more.
Cheers
BK

[demnan]

9. I'm scared of "bomb, bomb bomb Iran" McCain

n/t

[bdamomma]

12. I am scare McCain may not be able to complete his term

Palin scares me.

[JaneQPublic]

14. Really! The Repukes have some friggin' nerve voicing fear about any Dem candidate!

What the hell are they afraid of?

That the president will be asleep at the switch and the U.S. be attacked?

That he will get us into an unnecessary war under false pretenses?

That he will totally drop the ball after a major natural disaster and leave American citizens helpless and corpses floating in the floodwaters?

That the cost of gasoline and heating oil will spike to ungodly levels during his watch?

That the president will turn what was a budget surplus into an enormous budget deficit?

That he will sit by while the economy totally melts down in the worst disaster since the Great Depression?

No, wait, all that happened during a Repuke presidency -- one whose policies the current Repuke candidate wants to continue!

Repukes who are "scared" of an Obama presidency need to be confronted with the fact that the country is already in shambles because of their president and policies. And if the GOP had any sense of shame, they would collectively shut up and sit down for the next 8 years!

[DoctorMyEyes]

17. That's the right comeback!

What could possibly be "scarier" than more of the same?

[No Elephants]

10. Funny. McCain scares the beejesus out of me and we're both white. Heard last nite on TV, the

majority of folks say they feel safer with Obama. apparently, McCain is "erratic," which is code for "freakin' out of his mind lunatic nut job." I feel safer with the smart sane one. Just saying.

[OwnedByFerrets]

13. My post from yesterday....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7350026&mesg_id=7350026

[renie408]

20. "Obama would be a DISASTER" I have heard that several times.

Then you say in a really calm voice, "Why?" and they stumble off into an incoherent combination of RNC talking points and Sarah Palin attack crap. I would honestly prefer it if they would just say, "He's BLACK!!"

[Avalux]

23. It's because his skin color is darker than theirs.

They say that, they say they don't trust him, they say all sorts of things which really mean they won't vote for a black man.

[SmokingJacket]

24. But he just ISN'T scary in any way, shape, or form.

He's mild-mannered. He never seems to get angry. He's cool and collected to a fault. He has an open face and a genuine smile.

Those "scared" people drive me nuts.

[youthere]

26. My stepfather is one of those people "askeered" of Obama..

I guess he thinks Obama is lurking in the shrubs outside his house with a gang of cloaked black Democrats just biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment when they can bust in, steal his guns, and perform abortions on his daughters. The only thing that can save him from this horrible fate is for John McCain to exhume and reanimate the maggoty corpse of Ronald Reagan.

Did I mention that my stepfather is a racist fuckwit?

[asdjrocky]

30. They are the past.

Dragged down with 20 century thinking. The youth, and the not so narrow minded boomers among us, are the future, and this time I really do believe that will make the difference.