Barack To The Future: 1995

From Ben Smith:

A pro-Obama blogger turns up this 1995 video which reveals that Obama was...exactly the same 13 years ago.

He tells the story of his grandmother visiting his African-American Chicago world for the first time, and speaks warmly (as he does in Dreams for My Father, which he's promoting) of Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Andrew Sullivan sees the consistency in "his determination to confront racial polarization and his cultural centrism (as well as liberal politics)." There's also, though, an analytical detachment, even when talking about himself, that he's shaken off as this campaign cycle progressed.

John McCain On Race Relations

Condi Speaks On Race

She must have a crazy pastor, too:

"Black Americans were a founding population," she said. "Africans and Europeans came here and founded this country together — Europeans by choice and Africans in chains. That's not a very pretty reality of our founding."

As a result, Miss Rice told editors and reporters at The Washington Times, "descendants of slaves did not get much of a head start, and I think you continue to see some of the effects of that."

"That particular birth defect makes it hard for us to confront it, hard for us to talk about it, and hard for us to realize that it has continuing relevance for who we are today," she said.

via Washington Times

Barack's Speech on Race

Dealing with Rev. Wright

Full speech to come.

McCain Defends Obama

Here's an exhange between WALNUTS! and Hannity on FOX last night:

HANNITY: Sen. Clinton claims that Barack Obama has not had the scrutiny that other candidates have had in this campaign.

There is a big emerging controversy about his pastor of 20 years, a man who went on a trip with Louis Farrakhan to Tripoli, a guy that has — his church has given a lifetime achievement award to Louis Farrakhan. We now have some of his sermons. He used "g-d America," "the U.S. of KKK of A." "The chickens have come home to roost," he said the Sunday after the attack on this country on 9/11.

He has called him — Barack has said of his pastor, his trusted adviser, he's proud of his pastor. He married him and his wife. He's baptized his kids.

Does that sound like a problem for you?

MCCAIN: I think that when people support you, it doesn't mean that you support everything they say. Obviously, those words and those statements are statements that none of us would associate ourselves with, and I don't believe that Sen. Obama would support any of those, as well.

HANNITY: He's been — but he's been going to the church for 20 years. His pastor — the church gave a lifetime achievement award to one of the biggest racists and anti-Semites in the country, Louis Farrakhan. Would you go to a church that — where your pastor supported Louis Farrakhan?

MCCAIN: Obviously, that would not be my choice. But I do know Sen. Obama. He does not share those views.

And we get sometimes — I don't — a lot of those statements I've just heard for the first time that you mentioned. But I know that, for example, I've had endorsements of some people that I didn't share their views...

HANNITY: Pastor Hagee recently, yes.

MCCAIN: ... but they endorsed mine. And so I think we've got to be very careful about that part.

Nice thing to see.

via Ben Smith