Thoughts on the Ground at the DNC
CrazyWomanCreek is a regular commenter at fMh and is one of three women elected Obama delegates from Wyoming.
I wanted to be fMh’s “woman on the ground” in Denver this week. I thought I could go to caucus’s, watch speeches and report back on all the fabulous proceedings. Instead I hustle, with my baby strapped on me or in his jogger from one event to the next, taking extra veggies when they have them for us to snack on later, dodging security when they want to see the baby’s credential and dropping exhausted but thrilled into my seat with the Wyoming delegation. No time for up to the second updates from CrazyWomanCreek.
But I did want to share this with all of you.
Last night, Speaker Pelosi came out and entered Barack Obama’s name as our party’s nominee for President of the United States. Like I knew she would. Like we’d been preparing for for months. No big surprise at this point. So I was not prepared for how forcefully her simple, understated announcement would strike me.
In a country where members of my own family still belong to the Klan, where so much injustice still breathes its dying breaths, we nominated a black man to be our president.
I have a lot more to say about this and what kind of man I believe he is but for now I’ll just share with you that as prepared as I thought I was to cheer my heart out and welcome this nomination with hoots and hollers, I couldn’t. I just wept.
I am so excited and emotional about this, right along with you. I am wishing the hours would go by more quickly today and am afraid I’m going to have a hard time being fully present at Back to School Night this evening. I’m living for the moment when the kids are in bed and I can settle in to watch the Obama speech on YouTube!
Comment by Ana — August 28, 2008 @ 11:28 am
It truly is a huge step for our country, no matter what your political beliefs are. We’re moving toward color blindness.
Now we just need to get a woman in there!
Comment by Natalie — August 28, 2008 @ 11:32 am
It’s not enough to nominate a black man for President, we need to elect one! The same goes for getting a female president some time in the near future.
Comment by Molly — August 28, 2008 @ 11:39 am
I’ve been following this for two years, like everyone else, and I fell deeply, madly, passionately for Senator Obama about 2/3 of the way through. I’m not there, but me, too. His speech, on the anniversary of Dr. King’s, it moves me to tears. And Black or white or purple or yellow, I love this man for who he is. The content of his character.
Comment by sare — August 28, 2008 @ 11:47 am
Come on, you can’t say we are moving towards color blindness in the same sentace as saying we need a black president. Or likewise you can’t say we are moving towards gender blindness and say we need a woman president. That’s just contradictory. You should elect a president based on race or gender no matter what the historical significance.
That said, I agree that this is a big step and that it is a great milestone in the book of history.
Comment by Kalon — August 28, 2008 @ 12:09 pm
Sorry for the mistype but that should have read “You should not elect a president based on race or gender no matter what the historical significance.”
Comment by Kalon — August 28, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
I actually don’t necessarily think color blindness is necessary or good. I think we need to be able to see racial, ethnic and cultural difference very clearly, and accept it and celebrate it and recognize the contributions people from differing backgrounds can make to our society.
I don’t think ethnicity is Obama’s primary qualification. But I do think that electing a person of color with one parent from a developing country and extended family still in that country will send a very important message to the rest of the globe. Frankly I think we are going to have to strongly repudiate the last eight years of our presidential and military politics to repair and then maintain the international relationships we need for peace and trade.
Comment by Ana — August 28, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
I’m with Ana in that we don’t necessarily want to be color blind, but I also don’t think Obama is trying to play the color blind guy. Here is a man who won (in some states) 92% of the African American vote - surely many of them were voting on color. (I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing, btw, just that you can’t tell me it didn’t come into it.) Here is a man whose polling from his earliest days showed he did best with upper-class white men - surely that is why he’s been so outspoken about issues surrounding fatherhood and black men: Hey, he’s already got the black vote, so by criticising something that a lot of white people (particularly working-class white people, where he’s still lagging) think but won’t say, he also pulls in the white vote. Yesterday when his great-uncle was introduced DH turned to me and said, “So, do you think they’ll be playing up his white ties now?” Of course he will - hey, he needs that working-class white people vote. He will do whatever it takes to get elected, and if that means being black sometimes and being white other times, that’s what he’ll do. Hardly color blind - just more exploitation of race and racism.
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 3:04 pm
It is my understanding that Obama only has a small percentage of black in him. I think he is 50% white, 42% arab (or something non black.. not sure of the exact name for it) and 8% black.
Also, have you heard any more about the issues surrounding Obama’s birth in Kenya and the resulting disqualification as a candidate for president. I know that a democrat filed a lawsuit last week about it but I have not heard any further. Are there any American History buffs who know what happens if a presidential candidate is disqualifed after party nomination? Do the Democrats get to choose a successor or are they just out of luck?
Comment by StillConfused — August 28, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
Ah yes, but let’s hear it for BIDEN!!!!
Comment by Lupita — August 28, 2008 @ 4:09 pm
stillconfused:
what’s your definition of “black?”
just African?
Comment by sare — August 28, 2008 @ 4:11 pm
#9, Obama was born in Hawaii. His birth certificate is readily available on-line. If you want to talk disqualification, McCain was born in Panama - but there is no talk that he will be disqualified because what sort of message does that send our military, that children born overseas to active duty parents aren’t eligible for the presidency?
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 4:41 pm
what? where did you get this information?
Comment by mfranti — August 28, 2008 @ 4:47 pm
stillconfused, a quick fact check at Snopes.com says Obama was born in Hawaii. not Kenya.
Comment by cchrissyy — August 28, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
oh, the link is here
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp
and the suit alleging he was born in Kenya gets a mention in the last paragraph.
Comment by cchrissyy — August 28, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
I, too, love Joe Biden. Was thrilled when he was the VP pick.
Comment by sare — August 28, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
ahhh quimby…i can always count on you…
folks, this troubles me. people are getting outright lies from their media sources and proclaiming it as fact without bothering to check.
sigh
snopes.com is always a good place to start fact checking.
Comment by mfranti — August 28, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
apparently, my timing stinks today
Comment by mfranti — August 28, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
mfranti, it’s a sore point with DH that our daughter will never be eligible to run for president since she was born overseas. That’s when I go into my George’s Dad speal from Seinfeld: “That’s why I’ve never been interested in politics. They don’t want me, I don’t want them!” (Thus proving my own Grand Theory of Unification, that everything in the world can relate back to an episode of Seinfeld.)
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 4:57 pm
But Quimby, she can easily move and live in the US and England, no? Sounds like a good deal to me.
Comment by mfranti — August 28, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
US yes, UK not permanently (unless she can claim it through DH, who could claim it through his grandparents; but DH doesn’t want to take it out and I’m not sure it passes down that way anyway - for US citizenship DD is eligible through me but unless she lives in the US for a set number of years her children won’t be - just refer back to that Snopes article for the rules re: passing on citizenship to your children who were born overseas)
Want to hear something really weird? It’d actually be illegal for me not to take out US citizenship for DD (unless there is no intention for her to ever visit the US), since it’s illegal for her to enter the US on a non-American passport if she’s eligible for US citizenship.
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
i just got an email from CWC, she said she got a special pass to seating in the inner circle. look for her and noodle behind house speaker pelosi!
woot!
Comment by mfranti — August 28, 2008 @ 5:23 pm
I believe each person has the right to self-define his or her race or ethnicity. It’s more about how you perceive yourself than your “blood” or genetics.
That said, I think in general the world still applies the “one drop” rule. If you have one African ancestor, you are black. Although some people will always accuse others of being not black enough. Or not white enough. I’ll tell ya, I’m a parent of multiracial children, and I find it frustrating. They (my kids) are who they believe they are. Nobody else should get to have a say about it.
Well, within reason. Case in point: my biracial, ambiguous-appearing black/white son has a hard time remembering that he’s not Mexican like most of his classmates.
Comment by Ana — August 28, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
You can find the lawsuit alluded to here:
http://msgboard.snopes.com/politics/graphics/berg.pdf
Keep in mind that citizenship rules change periodically, particularly with regards to claiming citizenship for children who are born overseas. However, to the best of my knowledge, with the laws that are now in place - and I contend that I know more about this than the Average Jane, since I have a vested interest in knowing citizenship rules and how they apply to dual citizens and children of US citizens born overseas - this guy is just plain wrong. He states, “Obama lost his U.S. citizenship when his mother married an Indonesian citizen and relocated herself and Obama to Indonesia wherein Obama’s mother naturalized in Indonesia and Obama followed her naturalization.” At present there is nothing in US law that forbids US citizens from having two or more citizenships. There are a handful of countries, mostly Islamic (as is Indonesia), that automatically grant citizenship to a foreigner when s/he marries a citizen of that country, and automatically renounces foreign citizenship; however, this isn’t enough to qualify as renouncing US citizenship, since the US citizen in question has not made an intentional decision to renounce citizenship.
He further contends, “Obama failed to take the oath of allegiance when he turned eighteen (18) years to regain his United States Citizenship status.” It’s not necessary for him to do this because he was born in the US. People seeking citizenship in the US or in many other countries often have to take an oath of allegiance as part of the citizenship ceremony; but people who are born in a country, or people who gain citizenship by virtue of their parents’ citizenship, do not. (I didn’t have to take one for myself or for my daughter; she doesn’t have to take one either.)
In this case, Obama has a birth certificate for the state of Hawaii. My daughter’s US birth certificate is not issued by any particular state: it clearly says, in very large letters, something like, “Registration of Overseas Birth.” There is no mention of my home state except for a mention of where I was born. Because she was born overseas, she has no home state. (This will complicate things when she turns 18 and registers to vote . . .)
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 6:12 pm
How is it that Obama is considered black? He is actually white.
His Mother was white, his father 43% Arab, 6% African Negro. His father’s birth certificate states his race as Arab. What exactly makes one black?
If it was his father who was white and his mother Arab and negro wouldn’t he be considered white? How is it that his Mother’s race is less important than his father’s? We all have “one drop” as all humans came out of Africa.
He won’t be our first African-American president in that he doesn’t come from the African-American experience. He has no connection with them except thru his marriage. He cannot relate. He is simply an American.
To me he is green. As in not ripe.
Comment by Ruby — August 28, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
Apparently, the “birth certificate” of Obama is not a birth certificate at all. It is something different. I believe called a “certificate of live birth” which does not state where he was born only that he was born alive. The real birth certificate is not currenlty available though I understand that it has been located in Kenya. If he was born in Kenya, he is not a citizen because his mother was not 19 at the time of his birth. (I read all of the statutes and that is the case.) So this may be all a bunch of hullaballoo but I was just wondering what would happen if he were disqualified.
Philip J. Berg, Esquire, of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking a Declaratory Judgement and Injunction that Barack Obama does not meet the qualifications to become President of the United States. In the lawsuit Berg alleges that Obama is not eligible for the presidency because he is not a naturalized citizen, and/or lost his citizenship when he was adopted in Indonesia, and/or has duel citizenship with Kenya and Indonesia.
Berg said that he has filed the suit on behalf of the Democratic Party and citizens of the United States for their best interests. Berg, an attorney with offices in Montgomery County, PA and an active practice in Philadelphia, filed the lawsuit, Berg vs. Obama, Civil Action No. 08-cv-4083, in Federal Court.
In the filing Berg says:
There have been numerous questions raised about Obama’s background with no satisfactory answers. The questions that I have addressed include, but are not limited to:
1. Where was Obama born? Hawaii; an island off of Hawaii; Kenya; Canada; or ?
2. Was he a citizen of Kenya, Indonesia and/or Canada?
3. What was the early childhood of Obama in Hawaii; in Kenya; in Indonesia when he was adopted; and later, back to Hawaii?
4. An explanation as to the various names utilized by Obama that include: Barack Hussein Obama; Barry Soetoro; Barry Obama; Barack Dunham; and Barry Dunham.
5. Illinois Bar Application – Obama fails to acknowledge use of names other than Barack Hussein Obama, a blatant lie.
If Obama can prove U.S. citizenship, we still have the issue of muti-citizenship with responsibilities owed to and allegance to other countries.
Berg goes on to make very direct accusations against Obama, stating that he “lied and cheated his way into a fraudulent candidacy and cheated legitimately eligible natural born citizens from competing in a fair process.”
Interestingly, Obama isn’t the only one who’s citizenship has been questioned in this election. John McCain’s citizenship was also questioned because he was born on a military base in the Panama Canal Zone, which is not a US territory.
The full court filings and claims can be found at ObamaCrimes.com, Berg’s website. Philip J. Berg is the former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, former candidate for Govenor and US Senate in Democratic Primaries, former Chair of the Democratic Party in Montgomery County, and former member of the Democratic State Commitee.
This filing comes less than two weeks after an AP photo was revealed of the school register of a child then known as Barry Soetoro, now known as Barack Hussein Obama, whose citizenship was listed as “Indonesian” and whose religion was listed as “Islam.” the photo strongly contradicts the Obama camp’s claim that he was not a Muslim, and is said to confirm he is a national of at least one other country. The AP has confirmed the authenticity of the photograph.
Comment by StillConfused — August 28, 2008 @ 6:29 pm
If you follow the link mfranti provided in #17 you can see a copy of his birth certificate which clearly says, “Certification of Live Birth.” (That is precisely the language used on my own birth certificate in another US state.) The birth certificate also gives his birth place as Honolulu.
Unless you’re going to claim that birth certificate is a forgery?
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
The only one of those that would disqualify him from being president is if he wasn’t a natural-born citizen. His birth certificate proves he is.
Again, you can’t lose your US citizenship merely through marrying someone of another nationality, or through being adopted by someone of another nationality, or through being born to someone of another nationality, even if those actions automatically grant you another citizenship.. You can only lose your US citizenship if you voluntarily take out another citizenship AND do so with the intention of renouncing your US citizenship.
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 6:37 pm
Children of Islamic fathers are automatically Muslim under Islamic law. This is very clearly stated in the Koran and given as justification for not allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men. The separation of church and state is heavily blurred in Indonesia. Therefore, it makes sense that they would list his religion as “Islam” on a school registration form, since his father and step-father were both Muslim.
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 6:44 pm
I should say - Nobody would be happier than me if he were disqualified, I can’t stand the man - but I can’t see it happening because there’s just no grounds to do so.
Comment by Quimby — August 28, 2008 @ 6:44 pm
Ruby/Confused: Being “black” is as much a cultural construction as it is a description of ancestry. Obama looks like a black guy, gets treated like a “black” guy, married a black woman, and has accepted the black community. The guy’s black, no matter who his parents are.
Comment by Bill Anderson — August 28, 2008 @ 7:11 pm
my own birth certificate is titles “Certificate of Live Birth”, from here in CA, same as my 3 recently-born Californian kiddos.
Comment by cchrissyy — August 28, 2008 @ 8:05 pm
CCW, I’m SO jealous. I’d love to be there. I’d love to have taken my son. I have experienced violent pangs of jealousy watching the TV screen, wishing I could be in the audience as the first real contenders of color and XX chromosomes speak to the nation as a united front (rather than snipping at each other).
Quimby — what do you make of the class wars which have formed around Obama in some (at least to me) unexpected ways? You’re alluding to all sorts of facets of same. and I find them fascinating and weird and am quite intrigued to see how it will play out in the election. Anyone remember how Ed Koch got elected in NYC by forming a cabal of usually-at-odds demographic groups? Obama can be better at that than Koch ever was, and wouldn’t proceed to self-implode by turning the cabal against its own components in a post-election civil war as a means of appeasing big business.
Whoa. Where did Ed Koch come from? Blood sugar must be low. The dividing lines have been interesting and I wonder how/if they’ll unite.
Comment by Janet — August 28, 2008 @ 8:44 pm
I was disturbed and disappointed this evening during his biographical film when he made no mention of his father or step-siblings in Africa. What role they played in his life. What impact they made on him. Or that they even existed. Maybe I missed something.
All I saw were pictures of his white relatives.
If I were black, I would feel funny about that. I am not trying to presume anything, and I don’t mean to offend anyone.
But if someone wants to make this big claim at historicity as the first black person to do such and such, they should give a nod to their black parent and that connection and deal honestly and openly with it.
I get the feeling he doesn’t want us to know about something.
But he is charismatic and attractive, and it makes me “feel” good to see him and his attractive family!
Comment by Catherine — August 28, 2008 @ 8:51 pm
StillConfused and others, I hope you realize that John McCain was not born in the United States. Look it up. How ’bout we disqualify both of them and start again from scratch?
Comment by Researcher — August 28, 2008 @ 9:15 pm
I really liked the bio spot. Obama is truly the personification of the American dream. Pretty neat! My only problem with it was when they raised the complaints about the student loans. I’m sorry, but the Obamas did incredibly well for themselves from the get-go, with book advances and high-paying jobs as an associate at a powerful law firm and fellowships and stipends as a law professor. Anyway, love the biography vid and I think the speech is sounding pretty solid too.
Comment by Bill Anderson — August 28, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
Because of the mention of Philip Berg in comment 26, I’ll mention that politics in the Philadelphia area is often dirty, frequently corrupt, and always kooky. The Democrats in Montgomery County, PA, are involved in an awful power struggle right now on the three-person county board that has left every sane person in the county shaking their heads (at least those who care what’s going on). Just wanted you to know that listing all those credentials for Berg is not a vindication of his lawsuit.
Comment by Anonymous — August 28, 2008 @ 9:25 pm
Whoops. Just rereading SC’s comment and I notice that she mentioned John McCain’s citizenship issue. (So let’s still start over from scratch
).
(I am just kidding about that. I can’t imagine that doing it over again would come up with any better candidates, and we could end up with worse.)
Comment by Researcher — August 28, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
re: 9, 25, etc. “6% African negro.” “What exactly makes one black?”
You guys are so pre-1978.
Comment by MikeInWeHo — August 28, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
Sounds good to me!
Comment by Stephanie — August 28, 2008 @ 10:06 pm
He’s American.
I get treated like a nincumpoop ,married one and accepted his family of them . Doesn’t make me one. The guy’s an American no matter who his parents are or how others treat him.
Comment by Ruby — August 28, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
#34, although I was unable to watch the DNC coverage tonight (dumb satellite is out this week), I did read Obama’s first book a couple of years ago and his father left when he was young (I’m thinking 5 or 6 but can’t remember) and he had very little contact with him growing up. I think he only had one other meeting with him and did not have any contact with other family members in Africa until he was an adult. Which is why he probably did not have anything to include of his father and especially didn’t have anything on step-siblings since he didn’t meet them until later in life.
Also, Obama was raised by his white mother and white grandparents and really struggled to come to terms with the fact that despite being raised white, he is perceived by all who meet him as black. He may not have the most typical African-American background but that doesn’t remove him from claiming that title if he wants it.
#36 - Again, I have not yet been able to watch any of tonight’s coverage but as far as student loans are concerned, Obama is doing quite well now but he didn’t start out with a six figure salary. He turned down the big firm salary to do public interest work. His wife has worked in big firms and corporations but together I suspect they both carried a not insignificant amount of school debt. I don’t believe you can say they did “very well” from the “get-go”. Even today with extremely generous six figure salaries being paid to incoming first year associates at large law firms, many will struggle to dig out of debt in their first years of practice and a large number of law graduates will work in large law firms rather than in public service or non-profit organizations because they carry too much student loan debt to choose otherwise. I find his position admirable because he was raised by a single mom, excelled in his education and took a route that did not pay the biggest dollars available. Isn’t that part of the American dream? Make something of yourself and then give back?
Just my two cents.
Comment by soulfusion — August 28, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
oh and by the way, in regards to the crazy lawsuit - anyone willing to pay the filing fee can make accusations in a complaint. That doesn’t mean the words amount to anything. The whole citizenship thing is a non-issue. He was born in Hawaii. His mother is a citizen. He is a citizen. I don’t get what the controversy is about.
Comment by soulfusion — August 28, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
correction- Obama was only “almost one” when his father left them, see this link about his mother’s life in TIME.
His dad and that branch of the family were totally absent from his life. Of course they wouldn’t be in a biographical video.
Comment by cchrissyy — August 29, 2008 @ 8:34 am
Yea, I am really worked up over it, too. Not only because he is black, though. Finally, after decades of struggle, after a few years when it seemed as if the Cause was to be forever wiped from the earth, we finally have the first communist running for president in the U.S.
Workers of the United States, UNITE!
Comment by sam — August 29, 2008 @ 8:43 am
Whoo hoo! Let’s all start spouting rhetoric now. Let’s see…
John McCain is Nasty! Hillary is a gadianton robber!
Thank you.
Comment by sare — August 29, 2008 @ 8:57 am
re:9 “It is my understanding that Obama only has a small percentage of black in him. I think he is 50% white, 42% arab (or something non black.. not sure of the exact name for it) and 8% black.”
well, I heard Obama was distantly related to VP Chaney. Sure hope that blood line doesn’t run true, better a brown skin than a black soul.
Comment by Betty Jo — August 29, 2008 @ 10:48 am
sam? do i work with you? you sound like a guy in my office.
you can’t really believe that? turn of f the fox news!!!! and do some real research.
Comment by mfranti — August 29, 2008 @ 11:00 am
George Bush is related to Joseph Smith!
Comment by sare — August 29, 2008 @ 1:58 pm
I would be, and I will be, thrilled to vote for a black President or Vice President. I hope that happens in my lifetime.
That being said, it is possible that Barack has had much more contact and association with his father and that side of his family than you realize, soulfusion.
He was in and out of those circles on and off for years, with all the name changes and religion changes. I do know that his father and his step-siblings in Africa have been engaged in violent political activities over there, and that is probably why he chose to downplay his relationship with them in the bio. Come on, didn’t you notice the whiteness of it? All the shots of him walking along with people and so forth . . . He knows he has the “black vote,” so to speak, in his pocket, and he wants to make “white folks,” as he calls us, feel at ease and closer to him. Where were the shots with him walking, laughing, and talking with black people, or Arabic-looking people? No, it was all just a bunch of white people, for the most part.
I would be thrilled to cast my vote for a black President or Vice-President.
This particular candidate, however, raises a lot of questions for me.
Weren’t you paying attention to the coverage of Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s close friend and spiritual guide for, what, 20 years? And this Mr. Ayres, a terrorist who wishes he’d done MORE to kill and harm Americans than he and his wife did those years ago — this, another one of Obama’s friends?
Barack is very appealing. He’s a great speaker. He stands for many things that are good.
But look closely at his history and his associations before you place him in the Presidency.
Comment by Catherine — August 29, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
[…] But what do the Mormon Feminist Housewives have to say? Are they weeping for joy over this historical moment? (mfranti? CrazyWomenCreek?) […]
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