Obama = cokehead

[Odin]

Originally posted by Dis
did anyone else read this as Osama?

Where's Oba..., er, Osama?

[Q Classic]

I'd have a lot more respect for him if he hadn't admitted it.

Drake, I think highly of you. I am quite certain that you would not be among those bashing him for hypocrisy or some such had someone else outed his cocaine usage.

Alas, Fox News and the rightist media outlets would not be so... high-minded.

[Ramo]

What are we supposed to tell kids when a Presidential candidate not only isn't ashamed to admit that he used cocaine, but tries to turn his openness about it into a badge of honor?

That you can make good (i.e. be Editor of the Harvard Law Review and teach Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago) even if you've made a few mistakes when you're a kid.

[Q Classic]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
Teach them responsibility instead. Tell them to have some if they wish but to assume the consequences. ... censorship and blackout don't work.

What are we supposed to tell kids when a C-student and general failed businessman becomes a President that isn't ashamed to lie, censor NYT editorials with no classified information, and avoids responsibility for or even to admit mistakes, and tries to turn his slavishly faithful belief in his cause as some heavenly appointed "Decider" into a badge of honor?

How do you tell your kid to study in school, to be honest, and to not shirk responsibility?

Indeed, I believe Chris Rock's original quote skewers this sitting president.

[Q Classic]

how do you tell your kid not to get high when the Democratic presidential candidate is happy to tell everyone he snorted coke?

A more serious answer is to perhaps actually teach them ****ing probability and statistical reasoning. That way they'll see that the majority of cokeheads don't become a success, that the majority of students don't become NBA stars, that the majority of business failures don't become president.

Maybe they'll also learn what good odds are, when to make good gambles, not play the lottery, and become rational people who understand how science works and are less likely to be swayed by statistically improbable imaginary bearded men.

But that would be too difficult and dangerous, wouldn't it? Teaching kids to think.

[Zkribbler]

I think Obama brought it out knowing, if he didn't, he'd be outted by Republican smearmongers. Bringing out your own dirty laundry is the best way to handle things.

Now, of course, the Repugs will try to spin this to the max. For example, notice how Drake characterizes someone who used cocaine decades ago as a "cokehead" or Drake's above-post saying that Obama was trying to turn his cocaine use into a "badge of honor."

Republicans just can't deal with reality, so they've created their own fantasy world and have moved in. (For further examples, watch Fox "News." )

[Ramo]

And when did he say that he's not ashamed about his use of coke? He considers it a big mistake, and he's honest enough to own up to his mistakes - which is more than can be said of the vast majority of politicians. The idea that he's a bad role model because of that is inane.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I'm agnsotic when it comes to Obama. I don't like his politics but respect his calls for bipartisanship. Unlike others whose politics I dislike and make active attempts to create intraparty dissention.

That being said, the difference I think Drake referes to is not so much the redemption of his character which in of itself is commendable but the attempt to promote the same. A more circumspect person would simply acknowledge it (be ashamed of it) and not use it as a means of self promotion.

In any event the acts are framed as being out earliy enough to prevent any political surprise for his presidential campaign but come off as laudatory, when they really shouldn't be. Same held true for Bush but IIRC Bush didn't publish a memoir self advertising his struggle with demons of alcool and coke. Therein lies a difference.

At the end of the day this doesn't phase me one way or the other about Obama.

[Ramo]

I think Obama brought it out knowing, if he didn't, he'd be outted by Republican smearmongers.

Actually, his memoir predated his electoral career. He was asked to write the book after becoming the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review.

[Lorizael]

What I want to know is, is Obama the real deal? Is he actually some new breed of honest politician, or is it all just a really good show?

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
I'm agnsotic when it comes to Obama.

You don't know whether or not Obama is God?

[Ramo]

A more circumspect person would simply acknowledge it (be ashamed of it) and not use it as a means of self promotion.

How, exactly, did he use his admission as a "means of self promotion?" It's pretty clear that if you actually read what he wrote (rather than taking one sentence all by its lonesome) that he's not proud of the act.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Lorizael


You don't know whether or not Obama is God?

Pretty much so. Many on these boards seem to think him the messiah. I'm not convinced.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Ramo


Actually, his memoir predated his electoral career. He was asked to write the book after becoming the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review.

His decision to publish just by co-inky dink though happened prior to his run at the Presidency.

[Ramo]

Same held true for Bush but IIRC Bush didn't publish a memoir self advertising his struggle with demons of alcool and coke. Therein lies a difference.

The memoir isn't about his struggle with drug addiction (I didn't even notice the admission when I read it), but about his search for his identity.

And of course Bush didn't write a memoir about his struggle with his coke habit. He doesn't have the balls to admit it. And I doubt that he's even capable of writing a book (without relying on ghost-writers).