Clinton vs. Obama: Who's Truly Playing The Race Card?

I am sick and tired of the media narrative, and now the Obama campaign's narrative, that Hillary and Bill Clinton, as well as their supporters, are racist.  This is an insane notion to throw out to the American people, not to mention a complete and udder lie.  So when I see commentators and pundits, both on television and in written articles, talk about the Clintons' racism and prejudice, it truly gets my blood boiling.  Now, as Sam Stein of the Huffington Post reports, 

"Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has prepared a detailed memo listing various instances in which it perceived Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign to have deliberately played the race card in the Democratic primary. The document provides an indication that, in private, the Obama campaign is seeking to capitalize on the view - and push the narrative - that the Clintons are using race-related issues for political leverage. "

I watched Chris Matthews and Tucker yesterday.  I saw Tim Russert on MSNBC today.  I saw various pundits on Fox News and CNN.  All completely distorted Bill Clinton's quote from this past Monday.  They all claimed that Bill called "Obama's candidacy", a "fairy tale".  Simply not true.  Here is the full quote from the former President:

"It is wrong that Senator Obama got to go through 15 debates trumpeting his superior judgment and how he had been against the war in every year and never got asked one time, not once, 'Well, how could you say, that when you said in 2004 you didn't know how you would have voted on the resolution? You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war and you took that speech you're now running on off your website in 2004 and there's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since?' Give me a break.  This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen."

As is evident when the "fairy tale" quote is put into context, Bill was talking about Obama's position on the war, which was, in 2004, a much different position than he holds now, and for that matter, in 2002.  In essence, Obama was against the war, before he was for it, before he was against it.  That quote, in no way, as the Obama campaign is now claiming, had anything to do with race.  I think we can all agree that if Bill said this about, let's say, John Edwards or Joe Biden, or any white candidate, this so called scandal would be none existent.  It is Obama and the Obama-loving media who are turning this into a racial matter. Last time I checked, it is perfectly fine and not racially offensive to point out changes in the positions of a candidate running for office, especially the Presidency.  So to those who say this quote exemplifies Bill's racism, to quote the President, give me a break!

The Obama campaign is also using this following quote to demonstrate Bill Clinton's supposed racism:

"Bill Clinton Implied Hillary Clinton Is Stronger Than Nelson Mandela," when the former president declared, "I go to Nelson Mandela's birthday party every year and we're still very close. But if you said to me, 'You've got one last job for your country but it's hazardous and you may not get out with life and limb intact and you have to do it alone except I'll let you take one other person, and I had to pick one person whom I knew who would never blink, who would never turn back, who would make great decisions...I would pick Hillary.'"

Again, how the hell is this a racist statement?  Can one person give me an example?  I personally think it's perfectly reasonable that when you ask a man who he would take with him on what could be the last minutes of his life, he picks his wife.  I mean, seriously, Hillary is his wife.  He loves and trusts her.  Again, I point out that if Bill was asked about someone, let's say Churchill, who was white, and then said he would pick Hillary, there would be no big deal made about it.

Obama and the media, particularly David Brooks on "Tim Russert" this morning, are now also saying that Hillary Clinton doesn't respect Martin Luther King Jr.  Here is the quote that they are using to "justify" that attack when Clinton was asked about civil rights legislation:

"It took a president [Lyndon Johnson] to get it done."

And again I ask, where's the controversy?  After all, the question asked to Sen. Clinton wasn't about the civil rights movement and who should get credit for that.  It was about civil rights legislation.  And last time I checked, MLK was not a member of Congress nor was he the President.  So while yes, of course MLK was an instrumental figure in the civil rights movement, he did not have any power to get civil rights legislation passed.  It did, indeed, take a President, who faced much opposition, to get civil rights legislation passed.  Thats not an attack on MLK; it is merely a factual and historically accurate statement. Clinton was also making the point that it takes more than just a great speaker to get things done.  It takes a President who stands up to opposition and has the perseverance to weather even the harshest of storms and come out, not only successful, but stronger.  If Lyndon Johnson had not taken a tough stand and stood up in the face of opposition, there would be no equality for all races.  

So, Mr. Obama, I ask that you, your campaign, and the media drop this ridiculous act.  Your claims that the Clintons are racist is simply nothing but a tactic of the Republican dirty tricks of personal destruction.  I compare this to the swift boat ads ran against Sen. Kerry in '04.  They are a complete distortion of the facts, released to the public for the sole reason of your political benefit.  I have no problem, Mr. Obama, when you argue against Sen. Clinton based on issues and on facts.  But you have, with this latest scheme, crossed the line.  You are trying to personally destroy the Clintons based on racism.  Sen. Obama, you and the Democratic Party are so much better than this.  Debate the issues; debate on facts.  Do not attack someone for something on which you have no basis.   It is not the Clinton campaign, my friends, who are using race as an issue, it is the Obama campaign.  This is wrong and more people need to stand up and say so.