First things first. You all should know that I don’t “do” FOXNews, but its the only regular news story that I could find that wasn’t an opinion piece.
Now, lets deal with Ambassador Andrew Young.
I read the story, and my issue wasn’t that Young felt comfortable enough to kid around about Bill Clinton’s alleged “blackness” (lest we forget Clinton’s “Welfare to Work” program) or that Young made an ignorant comment that “It’s a matter of being young” (lest we forget that President John F. Kennedy was only 42 with the same experience as Sen. Obama when he was elected, but it was rather the quote that said “His time will come and the world will be ready for a visionary leadership.”
Oh my God….the words I really want to say behind that comment.
Has Ambassador Young gotten amnesia so bad that he has forgotten what people said about other black leaders. Let’s not forget who he was the lieutenant for during the modern civil rights movement. If Martin Luther King had listened to what white liberals had said as far as “deliberate speed” was concerned or the black conservatives of the National Baptist Convention, USA had said, along with his own father who was friends with J.H. Jackson . . . well let’s not engage in the roll call of past milestones in the history of the United States.
But honestly, if not now when?
If Frederick Douglass hadn’t declared that “Power concedes nothing without a demand: it never did and it never will” then when was the right time? If Vernon Johns hadn’t said “If you see a good fight, get in it,” and challenged the establishment of Montgomery, Alabama, then when was the appropriate time? If Martin Luther King hadn’t spoken truth to power and quoted the prophet Joel saying “But let justice roll down like rivers of water and righteousnes like an everflowing stream,” then when was the appropriate time?
I guess Ambassador Young is the only qualified person to know when the time is right? But hell, did Andrew Young in all of his sanctified sadiddiess actually forget where he came from and what he came through and what people said about him running for mayor and being appointed Ambassador to the U.N.? So I guess the appropriate question is “when is the right time?” Or even who determines “the right time.”
Of all the arguments in favor of your candidate of choice and political barbs used to discredit the other candidates, the words that came out of the mouth of Andrew Young are the most insensitive and immature that I’ve heard from anyone.
Sir, we’ve got to do better.
Keep it uppity, JLL
Andrew Young Says Obama Lacks Experience to Be President, Bill Clinton ‘As Black as Barack’
Monday, December 10, 2007
ATLANTA — Civil rights icon Andrew Young says Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is too young and lacks the support network to ascend to the White House.
In an interview posted online, Young also quipped that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has her husband behind her, and that “Bill is every bit as black as Barack.”
“He’s probably gone with more black women than Barack,” Young said of former President Clinton, drawing laughter from a live audience. Young, 75, was quick to follow his comment on Bill Clinton with the disclaimer, “I’m clowning.”
Young, a former United Nations ambassador and lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr., made the comments at an appearance at “Newsmakers Live,” an urban media forum that interviews prominent Atlanta personalities and political figures.
Click here to view Newsmakers Live and Andrew Young interview.
Excerpts of the interview were posted on Newsmakers Journal, the Newsmakers’ Web site, though the date of the appearance was not included with the video posting. Young had been scheduled to appear on “Newsmakers Live” on Sept. 5, according to a press release.Repeated efforts by The Associated Press to reach Young were unsuccessful. Obama campaign officials declined Saturday to comment on Young’s remarks.
Young’s comments were prompted by a member of the audience who inquired about his opinion on Obama’s candidacy.
“I want Barack Obama to be president,” Young said, pausing for effect, “in 2016.”
“It’s not a matter of being inexperienced. It’s a matter of being young,” Young said. “There’s a certain level of maturity … you’ve got to learn to take a certain amount of (expletive).”
Young went on to say that Obama needs a protective network that he currently lacks — a quality that could hurt him if he were to be elected. He said Hillary Clinton already has that kind of network, including her husband to back her up.
“There are more black people that Bill and Hillary lean on,” Young said. “You cannot be president alone. … To put a brother in there by himself is to set him up for crucifixion. His time will come and the world will be ready for a visionary leadership.”
Joshua Lawrence Lazard 