I receive passionate responses to my rants all the time. I appreciate the feedback. I normally don't respond because in the end of the issue is not about me. My rants designed to encourage the reader to evaluate his/her views.

I got a lot of passionate feedback on my Obama 2012 rant a few weeks ago (you can read it at http://blog.detrickdeburr.com)

One in particular I've decided to respond to... and I thought I'd share my response with you. I have taken the liberty of pulling out the fundamental arguments for the sake of brevity. It's bound to stimulate debate, but this is good.

Lastly, I am not anti-Obama! Honestly, I support him, but truthfully I have not decided whether or not he will get my vote in the primary.

So here it is..... I can feel the heat now... lol

D!
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Respondent:
I am practically seething with all of the black people, especially so called "intelligent”, "educated", black people giving a million tired excuses of why they won't vote for Barack Obama and will vote for a Hillary Clinton:

1. He's not ready/He's not experienced.
Man please. You have the top 3 Democratic candidates with 1 Senate term under their belt. Hillary as the First Lady as experienced? Not one executive decision is made being as the first lady. That's like Stedman recommending a book, endorsing a candidate, or having his own show...SO WHAT.

My response:
For starters, the election is not about just Obama and Clinton. There are other democratic candidates and there republican, libertarian, etc. candidates that might appeal to Black people. We have to stop blindly jumping on the Democratic band wagon. What have they done for us lately?

I totally disagree with your argument. Obama has not won a race, even as senator, where he had to attract voters from the other side per se... Senate races are based on geography. Generally speaking people in the same geographic boundaries have the same over arching concerns. I would be more impressed had he been elected Mayor. Which in my opinion is much more difficult that being elected as Senator.

First lady's run the country from behind the scenes. (Eleanor Roosevelt had quite a bit to do with Blacks being treated fairly in the military in WWWII. It was these Black soldiers coming home and saying “hell no” that was a spark to much of the civil rights activity that came later.) First ladies have more control over the president than anyone else in the world. The first lady might be most powerful person in the world. Have you ever heard of bedroom politics? Every man has, whether he admits it or not, done something due to the influence of a woman. When we vote for president we vote for the candidate's spouse also. Hence Hillary has been president already for 8 years. To flip it, do you really think that Bill won't have any impact on policy if Hillary is elected?
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Respondent:
2. White America is not ready for a Black president.
Whaaa? Was White America ready for slavery to end? Giving us the right to vote? Desegregation of our society? When did black people ever let white people dictate when and where we were getting our just due, our break? We've always stepped up and demanded what we wanted, o! r we we re either hitting the streets and tearin' up some stuff, escapin', marching, or picketing. White America is ready for a Black President because Barack Obama is the right man for President, PERIOD.
Besides, that never stopped anyone from voting for Jesse Jackson, a man with NO political experience AT ALL from almost snatching the Democratic nomination in 1984, and coming darn close again in 1988 20 YEARS AGO.

My response:
2. Well to be honest... until White America, over 75% of the population, is ready to accept a Black face in the White House it will never happen. Was White America ready for slavery to end? Absolutely... the economic foundation of the country, agriculture, had shifted and Slavery no longer supported the new industrial economy. White America needed that cheap labor up north in the factories. This is what the Civil War was all about.

What makes Obama the right man for the job anyway? Right now the only thing that's really working in his favor is (1) We are sick of the Republican Party (2) We are even sicker of the Clintons. Hence he is the candidate of choice by default, at best. This makes him a roll of the dice, at best! Can you say electile dysfunction?
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Respondent:
3. Barak is half black and half white, so he's not really black anyway.
I should back smack anyone who has ever thought that. Ever heard of the one drop rule? It has not only been a social standard for WHO is black, but it also upheld the constitution in keeping us from suing a white person over personal property. No black person ever refers to another black person as "biracial". You black. You might have another heritage in your lineage, but this country as well as any other sees you as black, PERIOD. Lame excuse people.

My response:
3. I'd argue that Bill Clinton is blacker than Obama on any day!!! Blackness is an experience not a skin color. Whiteness is an experience not a skin color. Blackness and Whiteness only exists in America. Both are used to describe a uniquely American experience. That's why when people come here from other countries they gravitate to becoming either Whiter or Blacker with White meaning that you identify with the white American experience more than you identify with black American experience.

Obama grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia. Bill grew up in Arkansas. Now you tell me, who experienced (saw) the realities of being Black or White in America. The white kid from Arkansas saw racism first hand even if it was to his own benefit. Obama on the other hand was raised by a white mother in Hawaii. Mother's generally shield their sons as much as possible. So how much racism do you really think Obama saw (experienced) living with his white mother in Hawaii and Indonesia?
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Respondent:
4. I don't know what issues Barack ! stands f or.
When the heck has that ever prevented black folk from voting for a black candidate, really? I guess now, but the main people saying that couldn't tell you anything about Hillary's or John Edwards platform either. Please stop fronting.

My response:
4. All the candidates are pandering to the largest audience possible... it's really too early to put their real cards (platform) on the table. So you can only use their past record as an indication of they are really passionate about. Obama’s record is simply shorter than the other candidates’. He’s been using this to his advantage by the way. His slate is the cleanest. But this makes him a roll of the dice… like I said earlier.
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Respondent:
5 . All he did was give that one speech.
How many great people have defined their lives, the scope of human history, and changed the world in a speech? Moses, Jesus, Paul, Martin Luther, Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela, Jesse Jackson, and Jim Valvano all have changed the course of history of the world and the hearts of billions of men and women in societies since the beginning of time with a speech.
That is the purpose of a rally. A person speaks, and it prepares all to act in relation to the spirit of what is spoken. That is why we go to church, not to just hear our pastor blather, but to refre! sh God in our hearts and spurn us to take up God's will in our lives.
So save all that ying yang about that speech.

My response:
5. They all may have changed the course of history with a speech but which one of them did we vote for because of their speech. If anything their speech was powerful because they lived the sentiment of the speech in their actions. Hell I give a good speech… you gonna vote for me when I run?
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Respondent:
6. If all of those white people are supporting him, he must be in their back pocket.
Save the conspiracy theory home skillet. He's liked because he comes at a time where a person that looks exactly like them lied to their face (two in a row, if you include Bill Clinton with Monica and of course Bush with Iraq), and flat out said what no politician would admit: We have two Americas, blue and red, black and white. It was not publicly said, and on top of that proposed that we ACTUALLY DO something about it not find more ways to be divided and not come together despite our differences. Noble concept and one to be championed. That's JFK, FDR, and Abe Lincoln material. So they were feeling it, just like I was and you should too. His legislative work has been indicative of this as well, including his Fuel Standard work with President Bush. Check the resume, it sh! ines.

My response:
6. Huh??? Every candidate has a core constituency... In essence the candidate is always in somebody’s back pocket. Just curious, if Obama were to win what in your personal life do you think will really change?