Fúck off Obama, you race-baiting, Islamist apologising, war-mongering ****

[redgunamo]

What????

Seriously, what the **** are you going on about? Who says something that stupid and why would you repeat it?

Hillary Clinton said it, I think.

[Peter]

Hillary Clinton said it, I think.

Yes, well...... women!

[Burney]

The one I like is when people claim Trump's election was fuelled by racism, when his election relied on the votes of millions of people who had previously voted a black man into office.

So how does that work exactly? Obama was such a bad President he turned people racist?

Well of course Obama's election was fuelled by racism, but in a slightly different way. Basically, as you say, his only USP was being black. This meant that nearly all black people and vast numbers of white people who wanted to show they weren't racist voted for him not because of his perceived ability, but because of his skin colour. Equally, his race meant he was horribly over-hyped to the point where it was assumed he would fart thunder and shít lightning. When he singly failed so to do, it was inevitable that disillusionment set in.

Essentially, the rule is that if you're going to play on your race to get into the White House, don't then be surprised that race is a political issue.

[Peter]

Well of course Obama's election was fuelled by racism, but in a slightly different way. Basically, as you say, his only USP was being black. This meant that nearly all black people and vast numbers of white people who wanted to show they weren't racist voted for him not because of his perceived ability, but because of his skin colour. Equally, his race meant he was horribly over-hyped to the point where it was assumed he would fart thunder and shít lightning. When he singly failed so to do, it was inevitable that disillusionment set in.

Essentially, the rule is that if you're going to play on your race to get into the White House, don't then be surprised that race is a political issue.

I think we drastically underestimate the extent to which race is always going to be an issue in US politics. As a social issue it is off the charts in terms of our own issues.

It is a little unfair to say he had nothing but race on his side. National politics is performance and he was more than capable of that, particularly when you look at who he ran against.

Trump v Obama would have been a great campaign.....

[Burney]

I think we drastically underestimate the extent to which race is always going to be an issue in US politics. As a social issue it is off the charts in terms of our own issues.

It is a little unfair to say he had nothing but race on his side. National politics is performance and he was more than capable of that, particularly when you look at who he ran against.

Trump v Obama would have been a great campaign.....

Oh, I do appreciate that. You can't run a country that for its first 190-odd years enslaves, disenfranchises and legally discriminates against a large proportion of its citizens on the basis of their race without it being an absolutely epic political fault line.

Our racial (N.B. not religious) situation is vastly better and we have the legacy of having run the biggest empire the world's ever seen, ffs!

However, the mistake lies in thinking that a weight of historical wrongs is enough to convince white people whose lives are shítty now to just put up with it because black folks have had it worse. People just don't work like that and calling them 'racist' because they vote for a guy who says he's going to make it better is a remarkably silly response.

I'm not saying he had nothing but race on his side. I said it was his sole USP. Think about it: would a white senator with Obama's experience, charm, speaking ability, etc have got anywhere near the media traction he did? Of course not. He had the race card and he played it rather skilfully. I don't blame him, I just don't think you can do that and then complain about race being an issue.

As a side note, of course, what's pretty funny is that an awful lot of black Americans don't actually see Obama as properly black. Rich, half-white, born in Hawaii (supposedly ) and with an African father rather than being the descendant of slaves. They would argue that he never really lived the black experience. That's how fücked up questions of race are in the US.

[Ash]

It is a little unfair to say he had nothing but race on his side. National politics is performance and he was more than capable of that, particularly when you look at who he ran against.

I must admit to not paying much attention to the details of his campaigns but the fact that he beat the twin evil warmongers of both John McCain and Hilary Clinton in 2008 is something I will always give him credit for.

Then he got a nobel peace prize and went on to become the first POTUS in history to spend every day of his eight year term at war, bombing more countries than George Bush in the process.

Still, could have been worse. It could have been Clinton or McCain.

[Luis Anaconda]

The one I like is when people claim Trump's election was fuelled by racism, when his election relied on the votes of millions of people who had previously voted a black man into office.

So how does that work exactly? Obama was such a bad President he turned people racist?

Your are such a ****ing idiot it's hard to know where to start

[The Insider]

The one I like is when people claim Trump's election was fuelled by racism, when his election relied on the votes of millions of people who had previously voted a black man into office.

So how does that work exactly? Obama was such a bad President he turned people racist?

Have you ever tried telling someone under 30 that Obama was not only a bad president, but one of the worst ever. They simply don't get the concept that he was anything but a knight in shining armour. There is more than a touch of Oh Jeremy Corbyn..... about the whole thing. Which, incidently and ironically (in its proper sense) always reminds me of the Nuremberg rallies.

[Ash]

Have you ever tried telling someone under 30 that Obama was not only a bad president, but one of the worst ever. They simply don't get the concept that he was anything but a knight in shining armour. There is more than a touch of Oh Jeremy Corbyn..... about the whole thing. Which, incidently and ironically (in its proper sense) always reminds me of the Nuremberg rallies.

Yes, because Jeremy Corbyn is exactly like Hitler.

[Burney]

Yes, because Jeremy Corbyn is exactly like Hitler.

I believe he's referring to the tendency to unthinking, unquestioning and brainless personality cult that has - bizarrely - sprung up around Corbyn. Whether Corbyn is like Hitler is not the point (he's not - due to not being clever or magnetic enough, for starters). The point is that the dynamic is similar.