The fun in the Obama camp continues.
On Monday, the author who in the middle of the Monica Lewinsky scandal back in 1998 actually dubbed Bill Clinton as "our first black president" endorsed Barack Obama.
Honestly, you really can't make this stuff up.
As deliciously reported by the Associated Press moments ago:
Author Toni Morrison said her endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate has little to do with Obama's race - he is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas - but rather his personal gifts.
Writing with the touch of a poet in a letter to the Illinois senator, Morrison explained why she chose Obama over Hillary Rodham Clinton for her first public presidential endorsement.
Morrison, whose acclaimed novels usually concentrate of the lives of black women, said she has admired Clinton for years because of her knowledge and mastery of politics, but then dismissed that experience in favor of Obama's vision.
[...]
In 1998, Morrison wrote a column for the New Yorker magazine in which she wrote of Bill Clinton: "White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas."
I wonder if the recent behavior by the first black president has reduced his tropes of blackness.
Those interested can read Morrison's 1998 New Yorker column here.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
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For her next trick
January 28, 2008 - 10:42 ET by mattmI suppose she'll call B. Hussein Obama the first woman president.
Good one Mattm - but make that first woman Presidential
January 28, 2008 - 11:00 ET by Dee Bunkcandidate. I sure hope Obama isn't going to be President!
Maybe the first "black"
January 28, 2008 - 11:47 ET by USA4freedomMaybe the first "black" "woman" president.
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day
john edwards
January 28, 2008 - 13:52 ET by rubberpelletfrancisedwards joins clinton as the two are attempting to be the first woman president. (with elizabeths approval, of course)
Sucks to be you
January 28, 2008 - 10:45 ET by candanceNo one listened to Republicans for eight years and now they're reaping the harvest of promoting BJ. They all helped create the Clinton machine, defended him through the impeachment, and smeared women like Linda Tripp and Ann Coulter for attacking thier favorite guy.
Too little, too late. I don't feel bad for any of them and really don't care whom they endorse now.
OPRAH
January 28, 2008 - 10:59 ET by Southern_PrideOprah Winfrey has incredible influence. Toni is close with Oprah and both has helped each other in their successes. This was not a surprise for me. I think Toni is very intelligent for seeing the writing on the wall. Clinton isn't the future for the Dems, but the past. Obama represents their hope for the future. I just don't happen to have the same belief system as she. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
"The United States remains the last best hope for a mankind plagued by tyranny and deprivation."
-- Ronald Reagan
I never understood the
January 28, 2008 - 11:00 ET by Hero SquadI never understood the claim that Bill Clinton was the first black president. If Obama wins the election, is he the second black president, or the first real black president?
I guess you can get away with saying things like that if you're African-American; but if I was black, I'd be somewhat offended by that characterization of my race and culture, no matter who said it.
*****
"People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues." - George Will
You're right
January 28, 2008 - 21:36 ET by GalvanicMorrisons' explanation for her coronation of Clinton was weak.
When Clinton's mother married Mr. Clinton (Slick Willie Blythe's natural father died before he was born ), Clinton grew up solidly middle class. His step-father owned a car dealership, and in addition to owning a home, they had a new car every other year.
Bill Clinton wasn't poor.
While I've never heard a black American other than Morrison describe him as the First Black President, liberal white pundits have loved it and kept it alive for years, often referring to "many people consider Bill Clinton the First Black President." What "many" people?
If
January 28, 2008 - 11:04 ET by cvgbuckeyeIf this had been a Republican who had dubbed Bubba as "The First Black President" there would have been outrage;; due to the fact that this would indicate that the bar is lowered so far for black people, relating to morality and performance, that you would need to dig a hole to get under it.
That statement, "Clinton the first black president" is an insult to ALL people of color.
Right, cvg
January 28, 2008 - 11:43 ET by iveseenitallRight, cvg. "People of color" are insulted by the "liberals" every day of the week. It is always a wonder why "minorities" don't see through them. Their ideas and policies represent all that is anti-American. Unfortunately, their socialist/communist message has been mighty successful in collecting the sheep to follow the corrupt shepards. Just watch 'em scream as B.O. promises them the world. If I were a thinking minority, I'd be insulted too.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
I think the rats are
January 28, 2008 - 11:45 ET by USA4freedomI think the rats are starting to think the U.S.S. Clinton, is sinking.They are trying to jump on what they think is the winning ticket.If Billary was winning you would not hear these people, they would be looking for their invites..
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day
Toni who? Actually just
January 28, 2008 - 12:02 ET by bigtimerToni who?
Actually just kidding...what is funny is that now that the Lyin' of the Senate has spoken all the little followers feel safe now to join the band-wagon.
The Clintons may be doomed...the smartest political couple in the world according to the msm we have had that crammed down our throats for years with this absolute outrageous lie and now it is coming back to bite them all...
The truth shall set you free...
Be wary of Obama and his following though folks, his oratory skills and his speeches are becoming better and better...there may be trouble down the road for us...I would much rather go against Hill than Obama politically speaking...he may get a surge that will not stop.
Bill Clinton's "blackness"
January 28, 2008 - 12:08 ET by mdgilesOdd, I've always been of two minds about Morrison's statement on Clinton. It could be praise. It could also be a sly cut at Clinton in particular, and derogatory stereotypes in general; stating that since Clinton has managed to live down to those stereotypes, perhaps that makes him the "first black president".
Toni didn't...
January 28, 2008 - 13:49 ET by okiehawk44I believe Toni Morrison meant her remark about Clinton (the one who wears the pants in the family -- NO NO the other one) to be more about his "womanizing" ways and his fondness for BBQ than about his work to help blacks. Seriously! BHO is no Billy Clinton and she is paying Barack that compliment through her endorsement today.
LOL!
January 28, 2008 - 14:57 ET by greenfairieToni Morrison, an overrated writer, stabs the first black prez and the Mrs. in the back!
The odd thing is, Obama doesn't look like a fast food guy at all.
changing standards
January 28, 2008 - 17:11 ET by UndercoverConservativegreat, not only to these PC weenies allow the definition of "success" and "passing grades" to beflexible, and to allow people to change what gender they want to be legally recognized as at any given time, now they want racial identity to be totally flexible too?
Does that mean I can get UNCF grants and still be a member of the "great white male conservative right wing conspiracy"?
"to call an illegal immigrant an "undocumented alien" is the same as calling a streetcorner drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".
I have always wondered what
January 28, 2008 - 17:13 ET by R D HelmI have always wondered what J. William Fulbright, mentor of Bill Clinton and staunch segregationist, would have thought about his protege' being named as the "first black president."
Someday, black Americans are finally going to wake up and realize just how destructive the democrat's racist policies have been for them as a people. But that time has not yet come.
I believe that even if Hillary Clinton is the democrat nominee, 90%+ of them will still turn out and vote for the democrat in the GE, as they have been conditioned to do this for nearly half a century now.
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. -J.W. von Goethe