Evidently others feel Obama could be assassinated as well
musicismylife78
Posts: 6,116
I brought this up a few weeks ago and was ASSAILED and called a racist merely for bringing it up. Evidently I am not a kook. It stands to reason. Exactly as I said, a black man running for president is a good thing, but I felt it once I knew he was running. Someone is gonna kill him. its a gut feeling.
Many Blacks Worry About Obama's Safety
By DAVID CRARY, AP
10 hours ago
NEW YORK — For many black Americans, it's a conversation they find hard to avoid, revisiting old fears in the light of bright new hopes.
They watch with wonder as Barack Obama moves ever closer to becoming America's first black president. And they ask themselves, their family, their friends: Is he at risk? Will he be safe?
There is, of course, no sure answer. But interviews with blacks across the country, prominent and otherwise, suggest that lingering worries are outweighed by enthusiasm and determination.
"You can't have lived through the civil rights movement and know something about the history of African-Americans in this country and not be a little concerned," said Edna Medford, a history professor at Washington's Howard University.
"But African-Americans are more concerned that Obama get the opportunity to do the best he can," she added. "And if he wins, most of us believe the country would do for him what it would do for any president, that he will be as well protected as any of them."
Clyde Barrett, 66, a longtime U.S. Labor Department employee now retired in Tampa, Fla., says he often hears expressions of concern for Obama's safety. One young acquaintance, Barrett said, declared he wouldn't even vote for Obama for fear of exposing him to more danger.
"To me that's a cop-out, where you can't take a stand and support someone because you fear for his safety," Barrett said. "I don't have any apprehension ... We've got to go ahead and persevere."
For many older blacks, the barometer for gauging hopes and fears is the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
But concern about Obama's safety transcends racial lines. He has white supporters who see him as an inspiring, youthful advocate of change in the mold of Robert F. Kennedy, and they are mindful of Kennedy's assassination just two months after King's.
Pam Hart, the principal of a multiracial elementary school in the Philadelphia suburb of Cheltenham, said she is struck by the contrast between some of the black students there, innocently excited about Obama's candidacy, and the more anxious perspective of older people who lived through the violence of the 1960s.
"My 70-year-old aunt — every time I call her, she says she's really afraid Obama is going to be assassinated. She is so worried that history will repeat itself," said Hart, who is 40. "I understand why she's afraid, but I feel we live in a different world now."
Bruce Gordon, a New York-based business leader and former president of the NAACP, also feels the climate has changed dramatically — as evidenced by the strong nationwide support that Obama is receiving from whites as well as blacks.
Gordon felt differently back in the mid-1990s, when Gen. Colin Powell was weighing a run for the presidency, and Powell's wife, Alma, was among those voicing concern about his safety.
"When Powell decided not to run, I said to myself, 'Good,' because I thought someone would kill him," Gordon recalled. "This time, I think that if, out of fear, we keep our most talented people from running for office, it will never happen.
"Yes, there's a risk, but I would never want it to be in the way," Gordon added. "In running, Barack Obama has to accept the fact that he faces a risk. And yes, we pray for him."
Obama received Secret Service protection last May — the earliest ever for any presidential candidate. At the time, federal officials said they were not aware of any direct threats to Obama, but Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin — who was among those recommending the Secret Service deployment — acknowledged receiving information, some with racial overtones, that made him concerned for Obama's safety.
Obama's campaign, invited this week to comment on the concerns felt by many blacks, referred to a speech given by the candidate's wife, Michelle, to a mostly black audience in South Carolina last fall.
"I know people care about Barack and our family. I know people want to protect us and themselves from disappointment," she said, before urging people to cast fear aside.
"If you're willing to heed Coretta Scott King's words and not be afraid of the future ... there's no challenge we can't overcome," she said.
Obama himself, while acknowledging that his family and friends are concerned about his safety, has drawn a contrast with King.
"He didn't have Secret Service protection," Obama told TV host Tavis Smiley last fall. "I can't even comprehend the degree of courage that was required, and look what he did."
Sherry Miles, 45, of Madison Heights, Va., said she's had sobering talks about Obama's safety with her friends and her mother.
"People who want to bring drastic change bring a certain fear among those who don't want change," Miles said. "You look back at our history, and all of the people who tried to bring about change were killed or threatened."
Miles, who works for Virginia's Department of Mental Health, said she was troubled listening to a recent local radio show in which one female caller termed Obama "the devil" and falsely asserted that he was Muslim.
"It's ill-informed people like her who concern me," Miles said. "I'm very pleased that Obama is there, doing so well. But at the same time I'm fearful someone will try to hurt him."
Bryan Monroe, Chicago-based editorial director for Ebony magazine, said the risk faced by Obama "is in the back of people's minds," but that their worries are often superseded by excitement that he could win. Their No. 1 question, Monroe says, "is could this really happen in our lifetime?"
Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich, a former executive director of the Black Leadership Forum, noted that political leaders of any race face risks in a society where mass shootings and other violence by aggrieved or deranged assailants is all too common.
It is troubling, she said, to acknowledge such dangers at the very moment when Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are demonstrating the historic opportunities available to blacks and women.
"We cannot be crippled by fear. That's the overwhelming emotion in the African-American community," Scruggs-Leftwich said. "We have to do the American thing: We buckle up and keep going."
Many Blacks Worry About Obama's Safety
By DAVID CRARY, AP
10 hours ago
NEW YORK — For many black Americans, it's a conversation they find hard to avoid, revisiting old fears in the light of bright new hopes.
They watch with wonder as Barack Obama moves ever closer to becoming America's first black president. And they ask themselves, their family, their friends: Is he at risk? Will he be safe?
There is, of course, no sure answer. But interviews with blacks across the country, prominent and otherwise, suggest that lingering worries are outweighed by enthusiasm and determination.
"You can't have lived through the civil rights movement and know something about the history of African-Americans in this country and not be a little concerned," said Edna Medford, a history professor at Washington's Howard University.
"But African-Americans are more concerned that Obama get the opportunity to do the best he can," she added. "And if he wins, most of us believe the country would do for him what it would do for any president, that he will be as well protected as any of them."
Clyde Barrett, 66, a longtime U.S. Labor Department employee now retired in Tampa, Fla., says he often hears expressions of concern for Obama's safety. One young acquaintance, Barrett said, declared he wouldn't even vote for Obama for fear of exposing him to more danger.
"To me that's a cop-out, where you can't take a stand and support someone because you fear for his safety," Barrett said. "I don't have any apprehension ... We've got to go ahead and persevere."
For many older blacks, the barometer for gauging hopes and fears is the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
But concern about Obama's safety transcends racial lines. He has white supporters who see him as an inspiring, youthful advocate of change in the mold of Robert F. Kennedy, and they are mindful of Kennedy's assassination just two months after King's.
Pam Hart, the principal of a multiracial elementary school in the Philadelphia suburb of Cheltenham, said she is struck by the contrast between some of the black students there, innocently excited about Obama's candidacy, and the more anxious perspective of older people who lived through the violence of the 1960s.
"My 70-year-old aunt — every time I call her, she says she's really afraid Obama is going to be assassinated. She is so worried that history will repeat itself," said Hart, who is 40. "I understand why she's afraid, but I feel we live in a different world now."
Bruce Gordon, a New York-based business leader and former president of the NAACP, also feels the climate has changed dramatically — as evidenced by the strong nationwide support that Obama is receiving from whites as well as blacks.
Gordon felt differently back in the mid-1990s, when Gen. Colin Powell was weighing a run for the presidency, and Powell's wife, Alma, was among those voicing concern about his safety.
"When Powell decided not to run, I said to myself, 'Good,' because I thought someone would kill him," Gordon recalled. "This time, I think that if, out of fear, we keep our most talented people from running for office, it will never happen.
"Yes, there's a risk, but I would never want it to be in the way," Gordon added. "In running, Barack Obama has to accept the fact that he faces a risk. And yes, we pray for him."
Obama received Secret Service protection last May — the earliest ever for any presidential candidate. At the time, federal officials said they were not aware of any direct threats to Obama, but Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin — who was among those recommending the Secret Service deployment — acknowledged receiving information, some with racial overtones, that made him concerned for Obama's safety.
Obama's campaign, invited this week to comment on the concerns felt by many blacks, referred to a speech given by the candidate's wife, Michelle, to a mostly black audience in South Carolina last fall.
"I know people care about Barack and our family. I know people want to protect us and themselves from disappointment," she said, before urging people to cast fear aside.
"If you're willing to heed Coretta Scott King's words and not be afraid of the future ... there's no challenge we can't overcome," she said.
Obama himself, while acknowledging that his family and friends are concerned about his safety, has drawn a contrast with King.
"He didn't have Secret Service protection," Obama told TV host Tavis Smiley last fall. "I can't even comprehend the degree of courage that was required, and look what he did."
Sherry Miles, 45, of Madison Heights, Va., said she's had sobering talks about Obama's safety with her friends and her mother.
"People who want to bring drastic change bring a certain fear among those who don't want change," Miles said. "You look back at our history, and all of the people who tried to bring about change were killed or threatened."
Miles, who works for Virginia's Department of Mental Health, said she was troubled listening to a recent local radio show in which one female caller termed Obama "the devil" and falsely asserted that he was Muslim.
"It's ill-informed people like her who concern me," Miles said. "I'm very pleased that Obama is there, doing so well. But at the same time I'm fearful someone will try to hurt him."
Bryan Monroe, Chicago-based editorial director for Ebony magazine, said the risk faced by Obama "is in the back of people's minds," but that their worries are often superseded by excitement that he could win. Their No. 1 question, Monroe says, "is could this really happen in our lifetime?"
Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich, a former executive director of the Black Leadership Forum, noted that political leaders of any race face risks in a society where mass shootings and other violence by aggrieved or deranged assailants is all too common.
It is troubling, she said, to acknowledge such dangers at the very moment when Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are demonstrating the historic opportunities available to blacks and women.
"We cannot be crippled by fear. That's the overwhelming emotion in the African-American community," Scruggs-Leftwich said. "We have to do the American thing: We buckle up and keep going."
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Comments
you always speak your mind. i love it.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
instead of discussing the merits of the article, NOT WRITTEN BY ME, people are again assailing me.
its funny, people would rather talk about mindless crap, than talk about something like this. Its sad and I wish it wasnt reality. but its reality folks. Calling me names aint gonna change it.
its just hilarious how you all act. I am called names and verbally assaulted for bringing this up initially. I am called a racist, which if you knew me, is the exact opposite of me. People were up in arms that I even brought it up. it was like I was saying Mars was gonna invade the U.S.
Then when an actual article from the AP appears that shows quite a few other people feel the same way as me,
you all respond not by talking about how racist our COUNTRY is to even make people think he was gonna be assassinated but that I am a jerk and idiot for even bringing it up
Wow. As I said case in point.
so to wonder how Obama will fare is fair game. If I was calling for him to be killed, that would be off base, I am not. I am merely stating the obvious.
Obama is the first black male who has a realitistic shot at the presidency. it now looks like he will be the nominee.
His being the nominee aint gonna please some people. The presidency is an exclusive club. I dont think I need to point out to you all the obvious, the skin color of our previous presidents, and how barak is at odds with that.
Ruby?
Like, Jack Ruby?
The guy who said "everything pertaining to whats happening will never come to the surface. The world will never know the true facts of what occured, my motives. The people who had so much to gain, and had such a peculiar motive to put me in the position i'm in, will never let the true facts of what happened become known to the world. and said "yes" when asked, "are these people in positions of high power, Jack?".
Jack Ruby who, in the process of being moved from one jail to the next, directly implicates acting President, Lyndon B. Johnson, as being responsible for the murder of JFK? "The answer is the man in office now." Hmm.
Jack Ruby, the guy who is linked through witness testimony to the Mob ...who, by public record, was in the service of then statesmen Richard Nixon in the 40s?
Cause i don't know what Ruby you are talking about.
This Ruby?
If I opened it now would you not understand?
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
as I said, its different if its just loony radiohead spouting my beliefs.
if you believe the article there are many who believe he will be assassinated
so then youd have to believe we ALL have a vendetta.
Drifting by the storm, create another conspiracy post for that scenario
Hey man, i'm with ya.
I think the powers that be could be feeling out the waters on an assassination of Obama.
Trying to figure out a way to make the public accepting of lax security at his events, maybe.
I dunno.
Or, once again, our government is just totaly incompetent and willing to let presidential nominee get the bullet just because they were too lazy and slow to search all the attendees at the rally.
Funny how i always go through security to a Pearl Jam concert, but they can't manage one for an Obama rally.
Call me crazy, but aren't more people in attendance at a PJ concert? I know they aren't as big as jesus and all ... but still.
If I opened it now would you not understand?
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
If Obama is anything like he claims he is ... some radical change ... the Secret Service will more likely decide convienently that the bullet top is not a prudent saftey precaution ... somewhate similar to their decision with JFK.
If I opened it now would you not understand?
...and every other president apparently. I can't think of one who actually has ridden around in a bullet top in the US. In fact, I'm pretty sure they typically don't. So, I don't see how it's reasonable to say that the Secret Service intentionally kept JFK from parading under cover of plexi-glass being that there's no reason why they would have in the first place.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
Could you elaborate on why it's fucking stupid?
I mean, I guess I'm just fucking stupid. But I would love to hear your point of view other than your "someone always wants to kill the president, no matter what color they are" theory.
Fact is, there's never been an American president other than white.
You don't see the significance?
Realistically speaking, the fact neither George W Bush Jr. or Dick Cheney were assassinated; tells you something about the way the deck is stacked in this country.
If there was ever a president that has done more harm to the people of his country (than good), done enormous damage to the safety of Americans both at home and abroad and severely destroyed the lives of hard-working middle-class to lower-class people; it has been the Cheney/Bush Jr. tenure.
I suspect if Bush and Cheney's were the type that focused on reducing and eliminating big corporate influence on our government, laws and society; then both would have taken a few bullets within the first two years.
im kinda curious what the exact opposite of a racist would be. jungle fever or something?
anyway, if you feel the need for vindication, i did pop into the record shop the other day and hear a black dude in very heated debate with the guy working there about how he figured obama would get assassinated if elected. i still dont believe it's as real a threat as some seem to relish saying, but people apparently are talking about it.
This is how I felt about Benazir Bhutto before she got assassinated. She was so popular and I knew she'd be a target, and she was.
I hope you're wrong though!
---
London, Brixton, 14 July 1993
London, Wembley, 1996
London, Wembley, 18 June 2007
London, O2, 18 August 2009
London, Hammersmith Apollo (Ed solo), 31 July 2012
Milton Keynes Bowl, 11 July 2014
Hispanics have just as much -if not more- political clout here as the whites. They occupy a significant portion of all levels of government. Bustamante and Arriana Huffington almost gave the Governator with his unbeatable star power a run for his money during the recall election.
And with Obama in the white house, they will have to contend with the notion that the first non-white to take office was not hispanic.
Over the years, the whites in California have had to learn hand over fist to keep an open mind as minorities streamed across the border and made the state their new home and the home of their families and offspring.
Meanwhile, those same minorities brought with them the views and cultural flavors of their native lands, which included an aire of xenophobic sentiments from which they appear reluctant to progress.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
i think this comment pretty much sums up the issue and also explains why race is still an issue in american politics. i think americans today tend to forget just how recently it was that blacks got the actual ability to vote. there were race riots all through thr 60's... 40 years ago. it's easy for white to bitch about minority whining and say "hey, look, we stopped ok? let it go." but it's not that simple. the older generation of blacks remember that second class citizenship very clearly and i don't blame them for being skeptical. then there were reagan's policies in the 80s that left blacks to rot in the ghettos. i wouldn't trust the white man either if i was in their shoes.
the good news is, i DO think that is largely behind us. the young black kids are excited about obama and most young white kids listen to hip hop and really don't seem to care much about race anymore. not that it isn't still there, but the commonalities are outweighing the differences. as the boomers pass on, i think a lot of this will just fade away. but it's a long process and it takes time and patience. but i am convinced that in a few decades the debate is going to be much more about class than race.
which is why im willing to accept that people are worried about obama, but i don't think he really has anything to fear.
Peace
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
In the past 45 years there has been one successful assassination(Kennedy), one almost successful (Reagan), and one stopped close (Ford). So to say there won't be any assassination attempt like it is an inconceivable possibility is not recognizing our not so distant history. Doesn't matter who the President is though. They are always a target for some nut job. It isn't a good argument to not vote for Obama but people are thinking about it.
And they are all idiots...
Well you are wrong... the reason Hillary won California is because of the early voting. Almost half the people voted weeks before they gave Obama a chance. Hold that election today and he wins...
You may have recently decided to switch camps, but that doesn't mean Californians are just as easily confused.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Super_Tuesday_Hillary_wins_California_New_York_vote/articleshow/2760789.cms
So it just so happens that asians and hispanics need more time to make up their minds?
The more you post to this thread, the clearer it becomes as to whose opinion is really deserving of that term.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
Switch camps? WTF are you talking about? BTW I was born and raised in the bay area and have been supporting Obama since last year.
Times of India is you source on the US primaries? awesome :rolleyes:...
Need more time to make up their minds? Again WTF are you talking about? If you are going to vote early and it's Clinton and Obama on the ballot and you dont know who Obama is or what he really stands for then you vote for the name you know. Clinton... she had the overwhelming majority of the early voting in California, AND if you pulled your head out of your ass long enough to watch exit polling the only group Hillary has the greater support in is old poor white women...
Anyone can die in a car crash at any second or die of a heart attack.
You can't live your life in fear, he shouldn't either.