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Whoopi Goldberg | 08/28/2008 5:00 pm

Whoopi Goldberg on Barack Obama's Nomination

Whoopi Goldberg
Tonight, of course, is Barack Obama accepting his place in history as the first African American nominee. I think it’s very interesting that the other side has sort of been saying, "Oh, he’s such a rock star." Of course, he’s in a giant stadium with pillars that look like they come directly out of antebellum — the antebellum south you look at where he’s going to be talking. In a funny way it looks like the opening of "Gone With the Wind," but the Republicans sort of equate this with a rock star’s status. This is a status that they actually applied to Ronald Regan. Remember, he’s the great orator. He could mesmerize crowds and of course we’ve placed this directly in our own hands, in our own laps, because we don’t want a president who doesn’t have that feel. Because we want people to come out of the woodwork wherever our president goes, and here’s what he has to say. We want him to be good-looking. We want him to be articulate.

They were all over Obama today because, if he’s not on the teleprompter, he’s not as smooth. Well, my gosh, if I’m not up on a teleprompter on "The View" I’m not as smooth. No one is as smooth as they are with a teleprompter, so let’s hope John McCain adapts to that teleprompter, because he could use some help. It’s a shame no one ever said to George W., "Hey, man. Try a teleprompter or something."

I’m listening to all of this and I’ve seen some of the attack ads that are coming out and I am wondering if the Democratic attack ads are going to be the same as the Republican attack ads, showing  the various other people who ran for president, talking about the person who gets the nomination, which we’re assuming is going to be John McCain on the Republican side. Can you imagine — all the talking heads like Rudy Giuliani talking about John McCain, how he’s not a real republican, and all these other guys who were running around, talking about how John is not a real Republican? And he doesn’t hold the Republican values? This is going to be a riot.

It’s a kissy-face-fest whenever you do the conventions so, of course, the Clintons have gotten on board and they took care of business last night. I thought Bill was extraordinary and Hillary was extraordinary. I have to say, I tip my hat to Hillary Clinton because one of the things that didn’t happen during the campaigns –because no one really stopped and said out loud, "Is this a little femophobic?" (That’s what I call it when people go after you because of your gender.) They couldn’t go after Barack for his color because, my goodness, that would have totally rocked the boat, so everybody felt free to go after Hillary for her gender and no one really talked about it. They talked about it a little at the end of her campaign but not a whole lot, but I think she pulled it together and it will be interesting to see if people can tell the truth — why they’re afraid of Barack Obama.

Are they afraid because they think, "Oh, my goodness. I’ve seen black men in rap videos and how do I know he’s not going to turn into that?" I know that sounds silly but I’ve heard stranger things. I’ve heard John McCain say he’s not like us. Well, I don’t know how he’s different except that he’s black. And of course some of his ideas were the same as Barack’s ideas, but John has changed his mind on things like choice. At one point he thought it was a woman’s right to choose what she was going to do. He personally didn’t feel that it was a decision that he should be making. He thought a woman should have the right to choose. Of course, now he’s changed all of that. He once thought that illegal immigrants should be dealt with with dignity and clarity and figure out a way to make it work for everybody, but no more. He’s taken up that other banner. I guess he’s going to start building a up a new wall. It will be interesting to see how tonight goes and what the future brings.

179 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Mugsy Peabody
My father (from Kentucky) used to say the only way race would ever NOT be an issue in America, considering how bone-shattering mean and ignorant people could be, was for everyone to “mongrelize” — which was the term in those days, offensive as it is — so that nobody could even tell what anyone else was, and then maybe people would look to the eyes and see to the soul. I notice in the Bay Area, nearly every high school these days has one or more mixed-race young people elected the Prom King/Queen. Of course in the Bay Area, we also interpret the term “queen” loosely, so yes we’ve had gay couples as well.
By Mugsy Peabody on 08/29/2008 5:43 pm
Linda LL
You know, Mugsy, i remember thinking about that when i was younger. That we’d all end up blended together and maybe that would solve some problems. One thing I’m learning is also with all the different cultures this country is becoming a stew or a salad…. we’re not really melting together just gathering together. In a way that is good, i like the diversity of culture and i think the diversity itself could someday teach more tolerance. It just pains me to see so many people hanging on to old prejudices even if they are sometimes subconcious. But i look around and the men are still in charge….the white men. But with each new generation there is some progress..my own family is quite a stew itself, many colors mixed up together, learning about each other. I am optimistic,but impatient.
By Linda LL on 08/30/2008 3:44 am
kim speight
You are toooo right… Ewwwwwwwww!
By kim speight on 08/28/2008 6:09 pm
James the Game
But it’ll only be remembered properly, if Obama wins.
By James the Game on 08/28/2008 4:38 pm
EKA -
Whoopie, When is the View coming back ? There are just too many hot topics these days ! About the set… This is the 45th anniversary of the “I have a Dream ” speech which was given at the Lincoln Memorial. The columns on the set are replicas of that. They art NOT ante-bellum, or from the accropilis ( the Repubs favorite ridicule ) It is an historic night for our country, something that is way overdue but should make us proud. Even John McCain has released a new ad praising the historic nature of what happened and congratulating Obama. A pretty nice pause before getting back to the nastiness.
By EKA - on 08/28/2008 4:41 pm
Mo C.
Oh Whoppi, how I have missed your voice this week! Thank you for your post!!! To Mugsy—did he really call his wife the c-word? When, where? I thought it was bad enough when he put her into “nomination” at Sturgis for the topless beauty pageant a few weeks back. If Barack had done that the media would not have stopped showing that clip. The only place you saw it was on Keith Olbermann’s show on MSNBC. Whoops, can’t wait to see you on Monday—tell it like it is!!! You speak for so many of us women!
By Mo C. on 08/28/2008 4:50 pm
Diana T
Mo C, In case you don’t know what McCain said, here is a article on it. I guess you are aware of his reputation with anger management. http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/001012.htm
By Diana T on 08/28/2008 10:35 pm
DeBúrca obj
Whoopi, I’m with you 100% except for the part about wishing someone would tell W, “Hey, man. Try a teleprompter or something.” Believe me, it may not sound like he’s using a teleprompter (because he is so bad at speaking and I suspect READING) but he is with every speech. Haven’t you notice how you can tell when the telepromter either stops or shuts off and he just stares blankly until the words come back?! He does nothing, no attempt to ad-lib, he just stares and blinks! As for everything else you said, I agree and would like to add that Obama chose the huge stadium because he wanted to honor his pledge to his supporters that we are partners with him in the campaign. And if I’m not mistaken, John F. Kennedy did so in 1960, when he drew a crowd of 100,000 at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. No matter what Obama does he draws criticism, especially from the McCain campaign, which is spinning it to mean Obama is ‘grandstanding’ partially because they have nothing else to run on that is positive so tearing Obama down is their only option and partially because everyone knows their candidate couldn’t fill a stadium if he tried. So I give Barack Obama credit for not worrying about the critics and following his own judgement which has gotten him this far quite well.
By DeBúrca obj on 08/28/2008 4:57 pm
Sherrie Crews
it will be interesting to see if people can tell the truth — why they’re afraid of Barack Obama. ” That’ll never happen Whoopi. Have you read much of the PUMA propaganda? They were Hillary supporters but they’d rather slap her in the face by saying they’re voting for a misogynistic, flip-flopping(lying) neocon out of loyalty to her than admit they’d rather vote for McCain than a black man.
By Sherrie Crews on 08/28/2008 4:57 pm
mary lou s
sherrie, if that is what a puma is, they need to go extinct. this country needs, person by person, to face its racism and sexism and change.
By mary lou s on 08/28/2008 8:53 pm
Helen King
Whoppie, I hate to disappoint you, but must clarify the fact that Barak Obama is NOT AFRICAN AMERICAN! You say,”Barack Obama accepting his place in history as the first African American nominee”…WRONG! He is 50% CAUCASIAN, (though you never hear him brag about that!), 43.75 ARABIC, AND ONLY 6.25% AFRICAN NEGRO…..NOT AFRICAN AMERICAN. HIS AFRICAN HERITAGE COMES FROM ARABIC SLAVE TRADERS IN AFRICA. THE FACT THAT HE IS PRESENTING HIMSELF IN THIS WAY IS DECEITFUL AND WRONG! It will catch up with him. Helen Chapman King
By Helen King on 08/28/2008 4:58 pm
Frank Peterson
Ms King : he’s first and foremost a human being; secondly he’s an American and a darn fine one at that; thirdly, he a Heinz 57 like the rest of humanity—so what’s your point?
By Frank Peterson on 08/28/2008 5:22 pm
rocky rocky
Helen Chapman King: What qualifies you to analyze or discuss anyone’s genetic makeup? And, since when is “Arabic” a “race”? The word “Arabic” refers to a Semitic language spoken in the Middle East and North Africa. Also, classifying human beings by “race” (caucasoid, mongoloid, and negroid, for your information) is no longer used by educated people today because it is not only irrelevant, it is inaccurate. Perhaps you’ve visited the wrong website?
By rocky rocky on 08/28/2008 5:40 pm
Frank Peterson
Good Rocky! well said!
By Frank Peterson on 08/28/2008 6:54 pm
No Way-No How -No McCain
Rocky the Champ!
By No Way-No How -No McCain on 08/28/2008 7:56 pm