At Saddleback Forum Obama Revealed Bigotry Towards Clarence Thomas

I'm surprised he didn't get in a dig at Condoleezza Rice while he was at it!

Plus: If Obama felt McCain had an unfair advantage, how about a rematch?

Why is it that a black man running for the highest office in the land as a Democrat is considered qualified by the left when a clearly qualified black man or woman who happens to be Republican is not only considered not qualified, but often vilified. You don't have to look much further than the slurs against Condi Rice as Aunt Jemima, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as a lawn jockey or former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele as an "Oreo cookie" for examples.

But when Senator Barack Obama was asked at the Saddleback Forum on Saturday which Supreme Court Justice he would NOT have nominated he almost tripped himself up on the answer:

Obama: "um, uh, I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. Uh, I don't think that he uh, uh, ah, uh, I, I, don't think that he was an exp...[experienced] uh, a strong enough jurist or legal thinker uh, at the time..."

Good grief! And the left makes fun of the way President Bush talks? But put that aside for a moment. Isn't it more revealing that Obama caught himself in mid word before saying Clarence Thomas wasn't "experienced" enough to be elevated to the high court? This from the Chicago community organizer and a very junior senator who is running for President?

The Wall Street Journal contrasts it this way:

So let's see. By the time he was nominated, Clarence Thomas had worked in the Missouri Attorney General's office, served as an Assistant Secretary of Education, run the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and sat for a year on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation's second most prominent court. Since his "elevation" to the High Court in 1991, he has also shown himself to be a principled and scholarly jurist.

Meanwhile, as he bids to be America's Commander in Chief, Mr. Obama isn't yet four years out of the Illinois state Senate, has never held a hearing of note of his U.S. Senate subcommittee, and had an unremarkable record as both a "community organizer" and law school lecturer. Justice Thomas's judicial credentials compare favorably to Mr. Obama's Presidential résumé by any measure. And when it comes to rising from difficult circumstances, Justice Thomas's rural Georgian upbringing makes Mr. Obama's story look like easy street.

But perhaps what Obama really meant is that he disagreed with what Justice Thomas has done after arriving at the Court. National Review's Kathryn Lopez wondered about that too...

Was it that Barack Obama didn’t like Justice Thomas’s vote on the recent child-rapist case, Kennedy v. Louisiana? No, that couldn’t be it. Barack Obama agreed with Thomas on that decision. Justice Ginsburg, meanwhile — a liberal favorite on the Court, whom John McCain listed as one of his least favorite justices during the same forum — opposed giving child rapists the death penalty. So what’s so wrong about Thomas and so right about, say, Ginsberg, Senator Obama? Explain the logic. He can’t, of course, and still win an election — which is why he agreed with Thomas.

Was it that Barack Obama didn’t like Justice Thomas’s vote on the recent D.C. gun-ban case? Nope; that couldn’t be it either. Barack Obama wound up ultimately agreeing with Thomas and the majority on that one too.

Justice Ginsburg, on the other hand, had issues with the Second Amendment in that case. But you would nominate Justice Ginsburg, Senator Obama?

Did Obama disagree with Justice Thomas on the recent cross-burning case, Virginia v. Black? Obama’s favorite justice, Justice Ginsburg, wrote that cross-burning bans are constitutionally suspect. Justice Thomas disagreed and wrote a passionate dissent.

Obama can't be in favor of cross burning can he? Only the American flag should be burned right?

Obama Campaign Whines McCain Cheated?

Everyone who saw even a snippet of the Saddleback Forum knows that McCain won hands down. Here, Curt lists some of the other Obama blunders that those in the know have been talking about.

The clearest sign that the Obama campaign realized how damaging his performance was came as they spread the rumor that McCain must have cheated, since Obama went first in the debate and McCain hadn't been tied down by Secret Service agents holding pillows over his ears so he couldn't hear the questions. The Obamatons succeeded in getting this rumor enough traction that Andrea Mitchell of NBC News was willing to put it out on Meet the Press Sunday.

Andrea's comment that McCain "seemed so well prepared" should have been a compliment but instead was an accusation on the basis of a smear by the Obama campaign.

Saturday You Saw the Real John McCain

John McCain was "well prepared" for this event because he's been answering these questions for years on the campaign trail and he's prepared to give his "straight talk" to the questioner whether he believes the audience will agree with him or not. I got a similar treatment up close and personal when John McCain visited Mike's America last November. You might not always agree with McCain, but you know where he stands.

By contrast, you could literally watch Obama's mind work as he tried to choose just the right words to say in this particular situation. I doubt many who viewed this performance felt they were getting what Obama really believed, but instead, what he thought he needed to say to score points with the audience.

Is that a quality you want in a Commander in Chief who has no other relevant experience for the job?

How About a Rematch?

Commentator Bill Kristol had an interesting suggestion. If Obama really felt that McCain might have cheated, or that he, Obama, didn't do as well as he might have liked, then why not have a rematch?

After all, Obama did say on May 16 of this year that he would debate John McCain "anytime, anywhere." It can't be that Obama is afraid to debate John McCain?

Uh, ah, I, I, uh, well, you see, uh.....