Obama in ‘02: “Shame S. Court Didn’t Seek Redistribution of Wealth”

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If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court. I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed people, so that now I would have the right to vote. I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I’d be o.k. But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tenancy to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that.

So you have Obama talking about wealth redistribution six years ago. He hasn’t been shy about his desire to spread the wealth around. If these bits of news were uncovered during the primaries I don’t think Obama would be where he is today. Instead of Hillary we now have a Marxist running for president who may not even be an American citizen.

Meanwhile Biden is still whining about the great interview Barbara West gave him.

“I know this has been a pretty mean campaign. I was on a television station the other day and doing a satellite feed to a major network in Florida. And the anchor quotes Karl Marx and says in a sense, isn’t Barack Obama Karl Marx? You know, I mean, folks, this stuff you’re hearing — this stuff you’re hearing in this campaign, some of it is pretty ugly and some of the innuendo is pretty ugly.”

He goes on to ask McCain to stop the negative–truthful–attacks. “The only way they can win is to divide us.” That coming from a man taking part in the most liberal campaign in history and pushing the most socialist programs in our history. Yeah, you know a lot about division. To let those old ways go he also says. You know, the ‘tell the truth and take no prisoners’ ways. The ways that say that politicians must be held accountable for their past. And, of course, that old way of respecting and following the constitution.

Negative attacks suck but they are effective. Barack Obama doesn’t want to address the negative attacks and neither does Biden. The reason is because the attacks are legitimate. Why did Barbara ask if Obama was a Marxist? Because Obama himself said he is intrigued by his teachings and his policies are very socialist. Doesn’t that make him look like a Marxist? Instead of real replies he says “only right wingers think that.” That’s not an answer and that’s not dealing with the original problem that inspired the attack ad.

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Tags: Barack Obama Joe Biden Marxism Socialism Wealth Redistribution