Wayne Allyn Root's Million-Dollar Challenge

The Libertarian VP candidate wants Barack Obama to release his grades

Matt Welch | September 5, 2008

Last week, just before Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) big speech, Tim Cavanaugh and I attended a small fundraiser for Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee Wayne Allyn Root. The chatty Vegas sports bettor, memorably profiled by David Weigel two months back, was in a mind to talk about a fellow classmate of his at Columbia University back in the early 1980s, a guy by the name of Barack Obama.

Root is no fan of the Democratic nominee: "A vote for Obama is four years of Karl Marx, and no one should be happy about that," he told us and a few genial young libertarian activists over cocktails. "He's a communist! I don't care what anybody says. The guy's a communist.... And his mother was a card-carrying communist, and he says she's the most important person in his entire life; he learned everything from her."

But the thing Root really wanted to talk about was Obama's grades. Specifically, he was willing to bet a million dollars that he earned a better grade point average at Columbia than his old classmate, and that the only reason Obama went on to Harvard Law School was the color of his skin.

Some excerpts from the conversation:

Matt Welch: So tell us what we should know about Barack Obama that we don't?

Wayne Allyn Root: I think the most dangerous thing you should know about Barack Obama is that I don't know a single person at Columbia that knows him, and they all know me. I don't have a classmate who ever knew Barack Obama at Columbia. Ever!

Welch: Yeah, but you were like selling, you know, Amway in college or something, weren't you?

Root: Is that what you think of me! And the best damned Amway salesman ever!

Welch: No, I'm sure that you were an outgoing young man, I'm just guessing.

Root: I am! That's my point. Where was Obama? He wasn't an outgoing young man, no one ever heard of him.

Tim Cavanaugh: Maybe he was a late bloomer.

Root: Maybe. Or maybe he was involved in some sort of black radical politics.

Welch: Ooooooooooh.

Root: Maybe he was too busy smoking pot in his dorm room to ever show up for class. I don't know what he was doing!

Welch: Wait, you weren't smoking pot in your dorm room?

Comments

|9.5.08 @ 12:02PM|#

"I'll put a million dollars cash on the fact...that my GPA was better than Barack's."

Well sure it was. He was a big dope fiend back then remember. He's better now. All clean and articulate.

|9.5.08 @ 12:06PM|#

I didn't know madrassas had grade point averages. Learn something new everyday.

|9.5.08 @ 12:07PM|#

I'll put a cool million on the fact that his GPA was better than mine, too.

|9.5.08 @ 12:16PM|#

Wow, Wayne Allen Root is an asshole.

'Or maybe he was involved in Black Radical politics."

Or maybe you're an asshole.

|6.22.10 @ 2:26AM|#

Today is 6-21-2010: To take your comment to the next logical level, maybe Wayne Allen Root was/is right.

Michael|9.5.08 @ 12:18PM|#

This is the Libertarians' VP candidate? Are you fucking serious?

Everyone should just finally accept the fact that the LP is nothing more than a message party much in the way that someone like Alan Keyes is a message candidate.

Does anyone doubt that possibly Barack could have gotten into Harvard with a C average because he's black, where as I, white, couldn't get into the same school with a B-plus, A-minus average?

Courting the black vote much? I can count all the black Libertarians I've ever met on both hands with my fists clenched. That's probably not about to change anytime soon.

Travis|9.5.08 @ 12:21PM|#

"Wow, Wayne Allen Root is an asshole."

I couldn't agree more Joe.

|9.5.08 @ 12:22PM|#

Ok, just read the article. Fun stuff. Can they lock him up in a poker room in Vegas for the campaign?

For some reason as I read his lines, I pictured him talking like Michael Palin as Kurt Vilb in the "Scott of the Antarctic" sketch:

"WHAAAT?!? I gotta fight the li-on. It's what this guy Scott's all about! I know, I studied him already!"

|9.5.08 @ 12:23PM|#

He was smoking dope with his black friends when I was selling Amway.

Freak.

guy in the back row|9.5.08 @ 12:25PM|#

Doesn't everyone say that the A and B students end up working for the C students?

Maybe you want a 2.5 in college?

Rhywun|9.5.08 @ 12:26PM|#

Is this supposed to be funny or is Mr. Root just being an asshole?

|9.5.08 @ 12:32PM|#

That was an ugly interview.
What a flaming blowhard. Asshole even.

|9.5.08 @ 12:35PM|#

I read the other comments and find myself in agreement with joe. Just goes to show that even joe finds an acorn once in awhile. ;-)

Mad Max|9.5.08 @ 12:35PM|#

Why can't Root get laryngitis - an advanced form of laryngitis which stops him from speaking, blogging or communicating in any way. He can heal after the election.

"For some reason as I read his lines, I pictured him talking like Michael Palin as Kurt Vilb in the "Scott of the Antarctic" sketch"

Not another Palin thread!

|9.5.08 @ 12:37PM|#

C'mon guys-some of you have drawn those circles and passed out those tapes to friends and family. I admit that I did and I sucked.

Dagny T.|9.5.08 @ 12:39PM|#

Way to dispel stereotype of the tinfoil hat-wearing rube, Mr. Root. He forgot to mention the Bilderberg Group. Or maybe he's just saving his really good stuff for Meet the Press.

The whole interview, I was hearing Fred Flintstone going "Betbetbetbetbet."

Chamomiles Davis|9.5.08 @ 12:40PM|#

God, another hyperactive loudmouth with a case of AngryWhiteGuyitis.

*Sigh* Maybe I just won't vote this year.

|9.5.08 @ 12:42PM|#

I'm glad to discover it's not just me.

Whatever you think about affirmative action, that man was being an asshole.

Not another Palin thread! Winnah!

|9.5.08 @ 12:46PM|#

What the fuck is this? The Libertarian VP candidate is now trying to spread more stupid rumors? Bob Barr is out suing churches and pandering to angry Republicans while ignoring libertarians, and now Root is buying into the stupid whisper campaign against Obama?

Is it any wonder why they haven't been able to catch on like Ron Paul? Give us something to support, Barr and Root, and we will. If you keep this bullshit up, you'll cause more harm than good to real libertarians. You guys lost my vote when you tried to sue the church, and these kinds of shenanigans will only cause you to lose more.

|9.5.08 @ 12:48PM|#

Hmmm, I didn't think his comments were "assholeian". I was thinking, yeah, he's probably right. It doesn't mean anything but his probably right. The only thing good grades prove is that you were good at getting good grades. They aren't really a good tool at predicting future performance.

matt2|9.5.08 @ 12:48PM|#

Does it really matter? Being Ivy grads, they're both intellectually inferior.

In any event, working towards a higher GPA at an Ivy is basically polishing a turd.

|9.5.08 @ 12:49PM|#

Not another Palin thread!

Oh noes, I did it!

SIV|9.5.08 @ 12:50PM|#

So is he going after the former Ron Paul's How to Survive the Coming Race War Report
subscribers ?

|9.5.08 @ 12:52PM|#

Is it any wonder why they haven't been able to catch on like Ron Paul?

Good point. Ron Paul ran with class. He campaigned in a way that didn't embarrass his supporters.

Seitz|9.5.08 @ 12:54PM|#

"I'll put a million dollars cash on the fact...that my GPA was better than Barack's."

What Root apparently doesn't realize is that there are more important things when it comes to getting into law schools than GPA and where it came from. I'm not suggesting that affirmative action didn't play a part in his acceptance, and I'm not sure of Root's background.

But if you look at Obama's record, he took like five or six years off between Columbia and Harvard. Law schools love that shit. They love students that take time off to work before going back to school. And he did work that looks impressive to admissions boards. That counts a lot.

Second, we don't know what his LSAT score was. Root says his was good, not great. Why doesn't ask for Obama's LSATs? If Obama was in the top 1-2%, and had Root's GPA, he could probably get into a top law school.

Hell, I'm a white dude who had sub 3.00 GPA (thanks to those bastards at Law Services - long story) from UC Riverside, but took three years off between undergrad and law school and worked at a freaking golf course. Paired that with a 95th percentile LSAT and got into a top 20 law school. If you test well and take time off, your GPA becomes a lot less relevant. Obama probably had MUCH better grades than me, a degree from an Ivy League, and five+ years of not only real world work experience, but public interest experience as well. Again, not saying race definitely wasn't a factor, but take all those things into account, and it's increasingly less likely that it was.

|6.22.10 @ 2:34AM|#

Well, then, Obama should just impress the hell out of Wayne A. Root, and the rest of us, and release his records ... unless Root is correct. Just think how it would feel Obama, to embarrass Root and demand the $1M, then give it away.

adrian|9.5.08 @ 12:55PM|#

he may have come across the wrong way but i find it kind of interesting at least.

JMR|9.5.08 @ 12:56PM|#

That new Boston Tea Party thing is sounding more & more interesting as a way to vote AGAINST all these BSers.

D.A. Ridgely|9.5.08 @ 12:56PM|#

Root: Oh I was the bookie guy, don't worry about it.... But here's the story that I think the press should be digging up, I really mean this, about Barack Obama. When George Bush annoyed everyone the first thing they went to was how dumb he was, and they said how bad he did in Yale, and blah blah blah, he got a C average. Then they found his C average was better than Al Gore's average, and it was better than John Kerry's average!
Cavanaugh: And then you stopped hearing the story.

No doubt about it, Root is the sort of candidate that gives the LP the reputation it so richly deserves. And yet that exchange isn't without its political significance. Okay, so grades aren't all that big a deal and the stuff about how Obama got into Harvard (or, for that matter, probably Columbia) is hardly earthshaking. But if Obama's being marketed in some quarters as the new, improved Bill Clinton, maybe his grades are worth knowing, after all.

|9.5.08 @ 12:58PM|#

OMG! You really needed this interview to come to the conclusion that WAR is an asshole? Really? Unfortunately, it really doesn't matter, does it? Like he is going to be the speedbump that prevents Barr from taking it all in a landslide.

OTOH, who gives a fuck about my opinion? hehe

I live in a state that has sent their electoral votes to the same party for over 40 years. I could start a write-in campaign for "Patty the daytime hooker", and it wouldn't matter.

|9.5.08 @ 12:59PM|#

I think there's a racist bone in Wayne Allen Root's body.

Also, how can you complain that the country has screwed over people like you when you're able to make stupid bets for a million dollars? I know that he got there with his own talent, but I have a suspicion that if he'd been in Mozambique he wouldn't have done quite so well.

d|9.5.08 @ 1:05PM|#

> The only thing good grades prove is that you were good at getting good grades.

But they're the only non-magical, non-divination-based, non-racist way of determining who should be rewarded by Ivy League law school admission (say). Using other indicators to 'enrich' the student body with more 'interesting' students is simply a way of (1) perpetuating the status quo (by admitting the students of prof's you know even when other students are more qualified) and (2) assuaging white guilt by padding the minority and female numbers in certain fields where white males (for whatever reason) dominate.

Just think about this: if you don't denounce affirmative action in all forms, then you should be in favor of, say, Scotch-Irish Kentuckians getting preferential admission over, say, Brooklyn Jews in Math PhD programs. That would be a logically consistent interpretation of affirmative action as it applied to Obama et al. Chew on that for a while, and you'll see why it's wrong and, for all the abrasiveness of his diatribe, why Root is right. He could've polished it a little more, though, couldn't he?

|9.5.08 @ 1:05PM|#

"What Root apparently doesn't realize is that there are more important things when it comes to getting into law schools than GPA and where it came from."

This may have been true at one point in time, but is not true today. Essentially everyone I know is an attorney (Wife, Brother, Uncle, Etc...). The way it works now is they put a grid and plot your GPA versus your LSAT score. They adjust the GPA for where you went to college (for example my wife went to MIT so she got a nice bump).

Then they define a region that is a definite accept, and a region that is an accept maybe with the right extra-curriculars. They also are much more generous with the allowable area if you are a member of an under-reprented minority group. This is probably the basis's for Root's contention.

That is basically it. So by knowing what school you went to, your grades, your LSAT and your ethnicity, you can essentially predict where you are going to get into law school. I am going to guess that is why they told Root, look, you can't get into any of these schools. Don't bother applying.

In your case, I imagine, the very high LSAT score compensated for the GPA.

|9.5.08 @ 1:06PM|#

Yes, I agree that he is somewhat of a blowhard, but the posts here are themselves of the blowhard variety and demonstrably bereft of nuance and perspective. To wit, Barky is the guy who supports affirmative action, i.e., racism. He is the guy who supports the continuation of the violation of the anti-coercion principle, not Mr. Root. Mr. Root is on record for defending all people, including all the racists who support any semblance of affirmative action, from the ravages of further governemnt plundering of private wealth for the support of racist, hateful, bigoted affirmative action policy. Barky is prepared to do violence to you in order to fund his racist policies. Mr. Root is not.

Next, do we forget that Mr. Root has not spent the bulk of his adult life feeding at the public trough? He certainly has accomplished a lot more than Barky. He has produced wealth. barky is a parasite. That is a critical factor in the evaluation of whether one is an asshole, in my opinion.

Moreover, the angry white guy slurs are so demonstrably laughable. This guy is far more successful than Barky and, let me take a wild guess, most of the pepes here. I think the evidence suggests that the jealousy lies not with Mr. Root, but with all of the folks who would be silly enough to make such an assertion with not a shred of evidence to support the assertion.

|9.5.08 @ 1:09PM|#

I'm surprised no one has commented on this shining example of libertarian intellectual prowess:

"A vote for Obama is four years of Karl Marx, and no one should be happy about that,"

"He's a communist! I don't care what anybody says. The guy's a communist.... And his mother was a card-carrying communist, and he says she's the most important person in his entire life; he learned everything from her."

Really. That smear was played in the '50s pal. Root is a red-baiting race-baiting asshole. He might just be enough to convince me not to cast my protest vote for Barr.

|9.5.08 @ 1:13PM|#

Is it any wonder why they haven't been able to catch on like Ron Paul?

Good point. Ron Paul ran with class. He campaigned in a way that didn't embarrass his supporters.

the difference is sometimes paul's supporters are an embarrassment to paul. barr/root are an embarrassment to their supporters.

Josh|9.5.08 @ 1:15PM|#

Wow....the LP REALLY knows how to pick 'em.

WAR!!!!!

Seitz|9.5.08 @ 1:15PM|#

In your case, I imagine, the very high LSAT score compensated for the GPA.

I'm positive it did. But based on the Guide at the time, it made me borderline at a couple of schools I had long since written off. It took some schools from maybes to defintelys, and some from absolutely nots to maybes.

I have absolutely no doubt that taking time off between undergrad and law school was a huge nod in my favor. It might have helped that I was an out of stater, too, at a large public university.

|9.5.08 @ 1:15PM|#

he may have come across the wrong way ...

May have come across the wrong way?
MAY HAVE?
WTF?

|9.5.08 @ 1:18PM|#

Great way to win over people to the libertarian cause.
Get a fat white asswipe to go around flaming people as communists while race-baiting ignorant hicks.
The fuckin' guy could have just left a John Birch Society sweathouse.
Ron Paul, where are you????????? *sniff*

Justin|9.5.08 @ 1:19PM|#

Friggin' christ - poor WAR. Does anyone have a violin for this guy? I would personally like to start a reparations committee to make sure that Mr. Root is compensated for the mental anguish that he has suffered due to the fact that a black guy got into his favorite law school.

That interview was an embarrassment. There are ways to frame the debate on affirmative action (which I think is horseshit) that don't make you look like a "white is right" conspiracy theorist. How about pointing to a sowell article that shows that AA hurts low income minorities at the expense of mid to high income minorities? Sob stories from millionaire white men don't exactly go over well.

Plus,There are people ACTUALLY getting "screwed" by the country every day - all you have to do is read one of Balko's posts to find out about them.

Seitz|9.5.08 @ 1:20PM|#

Anyone here familiar with how Harvard's Law Review works? I mean, if the guy graded on to Law Review, it would be hard to claim that he probably didn't have good grades in college. Obama's wiki page says he was selected via grades and a writing competition, but in my experience, you usually get on via grades OR a writing sample. If he wrote on, Root would have a better case, I guess, unless he wants to claim that everything Obama accomplished at Harvard was based on affirmative action as well.

|9.5.08 @ 1:22PM|#

Another reason he might not have met Obama, is that Obama did not attend Columbia for the first 2 years of his undergraduate education.

He was at Occidental and then transferred in as a junior.

|9.5.08 @ 1:23PM|#

Really. That smear was played in the '50s pal. Root is a red-baiting race-baiting asshole. He might just be enough to convince me not to cast my protest vote for Barr.

Can't say I blame you. Fer cryin' out loud, I can name 50* commenters from this board alone who would represent libertarian political philosophy and the Libertarian Party better than this fuckhead.

* Bare minimum.

|9.5.08 @ 1:28PM|#

Hey Hugh-

Barky is on record for supporting:

1. The Progressive Income Tax.

2. Collective Bargaining.

3. CLosed shops.

4. The redistribution of wealth by force.

5. The maintenance and expansion of the powers of the taxing and revenue goons.

6. The public financing of campaigns.

I cite just these few examples-several of which are part of the Communist Manifesto, authored by Mr. Marx. So, no he is not red-baiting. If A supports the majority of the communist manifesto, then it is intellectually accurate for B to call A a communist.

The irony is that the red-baiting of the 50s was conducted by communists themselves. Joe McCarthy was not Ron Paul. Did he introduce legislation to end the income tax? Did he introduce legislation to abolish the National Labor Relations Act?

I agree that the red-baitng of the 50s was a disgrace as no person should have to take loyalty oaths to any political entity including Amerika.

|9.5.08 @ 1:29PM|#

I can name 50* commenters from this board alone who would represent libertarian political philosophy and the Libertarian Party better than this fuckhead.

Get your pants down and let's get this over with. I want a spot on that list.

|9.5.08 @ 1:31PM|#

Was he drunk??? Way to help out the Libertarian party, ass.

How did he and Barr get mixed up anyway? They seem like a pretty unholy union.

|9.5.08 @ 1:32PM|#

Barky is on record for supporting:

1. The Progressive Income Tax.

2. Collective Bargaining.

3. CLosed shops.

4. The redistribution of wealth by force.

5. The maintenance and expansion of the powers of the taxing and revenue goons.

6. The public financing of campaigns.

Is he in favor of government ownership of the means of production?
Half of the things on your list apply to Republicans, too, dipshit.
Try again. And next time, avoid the temptation to insert needless double-fucking-spaces.

|9.5.08 @ 1:45PM|#

Yeah, Root brings up visions about everything that's bad about Libertarian candidates. I won't hold him against Barr though, since the LP doesn't grant its presidential candidate the luxury of picking his/her own veep, like the major parties do.

This attack by Root shows no class at all, especially when you consider that Obama has been playing down the race thing all along. He's not running as a black guy, he's assiduously avoided the whole Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton brand of silliness.

|9.5.08 @ 1:45PM|#

Jamie Kelly-

Did you bother to read the entirety of my post? Do you forget that I have consistently observed that republicans are communist, too?

|9.5.08 @ 1:48PM|#

Seitz,

The way I've heard Law Review works, from my brother, is there's a GPA cut off and then an anonymized writing sample submitted. This isn't from Harvard, but one of their peers. I doubt there's that much difference between top law schools.

|9.5.08 @ 1:51PM|#

What an asshole. Why, oh why, can't the LP nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates who aren't complete loons or asshole Republican converts? I just went to an FFF conference in June, and the ratio of intelligent, patriotic Americans to nutbars and racists was like 10-to-1. What is the disconnect?

|9.5.08 @ 1:55PM|#

Anyone here familiar with how Harvard's Law Review works? I mean, if the guy graded on to Law Review, it would be hard to claim that he probably didn't have good grades in college.

Back when Obama was applying to the law review, my recollection is that you applied, I believe during your second year, so only your first year grades would be a factor. Not sure exactly what the application consisted of - could have been some writing/editing, I guess. I didn't apply, and its been over 20 years, so I could be a little fuzzy.

It was an open secret that they were on a big affirmative action kick, BTW - this was Harvard in the '80s. Essentially, Ivy League undergrad plus minority = law review. Getting elected President of the law review shows something (more), I guess.

The main activities of the Harvard Law Review are, of course, the journal itself, but I gathered what took as much or more time was keeping Bluebook (the official manual of legal citation style) up to date.

Barky is on record for supporting:

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I had been thinking Barky was a nickname for McCain, due to his communication style (c'mon, admit it, it fits). In my defense, the only things on that list that McCain doesn't support (as far as I know) are the "yay, union" stuff.

|9.5.08 @ 1:58PM|#

Seitz,

My wife and brother were both on the Law Review at reasonably comparable institutions, and it is basically the writing sample that gets you in. The grade cut-off is pretty low.

Being Editor In Chief (or President) is also not really a sign of terrific legal knowledge, it is basically a popularity contest. Like being Student Body President in High School. That person is likely to be a high achiever and a good student, but being a top legal mind is not what determines who gets the position.

The academic honors that are prestigious are;

- Finishing at the top of your class

- Clerking for an appellate judge after you finish law school (the best is clerking for a Supreme Court Justice).

- The various book awards (special prizes some schools give out for being the top student in a class in a given year.)

|9.5.08 @ 1:58PM|#

Michael-

Barky is the racist. You do not have a scintilla of credible evidence to support the assertion that he is a racist. Period. M

Being opposed to affirmative action is not racism. In fact, it is credible evidence that you are not a racist. Making fun of affirmative action beneficiaries is not racism.

Barky has made his blackness a central focus of not only this campaign, but of his life.

|9.5.08 @ 2:01PM|#

Michael-

Correction: You do not have an evidence to support your assertion that Root is a racist.

|9.5.08 @ 2:04PM|#

R C Dean-

Yes, put McCain there, too. He is a communist as well. If you support most of the planks of the communist manifesto, you can be accurately described as a communist. Anybody got a problem with that?

Seitz|9.5.08 @ 2:06PM|#

Back when Obama was applying to the law review, my recollection is that you applied, I believe during your second year, so only your first year grades would be a factor.

I'm pretty sure at my school you were invited, solely based on first year grades. There were also limited (like 2 or 3) spots for people to write on if you weren't invited.

Of course, there were other journals as well if you didn't make law review.

|9.5.08 @ 2:08PM|#

Brilliant:

Let's not vote for Root because he is an asshole. Instead, let's vote for one of the two candidates who we know will continue to invade our privacy, plunder our wealth and grow gvt ever bigger.

Seitz|9.5.08 @ 2:08PM|#

- Clerking for an appellate judge after you finish law school (the best is clerking for a Supreme Court Justice).

I would be surprised if there was on SC clerk currently active that WASN'T on his or her school's law review. I know what the academic honors are, but the ones you listed are essentially all graduation or post graduation focused.

Geotpf|9.5.08 @ 2:13PM|#

I thought after Root was eliminated in one round of the voting for president at the LP convention, Barr made a deal with Root-Root told his supporters to vote for Barr in the next round, and in turn Barr would name Root as VP, and that's how they got the ticket they have now. Or am I mistaken?

|9.5.08 @ 2:15PM|#

being against affirmative action doesn't make you racist. there are people against affirmative action based on principle but there are also racist white people who are against affirmative action cause they don't like black people.

the problem is the latter hurts the former cause they're the only ones who get attention in our culture (example: the father scene in "american history x") which is why smartass 20something liberal college students think all conservatism is about racism.

hotsauce|9.5.08 @ 2:18PM|#

I graduated from a top 10 law school three years ago. The law review selection process worked this way:

x% are invited solely on the basis of 1st year grades

(1-x)% are invited based on a variety of factors, the most important being (1) first year grades, (2) law review writing competition sample, and (3) diversity

I believe Obama graduated from HLS magna cum laude. That's a pretty high distinction based solely on grades. I doubt very much that he bombed first year but managed to graduate magna.

|9.5.08 @ 2:26PM|#

Re: I can name 50* commenters from this board alone who would represent libertarian political philosophy and the Libertarian Party better than this fuckhead.

libertymike is not one of them.

|9.5.08 @ 2:29PM|#

Where's The Angry Optimist? Surely he should be denouncing Root's "educational bigotry." When I referred to the fact that Sarah Palin is one of the worst educated Governors (if not the worst educated) in the United States he seemed to piss his pants in outrage. What of this educational bigotry?

|9.5.08 @ 2:30PM|#

"the problem is the latter hurts the former cause they're the only ones who get attention in our culture (example: the father scene in "american history x") which is why smartass 20something liberal college students think all conservatism is about racism."

I will add though that the press often focuses on the racist opponents of affirmative action as it seems to fit their meme of those opponents. They do the same thing with immigration opponents.

|9.5.08 @ 2:32PM|#

agree with Hugh Atkinson; the attempt to paint Obama as a "Marxist" is so tired, uncreative, and silly. It puts a damper on the subsequent argument, based completely on hearsay and anecdote ("i never saw him around"), that Obama must not have done well in college. I mean, it's possible, and I don't think it means Root is a racist, but as other commenters have pointed out, it does place him squarely in the category of asshole, with overlap in the blowhard category. And incidentally makes him look.. dumber than Obama.

I hate how things, even important things, are blown way up out of proportion to their importance and become these stupid chest-thumping identity wars, like abortion and affirmative action-based college admissions. We still have so much in this country; maybe it's a blessing that we are able to fight over relative bullshit, but we shouldn't get caught up in it.i

|9.5.08 @ 2:32PM|#

libertymike,

I hope you opposed affirmative action for white people legacy admissions as well. The principal is the same.

|9.5.08 @ 2:36PM|#

I believe Obama graduated from HLS magna cum laude. That's a pretty high distinction based solely on grades.

Again, vague recollection, but I think magna cum laude at HLS was the top 5% (not the top 1% - those would be your summas) - essentially, in the top 25. All grading at HLS is anonymous, so there's no affirmative action there.

|9.5.08 @ 2:37PM|#

Root " Obama only hung out with black kids." =BAD?
Root" I only hung out with white kids." =GOOD?

"No white people knew Obama"
"Wayne Root didn't know black people."

Ok then.

Root probably has no idea what grades Obama had and Root himself did not even bother applying to Harvard law as he admits. No one rejected him for being a "white S.O.B."

To make the bold claim that Obama only was accepted to Harvard because of his race, well it's pretty stupid.

And FWIW,
This libertarian was about 50/50 between voting for Barr/Root or Not Voting.

Root and Barr are not helping themselves at all.

|9.5.08 @ 2:38PM|#

I doubt very much that he bombed first year but managed to graduate magna.

That would be impossible, yes.

I've always thought Obama was, at heart, an academic. His law school career is certainly consistent with that, as is his rather brief legal career.

Lefiti|9.5.08 @ 2:49PM|#

Why can't the LP come up with less moronic cadidates? Market forces. Libertarianism is the Edsel of political ideologies, a winner-worshiping cult of hapless losers.

Jay S.|9.5.08 @ 2:54PM|#

I think I'm getting readings on my satire meter.

|9.5.08 @ 2:55PM|#

Obama admits to being a loser in his late teens and early twenties. I'm not sure his grades then are all that relevant with that explanation. I mean, what more do you want the guy to say then I did drugs, and good ones like cocaine. Bush never explained his poor grades, but I would guess they were low for the same reasons.

Unlike Bush, Obama got his act together and got into law school. Again, how he gets in is irrelevant, once he graduates magna cum laude.

What Root's point is hard to find anyway, as Obama is against race based affirmative action. Nothing would probably lead to the quicker end of that policy than electing Obama President.

|9.5.08 @ 3:01PM|#

Mo-

I do oppose legacy admissions. I can't tell how many times I have mentioned that here on these blogs in describing GWB as a white anglo saxon business flop ivy league legacy admittee. In fact, I just posted this two days ago in the Ron Bailey thread on moral superiority of cultures.

|9.5.08 @ 3:02PM|#

BTW-

Speaking of Ivy league grads being intellectually inferior-exhibit 1 is GWB.

|9.5.08 @ 3:05PM|#

Patrick-

Show me where Obama has either proposed or supported legislation ending filthy, dirty, disgusting racist affirmative action policies. Provide some specifics like the bill no., date of vote, etc.

Not that Michael; the other Mi|9.5.08 @ 3:08PM|#

Michael-

Correction: You do not have an evidence to support your assertion that Root is a racist.

Wayne Allen Root is indeed a racist, and of the scummiest sort. If by some improbable chance he is not, then he certainly has all the trappings of a mediocre mind. So what if he had a "B-plus/A-minus" GPA at Columbia? Anybody can cross their t's and dot their i's and still be a certified half-wit. If the bitter grumbling he spewed in this interview confirms anything for me it's that Root is better suited to hawking sketchy life insurance policies out of a nicotine stained office in some run down exurban strip mall than holding the second most powerful office in the world.

|9.5.08 @ 3:09PM|#

J sub D-

Do you think that you would do any better?

|9.5.08 @ 3:13PM|#

Michael, not the other Michael-

Argument by tautology. Wayne Root is a racist because he most certainly is a racist. You are not a racist because you are critical of affirmative action. You are a racist if you support the same.

You are not a racist if you make fum of black racists who were beneficiaires of racist affirmative action policies.

Again, lots of whining and jealously and argument by tautology.

Other Michael|9.5.08 @ 3:13PM|#

Stupid misplaced tag.

blarny|9.5.08 @ 3:14PM|#

He's a communist? My grades are better? It's only because he's black?

Maybe we should be concerned about Columbia?

When is the LP going to get fucking serious? It reminds me of Monty Python's Twit Olympics -> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8673742764820276775

|9.5.08 @ 3:15PM|#

J sub D-

At least I have never been a parasite. I have never been on a public payroll. Most of all, I had the good juddgment never to be one of Caesar's armed thugs.

|9.5.08 @ 3:20PM|#

Unlike Bush, Obama got his act together and got into law school.

Its no easier to get into Harvard Business School than Harvard Law School.

|9.5.08 @ 3:21PM|#

Wayne Root has accomplished so much more in life than Obama-and without any affirmative action.

Other Michael|9.5.08 @ 3:22PM|#

libertymike-

So is everyone that has benefited in some way from racial quotas automatically a "black racist"? This is exactly the kind of mentality that prevents real libertarian ideas from penetrating areas beyond the broadcast range of end-of-the-dial talk radio. Do you really think that telling black people that programs set up to lift them out of poverty (regardless of how ineffective those programs may be) are all racist will win them over to your cause? Because that's exactly what WAR is doing here.

|9.5.08 @ 3:23PM|#

Embarrassing! His name should be "Tool" not "Root".

|9.5.08 @ 3:36PM|#

J sub D-

Do you think that you would do any better?

libertymike -

Snot slinging drunk I'd do better than Root. Or you.

blarny|9.5.08 @ 3:38PM|#

Conspiracy theory: The GOP actually controls the LP, sabotaging its leadership in order to keep people from embracing its superior principles, theories and models?

|9.5.08 @ 3:40PM|#

Ha! Root sounds like that unlucky loser drunk guy wailing about blacks in the bar in the "Twilight Zone" movie from the '80's. I wonder if there's any Twilight Zone karma for Root.

|9.5.08 @ 3:41PM|#

According to Libertarian VP-nominee Root, "All my buddies are white, what can I tell you!" Is this guy the representative of a serious political party or a stand-up comedian at redneck bachelor parties? The ghost of Harry Truman could give lessons in diplomacy to the Libertarian Party. The U.S.A. is going bankrupt, sliding toward catastrophe, confronted by socialist Obama or militarist McCain, and the Libertarian Party offers us this???

SIV |9.5.08 @ 3:41PM|#

Obama is against race based affirmative action. Nothing would probably lead to the quicker end of that policy than electing Obama President.

WTF?

|9.5.08 @ 3:46PM|#

If all of white person's friends are white, does that make the person a racist? Of course not. The same holds true for a black person. If all of the black person's friends are black, that does not make the person racist.

|9.5.08 @ 3:54PM|#

The LP has nominated Right-wing clowns not libertarians. Most the LP activists I know say they have no intention of voting Libertarian this year. Mr. Barr and his state-rights conservatives have taken over the shell of the LP and turned into a vehicle to punish the GOP for not being cosnervative enough. The Party is so far down the wrong path that it ought to die and die quickly before it does any more damage.

|9.5.08 @ 3:55PM|#

Michael-

Let's put it this way: One who is black and is the beneficiary of a racist affirmative action policy is, ceteris paribus, more of a racist than a white libertarian who does not support any race based government action or policy and who has not been a beneficiary of a race based affrimative action policy.

Not one person here has even begun to credibly challenge this reality. The argumentation is either tautological or emotional. No one dares to challenge the reality tht Root has accomplished so much more than Obama and that Root is a capitalist and has produced wealth not taken it like some people on this blog who have chosen to take Caesar's money.

Of course, I would not want to express myself in the same manner as Root-but to then take it to the level of calling him a racist is absolutely clueless.

The idea is to peach the good news of liberty. Not to appease on the basis of race.

|9.5.08 @ 3:55PM|#

Seitz is not telling the truth about law school admissions policy. Law schools place by far the greatest weight on gpa and lsat scores. Resume padding is too easy and subjective so schools tend to place very little emphasis on it. If Obama's gpa was not around 3.7 with an lsat in the top 5%, he would have zero chance to get into an ivy law school UNLESS he checked that "black" box.

And Wayne Root is an asshole!!

Bingo|9.5.08 @ 3:55PM|#

We were gonna end up with a crazy in the veep spot of the LP ticket no matter which way you look at it.

Diogenes of Sinope|9.5.08 @ 4:07PM|#

Affirmative action isn't an ill for being discrimination, it is an ill for being an attempt by the government to regulate peaceful human interaction. Judging by this interview, I'm not sure Wayne Allen Root grasps the distinction.

|9.5.08 @ 4:10PM|#

Its no easier to get into Harvard Business School than Harvard Law School.

Ceteris paribus, this is true. However, when your father is the former Ambassador to the UN and head of the CIA vs. some random half black guy from Hawaii, the former has an easier task.

Warty|9.5.08 @ 4:11PM|#

Ron Paul ran with class. He campaigned in a way that didn't embarrass his supporters.

Well, I was pretty embarrassed that he wouldn't publicly dump the white supremacists or the truthers. And the whole newsletter thing...

On another topic, something terrible must have happened to me, because I find that I'm tired of white guys whining about affirmative action. Standard disclaimer: affirmative action is a travesty, blah blah blah.

|9.5.08 @ 4:12PM|#

libertymike,
So if you get hired by a guy because you're a white guy, it means that you're racist? That's the most idiotic thing I heard. It's not Obama's fault if he benefited from a shitty policy.

Seitz|9.5.08 @ 4:18PM|#

Its no easier to get into Harvard Business School than Harvard Law School.

But apparently it's much harder to get into the University of Texas' law school, which rejected Bush.

Seitz is not telling the truth about law school admissions policy.

I'm telling the truth about my experience with the law school admissions process. I can't speak to Harvard's exactly, but I know how mine worked. I can't speak to Harvard's specifically, but I'd imagine that a school that gets flooded with far more qualified candidates than it can didn't put additional emphasis on non-measurable factors (but if someone here has intricate knowledge, by all means, set me straight).

And to digress for a bit, let's not forget the impact of rolling admissions. I don't know if it's still common practice, but when I applied, I was advised to apply at the earliest possible date. Law schools (at least 10 years ago) didn't throw all the apps into a pile and review them at the same time. We were told that if you applied late, it was tougher to get accepted. Of course, the genius that I am, I applied at pretty much the last possible date (partly due to having a better LSAT score than I expected). Not that this has much of anything to do with Obama, I suppose.

blarny|9.5.08 @ 4:20PM|#

Not one person here has even begun to credibly challenge this reality. The argumentation is either tautological or emotional. No one dares to challenge the reality tht Root has accomplished so much more than Obama and that Root is a capitalist and has produced wealth not taken it like some people on this blog who have chosen to take Caesar's money.

The fairness of affirmative action should not "productively" be challenge by making sarcastic, racist (IMO) statements like "...I think the NBA should be 80% white". That's just fucking stupid. AND I'm tired of LP leaders coming off as stupid AND so should every other libertarian - unless of course the LP prefers to just whine and bicker and not actually do anything. In which case, this is a huge waste of time.

In addition, Root's "wealth" is about as impressive to me as that of a pornographer or drug dealer.

Furthermore, why does someone's wealth legitimize them as Libertarian? And WTF do you mean by "Caesar's money"?

Other Michael|9.5.08 @ 4:22PM|#

libertymike -

There is a plethora of perfectly legitimate arguments against affirmative action that can be made that will make people listen to you and might even win them over to your side. However, when you immediately come out swinging with the racist-against-white-people stance all it does is make you look like a bitter, bigoted crackpot; not to mention the disservice it does to those trying to win an election.

|9.5.08 @ 4:28PM|#

Considering Obama was Law Review editor at Harvard, I am sure he was a pretty good student in college.

Diogenes of Sinope|9.5.08 @ 4:31PM|#

"Furthermore, why does someone's wealth legitimize them as Libertarian? And WTF do you mean by "Caesar's money"?"

Most of libertymike's post was creepy, but that definitely took the cake.

|9.5.08 @ 4:31PM|#

Aren't asian people the biggest victim of reverse discrimination? and why is root spreading rumors and not fucking campaigning?
he comes off as a whining little bitch.

|9.5.08 @ 4:40PM|#

Pathetic, truly pathetic. And why didn't the interviewers interject a little bit here? Just let him spew this stuff and not question it?

After reading that I'm registering as an Independent. I simply don't want to be associated with this party.

NJ|9.5.08 @ 5:16PM|#

The Dondero love for WAR now makes sense.

Ben Kalafut|9.5.08 @ 5:22PM|#

This man makes the likes of Ron Paul or Ernie Hancock sound sane and mainstream. Can we dump him from the ticket and draft Phillies or Kubby? Please?

|9.5.08 @ 5:22PM|#

Mo,
I'm pretty sure being black trumps legacy status. Harvard even uses racial quotas to fill their Law Review. If Obama had anything at all to fall back on other than the color of his skin it might not matter. But he's the Law Review Editor who failed to write a publishable note, the University Professor who didn't produce a single page of scholarship.

|9.5.08 @ 5:30PM|#

Wow. He seriously needs to be locked up somewhere before he hurts someone. Maybe that's why he switched to the LP. To pull a Thomas Szacz on those who think he should be committed.

Trevor|9.5.08 @ 5:32PM|#

This is the reason I'm embarrassed to say I'm a Libertarian.

|9.5.08 @ 5:34PM|#

But he's the Law Review Editor who failed to write a publishable note,

Actually, I think he did publish a note or comment or something on fetal rights. Those don't go out under bylines.

Harvard even uses racial quotas to fill their Law Review.

I doubt there's a quota, but in the '80s it was very widely believed that there was a robust affirmative action policy at the Review.

Of course, he did graduate in the top 5% (magna cum laude), and my recollection is that grading at HLS was anonymous (at least in most classes), so I don't think there's any affirmative action on grades.

|9.5.08 @ 5:56PM|#

BAM

barr/root 2008

BAM

Make me the vice president nominee

BAM

My grades are better

BAM BAM BAM SCORE

I can't believe i had the nerve to wonder what he's been up to since the LP convention. Le SIgh

|9.5.08 @ 6:00PM|#

This is the reason I'm embarrassed to say I'm a Libertarian.

The only one?

Trevor|9.5.08 @ 6:01PM|#

Fact-checking Root, I can't find any evidence that Ann Dunham was a "card carrying communist". In fact, the only source for the claim I could find is metapedia, the white-nationalist version of wikipedia.

|9.5.08 @ 6:20PM|#

" and why is root spreading rumors and not f***ng campaigning?
he comes off as a whining little bitch."

Yup.

Trevor|9.5.08 @ 6:21PM|#

"Welch: And are you hitting this note as you're doing all this media that you're doing from Nevada and stuff?

Root: I actually haven't; I brought it up tonight to you guys for the first time because I think reason is the right media to bring it up with, without being painted as a racist. Because I don't have a racist bone in my body."


Reason readers are calling you racist, you ADD ridden child. I hope you read their comments.

You don't know if Obama got in under affirmative action. You admit you don't what his grades were like. All you know is that he's black and wasn't popular, so you ASSUME he didn't deserve his education.

Oh, and
"...I think the NBA should be 80% white"

Embarrassing.

I hope to hear the Barr campaign apologize for this shit.

|9.5.08 @ 6:28PM|#

Root: I actually haven't; I brought it up tonight to you guys for the first time because I think reason is the right media to bring it up with, without being painted as a racist. Because I don't have a racist bone in my body."

Reason readers are calling you racist, you ADD ridden child. I hope you read their comments.

QFMFT.

|9.5.08 @ 6:40PM|#

Mo-4:12

Yes, it is. A noble person would go out of their way to eschew affirmative action benefits.

You appear to conflate state mandated affirmative action admission policies with legacy admissions. Although I oppose legacy admissions-they are not the force of law. You do see the differnece, don't you?

|9.5.08 @ 6:44PM|#

Trevor-

Embarassed to be a libertarian? What a wimpy, whiny, crybaby loser! Would you be less embarassed to be a member of one of the two parties of state?

|9.5.08 @ 6:49PM|#

Diogenes-

Did you choose your screen name becuase you admire Diogenes? If so, figures, Anybody that thinks poverty, in and of itself, is wonderful, is not noble, but creepy.

Ayn R. Key|9.5.08 @ 7:03PM|#

*Picks Jaw up off of floor*

I expect dumb things from Root. This surprised even me.

Why is he still the LP VP Candidate?

strike the root|9.5.08 @ 7:04PM|#

Sounds like the nutbag Root is finally making himself useful. The VP nom is supposed to be the attack dog.

What Root is doing here is exposing that Obama is even a bigger gasbag than he is, which is only good.

Now if he'd only also put up another million dollars for the Barr campaign....

|9.5.08 @ 7:08PM|#

Whisky. Tango. Foxtrot.


Isn't Harvard a private institution? If they want to pack themselves to the rafters with AA's so be it. I wonder if he gets all pissy about Augusta National's membership practices?

Oh and this tid bit?

"And I represent millions and millions of poor people in this country who weren't lucky enough to be poor and black, they were unlucky enough to be poor and white, and they can't get into Harvard."

Wow. Just. Wow.

JMR|9.5.08 @ 7:13PM|#

Worst side-effect of AA? Creates this kind of BS, keeping people angry & ignorant of real issues.

|9.5.08 @ 8:03PM|#

You appear to conflate state mandated affirmative action admission policies with legacy admissions. Although I oppose legacy admissions-they are not the force of law. You do see the differnece, don't you?

Jiminy christmas! Do you always talk out your ass?

The extent to which legacy contributes to an applicant's admission varies across universities. At the University of Michigan, applicants are rated on a "selection index" of 150 points, where 100 points is usually enough to be admitted; students with legacy receive four points.

U of M is a public, taxpayer funded university.

Alberta Blue|9.5.08 @ 8:18PM|#

Jeeze, that was a great selection for VP on the part of Bob Barr. By the way what the hell did Wayne Allyn Root do before this to get the nod.

Perhaps you guys should just create an entirely new party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Democratic_Party_(Germany)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Democrats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACT_New_Zealand#2005-2007

|9.5.08 @ 8:28PM|#

Obama didn't list his race on his Harvard Law School application.

|9.5.08 @ 8:36PM|#

J sub D-

Can you learn to communicate in a more civilized fashion? Must you resort to the crass?

If a private university chooses to implement a policy under the terms of which an applicant will be given a greater chance of being admitted if the applicant has family who matriculated there, then please explain how this policy is the force of law?

Is it your position that affirmative action admission policies mandated by the state are the same thing as legacy admission policies adopted by private universities? If not, what was the point of your post? If yes, then you have just demonstrated why you could never better represent libertarianism then me. Or Wayne Root.

|9.5.08 @ 8:44PM|#

Asdf-

No. If you want to be accurate, you state that according to unnamed "former classmates" Obama did not list his race in his law school application. In addition, a "fair and balanced" appraoch would add that the story does not indicate why the unnamed former classmates had a reason to inspect the contents of Obama's application. If you really wanted to be fair and balanced, you would have added that Obama's campaign has refused to either confirm or deny the assertion of the unnamed former classmates.

How many of your former classmates have examined the contents of your graduate school applications?

Wayne Allen Root|9.5.08 @ 9:01PM|#

Hey guys, Wayne Allen Root here. AKA W.A.R. isn't it ironic that I'm an Anti-War candidate and my initials are W.A.R.? that's right folks, America is a great place. Well all I can say is that I'm an SOB, (son of a butcher) and I really love all your comments, even when you expressed your distaste for what I said. Hey, it's America--- we can disagree and still vote for me!

Anyway, thanks for the great comments and thank YOU Reason Magazine!

W.A.R.

P.S. Let's all make sure we remember to ROOT for America!

jtuf|9.5.08 @ 9:06PM|#

Root: Ha ha. That's Columbia. Colubmia's radical, always was. There was gay power over here, and pot power over here, and black power over there, and Hispanic power over here, and feminism.

Give Obama a break. If I was a bi-racial undergraduate in a school that was that divided, I would be a loner too. The LP is getting too big to vet candidates based on personal relationships between the delegates and the candidates. We need to add some caucuses to the nomination process.

Trevor|9.5.08 @ 9:45PM|#

Hi WAR.

As VP we know your job is to attack Obama. Can you try to do it without knee-jerk racism? Not just because the "poor grades" assumption is entirely unfounded and carries no evidence, but all Libertarians caught enough flack when Ron Paul's newsletters surfaced.

In short, stop embarrasing us.

|9.5.08 @ 10:01PM|#

I am really tired of hearing about BOs great intellect. This is the man after all who thought the U.S. had 57 states and didn't know that Russia has a veto in the UN security council. Obviously being black didn't hurt when applying to Columbia and Harvard but here's something to think about...I have a friend who has the same racial background as BO and he went to undergrad and law school at two ivy league schools without ever having to pay a cent in tuition. Why? Because he truly is brilliant and every ivy league in America is dying to have really qualified minority students. In light of Michelle's constant whining about how hard it was to pay off their school loans, just how smart could they be?

Other Michael|9.5.08 @ 10:14PM|#

Oh, for fuck's sake, libertymike. Can you get your thick head out of newsletter publishing or whatever the fuck it is that you do in your bomb shelter where you stash your gold boullion and AR15s for the coming Apocalypse for just long enough to think for one god damned moment that Wayne Allan Root just might be risking blowing not only this election for Libertarians - where they are still fighting for ballot access - but many elections to come because NOT VERY MANY MEMBERS OF THE MAINSTREAM AMERICAN PUBLIC CAN STOMACH THIS KIND OF SHIT?

|9.5.08 @ 10:18PM|#

wow! root is quite the shit talker. why is he popping off about something so stupid in the first place. sounds like a real jackass to me. this guy sounds like a semi-racist prick.

too bad the btp isn't on the ballot in my state.

|9.5.08 @ 11:11PM|#

I went to columbia university at the same time as a few other people did who are celebrities now (at least 1 person). I remember that 1 person from the face book. None of my friends knew her and vice versa. We had hundreds of people in our class and a few thousand, at least were attending school at that time. What do you suppose was the odds of us meeting, of actually knowing each other? Slim.

|9.5.08 @ 11:14PM|#

Obama has used race. Obama wants to use the justice department to prosecute people who went after the jenna 6 black kids. Those kids in a gang of 6 knocked out the white kid cold. Obama calls the 6 black kids the victims.

Jesse Jackson told Obama to start talking about the Jenna 6 case last year and he immediately wrote a letter to the justice department.


Obama was one of the first to call for Imus to be fired. Yet he is the same one who stayed to hear Wright's rantings at a place that gave awards to Farakkan.

Obama has the most shady associates you can imagine.

He wrote a book about wright, wrote his keynote speech about wright, calls his moral compass that nutjob father pfleger, his ties to rezko.

|9.5.08 @ 11:19PM|#

Obama has used race. He accused the opposition of saying he was scary because of his skin color. Never happened.

Obama at a fundraiser in san francisco called white small town america racists, anti immigrant, anti trade, clinging to guns and god.

That is the real Obama. The snob who looks down at white middle america. We aren't anti immigrant we are anti illegal immigration.


Obama is the guy who blames lou dobbs for hate crimes doubling against hispanics. That is not accurate. Hate crimes haven't doubled against hispanics.


Obama is the guy who says ICE agents are terrorizing illegals.


Just think about this for a moment Obama is saying patriotic u.s public servents who would serve under him as president are terrorizing people who are breaking the law.

|9.5.08 @ 11:20PM|#

Root may be a total asshole, but where is Hussein O's history? Buried in the same hole as Hanoi John 'traitor' Kerry's military records. How does it feel to support someone who you know nothing other than what he choses to tell you, and that's very little. Ask him and you're a racist, big deal, I'm a racist and I drive a Ford instead of a Chevy. Everyone has prejusices, just the left wing democrat dummies won't admit any and they the biggest racist in the world.

|9.5.08 @ 11:23PM|#

To libertymike of course the law school knew he was african american.

His whole essay was about being black and being a community organizer for 8 years before law school. He didn't need to list it.

|9.5.08 @ 11:25PM|#

Here's what I want to know. What were the names of all those Wall Street firms who offered him lucrative jobs after graduating with a degree in Political Science? I've done a lot of business with Wall Street and usually they aren't looking for government majors. Now a law degree, yes, however that degree didn't occur until AFTER he was a community organizer. What firms? How much did they offer? Something doesn't add up chronologically.

|9.5.08 @ 11:28PM|#

I read a story about Obama getting B's at Columbia.

Of course if he was white he would have never gotten into Harvard.

He got in because he was a minority and a community organizer. Harvard loves that. If he was white his application would have been laughed at.


Obama if he was white would have never gotten into Columbia. He transferred from Ocidental College.

Lets be honest it isn't racist to admit that he wouldn't have gotten into harvard with his record from Columbia.

Obama almost never talks about Columbia either.

|9.5.08 @ 11:31PM|#

Joe, Travis and the rest of you pansies - this guy is dead on it. I have been saying for four years that Obama is the biggest fraud I've even seen, and I guarantee that he is an affirmative-action case study in Harvard BS.

What a clown. Great call, Root.

You Bozos apparently haven't figured out that at a school the size of Columbia, you're going to know the students in your class and major; you're taking all the same classes, and the classes have 20 to 40 students in them. Think he might have noticed a 6'2" black guy with an engaging speaking style and commanding presence who can BS the liberal Jewish kids like nobody's business? No shit.

But you fags fall back on the "Root's a racist - he's calling out Obambi". Yeah, well someone needs to, since the American leftist press is too busy sucking him off. The guy has buried the documentation of every job he's held since leaving Harvard. Seven years in the Illinois Senate - and no schedule, and no legislative record other than killing a bill that passed in the U.S. Senate 98 - 0. Leftist much?

How about his forté - constitutional law? He has been lecturing on his doctoral subject for several years at the storied U of Chicago, but two things are missing: his doctoral thesis, and any record of him ever publishing anything - anything - on constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Not a letter to the editor, not a friend of the court brief, not a paper, not a critique of a SCOTUS decision or opinion.

He's a clown, and good for Root to add some insider knowledge to the Marxism, pot and coke years at Columbia that we already knew about. I see none of you butt-boys took the bet.

|9.5.08 @ 11:43PM|#

Being opposed to affirmative action is not racism. In fact, it is credible evidence that you are not a racist.

I've become sort of a connoisseur of right-wing stupidity, and I have to say, the claim that agreeing with David Duke about affirmative action, while disagreeing with Martin Luther King, is "credible evidence that you are not racist" is probably the dumbest thing I have seen in some time.

|9.5.08 @ 11:48PM|#

The striking thing is to look at what Barack Obama accomplished at Harvard Law School - graduating magna, President of the Law Review - and then what he went on to do with that degree - professor at the University of Chicago, and now the doorstep of the Presidency of the United States - and realize that there are people who, because of the color of his skin, think there must have been something wrong with his admission.

|9.6.08 @ 12:15AM|#

I was a somewhat-underprivileged white kid who worked my way through Harvard and Harvard Law School. Like Root, I don't think I got any breaks on getting into either place, but I know for certain that Obama's GPA was much higher than mine because he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Magna at HLS is a real intellectual feat. I don't know what % of the class it represents but I'll guess it's the top 15% or maybe 20%.

I am a strong supporter of John McCain. I love Sarah Palin. But think about it, if Obama graduated in the top, say, 20% of the HLS class, then absolutely the admissions committee made the right choice in admitting him, whatever the color of his skin.

|9.6.08 @ 12:31AM|#

Barr made a huge mistake in accepting Root rather than Kubby for VP.

Also, if he's so damn rich (which by all accounts he is), why isn't he pitching in to help fund his own campaign some?

Fayed X|9.6.08 @ 12:52AM|#

This is so blatantly racist. Everyone knows that those tests are culturally biased. No one would have asked John McCain or Sandra Palin to provide grades. I can't even believe this kind of thing is posted on the webs. Get it off! Think about it.

Roger Maltz|9.6.08 @ 2:53AM|#

No fan of Barack personally, but I knew this guy Root was a shit-eating d-bag the first sentence I heard him utter at the Free State Project LP debates. What a smarmy fuck.

|9.6.08 @ 3:20AM|#

And so my answer is, has America really been unfair to minorities?

Wait, what kind of time frame are we looking at here?

Seriously, these people who are so bust sticking up for W.A.R. are freaking embarrassing. libertymike, your self-righteousness is completely unwarranted. Being black and libertarian is a pain in the ass already but now I'm drifting toward being completely apolitical.

You condescending fuck.

|9.6.08 @ 3:49AM|#

I will say, this isn't the kind of crap that Rothbard (along with Rockwell and Paul at the time) tainted his final years with- open pandering to bigots with a kind of perverse new fusionism. No, this is something simultaneously more embarrassing and more harmless. Stupidity. Root really thinks this a valid argument and that he's not being racist at all.

|9.6.08 @ 5:18AM|#

What would make you fuckers happy. He is the 1st person in my long life to ever have to submit a B/c and then everyone was sure it was fake. So then they had to check back to his date of birth and found it in the Honolulu Advertiser, but wondered if that was for real. They want his application for his Il State Bar application. Someone even managed to get his selective service number along with marriage cert. and Drivers licese. Nothing would be good enough for you people. It really doesnt matter what hi grade average was because someone would swear it was a fake record and want some other proof. RACISM, PURE RACISM Why havent you requested all this for McCain??

|9.6.08 @ 5:41AM|#

Race card, what Race card?...

Who's got the (Black) Power?...

Why Obama of course...

Rare picture that many haven't seen, take a look.

Obama without the mask.

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5521/obamachicagovo2.jpg

*|9.6.08 @ 5:43AM|#

Racist? Sounds to me like most of you are just a bunch of angry black people who are pissed off because whitey refused to kiss your delicate little black asses. Anyone who tells it like it is and calls a spade a spade must automatically be a racist - right? You are the assholes - trying to smear Root the same way you smeared Ron Paul. You're not libertarians - you're left-wing liberals and libertines. Why don't ya go smoke some dope - maybe you'll feel better.

|9.6.08 @ 5:46AM|#

macher, not macha.

"Why havent you requested all this for McCain??"

We know McCain was a shitty student, he mentions it often. Obama's legend is largely predicated on his education - which, I'm sure, was stellar, and I think this is a dumb thing to focus on.

|9.6.08 @ 6:30AM|#

Sounds to me like most of you are just a bunch of angry black people who are pissed off because whitey refused to kiss your delicate little black asses.

Hmm, let me hazard a guess as to what you sound like...

|9.6.08 @ 6:35AM|#

Obama without the mask.

Ron., that is the most offensive thing I have ever seen. Obama, apparently trying to encourage black people to vote.

Dammit, in some perverse reflection of OJ Simpson "trying to find the real killer", it seems like the real bigots (see "*") are the ones always "out to find the real racists".

Chloe|9.6.08 @ 7:00AM|#

"...For those of us in America who want to fight for talent being the determiner of who's successful or not, I'm your representative...I say: I'm for affirmative action-I think the NBA should be 80 percent white." That doesn't make any sense. NBA players are there because of their talent. This guy is obviously bitter and racist.

*|9.6.08 @ 7:00AM|#

@Art-P.O.G.

it seems like the real bigots (see "*") are the ones always "out to find the real racists".

I'm not the one making accusations of racism or bigotry, dude. I'm making accusations of dishonesty - there's difference. But if you think that's bigotry, why then - you just make the most of it, Arty. 'Cuz this white boy isn't gonna kiss your ass either - regardless of what color it is. And that's about all I care to say about it.

|9.6.08 @ 7:13AM|#

Racist? Sounds to me like most of you are just a bunch of angry black people who are pissed off because whitey refused to kiss your delicate little black asses

I'm not the one making accusations of racism or bigotry, dude

Is this some kind of thought experiment?

|9.6.08 @ 7:24AM|#

'Cuz this white boy isn't gonna kiss your ass either

I never ask anyone to kiss my ass. Sounds like you have a complex.

|9.6.08 @ 7:44AM|#

Everyone has prejusices, just the left wing democrat dummies won't admit any and they the biggest racist in the world.

Um, you have a point about everybody harboring prejudice, but you miss out on the axiom that disingenuousness and condescension aren't "owned" by the left or the right. The whole "us" vs. "them" thing is a problem and Root perpetuates the senselessness of it by trying to identify 'specifically' with "poor white people" who "need defending".

jtuf|9.6.08 @ 8:06AM|#

In the interest of extracting some worthwhile debate from this interview, how about considering these propositions.

1) Root is was crass in the interview. He also makes assumptions about Obama based on Obama's group identity and assumptions about blacks in general based on his knowledge of Obama. Both fallacies violate the libertarian principle of judging people based on their individual merits.

2) Affirmative action also violates the libertarian principle of judging people based on their individual merits.

3) The government should not mandate affirmative action, but if Columbia University wants to implement affirmative action, they have the right to do so as a private institution.

4) If Root cared that much about opposing affirmative action, he could have gone to college right across the Hudson at Fairleigh Dickinson University which has no history of discriminating based on race, religion, or gender.

|9.6.08 @ 8:14AM|#

Good points, jtuf.

|9.6.08 @ 8:53AM|#

I do not know about Senator Obama; however, in Michelle's writings (I think her thesis that was posted in full on the net), she stated that upon discussions w/her guidance counselor told her NOT TO APPLY TO PRINCETON because she didn't have the grades. Well, she stated she did apply and got accepted.

This WAS her story. I only wish I could recall exactly where I can get her quote. I'll work on it: it was an ancillary piece to her thesis or the thesis.

JMR|9.6.08 @ 10:23AM|#

The problem with point 3 is the extent to which my tax dollars have penetrated the university system. They always come with strings. I don't want my tax dollars used for discrimination -- even the politically correct variety. That's a string.

|9.6.08 @ 11:18AM|#

Face it, OB is an affirmative action wonder....which is why he won't release his grades...he could only get into these schools based on color, NOT merit. As such, if elected, he will be the first affirmative-action president. You have to ask yourself one question: "Would you let an affirmative-action doctor operate on you????
God help us........I can see it....OB the "affirmative action wonder" negotiating against the likes of Putin......and no telepropmpter to help him.....

|9.6.08 @ 11:34AM|#

It is a bit unusual for a presidential candidate to keep so much of his life under wraps and out of public scrutiny. Whether or not he had a stellar GPA, the question remains, why isn't the press pushing for more information about his background?

|9.6.08 @ 11:45AM|#

Where the heck are the Obama transcripts from Columbia and Harvard Law/ That's a very pertinent question for BO. This is an election for POTUS not for American Idol! This is one of numerous smelly coverups of BO's background by the Left/MSM. Obama exemplifies the worst of Affirmative Action, he and his AA wife just need to be seen for what they are incompetent frauds and liars!
Read Michele Obamas thesis from Princeton, it's barely acceptable for a HS Sophomore much less a 4th year student @ Yale.

|9.6.08 @ 11:53AM|#

Maybe its as simple as this: Obama wanted nothing to do with this guy or his cronies because he was as much of a prick back then as he appears to be today.

jtuf|9.6.08 @ 12:04PM|#

JMR | September 6, 2008, 10:23am | #

The problem with point 3 is the extent to which my tax dollars have penetrated the university system. They always come with strings. I don't want my tax dollars used for discrimination -- even the politically correct variety. That's a string.

That's a valid point. Hilsdale college rejects federal funds so it can continue its tradition of being race blind. Many of the colleges with Quaker roots had race blind admissions from the start. So did many historically black colleges. I've come to realize that best route to an unbiased academia is for students to start picking unbiased colleges. Imagine how history would have been different if Harvard and Columbia students in the 1960's started a trend of applying to schools like Howard University and Hilsdale College.

Each libertarian today only has so many volunteer hours. Perhaps those hours could have a greater impact if spent promoting unbiased schools rather than fighting an uphill battle against affirmative action. In 50 years, the residual effects of past racism will be gone, making it rather easy to implement race blind policies. Promoting schools that are already race blind will set the example for future policies. It will also give a lift to institutions that deserve it.

|9.6.08 @ 12:56PM|#

libertymike | September 5, 2008, 3:15pm | #

J sub D-

At least I have never been a parasite. I have never been on a public payroll. Most of all, I had the good juddgment never to be one of Caesar's armed thugs.

Followed by -

libertymike | September 5, 2008, 8:36pm | #

J sub D-

Can you learn to communicate in a more civilized fashion? Must you resort to the crass?

If a private university chooses to implement a policy under the terms of which an applicant will be given a greater chance of being admitted if the applicant has family who matriculated there, then please explain how this policy is the force of law?

libertymike, sorry to have offended your oh so delicate sensibilities. Those of us who have been "Caesar's armed thugs" do tend to call a spade a spade.

Since you must have missed it first time around my post specifically addressed legacy preference at the University of Michigan. As you may be aware U of M's admission policies for both undergraduate and IIRC law school were an issue before SCOTUS recently. SCOTUS got if partially right striking down the law school policy but upholding race based affirmative action in undergraduate admissions.

The last line of my post that offended your sense of propriety was

U of M is a public, taxpayer funded university.

So instead of using language that might further offend your sense of dignified discouse, I'll simply ask, do you have reading comprehension problems?

Comrade Laissez-Faire|9.6.08 @ 12:58PM|#

Root is living proof that there IS such a creature as a Jewish Nazi--one of the few that the white gentile racialist cowards and sociopaths at Stormfront.org probably welcome and support with open arms.

|9.6.08 @ 2:07PM|#

A.R.T. POG-

Don't be so caught up in your skin color-oh, gosh it must be so tough for you being both black and libertarian. This is the type of arrested development, self absorbed whiny attitude or pose that libertarians should never accept.

Many posters here are more worried about how "it will look" or "what will the great unwashed think" or "he's giving libertarianism a bad name". Liberty will not prevail if it must genuflect at the altar of political correctness. Affirmative action admission policies mandated by the state are evil in and of themselves. One who supports affirmative action admission policies mandated by the state is, by definition, a supporter of racism.

Libertarians should not waste a second worrying about offending black supporters of affirmative action admission policies mandated by the state. They are racists. They are black racists.

Typically, too many people self identify with a group, particualarly race. They willingly choose the group, the race as being one of, if not the, most important distinguishing characteristics about themselves. I think this is such a tragedy and it is utterly at odds with libertarian thinking. This phenomenon only plays into the hands of the race pimps and bigots who present their "case" on the basis of group entitlement. This is not a philosophy fit for a free people-nor should a free people worry about how the race pimps and their followers will react to a white libertariran ridiculing the racket and one of its beneficiaries.

|9.6.08 @ 4:24PM|#

It isn't surprising that few people at Columbia knew Obama. Remember that he transfered in as a junior. He had missed half of the opportunities -- and far more than half of the best ones -- to meet his classmates. Also, courses for juniors and seniors have fewer students, so fewer people would have known him. And Columbia's poli sci department offers a number of specialties; if Root and Obama chose different tracks they likely would not have been in any classes together.

Unlike most CU undergrads at the time, Obama didn't live in the dorms. He lived off-campus and commuted. This left him with even fewer opportunities to meet other students.

A final note: top law schools base their admission decisions on many criteria besides grades. Even if Obama's grades really were lower than Root's, it would not follow that he got in because he is black. One distinction between Obama and Root that leaps to mind is that he had five years of significant work experience (with real management responsibilities) when he entered law school, while Root evidently applied while still in college. That alone is more likely than his skin color to have made a difference.

|9.6.08 @ 4:53PM|#

Seriously, this is the best the LP can do for a VP candidate? No wonder it's hard to take the LP seriously. And that sucks because this country really needs a viable LP. He's still better than Sarah Palin, though.

|9.6.08 @ 5:00PM|#

My goodness, Jerome. Pansies, faggots, press sucking his dick, buttboys? Do you have anything you want to tell us?

|9.6.08 @ 5:57PM|#

He certainly has accomplished a lot more than Barky. He has produced wealth. barky is a parasite. That is a critical factor in the evaluation of whether one is an asshole, in my opinion.

WAR is a bookie - he takes a percentage off of bets between consenting adults. He's the very definition of a parasite.

He produces no goods for society, while producing less of a service than even landlords, the archetype of economic parasite.

Also, all this talk of 'hidden BO records' is laughable, considering no such scrutiny is put upon, say, explaining how McCain got such a plum position after graduating near the bottom of his class. Where's the explanation for that?

Anyway, more exhaustive documentation has been requested of the Obama campaign than for every single candidate for Prez in my entire lifetime. Its absolutely ludicrous, and the only reason he appears so unforthcoming to y'all is because he's already forked over the requisite files for any sane voter. Guess what, he's been more forthcoming than McCain in this election - yet not a peep from any of you in that regard.

FWIW, I don't see this paranoia as self-evidently racist - rather, it appears to be fear of his meteoric rise, fear that this candidate could be the 'other side's Ronnie Raygun.'

While such sentiment may be less open to condemnation, it is at least equally pathetic.

*|9.6.08 @ 8:55PM|#

This is so blatantly racist. Everyone knows that those tests are culturally biased.

Sure they are.That's why Asians and Ashkenazi Jews perform better on them than the white Europeans who invented them. Ever notice that any time a test is devised that can distinguish ability between races, it will be denounced as biased when it does exactly that?

If the evidence available isn't convincing, what evidence would be? In any other field, on any other subject, the evidence available would be considered overwhelming. On this subject, no evidence will ever be considered good enough.

|9.6.08 @ 9:43PM|#

People who complain about affirmative action as this great injustice are fucking retarded and, yes, probably racist to boot.

Don't get me wrong, I recognize that affirmative action violates some pretty plausible principles of justice. But it's not even in the same ballpark as slavery or Jim Crow or even all the petty bullshit that black people have to put up with these days. If you can't tell the difference in severity between these different kinds of injustice, you're out of your fucking mind.

Now, racism comes in a lot of varieties. There's oppression and there's hatred and there's contempt and there's stereotyping, etc. The sort of racism we've got here is sometimes called insensitivity -- a sort of blockheaded cluelessness when it comes to race-related matters. Think of someone who still calls black people "colored folk"; think of someone who fails to appreciate just how fucked up the treatment of black people in America has been. But to make matters worse, the people who see affirmative action as a great injustice are defiant and belligerent in their cluelessness, compounding their insensitivity with chutzpah, accusing everyone else of being racist. Sorry, but even if affirmative action really is an indefensible departure from the pure and colorblind principles of justice, there is considerably less racism in (i) deliberately departing from colorblindness in favor of preferential policies aimed at assisting the victims of serious centuries-long oppression, than in (ii) treating those departures from colorblindness as a moral horror right up there with lynchings.

And often the complainers make it into a personal grievance, as if when the grave injustice of affirmative action was visited upon them, it made them and their white brethren into an oppressed and victimized minority. Now it's not just a matter of being an idiot and a clueless belligerent racist. Now we're dealing with whiny-ass pussies. The same moral obliviousness that led them to downplay the oppression of black Americans and exaggerate the injustice of preferential policies now leads them to strike the pose of victim, appropriating the figure of the persecuted minority for themselves -- halfway buying their own bullshit (honestly feeling sorry for themselves over this feeble nonsense) and halfway bluffing their way through a role they don't really take seriously, not even when real victims of serious injustice are involved. Either way, it's a load of faggoty histrionic bullshit, and it's not fooling anyone.

Bbbbb|9.6.08 @ 10:00PM|#

By GPA, I barely ranked in the top quarter of my high school class, but I beat the next closest SAT score by over 200 points.

In college, I was on academic probation. My GRE scores include a perfect score on the verbal, and well above average on math.

So, draw your own conclusions.

severin|9.6.08 @ 10:59PM|#

For a guy who "doesn't have a racist bone in his body", Root seems to be making a lot of racist statements. I would tell him to stick with the issues, but when he tries that he embarrasses himself just as much since he doesn't understand libertarian positions either.

Nick|9.7.08 @ 12:06AM|#

He may have some point that Obama might have recieved special privileges via affirmative action, but this whole article was a pointless ad hominem by Root based on speculation and anecdotal evidence. Not only that - he came off like a nutjob and an egotist (and borderline racist). In other words, he comes off as the average person's impression of the LP itself. This article did nothing to advance the election, nothing to change my view of Barack Obama and a hell of a lot to make me less likely to vote for the LP ticket this time around.

More importantly, if Obama received a benefit through affirmative action, so what? He didn't make that decision or policy, and you can't expect for him to step aside and let Root in because Root had a higher grade point average. When people get a good opportunity, they generally go for it. It says nothing about Obama's personal politics either, and Obama HAS EVEN CRITICIZED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR HOW IT HURTS POOR WHITES.

Sorry, Wayne. Shoulda broken it on Lew Rockwell instead of Reason. We're really not your audience.

Steve Sailer|9.7.08 @ 1:08AM|#

Apparently, Mr. Obama wouldn't bet Mr. Root.

The New York Times reported on August 3, 2008:

"Mr. Obama said he had 'undoubtedly benefited from affirmative action' in his own academic career ..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/us/politics/03affirmative.html?_r=1&em=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

|9.7.08 @ 5:27AM|#

Root does highlight a problem with not just Obama, but most candidates.

How is it that the most obvious paper records are hidden from us. Obama's grades are one thing but his medical records amount to a letter from his doctor saying he is healthy.

|9.7.08 @ 9:05AM|#

"Obama HAS EVEN CRITICIZED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR HOW IT HURTS POOR WHITES"

This means absolutely nothing--it's simply a politican saying "I feel your pain." Boxers probably feel thier opponents pain too, despite delivering the blow themselves.

Obama won't do anything for poor whites because class based affirmative action is incompatable with race-based. As long as affirmative action continues to help rich black vps become CEOs, as long as it continues to help rich latino lawyers make firm parter, as long as it continues to help rich black engineers become richer managers--it cannot, and will-not be class based. Class based benefits are TEMPORARY; once you're not poor you're not eligible. And the rich minority beneficiaries of affirmative action simply won't allow that to happen. Obama caters to this group; it's where his interests lie, and he has no REAL intention of doing anything for poor whites.

|9.7.08 @ 9:51AM|#

There's one other thing I want to mention about Affirmative Action: the beneficiaries are vicious racists themselves.

After finding a few programming contracts in the NYC area paying, on average, around 80-90K a year I lived in the bronx for a year. Now these are not top-dollar contracts for a programmer, but we ARE in a recession.

And then I started to notice that my neighbors began to insult me--to call me a loser--for living in the same neighborhood as them. Minorities in the bronx were especially likely to assume these things if they were doing slightly better--driving a slightly nicer car, for example. I found myself tempted, at times, to mutter "you know, I DID score in the 99th percentile on the SATs."

And then--it occurred to me, if I were an Asian-american programmer, they would say none of these things. A chinese-american programmer can live in the bronx with impunity. The minority neighbors may say he's smart and devoid of people skills but they will NOT call him a loser.

There's something inherently wrong with both asking for breaks and then calling white people (specifically) losers if they have to give a little up. If they make less (in real terms) than their parents, well that is what affirmative action--in aggregate--is intended to do. When winning a handicapped game AT LEAST recognize that the game was handicapped. If white people had a head start in the race--but were forced to wear lead shoes--it's not nice to start calling them "slow runners." It's also not true; you can only rightly call a person a loser if they lost an UNHANDICAPPED race. If I scored above you on the SATs--and will gladly retake the test and STILL score above you--can the "I got a newer lexus than you" talk, OK?

Personally, there's not much I can do about this. I'm leaving the bronx and heading back to San Francisco. My neighbors will be white or asian; and when a some people beat me out (and some will) it will because they really are smarter than me. And I'll be OK with it--knowing that I still make very good money--and that they have no political incentive to start calling a guy who makes 10% less a redneck or a loser.

I suspect I'm not alone in this new version of white flight. In a world of socially-engineered equality, were the content of one's character seems is being race-normed and grouped into checkboxes--we may be, in fact, happiest seperate as long as we're forcibly made equal.

The chocolate cities of Atlanta, DC, and New York are thriving. But so has San Francisco and Seattle--majority white and asian cities where the black/latino population has been, as a percentage decreasing.

"Separate but equal" sounds offensive. But demographically, it may be happening in some areas. And getting insulted by an affirmative action beneficiary from a few thousand miles away sounds a lot better than getting insulted in person.

Carol Moore|9.7.08 @ 12:28PM|#

Root is the biggest ass the LP has ever nominated for President or Vice President - at least we didn't have to hear much about V.P. Campagna, 2004.

|9.7.08 @ 1:39PM|#

WAR is a bookie - he takes a percentage off of bets between consenting adults. He's the very definition of a parasite.

Huh? Root provides a service and is financially rewarded for it. If you want to bet a couple of kilobucks on an event and have no trustworty takers, you go to a bookie.

It's not that friggin' hard to understand.

Go upthread to get my opinion of him as a rep of the Libertarian Party.

|9.7.08 @ 2:45PM|#

Don't be so caught up in your skin color-oh, gosh it must be so tough for you being both black and libertarian. This is the type of arrested development, self absorbed whiny attitude or pose that libertarians should never accept.

Dear libertymike,

You obviously don't know me personally and I don't blame you for that since this is the internet. However, you seem to have completely misjudged me (imagine that). You have shown a pattern of stereotyping and making snap judgments about people and groups of people*. How is this compatible with libertarianism?

*Your views about military servicemembers, for instance.

|9.7.08 @ 3:25PM|#

Harvard's freshman class during obamma's era was 14% Black, but at school's that admit based on merit, they are lucky to get 1%, so clearly Harvard was accepting unqualified students. I don't think it's likely that the nation's premiere law school will volunteer information that would severely damage it's reputation. It's also curious that they stopped ranking their law school students around the same time, it would not do to have the bottom of the class populated by Blacks when you also have the most aggressive AA policy in the country. Isn't Harvard also known as "PCU"?

Bob Williams|9.7.08 @ 4:40PM|#

Bob Barr voted for the Patriot Act and Wayne Allen Root is a racist! How did we come to this? John Hospers' prediction in Robert Ringer's book "Restoring the American Dream" sure came true during this presidential campaign. So how do we restore the Libertarian Dream?

Mark|9.7.08 @ 6:12PM|#

Judging by what Obama has done with his life, I doubt Harvard is having any second thoughts about admitting him. I also doubt that anyone on the admissions committee is laying awake at night wondering what they did wrong to let a great guy like Wayne Allyn Root slip through their fingers.

Mark|9.7.08 @ 6:15PM|#

"Isn't Harvard also known as 'PCU?'"

But yet it seems to be doing something right (in the eyes of almost every employer and grad school in the country, that is). Go figure. Maybe libertarians should stop criticizing a private university for setting its own admissions criteria.

|9.7.08 @ 7:09PM|#

"But [by descriminating] it seems to be doing something right (in the eyes of almost every employer and grad school in the country, that is)."

This is because most employers also practice reverse decrimination these days. The effects of this can be seen by looking at competitive schools in states that have an majority-white population.

My MBA program was in a state that is >90% white. It's admissions criteria is tougher than Vanderbilts, but it's ranking is lower.

Why? Vanderbilt is in a more diverse area of the country. Holding all things more or less equal (like GMAT scores) between the two schools, a school with a more diverse class will end up with a class that has higher paying job offers.

But is reverse descrimination pracitced by employers justification for reverse descrimination practiced by colleges? From a white male's perspective, this is like saying "you're going to be punched in the face in two years. To help remedy the situation, we'll punch you in the face a second time, right now."

Or another way of looking at this is this: Affirmative Action never stops. You're never done paying.

First, it's applied when you're denied the school of your choice. But later on, once you graduate from a state school, it will be applied again. You'll be at a disadvantage to minority graduates from your own school--despite scoring ABOVE them on the way in.

jtuf|9.7.08 @ 8:25PM|#

Mark | September 7, 2008, 6:12pm | #

Judging by what Obama has done with his life, I doubt Harvard is having any second thoughts about admitting him. I also doubt that anyone on the admissions committee is laying awake at night wondering what they did wrong to let a great guy like Wayne Allyn Root slip through their fingers.

Yeah, with G.W. Bush and Obama representing the school, everyone can see the quality of a Harvard education.

Trevor|9.7.08 @ 11:13PM|#

Stop talking about Affirmative Action.

It's been established that:

1) Obama did not use affirmative action to get into Harvard. (source: NYtimes)
2) Wayne Allen Root is racist, because he assumed otherwise, and uses White Nationalist propaganda as research material.


Debating about Affirmative Action is what W.A.R. wants, because most libertarians agree on the subject. Instead, please keep this discussion to the racist dickhead running as our VP.

|9.7.08 @ 11:28PM|#

Wayne Allyn Root is not a racist. I have heard him speak many times. He is by no means a "bitter white guy." It seems to me as though the interviewer was obviously biased towards him.

It is no contest if you compare Obama and Root. Obama has never created a job, never payed anyone's health insurance, never had to make payroll. Obama and Biden are completely clueless when it comes to the economy and they will run this country into the ground...quickly. Obama has lived off the government his entire life. He's that super liberal professor you had in college...on steroids. Of course you think the government should pay for your Schooling and health care you're 60 grand in debt and you talk BS to a bunch of College kids for a living.

Biden on other hand has been a US Senator over half his life, what can he possibly bring to the table? He has clue what is going on either on Wall Street or Main Street.

Wayne is a better example than Obama of someone who has succeeded in America.

If you read any of Root's books, he always talks about how failing has made him a better person. Those are not the words of a racist or a bitter white guy.

Watch this video and hear it from the man himself.

http://www.bobbarr2008.com/root/

K Dog|9.8.08 @ 12:30AM|#

I also did not get into Harvard Law when I did not apply.

It was on account of me not having money for the stamp let alone tuition.

I think actually this was an interview with Pat Robertson wasn't it?

|9.8.08 @ 2:31AM|#

The bashing of affirmative action didn't bother me. Most whites are inculcated with this silliness. What bothered me was the disdain a supposed libertarian shows for blacks exercising freedom of association by hanging around other black people.

The libertarians are the Palestinians of America, never missing the opportunity to miss an opportunity. A Republican party in thrall to religious extremists and worshipping a governor from the closest thing we have in the US to a socialist state, and Democrats returning to big government, socialist roots, and this is the best the Libertarians can do? It's really sickening.

JMR|9.8.08 @ 2:48AM|#

Steps to seeing the extent of the LP's screwup this time.
1. Read "Healing Our World, The Other Piece of the Puzzle" (available for free online, but it's worth having on dead trees) by Dr. Mary Ruwart.
2. Imagine how Dr. Ruwart, as a VP candidate, would have handled these kinds of questions in the context of Root's rant. This may lead to
3. Understanding why the LP is still marginal in politics, and why choices like that Boston Tea Party & Chuck Baldwin are likely to attract a great deal of the "Fuck You" vote which would have ordinarily -- and rightfully -- gone to the LP's candidates this time, especially considering all the socialist bailouts & market manipulation going on lately.

|9.8.08 @ 4:45AM|#

Interesting to see that Root is a throwback to McCarthyist populism. This is the sort of hogwash I would expect from Ann Coulter or the Reform party, not a Libertarian candidate.

|9.8.08 @ 9:54AM|#

Obama should release his grades:

#1. When Sarah (5 schools in 6 years!) University of Idaho grades are released by the McCain campaign!!!

#2. and after Cindy McCain releases the her personal taxes.

Thank you very much

|9.8.08 @ 10:49AM|#

WTF was that about?! W.A.R. really makes libertarians look smart in that interview. Note: Undergrad GPA is essentially irrelevant to Law School admission; It's all about LSAT score. Besides, who would care about grades from a diploma-mill like Columbia?

jtuf|9.8.08 @ 11:17AM|#

Trevor | September 7, 2008, 11:13pm | #

Stop talking about Affirmative Action.

It's been established that:

1) Obama did not use affirmative action to get into Harvard. (source: NYtimes)
2) Wayne Allen Root is racist, because he assumed otherwise, and uses White Nationalist propaganda as research material.


Debating about Affirmative Action is what W.A.R. wants, because most libertarians agree on the subject. Instead, please keep this discussion to the racist dickhead running as our VP.

How in the world will writing and reading shocked responses to Root on this blog benefit anyone? Yes, Root violated the libertarian principle of individual judgement by making assumptions about how Obama got into grad school. If you want to change Root's mind, send him an e-mail. When I disagreed with Ron Paul's anti-immigration stance, I wrote him and told him that he lost my support over it. I encourage you to contact Root and tell him why you're not supporting him.

The bloggers here agree that racism is wrong and that we should judge people based on their individual character and merit. We will benefit more from having a rational debate about policy than from joining an echo chamber aimed at Root.

|9.8.08 @ 11:08PM|#

Whether W.A.R. is a racist or not, it seems odd that he spends so much time and makes such a big deal about Obama. He COULD be talking about HIS plans for a libertarian America, but alas, W.A.R.isn't a libertarian . . . he is a neoconservative leaning Republican.

This is absolutely the kind of interview I always knew W.A.R. was capable. He comes across as crass, scatterbrained, and just plain (as has been said in other posts) an asshole. He represents the LP extremely poorly. His plans for running again in 2012 just got a whole lot dimmer! This interview is a blessing, as the real W.A.R. is seen! Thanks guys!

miche|9.8.08 @ 11:39PM|#

Yeah, Root brings up visions about everything that's bad about Libertarian candidates. I won't hold him against Barr though, since the LP doesn't grant its presidential candidate the luxury of picking his/her own veep, like the major parties do.

Umm, still reading the thread so forgive me if this was already mentioned but Barr did pick his running mate. I was there and while there was a vote, Barr demanded that the body give him who he wanted in a running mate. Some people caved and Root is yer VP candidate; it's exactly how old crusty republican Barr wanted it.

|9.8.08 @ 11:49PM|#

W.A.R. says . . . "Anyway my point is, for those of us in America who want to fight for talent being the determiner of who's successful or not, I'm your representative."

Earth to W.A.R-talent is only one factor out of may which help people to be "PRODUCTIVE". Productivity is hands down, the largest "determiner of who's successful or not."

See, W.A.R. has talent . . . but with W.A.R. as an oddsmaker, there isn't really much to exhibit productivity, however. Not all markets are equal when it comes to productivity. He's successful, but not all that productive.

This is just another example (of many!) which shows just how ignorant of economics W.A.R. is. He has no clue as to how the market rewards productivity, along with providing the consumers with what they want. To W.A.R., it is simply "talent". Simpleton.

Nick|9.9.08 @ 12:02AM|#

No, the only policy Obama gets any credit on diverging from his party line has been his calls to replace race-based affirmative action with class-based affirmative action. Not that it means he actually believes it, but it's the only thing besides a later-recanted support for school choice that Obama seems to differ from the Democratic party line on.

Angela Keaton|9.9.08 @ 12:27AM|#

...and we didn't want Steve Kubby because we were afraid his pot use would alienate voters.

A_K|9.9.08 @ 8:08AM|#

The Sports Tout's Burden.

Good AMWAY salespersons support redistribution of wealth by stealing part of others' work product, and appropriating it as their own. Pott is a true "Millionaire Republican". Premeditated theft of other people's work to increase your own personal wealth is better than communism?

Has Root released his Columbia transcripts?

JenXer|9.9.08 @ 8:13AM|#

I didn't want Steve Kubby. Pot being his primary issue is NOT going to resonate with most of America. However, Root needs to stop talking trash. Barr should have tapped Ruwart for VP.

A_S|9.9.08 @ 8:13AM|#

Root is self-evidently Harvard material: a hasty pud.

|9.9.08 @ 8:49AM|#

There are a few things in the interview that are even worthy of Reason-able comment. Stil, to wager US$ 1 million on the comparable results of a classmate is something even when it is clear that the guy may not have the cash. However,I do know that Root should have to prove that Obama did state his race on the application forms. As far as I could find out, he did not and that may blow away the claim that he was admitted principally because of it.

Those who know no better would ask whether this is what a Libertarian candidate is about.

|9.9.08 @ 9:57AM|#

It seems to me that "asshole" is code for "showing insufficient White Guilt".

Abdullah actually was more honest about it, calling it "semi-racist", which is a lot like "semi-pregnant". You either think that your own "race" is superior to other "races", or you don't. This is where the "semi-" comes in, which makes "semi-racist" mean, "He doesn't necessarily think that his race is superior to other races, but he also doesn't properly demean his race as unfairly privileged by means of racism".

And people who treat White Guilt as fucking blessed dogma are rightly pissed off by people who don't toe the line. Cue another vaginal hissy-fit from brave, brave sir joe.

|9.9.08 @ 1:48PM|#

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!

Wow! I had serious misgivings about the Libertarian ticket this year, now I know there is NO FUCKING WAY I will vote for them. I can't believe that Root is sinking to this Fox News level of thinking.

The "evidence" that Obama had a lower GPA than him is that he didn't associate with the white students and that affirmative action existed at the time?

Is this the guy Libertarians are happy to accept as their VP candidate? Someone willing to engage in racist, personal attacks on a beloved candidate? Someone whose reasoning is that until Obama DISPROVES that he had a lower GPA, that has to be assumed?

I can't believe that Root is such an idiot and douchebag. Fuck him and fuck the LP.

|9.10.08 @ 10:24AM|#

Barack Obama's father graduated from Harvard. I can't believe a guy who went to Columbia doesn't know about legacy admissions. He's either a liar or a moron.

|9.11.08 @ 11:22AM|#

I'd like to understand Obama's intent with his choice of Black as his race since the reading I've done shows he is mostly white and Arab and only about 6 percent black. If this is the case, he cannot claim Black as his race and is not a minority. His shooling follow in this course of the cover up being allowed to attend two of the highest ranked schools in the States, if he obtained acceptance to these schools being a minority. Third, if he is Not black as his geneaology states,per some sources, but white and arab he has been misleading the American people and his entire political career is a farce and cover up for the black population that follow him. As for being Smart, listen to the man talk one on one, I'm not the least impressed with the man and wounder what his intelligence really is in this case after seeing he attended Columbia and Harvard.

Korla Pundit|9.11.08 @ 3:53PM|#

Hey, I have a great idea: why doesn't Obama simply take this blowhard up on his challenge, and put that million dollars into defeating McCain?

Oh, that's why.

|9.11.08 @ 6:17PM|#

This guy IS an asshole, but it begs the question. Why hasn't Obama released his grades? And why doesn't anyone ask him?

|9.11.08 @ 6:20PM|#

RE: "However,I do know that Root should have to prove that Obama did state his race on the application forms. As far as I could find out, he did not and that may blow away the claim that he was admitted principally because of it."

Maureen Dowd made this point a few weeks back, that Obama "didn't even check that he was black on his application". Uh huh. But he still signed the application with his given name, right? I mean, come on.

Korla Pundit|9.12.08 @ 10:52AM|#

>Root should have to prove that Obama did state his race on the application forms. As far as I could find out, he did not

Only because those forms don't have a checkbox for "half-white."

mongooseblog|9.12.08 @ 5:32PM|#

Interesting video collection on Obama, the communist threat?

Pingback| 10.21.09 @ 10:45PM

The Right Side of Life » Can Anyone Vouch for Obama’s History? Not at Columbia! links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…at Columbia University. The Anti-Mullah blog posted this story last Sunday; I did some further research to find out from whence they pulled much of the verbiage in their posting. First, Reason.com posted an article back in September, 2008 in which they interviewed the Libertarian Party Vice Presidential candidate, Wayne Allen Root (poignantly excerpted quotes): Root is no fan of the Democratic nominee:…

Pingback| 10.22.09 @ 8:12AM

Can Anyone Vouch for Obama’s History? Not at Columbia! « Count Us Out links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…at Columbia University. The Anti-Mullah blog posted this story last Sunday; I did some further research to find out from whence they pulled much of the verbiage in their posting. First, Reason.com posted an article back in September, 2008 in which they interviewed the Libertarian Party Vice Presidential candidate, Wayne Allen Root (poignantly excerpted quotes): Root is no fan of the Democratic nominee: “A…

Pingback| 10.22.09 @ 7:21PM

Where are Obama’s Columbia Classmates today? « Just Americans Making Ethical Statemen links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…at Columbia University. The Anti-Mullah blog posted this story last Sunday; I did some further research to find out from whence they pulled much of the verbiage in their posting. First, Reason.com posted an article back in September, 2008 in which they interviewed the Libertarian Party Vice Presidential candidate, Wayne Allen Root (poignantly excerpted quotes): Root is no fan of the Democratic nominee: “A…

|10.25.09 @ 10:45PM|#

When my daughter was in high school in southern California (1994) her white friend and hispanic friend both applied to UCLA. The white friends GPA was higher than the hispanic girl and the hispanic was accepted the white friend was not....The white girlfriend was devastated because both of her parents graduated from UCLA.

|10.25.09 @ 10:51PM|#

thats what you call affirmative action

Pingback| 10.31.09 @ 11:55AM

Twitter Trackbacks for Wayne Allyn Root's Million-Dollar Challenge - Reason Magazine links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…/bit.ly/2YPWps info Tags #obama #p2 #tcot #tlot #ocra Add Topsy to Your Blog Turn tweets into comments for your WordPress blog. Topsy Plugin for WordPress   2 tweets Tweet Wayne Allyn Root's Million-Dollar Challenge - Reason Magazine reason.com/archives/2008/09/05/wayne-allyn-roots-million-doll – view page – cached The Libertarian VP candidate wants Barack Obama to release his grades —…

Pingback| 11.16.09 @ 8:31PM

Wayne Allyn Root is Barack Obama Columbia Classmate? Wayne Allyn Root No One Remember links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…same time. Root says he did not know Obama at Columbia although they were both on the same career path, Political Science and pre-law. On September 5, 2008, Reason’s Matt Welch and Tim Cavanaugh interviewed Root. At the time, candidate Root wanted Obama’s Columbia grade average released, as were G.W. Bush’s, John Kerry and Al Gore – not to mention overall intelligence. Welch asked this:…

|11.30.09 @ 8:59AM|#

I've studied Obama's background since 07 and I truly believe he is a genuine fraud! There are too many unanswered questions concerning his past. Who is he really?

Pingback| 2.3.10 @ 7:04PM

Barack Obama vs. Wayne Allyn Root, Live at Caesar’s Palace - www.hostzi.com - deepWe links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…unite us to collectively scream “WITH ALL DUE RESPECT MR. PRESIDENT, SCREW YOU.” Whole thing here. I interviewed America’s first Libertarian Party president during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and for ReasonTV last summer: Read More… [Source: Hit & Run ] Be the first to comment - What do you think?   Posted by admin - February 3, 2010 at 3:57 pm Categories:…

Pingback| 2.8.10 @ 4:40PM

Wayne Allyn Root’s “Lessons Obama Should Have Learned From Watching the Super Bowl” links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…“Lessons Obama Should Have Learned From Watching the Super Bowl” My favorite 2008 Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee is back with another searing indictment of his former Columbia classmate, with an oddsmaking twist. Excerpt: #2)Taking risks is central to success. The Saints pulled the huge Super Bowl upset by taking a huge gamble. Their onside kick to start the second half was…

Pingback| 2.9.10 @ 6:51PM

Wayne Allyn Root’s “Lessons Obama Should Have Learned From Watching the Super Bowl” links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…“Lessons Obama Should Have Learned From Watching the Super Bowl” My favorite 2008 Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee is back with another searing indictment of his former Columbia classmate, with an oddsmaking twist. Excerpt: #2)Taking risks is central to success. The Saints pulled the huge Super Bowl upset by taking a huge gamble. Their onside kick to start the second half was…

Pingback| 2.15.10 @ 7:31PM

Popular Stories | HateTheMall links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…declines requests to talk about his years at Columbia , provide school records, or provide the name of any former classmates or friends while at Columbia Confirm  http://reason.com/archives/2008/09/05/wayne-allyn-roots-million-doll http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Allyn_Root#column-one NOTE: Root graduated as Valedictorian from his high school, Thornton-Donovan School, then graduated from Columbia…

Pingback| 2.16.10 @ 1:00PM

Obama at Columbia University | Extreme Conservatives links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…two years at the university. The message also makes much of Wayne Allyn Root’s statement in an interview that he didn’t know anybody who remembered Obama at Columbia. That appeared Sept. 5, 2008, in Reason magazine. What the message fails to mention is that Root was at the time a candidate for vice president on the Libertarian ticket. Root was stating that "[a] vote for Obama is four years…

braden abbott|2.16.10 @ 4:58PM|#

Oh my! This guy way the Libertarian VP candidate? Forgive me for not having known until now, I don't follow the party. Wow! Libertarians should be embarrassed. Very entertaining though. Sorry Root (and Reason.com), but making assertions here is hardly akin to making them in the "media." Root has just made his party the laughing stock of politics. One word: FRINGE. He he.

Pingback| 2.19.10 @ 6:54PM

Presidential Eligibility: Three Simple Requirements | The Post & Email links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…on federal and state privacy laws in keeping his birth, medical, school and college records and other documents hidden from the public, making it impossible to verify his eligibility.  Friends, fellow students, and colleagues are strangely silent. Concerned citizens, before the general election, before the electoral votes, before the inauguration and after, attempt to pursue every avenue of inquiry and…

Pingback| 2.19.10 @ 6:54PM

Presidential Eligibility: Three Simple Requirements | The Post & Email: UK Edition links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…on federal and state privacy laws in keeping his birth, medical, school and college records and other documents hidden from the public, making it impossible to verify his eligibility.  Friends, fellow students, and colleagues are strangely silent. Concerned citizens, before the general election, before the electoral votes, before the inauguration and after, attempt to pursue every avenue of inquiry and…

Trackback| 2.26.10 @ 4:23PM

Date an Asian Girl, on Date an Asian Girl, links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

Asia is an indispensable partner in the struggle against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. North Korea and Pakistan have illegally exported knowledge and assets to countries with nuclear ambitions. China’ s important role in the six- party talks over the Korean crisis is very important. China has also supported EU efforts to resolve peacefully US Iran tensions over the latter’ s Uranium enrichment programme. But, unfortunately, China’ s role in non- proliferation has…

Pingback| 3.9.10 @ 9:45PM

THREE Simple Requirements « links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…on federal and state privacy laws in keeping his birth, medical, school and college records and other documents hidden from the public, making it impossible to verify his eligibility. Friends, fellow students, and colleagues are strangely silent. Concerned citizens, before the general election, before the electoral votes, before the inauguration and after, attempt to pursue every avenue of inquiry and…

|7.19.10 @ 7:55PM|#

What's interesting is whether this guy is just self-promoting or not, he tells the truth, and only focuses on Columbia when there are many strange issues with Obama's phony education, from the drug induced days hanging out and cutting classes with politically active blacks, foreign students, Chicanos, Marxist professors, structural feminists, and punk-rock performance poets, to the mystery Columbia days, and on to getting into Harvard with NO LSAT scores - Then making President of the Harvard Law Review without ever even writing anything ?

The one paper he has a mention in may be the zaniest-titled article ever published by the Harvard Law Review: "The Curvature of Constitutional Space: What Lawyers Can Learn From Modern Physics," authored by noted legal scholar Laurence Tribe.

The 39-page densely argued treatise argues that constitutional jurisprudence should be updated in a similar way that Einstein's theory of relativity replaced Newtonian mechanics, a view that would release judges from the original intent of the Founders of America.

At the very least Obama is a space cadet that was pushed through school on the Affirmative action program, and of course it could also be that he was groomed for some political mission, especially since no can find proof of the staggering student loans Michelle is always whining about, where did the money come from ?

Let's hope he just a fraud that snuck through, and there is not a bigger mission yet to be revealed.

You should find some adult writers to do interviews ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ;--)