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Wayne Allyn Root's Million-Dollar Challenge
The Libertarian VP candidate wants Barack Obama to release his grades
(Page 3 of 4)
Welch: Wait, you're bragging on your GPA?
Root: No, no I'm not, because here's the moral to the story.... I had a B-plus, A-minus average at Columbia University, in four years. When I graduated, I took the LSATs and I did well. I didn't do great, I did well; B-plus, A-minus average. My counselor at Columbia said don't even bother applying to Harvard Law School, because you can get into any law school in the country with your record, except Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton [Editor's Note: Princeton doesn't have a law school]. Except for the very top, you can get in anywhere, but don't even try those, because your grades don't cut it.
Well, everyone says how bright Barack is, but Barack won't release his transcripts from Columbia University.
Cavanaugh: Hmmmm.
Root: And I'd be willing to bet every dime I have in the world, a million dollars I'll put, I'll put a million dollars cash on the fact—
Welch: This is on the record—
Root: —that my GPA was better than Barack's—
Welch: Oooooh.
Root: ...and he got in based on the color of his skin.
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? And yet his wife says that America is a terrible nation unfair to minorities! I say, Au contraire!
I say the whole problem with America is we are racist against people because of the color of their skin. We're helping people because they're black. We're helping people because they're minority. We're helping people because they're poor. In reality only those who have the most skill and talent should get into Harvard, not because of the color of their skin.
So now I ask out loud in the press, I challenge my classmate to give his GPA against mine. And let's see if he really is the bright guy they all say he is. What if we discover he got into Harvard with a C average? Is he then the brilliant man America thinks he is? That would be a very good question, don't you think?
Welch: The follow-up I want to ask is: What if it's better than yours? You just said a million dollars!
Root: Well, who's taking the bet? I didn't hear anyone accept. No, I'm pretty sure I'm right. I'll go out on a limb. Listen, they always said with O.J. Simpson, you know, never ask the question if you don't know the answer, does the glove fit? I don't know the answer but I'm pretty sure I know the answer. He had a lower average than me and he got into Harvard and I didn't.
And so my answer is, has America really been unfair to minorities? No it hasn't. It was unfair to me. A white butcher's kid, whose father had no money, but nobody gave me a break. And do I have a chip on my shoulder? You're damn right I do. 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. So maybe that country Barack's fighting for, he's got the wrong country here. He's been just fine in this country. The rest of us need someone to defend them....
|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 @ 12:16PM|#
Wow, Wayne Allen Root is an asshole.
'Or maybe he was involved in Black Radical politics."
Or maybe you're an asshole.
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.
|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!"
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?
|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.
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.
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.
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.
|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 @ 3:13PM|#
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.
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 @ 3:36PM|#
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.
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.
|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
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?
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 @ 8:36PM|#
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 @ 8:53AM|#
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.
|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."
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.
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