The arguments over Obama's blackness or whiteness have verified my belief that there are people out there with far too much free time.

And I've seen him in person, so I can tell you - he's something of a medium brown. (grin)

Frankly, I don't care what color, ethnic background, gender, religion or political party our president belongs to. I just want him or her to deliver. Get the job done. And if that takes somehow forcing congress kicking and screaming to throw out all their screwed up biases and isolate them from all the lobbyists who have so corrupted Washington, so what. Our government needs desperately to take the reins and assert control that resolves to what is good for all of America.

There's one simple rule in life:never pay any attention to Christopher Hitchens.

Leave him alone to insult Mother Theresa and defend Bush to his heart content.

Otherwise he may be up to something even dumber like denying that Obama is black.

Half a loaf is better than none? Catch a half loaf by the toe? What the hell is that.

American history cannot be comprehended without a good understanding of slavery and the fact that when someone finds out without even looking at you that you are 1% black, you are black.

And Hitchens is out of his mind. I still get a kick out of him and now he has changed his tune and is a Bush basher but he will not admit Iraq was and is a debacle in US foreign policy. He is the guy in your boyhood gang who flashes his naked butt at passers by and embarrasses (ever parse that word?) all the rest of the guys but can be so funny nobody kicks him out of the group. Except he has a unique facility with words.

Good post Stilli. A deputy Defense Secretary under Rummy was on Hardball yesterday still arguing that Sadaam was a threat because someday he could develop weapon systems. Chris finally shut him down. All you can do is walk away sometimes.

And I thought from the title this was gonna be another battle between dickday and stillidealistic! Or maybe something related to the bible guy! But no... it's much ado about much ado! But well done! And rec'd.

Now, can we get back to our regularly scheduled "fights about nothing?" HuffPo simply doesn't do humor like we do humor! They take too many people seriously! Now there's a topic.

The man himself said it best. There's no White America, no Black America, just the United States of America.

And Hitchens is a drunken ass.

I Swear, We'll Fight About Anything!

Nuh-uh! Will not!

This topic really pisses me off. Throughout the election the media was all about "will Obama's race hurt his chances?", now it's "is Obama really the first Black President?" I just want to yell "Fuck You!". If Obama stole someone's bag or was known for committing some unspeakable act, his ass would be Black, Black, Black! - even if they knew his mother was White. It's as if other groups/races/cultures are clamoring to claim a piece of Obama - only because of his astounding accomplishment. I'm sick of article after article trying to provide reasons and "proof" that Obama is not Black. In an attempt to dismiss the 1 drop rule, they embrace the 50% rule. Who's next? Alicia Keys, Halle Berry? And at what percentage are you no longer considered Black? Tina Turner has 35% white ancestry, Don Cheadle - 20% and Chris Rock - 19%. The majority of Blacks in this country have white ancestry and 1/3 of whites have Black ancestry. But the rules, even though scientifically wrong, have been set and accepted. No election is going to change that overnight, if ever.

Who cares what color he is as long as he is not a Republican or in any way related to Bush! Though it is concerning that he is related to Cheney...

Hey, whatever happened to the "one drop rule?" [snark snark snark]

Too black for some, not black enough for others. I swear he could tear himself in half and both halves could walk across water and someone would find something to bitch about.

PS - Hitch is a terribly self-important boor since booze destroyed his talent.

I'm planning for the worst, because while you may be from the Land of Lincoln, I don't believe you have what it takes.

Ain't that the truth!

I think this post deserves new life, because choosing Rick Warren to give the Inaugural Invocation just gives us more reason to agree that yes, we can argue about anything. And with gusto.

Submission recommended (would be highly recommended if possible).

I'd like to weigh in with a bit of personal perspective here. I was born in the decade after Obama. I am mixed (B/W) and was raised by my adoptive family (who are white).

Times were different then. When you were raised in those circumstances at that time, more often than not, your social experiences and society at large began to define you, before you had a chance to define yourself.

My parents never set out to define me as black, but that didn't stop others from defining me as such. And this was at a time when immigration of brown-skinned people wasn't what it is today and people I resembled (lighter skin, straighter hair) were assumed to be black. When I initially inquired of my parents as to what this really meant, they simply said that I looked different from those around me, but that different was good and special.

Absent the current emergence of labels such as "mixed or bi-racial", later in my formative years, other Blacks accepted me as "Black" and "Whites" accepted me as non-white or "Black". But that doesn't exempt the fact that I long ago had accepted and identified myself as black, with social circumstances leading the way.

I personally don't embrace the notion that because I am bioligcally 50% black, yet self-identify and have experienced my life as a black woman in a different historical context and all that entails, that I should now adjust my identity and revise my history to fit into anyone's box and bolster their comfort level because someone else now says it's ok to do so, or because they demand it. Going a bit further, it's downright offensive that some third party, in this day and age, would fall prey to a false sense of an inherent right to control and surmise that it's their call.

On a final note, one thing I do enjoy about the younger bi-racial generation is that they do seem to have more choices, in terms of personal identification and acceptance by their peers. More specifically, it appears to be more of their choice with mitigated social ramifications. In this respect, they dictate to society as opposed to society dictating to them.

And on a side note regarding the comment agreeing to agree to argue over Rick Warren as the provider of the inaugural invocation, I would ask that any readers of my comment consider this: being raised in circumstances such as those of Barack Obama and myself, it is important to look at the bigger picture--we were born for these moments, living and succeeding within seperate, as few can do. Once you get over the initial instinct to fight with everything that you have, the ideology of those that you perceive as trying to "school you in their ways", you can approach and navigate, with a level of clarity, the circumstance in which you, yourself, may serve to teach the "teacher" much more than they intend to teach you as the "student". In this circumstance, I'm reminded of a time long ago when my grandmother called a man a n-word in front of me. Even though I was angry and hurt, I didn't welcome her damnation, nor did I perpetually shut her out, even when others did so. Over time, I remained in close contact with her and she grew beyond her prejudices and racism, while my convictions remained unfaultered. I would like to think that my love was stronger than her hatred and I am proud to say that at 88 years of age, she cast her vote for Barack Obama on Nov. 4, 2008.

You may disagree, but always remember I said: Mother Teresa was a rapacious monster.