Last week at the Democratic National Convention, Matt Welch and Tim Cavanaugh interviewed Libertarian vice presidential candidate Wayne Allyn Root, who offered the following challenge to his former Columbia University classmate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.): "I'll put a million dollars cash on the fact...that my GPA was better than Barack's."
New at Reason: Matt Welch Talks Affirmative Action, Black Power Politics, and Barack Obama's Grades with Wayne Allyn Root
Comments to "New at Reason: Matt Welch Talks Affirmative Action, Black Power Politics, and Barack Obama's Grades with Wayne Allyn Root":
Warren | September 5, 2008, 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.
Caribou Carl | September 5, 2008, 12:06pm | #
I didn't know madrassas had grade point averages. Learn something new everyday.I'll put a cool million on the fact that his GPA was better than mine, too.
joe | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 12:18pm | #
This is the Libertarians' VP candidate? Are you fucking serious?Everyone should just finally accept the fact that the LP is nothing more than a message party much in the way that someone like Alan Keyes is a message candidate.
Does anyone doubt that possibly Barack could have gotten into Harvard with a C average because he's black, where as I, white, couldn't get into the same school with a B-plus, A-minus average?
Courting the black vote much? I can count all the black Libertarians I've ever met on both hands with my fists clenched. That's probably not about to change anytime soon.
Travis | September 5, 2008, 12:21pm | #
"Wow, Wayne Allen Root is an asshole."I couldn't agree more Joe.
Episiarch | September 5, 2008, 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!"
joe | September 5, 2008, 12:23pm | #
He was smoking dope with his black friends when I was selling Amway.Freak.
guy in the back row | September 5, 2008, 12:25pm | #
Doesn't everyone say that the A and B students end up working for the C students?Maybe you want a 2.5 in college?
Rhywun | September 5, 2008, 12:26pm | #
Is this supposed to be funny or is Mr. Root just being an asshole?J sub D | September 5, 2008, 12:32pm | #
That was an ugly interview.What a flaming blowhard. Asshole even.
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 | September 5, 2008, 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!
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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. | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 12:40pm | #
God, another hyperactive loudmouth with a case of AngryWhiteGuyitis.*Sigh* Maybe I just won't vote this year.
joe | September 5, 2008, 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!
Adamness | September 5, 2008, 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.
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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 12:50pm | #
So is he going after the former Ron Paul's How to Survive the Coming Race War Reportsubscribers ?
joe | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 12:55pm | #
he may have come across the wrong way but i find it kind of interesting at least.That new Boston Tea Party thing is sounding more & more interesting as a way to vote AGAINST all these BSers.
D.A. Ridgely | September 5, 2008, 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.
Kant feel Pietzsche, my Balzac is Ietzsche | September 5, 2008, 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.
jorgen | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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?
lannychiu | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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.
Hugh Akston | September 5, 2008, 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.
t. j. | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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.
J sub D | September 5, 2008, 1:15pm | #
he may have come across the wrong way ...May have come across the wrong way?
MAY HAVE?
WTF?
Jamie Kelly | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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.lannychiu | September 5, 2008, 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.
J sub D | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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.
Jamie Kelly | September 5, 2008, 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.
taz | September 5, 2008, 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.
Jamie Kelly | September 5, 2008, 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.
Bramblyspam | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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?
Mo | September 5, 2008, 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.
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?
R C Dean | September 5, 2008, 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.
lannychiu | September 5, 2008, 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.)
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 2:01pm | #
Michael-Correction: You do not have an evidence to support your assertion that Root is a racist.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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?t. j. | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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.
J sub D | September 5, 2008, 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.
Mr. Nice Guy | September 5, 2008, 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?Mr. Nice Guy | September 5, 2008, 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.
sv | September 5, 2008, 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
Mo | September 5, 2008, 2:32pm | #
libertymike,I hope you opposed
R C Dean | September 5, 2008, 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.
John C Jackson | September 5, 2008, 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.
R C Dean | September 5, 2008, 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.
Jay S. | September 5, 2008, 2:54pm | #
I think I'm getting readings on my satire meter.Patrick | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 3:02pm | #
BTW-Speaking of Ivy league grads being intellectually inferior-exhibit 1 is GWB.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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 Michael | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 3:13pm | #
Michael, not the other Michael-Argument by tautology. Wayne Root is a racist because he most certainly is a racist. You are not a racist because you are critical of affirmative action. You are a racist if you support the same.
You are not a racist if you make fum of black racists who were beneficiaires of racist affirmative action policies.
Again, lots of whining and jealously and argument by tautology.
Other Michael | September 5, 2008, 3:13pm | #
Stupid misplaced tag.blarny | September 5, 2008, 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
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.
R C Dean | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 3:21pm | #
Wayne Root has accomplished so much more in life than Obama-and without any affirmative action.Other Michael | September 5, 2008, 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.
libertarianjim | September 5, 2008, 3:23pm | #
Embarrassing! His name should be "Tool" not "Root".J sub D | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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?whiskey tango | September 5, 2008, 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.dave brown | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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?
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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.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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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.
rokinaar | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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.Mo | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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.
Mo | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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.
Considering Obama was Law Review editor at Harvard, I am sure he was a pretty good student in college.
Diogenes of Sinope | September 5, 2008, 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.
Zerg | September 5, 2008, 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.
John Harrold | September 5, 2008, 4:40pm | #
Pathetic, truly pathetic. And why didn't the interviewers interject a little bit here? Just let him spew this stuff and not question it?After reading that I'm registering as an Independent. I simply don't want to be associated with this party.
NJ | September 5, 2008, 5:16pm | #
The Dondero love for WAR now makes sense.Ben Kalafut | September 5, 2008, 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?FatDrunkAndStupid | September 5, 2008, 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.
Wow. He seriously needs to be locked up somewhere before he hurts someone. Maybe that's why he switched to the LP. To pull a Thomas Szacz on those who think he should be committed.
Trevor | September 5, 2008, 5:32pm | #
This is the reason I'm embarrassed to say I'm a Libertarian.R C Dean | September 5, 2008, 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.
Pac | September 5, 2008, 5:56pm | #
BAMbarr/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
J sub D | September 5, 2008, 6:00pm | #
This is the reason I'm embarrassed to say I'm a Libertarian.The only one?
Trevor | September 5, 2008, 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.Frank_A | September 5, 2008, 6:20pm | #
" and why is root spreading rumors and not f***ng campaigning?he comes off as a whining little bitch."
Yup.
Trevor | September 5, 2008, 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.
J sub D | September 5, 2008, 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."QFMFT.Reason readers are calling you racist, you ADD ridden child. I hope you read their comments.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 6:40pm | #
Mo-4:12Yes, 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?
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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?
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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....
Dakota | September 5, 2008, 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.
Worst side-effect of AA? Creates this kind of BS, keeping people angry & ignorant of real issues.
J sub D | September 5, 2008, 8:03pm | #
You appear to conflate state mandated affirmative action admission policies with legacy admissions. Although I oppose legacy admissions-they are not the force of law. You do see the differnece, don't you?Jiminy christmas! Do you always talk out your ass?
The extent to which legacy contributes to an applicant’s admission varies across universities. At the University of Michigan, applicants are rated on a “selection index” of 150 points, where 100 points is usually enough to be admitted; students with legacy receive four points.U of M is a public, taxpayer funded university.
Alberta Blue | September 5, 2008, 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
asdf | September 5, 2008, 8:28pm | #
Obama didn't list his race on his Harvard Law School application.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?
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.
libertymike | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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 | September 5, 2008, 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.
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 | September 5, 2008, 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?Abdullah | September 5, 2008, 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.
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.
Jeff | September 5, 2008, 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.
Jeff | September 5, 2008, 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.
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.
Jeff | September 5, 2008, 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.
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.
Dan | September 5, 2008, 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.
Jerome | September 5, 2008, 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.
joe | September 5, 2008, 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.
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.
Sean | September 6, 2008, 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.
Andy Craig | September 6, 2008, 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?
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 | September 6, 2008, 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.Art-P.O.G. | September 6, 2008, 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.
Andy Craig | September 6, 2008, 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.Carole R Williams | September 6, 2008, 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??Ron. | September 6, 2008, 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
* | September 6, 2008, 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.Knemon | September 6, 2008, 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.
Art-P.O.G. | September 6, 2008, 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...
Art-P.O.G. | September 6, 2008, 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".
"...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.
* | September 6, 2008, 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.
Art-P.O.G. | September 6, 2008, 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, dudeIs this some kind of thought experiment?
Art-P.O.G. | September 6, 2008, 7:24am | #
'Cuz this white boy isn't gonna kiss your ass eitherI never ask anyone to kiss my ass. Sounds like you have a complex.
Art-P.O.G. | September 6, 2008, 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 | September 6, 2008, 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