I think it's great when candidates personally post on their facebook page so I checked it out and replied with this comment on Jim Leach's page.
Interesting guy. In one post he's angry about the "marginalization of Hispanics" in Illinois politics. In another he calls the cultural traditions of Middle Eastern countries "obtuse and barbaric."
I wonder if he'll ever see the hypocritical contradiction in those two statements.
That's when things got fun. Robert Enriquez responded!
One of the first rules for political candidates engaging in online discussion is that you don't get into a back and forth with random strangers. All you need to do is make your position clear and state your case. Anything beyond two replies to a question almost always goes downhill. Someone should have told Robert.
Instead, he engaged in the trademark behavior of what passes for debate on right-wing talk radio. He misrepresented my argument to avoid responding, changed the subject by attacking his opponent, and descended into a rant of random gripes against Democrats. Wow!
Here's the facebook post by Enriquez about a stoning incident in Iran that I referred to:
THIS IS WHY you don't go around bowing to people in the world. Their social and legal values are just so different (obtuse and barbaric, really) from what we absolutely know to be correct. Bowing to other (legal or not) leaders by a US President just confuses them and sends a seriously flawed signal to friend and foe... alike.
The better thing for a US President to do is look them in the eye, shake their hand and treat them like we treat other Americans, here at home. With respect, equality and decency...compassion even.
I'm sure everyone would agree with him if he had simply condemned stoning. But, in his attempt to attack Obama, he went further than that. He used an instance of stoning to condemn the social and legal values of entire culture as "obtuse and barbaric."
That insults every Iranian and American of Iranian heritage who opposes the practice of stoning and struggles for human rights.
You can read a screen cap of our conversation here. After defending his statement and questioning my right to criticize a candidate for public office, he gave up even trying to justify his words.
What about that Obama guy keeping his Aunt Zeituni ... See Morehere and deporting MORE Hispanics than were deported by W? How is that for "proper"? What about that Revered White guy, hating on the US and Obama never heard ONE Word? To say nothing of dingbat Farrakhan. I don't see you high and mighty and attacking these folks.
What about THIS as a backdrop to an apology:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwog6E08CFU?
Now that's a first class talk-radio rant! Just to spare you, the YouTube link is of Barack Obama holding his hands in front of himself during the Star Spangled Banner, which is perfectly normal protocol. It's one of those links sent around in an email forward with a comment about Obama hating America.
Another poster, in a comment that was later removed, stated that Enriquez's statement is racist. Enriquez defended himself further by posting this definition of racism.
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
Would that include the belief that
1) We shouldn't bow to people in Iran and other unspecified countries because their values are "obtuse and barbaric" compared to ours, and
2) Our social custom of shaking hands is an inherently superior way of showing respect than the customs of other cultures.
Hmm... It just might fit the definition.
If you stroll through his page you'll find other interesting items like a link to an article entitled, "Is Obama really a socialist? Some say so, but where's the evidence?" He even linked to a video of Jan Brewer in support of Arizona's new immigration laws.
I almost didn't post this because Enriquez is such a long-shot candidate. Then I remembered that most newspapers are giving the same level of coverage to this race as they gave to the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor. So I'll do my part to pick up the slack.