[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by saden1

Lawrence was alright except for the Vietnam war line of questioning. What's truly nasty is the statements Cain has made about african americans, the unemployed, liberals, muslims and abortion.

I agree Lawrence's Vietnam remarks were completely out of line, but you think the Civil Rights remarks and questions were okay?

Cain:

So, counter to our real feelings, we decided to avoid trouble by moving to the back of the bus when the driver told us to. By that time, the sit-ins and the Freedom Rides had kind of broken the ice, even though things hadn't fully changed. So we saw it every day on TV and read about it in the news. Dad always said, "Stay out of trouble," and we did.

Lawrence:

Where do you think black people would be sitting on the bus today if Rosa Parks had followed your father's advice?"

Additional:

Cain replied, still not losing his cool, by pointing out that at the time that the anecdote happened, his father was giving advice to a high school aged boy, not an adult like Rosa Parks, for whose courage he was thankful.

O'Donnell then launched into an attack: "Mr. Cain, you were in fact in college from 1963 to 1967, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, exactly when the most important demonstrations and protests were going on. You could easily as a student at Morehouse between 1963 and 1967 actively participated in the kinds of protests that got African Americans the rights they enjoy today. You watched from that perspective at Moorehouse when you were not participating in those processes. You watched black college students from around the country and white college students from around the country come south AND BE MURDERED, fighting for the rights of African Americans. Do you regret sitting on those sidelines at that time?"

Cain hinted that an illness in his family prevented him from being as involved as he would've liked, which is beside the point.

How about lawrence' questioning Cain's "gratefulness", was that questioning okay?

"Mr. Cain, what are you grateful to this nation for? You served in the Navy. They paid for you to go get a graduate degree while you were in the Navy. Are you grateful to the government for doing that? Are you grateful to this government for passing the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act?"

more:
Lawrence O'Donnell's Offensive Interview with Herman Cain - Conor Friedersdorf - Politics - The Atlantic

I think Cain has said some controversial things some of it perhaps distasteful, but nothing he said was as distasteful and nasty as lawrence odonnells interview with Cain. I also believe the context of anything detestable Cain has said is vastly different then Cain being scolded by a white man for Cain's lack of involvement in the Civil Rights Movements while an adolescent, in addition to the hypocritical and unfounded attack on Cain's patriotism and service to his country, particularly during Vietnam.