America is engaged in an election for the next president of the United States. Whoever gets elected will determine the direction our country takes. As a result, it is imperative that Americans get to know who the candidates are.
One candidate running for president is Barack Obama. Who is Barack Obama? He first appeared to be a charming, smooth-talking candidate who promised to bring "change" and unite America. Things have changed. Indeed, Barack Obama has been brought down to earth. As America gets to know him, there are reasons to be frightened.
It is clear that Obama has associated with angry, dangerous and questionable people. One example is the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Obama's longtime minister. Wright has blamed America and whites for starting the AIDS virus to kill off blacks, training professional killers, importing drugs and creating a racist society to oppress blacks. He has manipulated blacks into seeing themselves as "victims."
When Obama was asked about Wright's comments, he attempted to make excuses for the minister's hate-America rhetoric. Obama's failure to condemn Wright as a bigot speaks volumes about his own character and fitness to lead our country.
Other dangerous people Obama has associated with are Louis Farrakhan -- anti-Jew, anti-white and anti-America -- and William Ayers, an anti-war terrorist whose bombings have killed people.
Does Barack Obama have the judgment, honesty, character, dependability and open-mindedness to be our next president? I don't think so.
-- Diana Thorn, Carpinteria