Andrew Breitbart promised that he has videos of Obama during his college days and will be releasing them this election. Specifically, he stated, “this election, we’re going to vet him. I’ve got videos. This election, we’re going to vet him. From his college days, to show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what hope and change was sold in 2008. The videos are going to come out, the narrative is going to come out.”
Everyone is wondering where are theses videos now after Andrew Breitlant died last week? Andrew died at age 43 after having a history of heart problems. Steve Bannon, Andrew’s friend, appeared on Fox News’s “Hannity” and continued to promise that the videos will be out in a week or two.
Steve stated on the show: “Guys are going through a series of tapes of President Obama at Harvard and will come back to you in a week or two and show them here on the “Hannity” show. . . . This is something. . . . We’re very systematic about going through these things, very systematic about what the information is.”
Erik Wemple commented on the reported opinion blog of the The Washington Post that “the program dedicated about 18 minutes of air time to the footage and the alleged scandals surrounding it — just enough time to make multiple references to the video’s exclusivity and its suppression by the media.” The Post also stated that “Breitbart.com found footage showing Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree saying that “we hid” the Obama-Bell video during the 2008 election.”
Time will tell whether these videos will actually emerge. Why are they now emerging in the 2012 election and not the 2008 election? What do you think these videos will do to Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign?
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Regardless of the content of the videos, I think it would be disappointing for any political system and general public to attribute too great of merit to content from the past. Our opinions and views change over time, and should continue to be reevaluated when our original notions are challenged. The views we have has teenagers are often different from the ones we possess as young adults, and the views we have as young adults often continue to change as we grow older. Sure, there are certain values or ideas that remain consistent throughout a person’s life, but to point to what an individual’s thoughts were at a time where they are constantly being presented with new ideas in an academic environment is at the least misleading. It matters more what the contemporary views of the individual are and not what they once were. It could be that Obama’s alleged damaging videos do indicate a negative viewpoint held by Obama, but to imply a person’s current views from their past views is an over simplification. Such thinking would encourage our society to remain consistent with a view point, no matter how flawed, and as a result, hinder innovative thinking and social progress.
I struggle to believe that these videos are real and that their content would actually be damning. Whatever their content, I think that we should move past what people did in college especially after they have already been president for 4 years. In some instances I agree that a record of a president’s past that far back is relevant – in police reports/charges, newspaper articles etc. But not in personal documentation of events. As recording technology is used ever more commonly, I think it becomes more and more important to draw the line as to what will be relevant to judge someones character and ability to lead the country. Years down the road do you really want political mud slinging to be done over cell phone videos and facebook posts from college years.