Let me start my response to you [Mr. William S. Brogdon] on a note of agreement. I agree completely that many politicians are completely out of touch with society and its true needs. On that point, I agree with you totally.

However, let me address your other points. I will begin by addressing your statement claiming that I made racist remarks. You obviously have no idea who I am as evidenced by your remark. I am one of the least racist people that you will ever meet. Ask anyone that knows me if they’ve ever heard a racist comment come from my lips. Better yet, ask my stepdaughters if they’re allowed to repeat even slightly racist comments that they may have heard at school or if they can use derogatory terms in my presence or to my knowledge.

To pose a conclusion based on facts, whether the conclusion is correct or not, is not being racist. It is simply putting forth my opinion and inviting others to put forth theirs. For you to claim that I am racist without even knowing me is very close-minded and presumptuous of you.

My point about the racial make-up of Obama is that he is using the black community in order to further his own goals. He does not embrace ideas nor philosophies that further the black community, but rather endorses continuation of government programs designed to remove incentives for any minority to better themselves by penalizing them when they try to do so. Want an example? Ask anyone that is living on welfare for a sustained period of time what happens if they get a minimum wage job. Ask them how much of their paycheck they will clear once they pay for their baby-sitting and gas to and from work. Then ask them if they come out better sitting at home and drawing a welfare check. My point here is that we need programs to give them incentive to want to better themselves. The current assistance program is badly broken and needs to be fixed. Obama is taking advantage of this situation by identifying himself as a black man and then playing on the emotions of the community as a whole. It is he who brought race into the process early on in his campaign.

Next, you make the statement that I identify myself as white. Again, I ask you, do you know me? I am, in fact, certified (by the government) as a Native American, and I claim that proudly. I was, however, raised as “white,” so would have a well-founded societal claim to identify myself as such. I’m not imposing percentages Obama—I’m just making the point that he was not raised as an African-American, and only embraces that because it is politically expedient for him to do so, in my opinion.

Your next point was that Obama can identify himself as an African-American if he so chooses whether he meets the legal percentages or not. And you are right. By that same logic, them I can do so as well, right?

Your next statement claimed that I thought that all black people would only vote for other black people. I never said “all,” therefore you are putting words into my mouth. I put forth the conclusion that I made based on the evidence that I’ve seen. That evidence includes an extremely high statistical support of Obama by the black community in contrast to the fact that in the south, Obama’s views and stances on moral issues are in direct contrast to most of the moral beliefs of the black community that strongly embraces church and biblical teachings. If I am wrong on this assumption, then I ask someone to let me know and educate me in this area.

As far as your comment about women only voting for women, that idea is easily debunked by the fact that we had a woman running for president against Obama and have a woman running for vice-president now, neither of which enjoyed well over 90 percent support of women voters. The two ideas that you compared are not the same.

You comment that you think I need to stop trying to be a political adviser and work on my Ethical Diversity skills. For your information, as chairman of the Republican Party in Decatur County, part of my responsibility is to offer political advise to others and to educate myself. Obviously, many will disagree with me and that is perfectly OK. As far as my ethical diversity skills, there is no deficiency in that area as you would know if you actually knew me rather than made assumptions about who I am.

The last response of mine is that Obama is not, in my opinion, nearly as “American” as the rest of us as you claim. The man wouldn’t even wear a flag on his lapel until it began to damage him politically. He enjoys the support of Hamas and Palestine and has more ties to radical Muslim influences that I can list in this post. One blaring example is that he was recently called “the Messiah” by Louis Farrakhan, who also endorses him.

Keith Sellars Bainbridge, Ga.