Jodi said:

A dream fulfilled

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjPmvyabYvA

Ralph Nader showing what an idiot he is.

“To put it very simply, he is our first African American president; or he will be. And we wish him well. But his choice, basically, is whether he’s going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country, or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations.”

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Geez. Nader's comment isn't just stupid - it's downright racist and offensive.

I can't imagine what the media's reaction would've been had a conservative said something so vile.

Lars Johansson wrote: This is not Obama's fault, but he is hardly African-American. On Swedish TV he is the first "black" president. (I'm sure the Swedish prime minister is black as well, I believe he had black ancestors, although black/white are not used here so there are no records of it.) And that tiny brown shade is then what makes him "African-American"?. He is not a descendant of slaves from they Guinea bay and the surroundings, since his family is in Kenya. He is as much African-American as I am Scottish.

Ummm...what?  His father was a black man from Kenya, thus making him African.  His mother was a white American woman. I really don't want to argue pigmentation, so all I'll say is that calling him African-American has nothing to do with "that tiny brown shade".  It has to do with him, you know, having a parent that was African. Your analogy to you being Scottish is wrong on so many levels, not the least of which totally inaccurate. 

This is not Obama's fault, but he is hardly African-American.

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Huh? I'm afraid I don't follow, Lars.

EDIT TO ADD: Matt beat me to it!

Bruce Buchanan wrote: I can't imagine what the media's reaction would've been had a conservative said something so vile.

Or a liberal.  Or a straight-up Democrat.  Nader is none of the above and the media long since stopped paying this nut any attention.

Craig I love Richmond, lots of hills. You guys have a great toy store too. I have been to Richmond a number of times, about 4 years ago, a friend of my son's played basketball for Muncie Central and we went to all his games. When we played  Richmond there was a really great player on the team, I can't remember his name, damn it is on the tip of my tongue, but I got a chance to meet him a couple times and he was a really nice guy.

If you ever get up Muncie way give me a heads up and I'll treat you to lunch.

Vinny Valenti wrote: His ancestors did not have to deal with segregation in the U.S., nor slavery even further back.

I've never thought that was a defining characteristic of being African-American. Would you really not call someone whose parents immigrated to the US from Africa in the 80s and raised a family African-American simply because they didn't live through the Civil Rights movement or have ancestors dating back to the US slave trade?  What would you call them them?

 His ancestors did not have to deal with segregation in the U.S., nor slavery even further back.

When he was born inter-racial marriage was illegal in a great many states.  Laws prohibiting such marriages were not deemed unconstitutional until 1967.  Barack Obama was 6 years old.

I can see where Lars is going with this. Yes, he's literally both African and American, but not in the sense of how the term "African-American" is not-so-correctly applied these days. His ancestors did not have to deal with segregation in the U.S., nor slavery even further back.

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This is just as odd as what Lars said. An African-American is a term people used for describing a black person in America. It has nothing to do with their ancestors dealing with segregation or slavery.