By some measures, Andrew Young is an American hero. The former mayor of Atlanta, Young was a champion of the civil rights movement and a close ally of Martin Luther King in the 1960s, he was a popular mayor of Georgia’s biggest city, he was a successful member of Congress, and drew plaudits as Jimmy Carter’s ambassador to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
But Young has not yet realized that his best days are behind him. Instead of gracefully exiting the public stage, Young hangs on and ends up embarrassing himself. It’s a genuine shame.<\/p>\n
The first inkling that Young had lost his way came in 2001, when he joined with the Bush White House to tout the president’s “faith-based initiative.” Shortly thereafter, he accepted a big paycheck to become a shill for Wal-Mart. Young’s career took a turn for the worse in 2006 when he was forced to resign<\/a> from Wal-Mart after telling a reporter that “Jews,” “Koreans,” and “Arabs” have been “overcharging [African-American customers], selling us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables.”<\/p>\n Over the weekend, we learned about Young’s on-air analysis<\/a> of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. (via Too Sense<\/a>)<\/p>\n Civil rights icon Andrew Young says Barack Obama is too “young” to ascend to the White House.<\/p>\n Young also quipped that Hillary Clinton has her husband behind her, and that “Bill is every bit as black as Barack,” adding, “He’s probably gone with more black women than Barack.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Young, who supports Hillary Clinton’s campaign, went on to argue that Obama was raised in a Chinese family, and then attended “Muslim schools.” He added that Hillary, in advance of the 1992 campaign, organized a committee to “deal with…all the women” that Bill Clinton had relationships with.<\/p>\n Time to stop talking, Mr. Young.
\n
\nFirst, suggesting that Obama is too young is a little silly — he’s the same age as Bill Clinton was in 1992.<\/p>\n