Charles Barkley Abandons Conservatism: ‘The Word Conservative Means Discriminatory’
Charles Barkley Abandons Conservatism: ‘The Word Conservative Means Discriminatory’
Former Vice President Dan Quayle walked out of a John Mellencamp concert this weekend after the singer dedicated a song to “all the poor people who’ve been ignored by the current administration.”
Suprisingly, long-time conservative and NBA star Charles Barkley, who for years has suggested he may run for Alabama governor as a Republican, took Mellencamp’s side:
“He’s right,” Charles Barkley said of Mellencamp. “The word conservative means discriminatory practically. It’s a form of political discrimination. [Conservatives are] against gay marriage and for a war that makes no sense. A war that was based on faulty intelligence. That’s all they ever talk about. That and immigration. Another discriminatory argument for political gain.“
Barkley’s shift against conservatism may also have something to do with his interest in poverty. “My No. 1 priority is to help poor people,” Barkley has said. “In this country, 90% of the money is controlled by 10% of the people, and that’s not right.”
Tony Snow is quoted in today’s Washington Post: “Does [President Bush] often talk about poverty? No.”
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Conservative=backwards. They just hold their postion by any means while the world moves foreward, thus they are left behind. Problem is, when they control a nation, they want to force others into the same mental predicament.
July 20th, 2006 at 3:46 pmBarkley for President?
July 20th, 2006 at 3:47 pmI bet he sleeps better at night now… I know I did when I left the conservative side and became a liberal.
July 20th, 2006 at 3:49 pmwhere did he say this?
July 20th, 2006 at 3:50 pmI’ve been waiting for this conversion for years. Every position Barkley takes is a liberal one, but he called himself a conservative until now. He’s a lot more thoughtful than he seems. He’s one of the few proefessional athletes who really & truly was not motivated by money. He was making 3 mil/year when other guys of his ability were making 7 mil.
July 20th, 2006 at 3:51 pmWell, he’s not exactly Richard Feynmann, but at least he’s not Dennis Roddy.
Good for him.
July 20th, 2006 at 3:52 pmQuayle made the comment ” (Mellencamp’s) performance wasn’t very good, and his comment put it over the top”
July 20th, 2006 at 3:53 pmQuayle can hardly afford to judge anyone elses performance!
Who gives a crap if a musician makes a political statement at a concert? Don’t agree with it? Fine, let someone else exercise free speech and quit whining.
July 20th, 2006 at 3:54 pmInteresting little tidbit. Good for you Charles.
July 20th, 2006 at 3:57 pmDan “Tomatoe” Quayle’s opinion is as worthy as his spelling abilities. Even as a conservative, I had a coffee table book of Dan Quayle’s wisdom. It was blank.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:02 pmI love it when famous people tell it like it is. It’s not wordy, marketed, convoluded language. It’s just the truth, unspun, spoken plainly, and it’s so beautiful.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:04 pmBarkley should be commended for these statements and focuses on the needs of the have-nots. Dan Quayle should rejoin the Indiana National Guard in Iraq.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:05 pmI never knew he was conservatve! Very interesting…
July 20th, 2006 at 4:08 pmI don’t care what people label themselves - conservative, liberal, right, left, center, whatever. I’ll give anyone credit when they “get it”. Looks like Barkley is getting it. Congratulations to him. Hope he uses his celebrity status to help others see what’s happening also.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:13 pmHey all! This is an important read! Democracy in Crisis - Interview with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:13 pmI’ve always been a fan of Sir Charles, but I never quite agreed with his political title. Much like Reggie White, I believe he found himself caught in the idea of being religious from his upbringing. I think this is a great step toward letting people know that having good “moral” values doesn’t mean you have to claim to be conservative or follow a blind party leadership. I’m glad to see the man that took Godzilla to the hole move more to the side of right & might. Afterall, the idea of working to change poverty in the south has been a long forgotten issue in this country. I think it is great that more people are starting to take this issue on at the local and state levels, only through this type of movement will we be able to wrestle control of the wealth of this country from the elite that think we “populist” heathens can’t handle.
On a side note, it was potato not tomato that good ol’ Danny boy screwed up oh so long ago.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:14 pmin case any of you are interested:
Bill Moyers: Richard Rodriguez, Sir John Houghton
Faith & Reason
t r u t h o u t | Programming Note
Airdate: Friday, July 21, 2006, at 9:00 p.m. on PBS.
(Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/moyers.)
Why would two devout Christians cling to their faith despite their doubt? On Bill Moyers’s Faith & Reason, airing Friday, July 21 at 9 p.m. on PBS, author Richard Rodriguez and scientist Sir John Houghton take viewers deep into their personal beliefs and questions about their own faith. Rodriguez, a life-long Catholic, has remained in the Church even though it condemns his homosexuality. Houghton has remained a believer despite his allegiance to the discipline of science that demands proof and the evidence of trial and error. “One of the most important statements you should be prepared to make as a believer is: I don’t know,” says Houghton.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:16 pmGo back to gambling ya bum!
July 20th, 2006 at 4:19 pmThank goodnes that Charles Barkley has defected, now everything will be all right in da hood.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:22 pmAhh yes, the 1994 Phoenix Suns with Barkley, we almost won the NBA title if it wasn’t for those meddling Chicago Bulls. I still like Barkley, even more now.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:29 pmC’mon you negative nellies, there’s no poverty in America. At least not where the shitbags in the gov’t live.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:45 pmThank goodnes that Charles Barkley has defected, now everything will be all right in da hood.
Comment by Herman B Hayes
Grow up dipshit. He’s talking about poverty, not puberty.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:50 pmA true conservative should be able to realize that the Bush gang are not really conservatives in the same way the Robertson, Falwell and Dobson are not really christians. I’m neither but know enough to recognize that they aren’t as well. They simply use those tags because ‘fascist’ and ‘theocrat’ are ‘unappealing and too revealing’. Perhaps the current gang of gop thugs will end up demonizing the ‘conservative’ label the way they’ve successfully, to an extent, demonized ‘liberal’.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:58 pm1993 Suns were in the NBA Finals you dipshit
July 20th, 2006 at 5:27 pm…then Charles Barkley proceeded to throw Dan Quayle through a plate-glass window.
July 20th, 2006 at 5:33 pm“In this country, 90% of the money is controlled by 10% of the people, and that’s not right.â€
Charles…welcome to America.
July 20th, 2006 at 5:34 pmI know I did when I left the conservative side and became a liberal.
Comment by unbelievable — July 20, 2006 @ 3:49 pm
?????????
July 20th, 2006 at 5:35 pmThe story goes his mother once told him that Republicans were the “party for millionaires” and he replied “But, Mom! I’m a millionaire!”
Guess he finally realized it’s the party for WHITE millionaires.
July 20th, 2006 at 5:42 pmI saw an interview of Charles Barkley, and when asked if he would go back to his home town (I think it was in Alabama) and run for mayor, he said “No way, to many people would show up in my office and hit me up for money.” I guess being a liberal means that you hand out other people’s money.
July 20th, 2006 at 5:46 pmhttp://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/?p=323
I’m amazed, I can’t find a web site for Sir Charles to let him know. Any help out there?
July 20th, 2006 at 6:10 pmNo Soup for YOU Charles!
July 20th, 2006 at 6:14 pmWhat took him so long to wake up?
July 20th, 2006 at 6:15 pm32-Jason, When are you going to learn to READ? Charles is arguably more conservative than most of us here. The article mentions his conservatism specifically.
I wonder about you guy. Please, for all our sake…Go out and find a job.
July 20th, 2006 at 6:16 pmCmon Jason surely you can do better then that. even you have to admit, that the attempt to troll is pretty lame.
July 20th, 2006 at 6:20 pm#17madashell
July 20th, 2006 at 6:24 pmSo glad you brought that up. I tend to forget to watch Moyers’ show Friday nights, sometimes tuning it in a few minutes late.
For anyone who is interested, as madashell says — and we sure do have a lot of discussion on religion and faith here — it is an excellent series. There may be only one or two more left.
I’m getting sick of these Hollywood liberals.
It’s obvious they just hate America. Anyone who disagrees with the administration is pro-terrorist.
July 20th, 2006 at 6:53 pm#39. All religions can be fulfilling if kept personal and not cramed down everyone elses throat.
July 20th, 2006 at 7:11 pmRight ON! Sock it to ‘em soul brother!
July 20th, 2006 at 7:27 pm# 40 Bush said ” your’e either with us or against us”. If it comes to siding with Bush & his nazi thugs or the terrorists, I’ll take the terrorists.
July 20th, 2006 at 7:31 pm“The Democrats have done a horrible job,” Barkley said. “A really crappy job.
Note that he is criticizing more than just Bush. It’s not as much a slam dunk as people are saying it is.
July 20th, 2006 at 7:49 pmWelcome back to reality, Charles. He was never a “conservative,” just a very rich Black man with an innate, quirky desire to be different. That’s why he floated the idea of running for governor… anything to piss people off. He’s always been one to tweak people and do unexpected things. I’m just glad that he might have found his voice to speak out on issues that other athletes, like Michael Jordan, won’t touch with a 10-ft pole.
July 20th, 2006 at 8:22 pm#16-bbguniowa- You say potato, I say tomato… Couldn’t help myself! ;)
July 20th, 2006 at 8:56 pmThis is good, real good.
I have never watched much basketball, But I must commend this man for speaking out.
You go Barkman!
July 20th, 2006 at 9:48 pm?????????
Comment by Juan C — July 20, 2006 @ 5:35 pm
Yep, I’m a liberal by choice, not birth.
I was actually just looking through my high school yearbooks because my new boss was one of my teachers in high school and I told her I was going to bring them in to show my co-workers. There was my face among the group photo of “Fellowship of Christian Athletes”…
July 20th, 2006 at 9:54 pm#51- Ms.Unbelievable, welcome back! How was the conference? Your wit and wisdom was missed, glad you are back! “Fellowship of Christian Athletes”, huh? Wild thing! ;) I was at the ‘Sequim Lavender Festival’ this last weekend, and I thought of you. It is REALLY a beautiful place. Washington State is full of them, but this one just takes my breath away. So if you ever do make it out here, summer, mid-July is a pretty good time to do so . The weather is usually pretty good after the 4th of July, most years, that is. And now with more G.W. than ever, who knows? ;)
July 20th, 2006 at 10:51 pmA while ago I remember someone asking Barkley, “Charles why are you a republican? They’re only for the rich”. Charles answers, “Well, I’m rich.”
July 20th, 2006 at 10:53 pmGlad he’s finally seeing the light.
I am always befuddled when I see anyone who is a minority, poor, female, gay,etc., who embraces conservatism. This is Dem. or Rep. All one has to do is read the recent conservative history, they don’t care about anyone, I mean anyone, but a small select group of White Males, period.
July 21st, 2006 at 12:47 amAnyone who thinks they can be included are delusional, or certifiably insane.
Its too bad that perhaps 90% of the money is controlled by 10% of the population. Could it be that 10% of the people are truly focused, talented and hardworking? Most of the folks I know are content to put in their eight hours and veg out on the couch with a beer. That’s no way to find financial success.
July 21st, 2006 at 1:48 amCould it be that 10% of the people are truly focused, talented and hardworking?
Or, OR, could it be that 10% of the people are truly focused and talented at making money off the hardworking 90%?
July 21st, 2006 at 4:43 am#54 Its too bad that perhaps 90% of the money is controlled by 10% of the population. Could it be that 10% of the people are truly focused, talented and hardworking?
Comment by Nance — July 21, 2006 @ 1:48 am
Nah. GW Bush is rich only because his granddad, Prescott Bush did bussiness with Nazis. Or Paris HILTON, from a large family of Hotel proprietors. Or the Waltons, from Walmarts. All of they deserve the money? I doubt so. And there are a lot more people who doesn’t deserves the money they have, because they don’t earned it, but simply inherited it. I don’t see their hard work to earn the riches that they have now.
July 21st, 2006 at 7:17 amGood post!
July 21st, 2006 at 8:59 amBarkley was a great basketball player, but everytime he opened his mouth—stupidity gushed out. These comments are just more of the same.
July 21st, 2006 at 9:19 amI guess if I have vision, and talent and work hard and make lots of money, I should have the right to pass my wealth on to my family. But, I’m not even really talking about the super-rich like Hilton and Kerry and such. I’m not talking about deserving what you have, cause most of us don’t. I’m talking about quit whining ’cause you are poor and do something about it. And don’t expect the government to take money away from some talented hardworking visionary and give it to someone else who didn’t have the vision, didn’t educate themselves, didn’t take the risks, and didn’t work night and day to make it. And you can thank these people for providing jobs to the people who don’t care to educate themselves, don’t want to take risks, don’t want to work all that hard. After all, someone has to cook the fries.
July 21st, 2006 at 11:25 amActually it’s Dan “Potatoe” Quayle
July 21st, 2006 at 12:19 pm#3, unbelievable - I am also an ex-conservative, being raised in a Republican family. I saw the light about 8 years ago and have gradually drifted from Republican Centrist to Democratic Centrist to now full-blown bleeding heart Democrats-aren’t-liberal-ENOUGH treehugger.
What is odd is that my parents believe in very liberal things, such as their stance on the environment, helping the poor, fishing/hunting regulations, gun control, medical coverage, and so on. They get “stuck” from switching sides based on one very old stigma: Democrats want more of your money and they just want to waste it. It baffles me how they can still believe this. The good news is that Democrats are really getting a chance to show their fiscal restraint with the way the current Republicans are completely spending money out of control.
I really like to see people opening their eyes politically. Sir Charles has my respect for putting aside the stereotypes and advocating, fighting, and voting based on what he believes in deep down in his heart. It’s not easy to admit that your past beliefs may have been wrong.
July 21st, 2006 at 12:32 pmI’m extremely liberal and I also believe the Democrats have done a lousy job the past few years. From the knee-jerk reaction to 9/11, to allowing Bush to start a war in Iraq (misled or NOT) to there actually being ANY Democrat voting for the flag burning amendment. I vote for them because they are the better of the two evils and actually have a chance of winning, not because they are ideal. Not granted, there are some really great legislators out there, but mostly, I would say, not. However, if I’m going to pick somebody I don’t really like to represent me, I’ll the person that I know will vote the right way on the core issues I care about, even if I don’t like them a whole lot.
Thus is the nature of a republic. We do not vote on issues, we vote for people who we think will vote the way we want on issues.
If a Ralph Nader actually had a chance of winning the presidency, I would have voted for him in 2004. But I saw Kerry as the only possible person who could take on Bush. However, I would have voted for Gore either way. I always thought he was great presidential material.
But I digress…
July 21st, 2006 at 12:41 pmAmerica needs to legalize freedom.
If adult citizens are not free to choose what goes into their own
bodies–even in the privacy of their own homes, the words
“Freedom” and “Liberty” are just empty words.
So-called conservative Republicans pretend to oppose the so-called
“nanny state” policies.
What could possibly be more pro-nanny state than our drug prohibition
July 21st, 2006 at 1:32 pmpolicies?
True freedom is not the same as the absence of restricition. The government, which is you and I by the way, has a compelling interest in restricting certain activity, such as drug use, to promote the common welfare. Society has agreed that drug use is destructive to its’ fabric and should be restricted. This way you and I are (should be) free to live without fear the negative consequences of drug use. In a perfect world, there would be no need for such regulation. But we have chosen to live in a civilized environment and restrictions of many sorts are necessary and beneficial.
July 21st, 2006 at 2:01 pmMADASHELL; Great article from RFK jr., Thanks. Speaking of being informed I wonder how many on here bothered to go to and read that article. Maybe RFK jr. will be the one to take us into the streets. I’M old and broken down but I’m so tired of this crap that I’m willing to fight these bastards w/ ax handles in the middle of the street.
GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH
July 21st, 2006 at 3:54 pmIn this country, 90% of the money is controlled by 10% of the people, and that’s not right.â€
Wow…so basically what he’s saying is we need to redistribute wealth. OK, I’ll take 1 million from you Sir Charles. Let me know how you like socialism now!!!
July 21st, 2006 at 4:09 pmDoes anyone really value Cb’s opinion? have you ever watched him analyze BB games, he’s drunk half the time. He was a trouble maker since his phila. days. And don’t kid yourself CB’S all about the money. He’s lost over 10 million gambling in his lifetime. Does anyone remember “I AM NOT A ROLE MODEL” Yea great guy.
July 21st, 2006 at 4:24 pmMr. Shields hit the nail on the head!
Charles Barkley’s Head Fake
By David Shields
Slate.com
If Barkley’s not full of hypocrisies, he’s full of at least fairly extreme contradictions.
He’s a social conservative who throughout his playing career was a devotee of strip clubs, an anti-authority authoritarian, a rebel reactionary, both truth-teller and scam artist. After a difficult loss, he once said he felt like going home and beating his wife—the same woman who he said made him cry with joy every time they made love. He’s a relentless capitalist whose principal shtick is sticking up for the poor and downtrodden.
Quizzed by Robert Novak on CNN’s Crossfire as to whether he was a Republican or a Democrat, Barkley said, “I’m not either, to be honest with you. I made a joke with my grandmother one time. I was asking her, ‘Why are we Democrats?’ She said, ‘Republicans are only for rich people.’ And I said, ‘I’m rich.’ And she hasn’t given me a viable answer.”
If Barkley were ever to run for political office—he’s repeatedly threatened to run for governor of his native Alabama as a Republican—he’d be constrained by certain ideologies. But now he can contradict himself every other day or every other game or every other sentence, can recharge the moment with meaning, whether it’s a pick-and-roll or a racial incident.
He’s mastered the televisual style of controversy sans consequence, of playing both ends against the middle, of the cult of personality.
July 22nd, 2006 at 4:00 amIgnornance is simply magnified by fame. Barbra Streisand, Mellencamp, Jane Fonda…what makes anybody think that just because these people are famous that they know a thing about the real world?
I give charles barkley some credit. He is honest in his opinions. Ignorant of facts a lot of times, but Sir Charles at least calls it like he sees it.
Conservative = descriminatory…yes thats a perfect definition. One must be able to descriminate the truth from fiction, good from evil and those things that one personally stands for, and those you dont.
Conservative does not mean hate. racial, sexual preference, religion or otherwise. Thats political BS. There are differences in how we all look at problems. Where this country has a major, major problem is that both political groups are so polarized that there is little listening to each other to seek common ground. When I see “famous” people making stupid comments, that push us even further apart, then we have little hope.
July 22nd, 2006 at 1:28 pmCharles made that famous comment about why he was a Republican several years ago but even in the last few years, if you’ve watched him on “Inside the NBA” (the best pre-game/post-game show-usually better than the game itself) he has said several times that he wants to help people and he’s talked clearly about poverty being a huge problem. As a couple other posters said, Charles likes to press buttons. But it’s obvious the man has a good heart. This doesn’t surprise me at all and just points out that, labels of conservative, liberal etc. are so unhelpful. You can want to be responsible with your money (part of the reason, if misguided, why Charles identified with the Repubs) and still care about people. Charles has seen from personal experience and owing to his legendary extroverted personality which sees him engage happily with his fans, that poverty is a problem. Again, simplistic media tropes like Dems=irresponsible slackers and Repubs=mature, responsible, disciplined good citizens effect how many people think but fortunately Sir Charles has made this strong statement. If only his good friend Michael “Republicans also buy sneakers” Jordan would do something similar.
July 26th, 2006 at 3:20 amPeople get so bent out of shape by Jane Fonda, Mellencamp, Whoopi, whatever, but let’s remember that Ronald Reagan rode his fame to 8 years in the white house, Arnold is gov of CA, and Jessie Ventura, well… It doesn’t just happen on the left side of the aisle.
There are indeed fundamental differences between “liberals” and “conservatives.” Liberals look at the world and say “what’s best for everyone?” Conservatives seem to look at the world and think “what’s best for me?” Hence the favoring of tax cuts, development without regard to environmental concerns, cuts to programs like Head Start that have been shown to improve a poor person’s chance to get a fair shake in life, and not commit crime and end up in prison. Liberals look at problems and try to find ways to prevent them. Conservatives react - imprison people, build walls along the Texas border, start wars in Iraq. Why not have a vision of where we want to be in 50 years? And figure out how to get there? Making the most money should not be each American’s goal, yet so many people are driven by the dollar.
By the way, — its’ — is not a word, ever. And it’s “discrimination” not “descrimination.” If we would invest in our public schools, perhaps the ubiquitous grammar, spelling and punctuation errors we see and hear EVERYWHERE would — poof! — disappear.
July 27th, 2006 at 4:32 pmSir Charles for president! What he has said is more righteous and eloquent than the vast majority of professional politicians have uttered: the situation of the American poor is a MAJOR crisis. I am a lifelong leftist Dem, and Charles is right; the Democrats have done barely more than the Republicans to look out for the well-being of our country’s neediest.
It’s about time someone speak out about the plight of the country’s most disdavantaged. Godspeed to Charles Barkley.
July 27th, 2006 at 9:06 pmThis sounds like the United Socialist States of America,
July 28th, 2006 at 1:44 amCan any of you Socialist DEMOCRAT liberals, tell me where it says in the U.S. Constitution that it is the Federal Governments Job is to take care of everyone, socialism doesn’t work, why do you think Canadians come to see Doctors in the U.S.
July 28th, 2006 at 2:07 ampolitics is very interesting but u know what more interesting is that people think about what would benifit there needs instead of the whole country, its all the same thing
tamato tamatoe
September 14th, 2006 at 3:21 pmTELL CHARLES BARKLEY TO SAY TO THE NATION AND WORLD WHAT GOD TOLD HIM TO SAY. RYAN IS WAITING.
November 6th, 2006 at 8:11 amTELL CHARLES BARKLEY TO SAY TO THE NATION AND THE WORLD WHAT I TOLD HIM TO SAY.(WORD FROM GOD) RYAN IS WAITING.
November 6th, 2006 at 8:13 amHave we learned nothing people? Those with political aspirations will say anything to get elected. To be liberal right now is the flavor of the month in 6 to 10 years it will change again so dont waste your cyberlike breath.
January 7th, 2007 at 6:05 am