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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 587
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 04:08 am: | 
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Barkley serious about running for Alabama governor
Associated Press
Updated: Sep. 6, 2006, 5:33 PM ET
PHOENIX -- Charles Barkley insists he's serious about running for governor of Alabama, but he's got to move back there first.
“ They don't let many black people in the governor's mansion in Alabama, unless they're cleaning. ”
— Charles Barkley
"I can't run until 2014," he said. "I have to live there for seven years, so I'm looking for a house there as we speak."
And he said he is an independent, not a Democrat as previously reported.
"The Republicans are full of it," Barkley said. "The Democrats are a little less full of it."
Asked if he had ever been in the governor's office in Montgomery, Barkley said no.
"They don't let many black people in the governor's mansion in Alabama," he said, "unless they're cleaning."
The quip came in a wide-ranging interview with reporters at US Airways Center on Tuesday, leading up to his induction into the basketball Hall of Fame this weekend in Springfield, Mass. Barkley, 43, retired in 2000 after 16 seasons in the NBA. He made the All-Star team 11 times and is one of only four players with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.
"I want to speak for people who can't speak for themselves," he said. "America discriminates against poor people. America's divided by economics. If you're born poor, whether you're white, black or Spanish, you're going to be in a bad neighborhood and you're going to a bad school. That's not right."
Barkley said he felt he needs to give something back.
"I've been really blessed in my life," he said, "and if I was just to be rich and famous and have a big house and a big car and live happily ever after, I think I would let the big fella down who gave me the gift to get to the Hall of Fame."
Barkley said he's donating $1 million to build houses in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"That was a really big deal for me," he said, "because I cannot believe in the United States I see people on television for two or three days begging for food and water. That shouldn't happen here."
He said that he drives through any city and hears people talk about the bad part of town.
"It's only bad because poor people live there,' he said. "That's what they mean. People try to make it about race. It's really about economics."
Barkley has decided to have ex-Philadelphia teammate Moses Malone and Phoenix Suns chairman and former owner Jerry Colangelo introduce him at the Hall of Fame ceremony. The decision to select Colangelo shows how far the two have come in their reconciliation after hard feelings surrounded Barkley's' trade from Phoenix to Houston at the end of his career.
"Jerry gave me the opportunity," Barkley said.
He said that while he was a "much better player" in his early days with Philadelphia, his greatest team success came in Phoenix.
Barkley said he's friends with a couple of people who made the leap from celebrity to politics -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.
"They're like, 'Hey man, this ain't like you think it is,'" Barkley said. "'These people, all of them, sold their souls to special interest groups. They're not trying to do good things here.'
"Then I say, `You know what, if I don't try to do something, it's never going to change,'" he said.
He said all political parties should be eliminated.
"You shouldn't belong to a political affiliation. Everybody should be an independent," he said. "The way it is now you're hamstrung to a particular party. That's not right."
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2576203 |
Renata
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Renata
Post Number: 1278
Registered: 08-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 07:49 am: |
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He's been "serious" for a while. He talked about that before I even lived in Alabama....over eight years ago. I'll believe it when I see it. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 6430
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 10:09 am: |
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Barkley is outtah his gotdayam mind if he HONESTLY believe he could get elected governor of Alabama (much less know what the hell to do after he's been inaugurated). |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2715
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 10:37 am: |
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He could get elected. Look at Arnold Shwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura (and Ronald Reagan)
All he got to do is get the right endorsements and people around him, say the right things, promise to keep the taxes down and the blacks down and he has a shot.
The American political system is fast becoming a joke. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 6436
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 10:51 am: |
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Chris,
We're talking about a BLACK man getting elected governor of ALABAMA.
That's a substantially DIFFERENT scenario that Schwarzenegger & Reagan getting elected governor of California and Ventura elected governor of Minnesota.
The 'good ol' boy' faction is STILL too gotdayam SKRONG for that shyt to occur.
That, plus, inside of an hour after he's kicked off is campaign, Barkely will probably say some shyt that'll TOTALLY piss off Black AND White foks. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5124
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 11:44 am: |
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In 1982, Democrat Douglas Wilder who is black was elected governor of Virgina. But he was a suave erudite statesman. Charles Barkley is bored playing golf and losing money to Michael Jordan so why wouldn't this oaf think about running for governmor? |
Doberman23
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 515
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 09, 2006 - 01:02 am: |
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gnarls barkley? |
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