Barack Obama's brilliant speech regarding race in America

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velodog
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19 Mar 2008, 3:12 pm

DeaconBlues wrote:
I don't know that I would regard it as political spam - there's very little of the political about it. Not a mention of Sen. Obama's political views, nor those of the Democratic Party in general. Merely a spate of racist hatemongering. (And is it coincidence that this would appear to be a fairly new member, whose name is German for "yes"?)

Oh, BTW, ja, in answer to your supposedly rhetorical question, I can think of quite a few people who didn't go to church the Sunday after 9/11. Me, for one - I was away from my regular church (as was Obama, come to think of it - he was in fracking Springfield, a pretty fair distance from Chicago, as he was in the Illinois legislature at the time) and knew I didn't want to hear the dweeb at my sister-in-law's favorite church rattling on. A large number of Jews, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Islamics, and athiests, for another.

Now velodog's post, silly as it is, is at least vaguely political...
Mormons actually do attend Services on Sunday.



Averick
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19 Mar 2008, 8:25 pm

It was alright, if anything. I wouldn't say it was ground-breaking.

I'm wouldn't waste my vote on him though; why send a little boy in to do a man's job?



Griff
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19 Mar 2008, 8:52 pm

He's in his forties. Older than he looks.



Averick
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19 Mar 2008, 8:56 pm

What I mean is that we don't need another naive president; a maximillian, if you will.



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20 Mar 2008, 8:39 am

Averick wrote:
I'm wouldn't waste my vote on him though; why send a little boy in to do a man's job?


He's 46, not 16. :roll:


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Odin
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20 Mar 2008, 8:40 am

Averick wrote:
What I mean is that we don't need another naive president; a maximillian, if you will.


He's not naive. Optimistic, yes; but naive he is not.


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20 Mar 2008, 11:28 am

matt wrote:
Ragtime wrote:
Obama's best presidential skill is oration. Axelrod writes these soaringly dramatic speeches about American unity, which don't sound anything like Obama when he's interviewed, and then Obama reads those speeches from the teleprompter and voices them with great skill. [Insert swooning]
But whenever Barack doesn't have his trustee teleprompter, he's the cure for insomnia. "Um, we have to, um, pull together as a nation, um, and we, uh, need to remember our history, ah, and of course hope in, ah, the future..." ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........

I will give him one thing: He pronounces words better than George W. Bush. And Bush would probably be the first to admit that, with a chuckle, if he already hasn't.
But, see, I want more than a president who can read well from a teleprompter. Reading is a good skill. But still, I find myself wanting more. :|
Many people are more convincing reading written words than speaking impromptu.


Quite true, but not everyone sounds as utterly blank-minded as he does during live interviews. So, the point I'm making is not that Obama's a little worse live than he is scripted -- which I'm sure everyone is -- but that he's worse by orders of magnitude! It points to a disparity between what he actually thinks in the moment, and what he think the people just want to hear.

All successful presidential candidates give the people what they want during their campaigns, of course. What we need to be focused on, rather, is the Obama that would come out after he's in office. The real Obama. He is the most guarded-from-media of presidential candidates in American history. Isn't that a bit disquieting? I mean, this is his campagin, the period of time where he's supposed to shine openly to everyone, and show them who he is -- but he spends that time hiding away, and saying as little as possible. If his ideas are as great and sweeping in scope as his flowery speeches claim, then wouldn't he be out there proclaiming exactly what they are? Rather than avoiding and side-stepping questions about them? If they were truly brilliant ideas, he could win the presidency by simply explaining them. But he won't explain them.


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Last edited by Ragtime on 20 Mar 2008, 11:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ragtime
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20 Mar 2008, 11:36 am

matt wrote:
According to Marc Ambinder*, Obama wrote the speech by himself.

*Marc Ambinder's bio says "Marc is an associate editor at the Atlantic and a contributing editor to both the Hotline and National Journal, and was, in late 2007, named chief political consultant to CBS News".


Fine and dandy, but Marc only knows what Obama tells him. And, even further removed, we only know what Marc tells us, in this matter. Obama doesn't display in live interviews even a hint of the brilliance of his speeches. There is a large chasm between the scripted and unscripted Obamas, which concerns me.


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Last edited by Ragtime on 20 Mar 2008, 11:44 am, edited 3 times in total.

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20 Mar 2008, 11:37 am

Griff wrote:
Ragtime wrote:
Are you saying that under Obama, we'll have more free choice among healthcare providers? Obama is even further left than Clinton is, and individual freedom above goverment rule has always been the antithesis of what the far left promotes.
You may as well be telling me his astrological sign.


Well, I'm sorry that basic, broad political trends are that mysterious to you, but don't blame me for that.


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20 Mar 2008, 12:57 pm

Odin wrote:
Averick wrote:
What I mean is that we don't need another naive president; a maximillian, if you will.


He's not naive. Optimistic, yes; but naive he is not.


He's your basic "yes sir". He's going to leave all the decision making up to committees or probably worse. Look at our current situation and ask yourself if you want that again?



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20 Mar 2008, 6:35 pm

Ragtime wrote:
matt wrote:
According to Marc Ambinder*, Obama wrote the speech by himself.

*Marc Ambinder's bio says "Marc is an associate editor at the Atlantic and a contributing editor to both the Hotline and National Journal, and was, in late 2007, named chief political consultant to CBS News".


Fine and dandy, but Marc only knows what Obama tells him. And, even further removed, we only know what Marc tells us, in this matter. Obama doesn't display in live interviews even a hint of the brilliance of his speeches. There is a large chasm between the scripted and unscripted Obamas, which concerns me.


I would be the same way. I need to think about everything before I say it. If I had to give a speech unscripted I would stumble over my words but if I had time to prepare a speech I would do much better.



Sargon
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20 Mar 2008, 9:46 pm

So....I don't really want to waste my time listening to this speech, but considering it appears to be popular, I should probably know about it. Is there a cliff notes version available somewhere/can someone sum it up (relatively unbiased please)?



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21 Mar 2008, 12:08 am

Transcript of Obama speech from CBS

I thought it was a wonderful speech, one of the best and most poignant from a politician that I've ever heard (or read). The only other one that comes close was Obama's 2004 DNC keynote speech. You never see politicians addressing racial issues in a mature and truly thoughtful manner, and Obama's speech was just a breath of fresh air.

Mike Huckabee also had some excellent comments on the situation today: "And one other thing I think we've gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say "That's a terrible statement!"...I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only Conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told "you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus..."

And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me."

Pretty much sums it up, I think. I don't agree with Huckabee on most things, but kudos to him.



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21 Mar 2008, 8:43 am

srriv345 wrote:
Transcript of Obama speech from CBS

I thought it was a wonderful speech, one of the best and most poignant from a politician that I've ever heard (or read). The only other one that comes close was Obama's 2004 DNC keynote speech. You never see politicians addressing racial issues in a mature and truly thoughtful manner, and Obama's speech was just a breath of fresh air.

Mike Huckabee also had some excellent comments on the situation today: "And one other thing I think we've gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say "That's a terrible statement!"...I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only Conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told "you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus..."

And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me."

Pretty much sums it up, I think. I don't agree with Huckabee on most things, but kudos to him.


A wonderful comment by Huckabee. He is a perfect example why I hate when my fellow left-wingers demonize the other side. I may disagree with Huckabee on many things I still consider him a good human being.


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21 Mar 2008, 10:22 am

ja wrote:
CAN YOU THINK OF ONE PERSON IN THE COUNTRY THAT DIDN'T GO TO CHURCH THE SUNDAY AFTER TUESDAY's 9/11 ATTACKS?
.


I didn't go to church.



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21 Mar 2008, 1:01 pm

I got a question here. Lets say, for random example....... Huckabee, attended a racist, KKK church, and then told his supporters something to the effect that his minister has always been in his corner yadda yadda yadda like Obama said, and he then went and told people "I don't agree with everything he says but I'll still support him".... What do you think the public reaction would be like?

Is it possible that Obama is a lot like Bill CLinton, that he is just a charming, charismatic deciever? He certainly attends a lot of CFR meetings. he could merely be an up-graded sharpton or Farakhan. I don't think Obama himself is racist, but he is a politician, who has played the fiddle for big business organizations such as the CFR, like a fluff. So I don't think he's racist, but I wouldn't put it past him to use his race as a divisive political tool either.