I though Senator Obama was sincere. As you’d expect, the speech was well delivered. It had moments of grace, candor and poignancy.
But the speech didn’t do what it needed to do: it wasn’t Obama’s Houston.
John Kennedy knew what he had to do in Houston was answer tough questions.
So he went before a not very friendly audience of mostly Protestant ministers, made a brief speech and then answered their questions about his Catholicism.
Obama had to answer tough and important questions today and he ducked them.
He arranged to deliverer a lengthy speech to a very friendly, invited audience and talked around the tough questions.
Nothing Obama said today really explains why he remained in a church whose pastor is so virulently anti-American. There are black churches that offer everything Trinity UCC offers, but without the anti-Americanism.
Obama never explained why he didn’t denounce until just recently his pastor’s Lifetime Achievement Award to the anti-Semite and anti-white Minister Louis Farrakhan.
His speech will no doubt draw praise from his supporters, but Americans whose votes he needs to win the presidency will continue to ask questions and wonder about his judgment, especially now as we learn today from ABC News of more outrageous and hateful statements by Rev. Wright.
That's my first take. I'll say more tonight.
What are your thoughts?
The full text of the speech is here.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Obama’s speech was no Houston
Posted by JWM at 1:48 PM
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24 comments:
Nice speech. Wonder who wrote it for him?
Tarheel Hawkeye
The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force.
-Adolf Hitler
Mac: Spot On!
Obama Was The First White House Contender To Call For Imus' Firing Over Racial Slur.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3031317&page=1
John -
Whatever Obama's intent in his speech today, all I can say is that it leaves me cold. Were I to comment on what I disagree with, or where I think he is misguided or flat out wrong, my comment would run on and on. Thus I will limit myself to three snippets of his speech.
In one of the snippets he says: "... we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems -- two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic healthcare crisis and potentially devastating climate change." First I would say it's all one war and it is not disconnected from the threat of terrorism as suggested by his speech. Second, while the economy is having problems, it is hardly failing, and I suspect that with the aggressive Fed action we've seen lately, things will be back on track by the summer. As for healthcare is not in the chronic crisis he says it is. (Such rhetoric may be his way of positioning himself to nationalize the health care industry should he become president, and then it really will be in crisis). Many of the problems in health care can be traced back to Democrat policies that have led to large increases in medical costs. There are solutions to lower medical costs and make medical care more affordable and they do not involve nationalization and will be superior to it. Finally, the climate change, if it ever happens, will not be devastating. For him to believe that suggests he also believes that the carbon buildup is the cause. I can see that if he becomes president will all be riding around in horses, and then we will really have an environmental (and food) problem.
The second snippet is when he said:
"Not once in my conversations with [Rev. Wright] have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect." Given the "good" reverends track record and Obama's twenty year association with him, I find that statement to be unbelievable.
In the the third snippet he said: "A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods -- parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement -- all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us." It seems to me Obama is justifying black violence here. I would ask, how many other ethnic groups came to this country and experienced the same kinds of problems? Those ethnic groups did not resort to the widespread violence we see today in the black community. There is no justification for such violence and there is no reason to justify it, period!
Jack in Silver Spring
Tarheel Hawkeye--Obama stayed up until 2AM last night writing his own speech.
You can criticize him for anything you want, but you make yourself look silly when you imply a need to have someone else write for him.
Intelligence is something that no detractor will ever be able to take away from him.
How do you know Obama was up until 2am crafting a speech? You think any politician writes his or her own speeches? The term, I think, is naivette.
Tarheel Hawkeye
Tarheel Hawkeye--There are definitely red flags going up all over the place regarding his relationship to that minister.
But most of you were just looking for a reason to blast him nonstop. All of you appear to be loving this.
Let me just say that the other two alternatives aren't exactly much better. John McCain and Hillary Clinton are two Washington establishment zombies.
Good luck next November.
Obama has claimed on numerous occasions to have become fluent in Indonesian in six months. Yet those who knew him disputed that during recent interviews.
Israella Pareira Darmawan, Obama's 1st-grade teacher, said she attempted to help him learn the Indonesian language by going over pronunciation and vowel sounds. He struggled greatly with the foreign language, she said, and with his studies as a result.
The teacher, who still lives in Obama's old neighborhood, remembers that he always sat in the back corner of her classroom.
Chicago Tribune - The not-so-simple story of Barack Obama's youth.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070325obama-youth-story,1,4006113.story
Please give us a story of how bad he was as a 2 year old (after you finish going thru 20 years worth of sermons looking for a few more sound bites from his pastor). Pathetic.
He wrote the speech.
The thing that is driving this effort to smear him is fear. Fear that a black man (guess the fact that he is bi-racial still means he is black) will become our next president. Fear that he stayed in that church and listened to those sermons could mean that he is prejudiced against white people. Fear that Obama as president will do something to upset the status quo. Fear of a supposed sympathy to Muslims and terrorists.
My opinion is that he is a good man that has accomplished many things in his life despite many obstacles he had to overcome. I admire him for that. I don't know that America is ready for a black man as President. Instead of looking at the issues the focus has become one of race and fear. Sad.
So now our Troll can read our minds and deduce that we have a visceral hatred for his man and were just lying in wait to bad-mouth him. Please take this fact on board: I waited patiently to see what Obama was all about and I reserved judgement--in fact, I kind of liked the guy. After looking at his record and seeing how he handled his close association with the Sepia Hitler I have concluded he isn't fit for public office despite his slickness. Why is it the racist apologists always fall back on the old "you always hated us" whine?
BTW, is there another Red Mountain or does he post occasionally without an ID to give the impression there are more than one Obama apologists?
Tarheel Hawkeye
To Tarheel Hawkeye,
I didn't say that hate was driving this, I said it was fear. That is my opinion, no mind reading involved. I also believe that some folk are using the pastor problem as a way to tear him down, not because they believe he is a racist or closet radical Muslim, but rather to give their candidate a better chance of winning. And I am sure there are some that hate him because of his etnic background, but I believe that is only a small minority of his detractors.
BTW, I don't post as Anon.
Troll? I will let JIC be the judge of that. I have told him I would no longer post here if that was his desire. I have no wish to cause harm to his blog.
Obama had to answer tough and important questions today and he ducked them.
He arranged to deliverer a lengthy speech to a very friendly, invited audience and talked around the tough questions.
Just like what John Kerry did in reaction to the SwiftVet ads. As I recall he pretty much didn't hold a single uncontrolled press conference or answer a single unscreened question from when those ads hit TV until the election. That was what, a few weeks?
Even with most of the MSM totally in the tank for him, can Obama keep himself similarly insulated for six months and still win the nomination? Can he do it for nine months and still win the election?
No He Can't!
Can he make the Bush White House look like a model of transparency and openness to valid criticism and concerns?
Yes He Can!
Fear that he stayed in that church and listened to those sermons could mean that he is prejudiced against white people.
Yes, I will admit to having that totally rational fear.
Fear that Obama as president will do something to upset the status quo.
I'm not gonna vote for "change" unless I'm sure it's change for the better. We've got one of the best countries on Earth, so we should be tweaking out system, not revolutionizing it - there's a lot more ways to make it worse than to make it better.
Fear of a supposed sympathy to Muslims and terrorists.
We know he's friends with Bill Ayers, unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist.
So yeah, there's a lot of potential downside to an Obama Presidency.
I don't know that America is ready for a black man as President.
Sure we are.
We're just not ready for a thinly disguised Communist.
My opinion is that he is a good man....
Most "good men" I know don't hang out with racist lunatics like Wright.
Slick Barry. He's earned the title
No he hasn't. However much you may hate Clinton, you have to admit he was an extremely effective politican and one hell of a "comeback kid."
Whereas Obama has never in his life won a genuinely contested election (no, beating Alan Keyes doesn't count.)
Comparing Clinton to Obama is like comparing "Jaws" to "Snakes on a Plane."
To Red Mountain: Please don't leave. Your opinions are every bit as valid as anyone's; I and many others happen to disagree with you. We haven't flamed you, we simply have disagreed vigorously. If you say you have studied the record and still support Obama, fine. But don't expect anyone on this blog to applaud or do handstands in celebration of your decision. It appears Obama will go to the Democrat convention with the majority of delegates and is likely to be the candidate your party puts up against John McCain. I will probably vote for McCain even though I disagree with him on many issues. After I saw Obama do the D.C. Two-Step in his speech (incidently, do you have any proof for your assertion that he labored over it for hours?) there's no way in hell I could pull his lever. I'm not afraid of him, but I am afraid to walk down the streets of most large American inner cities--does that count?
Tarheel Hawkeye
John -
Nice exchange between Tarheel Hawkeye and Redmountain. I think, on this one, I come out on Tarheel's side.
In any event - two thoughts. The first has to do with Obama's white grandmother and his claim that she was afraid of black people. I would just like to point that elsewhere in his speech Obama said that a great many things white society had neglected to do " ... all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us." If that is the case, I don't blame his white grandmother (or his black grandmother for that matter) of being afraid, if not of all black people, at least of black youths? (I would like to note, that half the homicides in this country are black on black homicides with about 15% of white murdered having been murdered by blacks.) Mr. Obama does not seem to understand or care that there is level of personal responsibility one must take for one's actions. As I said in my comments yesterday, there is no justification whatsoever for this type and level of violence.
Second, Redmountain says we (presumably us white folks) are afraid to vote a black man in as President. No, Redmountain, I am not afraid and I would have no problem voting for a black man for President. I have already voted for a black man to be my senator (although regretfully he lost). I would do so again. Indeed I would vote for anyone of any race, creed, color or sex for any office who espoused my views. The problem I have with Obama is that he has not fleshed out a platform. He just promises change, but he doesn't say what kind of change. Knowing his voting record, I don't want the change I think I will getting (and ditto for Mrs. Clinton). Voting for Obama (or Clinton) is like buying a pig in a poke. You have no idea what's behind the curtain. With McCain, by contrast, what you see is what you get. You may not agree with every one of his positions, and I certainly don't, but at least I know what I'll be getting.
Jack in Silver Spring
Obama shows personality characteristics that illustrate his own lack of character
Obama appears to me to be a narcissistic/borderline blend "hollow man" much like Kerry. [I've gotten good at recognizing this type from having the sister-in0law from hell.] Keep him away from the White House.
It's pretty routine for folks to go into politics seeking wealth and power, and the system knows how to keep them in check. It's the folks who go into politics seeking an identity who scare the crap out of me.
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