Posted on 03/18/2008 3:32:58 PM PDT by pissant
Political strategists today were quick to parse how Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's sweeping speech about race and the American experience may affect his campaign to become the nation's first black presidential nominee.
But among African-American scholars and leaders, the post-speech talk wasn't of polls and focus groups but of witnessing history. Obama's words—about slavery, black anger, white resentment, and the imperative to move forward—harked back, they said, to those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln, and they deserve a similar place in history.
"This was his kairos moment," said the Rev. Alton Pollard, dean of Howard University's School of Divinity, using the ancient Greek word that characterizes moments that can alter destiny. It was, he said, Obama's particular "moment in time," and one that required him to lead.
"Race was never an issue that was going to disappear," Pollard said. "It's too much a part of our national fabric to think that we can gloss over it and move on without having to contend mightily with each other."
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
Their = they’re
Harked back to Abraham Lincoln? They don’t know history. Lincoln had utter disdain for blacks.
I knew the media would declare him King.
Romney’s speech on religion was far better than this crap.
Opening soon at a theater near you: BAMBOOZELED!!
To me, I really don't care about Jeremiah Wright Jr. The most important questions involve OBAMA. And he did not answer them:
Why did he continue to tacitly accept his hateful rantings for twenty years?
Why did he expose his children to such hate speak?
If he truly is the only one who can bridge the racial divide, why didn't he start with the Reverend Wright? If he can't reach a member in his own community, how can he expect to have any success with the rest of America?
To me, no speech can overcome twenty years of inaction. But the MSM thinks that he nailed it. Not even close.
Someone call Jesus and tell him not to come back. His return will never rival Barak’s speech.
Yes it was. And I’m not a Romney fan.
"It was a fine speech for fluffing supporters: it failed to do what it needed to do."
Obama Supporters are missing the point, as did Obama. This speech was great troop fodder, but to anyone coming in ambivalent or skeptical...it completely missed the mark. These important points were missed, or brought up and not supported.
1) He was present for Wright's speeches
What he NEEDED TO SAY BUT DIDN'T: he said nothing about not being there or not hearing the "GOD DAMN AMERICA" speech. This was a major omission.
2) He won't distance himself from Wright.
What he NEEDED TO SAY BUT DIDN'T: this issue was key if he wanted to defuse the "guilt by association" issue. Does it matter to you that he wouldn't "throw Wright under the bus?" Likely. Does it matter to those who saw this as racist or anti-American that he DID NOT "throw Wright under the bus?" ABSOLUTELY. Another MAJOR omission.
3) He didn't leave the church. He spent 20 years there listening to Dr. Wright, and gave no good justification.
What he NEEDED TO SAY BUT DIDN'T: This speech was not supposed to be for supporters. He WAS at this church for 20 years. During that time, detractors are going to find it impossible to believe that he did not agree with everything said. Now I'm a pretty tolerant guy, but I pulled my kids out of a church my family had belonged to for 20+ years and my late father had been a deacon of because they started on a "Love the sinner/Hate the sin" tact related to the Gay community. If I can do that, what are less tolerant people going to believe of him?
4) He identifies with several important white people in his life, such as his mother and grandmother.
What he NEEDED TO SAY BUT DIDN'T: This UNFORTUNATELY sets up #4.
5) He blames Dr. Wright's racism on white society.
What he NEEDED TO SAY BUT DIDN'T: the way he words it, yes, he does blame it on white society. He speaks of current "...endemic white racism..." This isn't history, and it makes it look like he is betraying his mother and grandmother.
6) He asks us to UNDERSTAND Wright's message.
What he NEEDED TO SAY BUT DIDN'T: this was exactly what he DID NOT need to do. This was to distance from that message. Instead, it looks like he reinforced it, and therefore in the eyes of detractors, embraced it.
7) He rationalizes Wright's racism.
What he NEEDED TO SAY BUT DIDN'T: People who needed to be shown he was not racist and did not support Wright's racist message were likely not reassured.
8) He defends his membership in said church.
What he NEEDED TO SAY BUT DIDN'T: you can see that this is not what he needed to do. Supporters are forgiving of any issue that might have a negative slant. This does nothing to dispel this slant. I know people, not very SOPHISTICATED people, put sharp enough to go to the Trinity Web site, which, to someone with a somewhat closed mind, reads like an AFRICAN SEPARIST church web site. THIS may have been the myth he most needed to dispel, and he completely failed.
Rest assured, I do not think him a racist. I do not think him stupid. But this speech does nothing it needed to do. As a supporter, you heard and read what you wanted to get out of the speech. The person he needed to convince sat there saying "...yeah, yeah, get ON With it; clear it up or shut up." He did neither. In my opinion, his speech failed to convince the unbeliever. This was the wrong speech at the wrong time."
The MSM also told us that HILLARY WAS THE SMARTEST WOMEN IN THE WORLD!!!
This guy is supposed to be the “uniter” that transcends race?
Hey Barry, YOU have fomented racism by supporting this tripe for 2 decades. You squandered 20 years to be a true uniter. You took your children to hear Jeremiah Wrong to train up another generation to keep the divisions deep. Just because you gave a “historic” speech does not mean you get to be rewarded with the Presidency.
PS Barry, Good luck with Middle America!
I don’t want a President that calls my Constitution, “stained.” I don’t want a President that does not love my country, that does not respect my country. End of story.
I’m probably among three or four people on this board who thought it was a fine speech.
There are that many of you?
Think about it, here's Hillary whose white husband was called "the first black president", and she's running against the son of a Kenyan carpetbagger. It's just unbelievable...
I did not hear the speech, but I did read most of the transcript of it. I almost fell asleep half way through.
I do not know what a mediocre leftist is.
Is it something like being "a little pregnant?"
Great chunks of this speech sounded (I listened on radio) like a white guy trying to get black votes. Does Obama not understand that he pretty much already has all the black votes?
Because Romney’s speech was about religion—not lame excuses trying to pass for religion. How is whatever it is BHO “practices” a religion, never mind a Christian religion? Cone’s contentions pretty much bear out that black liberation theologians & their followers recreate and worship a gold-plated calf whose name is Christ.
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