Obama's Speech

[GoodWitch58]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/opinion/20cohen.html?ref=opinion

Interesting ideas on the nuances of Obama's message.

 

[hnooe]

...I would just add: not too many white people have ever spent much time in a Black church...otherwise, they would understand more about the culture and context of this minister...

Absolutely correct. I wonder how many people of any color are coming down on Obama and Wright and don't even attend any church, yet feel moved to, and quite comfortable, in critiquing a person's religious beliefs.

 

[maeby funke]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/opinion/20cohen.html?ref=opinion

Interesting ideas on the nuances of Obama's message.

Excellent op. ed. Thanks for the link.

 

[Jdarg]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/opinion/20cohen.html?ref=opinion

Interesting ideas on the nuances of Obama's message.

Thanks, Goodwitch. A very touching and thoughtful article, and well chosen for this conversation, even though the nuances will not be apparent to some.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Thanks, Goodwitch. A very touching and thoughtful article, and well chosen for this conversation, even though the nuances will not be apparent to some.

Thanks. I know--but I gotta keep trying

 

[Camp Creek Kid]

Absolutely correct. I wonder how many people of any color are coming down on Obama and Wright and don't even attend any church, yet feel moved to, and quite comfortable, in critiquing a person's religious beliefs.

This is NOT about religion, it is about patriotism.

 

[Rita]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/opinion/20cohen.html?ref=opinion

Interesting ideas on the nuances of Obama's message.

Thanks for this link! Mr. Cohen's writing clearly expresses why I and so many others want change so badly.

excerpt:
......................................
I understand the rage of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, however abhorrent its expression at times. I admire Obama for saying: “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.”

Honesty feels heady right now. For seven years, we have lived with the arid, us-against-them formulas of Bush’s menial mind, with the result that the nuanced exploration of America’s hardest subject is almost giddying. Can it be that a human being, like Wright, or like Obama’s grandmother, is actually inhabited by ambiguities? Can an inquiring mind actually explore the half-shades of truth?

Yes. It. Can.

The unimaginable South African transition that Nelson Mandela made possible is a reminder that leadership matters. Words matter. The clamoring now in the United States for a presidency that uplifts rather than demeans is a reflection of the intellectual desert of the Bush years.

when Obama says he “will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible,” I feel fear slipping away, like a shadow receding before the still riveting idea that “out of many we are truly one.”..........................................

 

[GoodWitch58]

Yes, Rita, I agree.

I told my students yesterday that--not matter what happens with the election--their children will one day study this speech.

 

[Bob]

He stayed up all night for two nights writing the speech himself, according to his aides. The teleprompter broke about halfway through the speech. I can't believe this teleprompter is a problem for anyone, given the power of his words. I guess some people stopped listening a long time ago.

He's giving another really excellent speech right now. This one is on Iraq.

I cannot believe Obama would be a member of a church with such hateful thoughts. How does a speech explain away the venom.

 

[hnooe]

This is NOT about religion, it is about patriotism.

If you are cherry picking and dissecting different parts and words of multudes of sermons, then you are absolutely right, it is ALL about patriotism.