So, we’re being told to go home, eh? Hillary can’t get her delegates and Obama has redeemed himself, eh?
Not so fast, boyz. I have kin folk in PA and they’ve been talking to their neighbors and man-o-man-o-man, they do *NOT* like Jeremiah Wright’s injudicious remarks. Nosireebob. And if Obama thinks he can get away with condemning the language while keeping Rev. Wright as his friend (for 20 years) and not suffer the consequences, he’s got another thing comin’. Mom says she and all her neighbors think Wright’s comments were very unpatriotic and offensive and there’s not a prayer that anyone *she* knows is going to vote for Obama due to guilt by association. You can’t erase 20 years of church attendance. The religious voters of Central PA know what church is all about. If he didn’t believe all that stuff, he should have picked a different church. Therefore, he must believe it. I’m not saying it’s fair or even true. But Jeremiah Wright’s tirades have scared the bejeezus out of Mom and her friends. Don’t expect a speech to change this. Mom says that she thinks PA is going to go hard for Hillary.
(BTW, I spent quite a bit of time convincing her that I don’t think that Obama is a scary person and that I think his affiliation with his church was just as much about his networking as a community organizer and later, as a politician, as his personal religious beliefs. But she was still pretty unconvinced and thought it was a real statement of his character that he would associate with the unfortunate Reverend Wright. I pointed out to her that Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell said equally stupid things after 9/11 but she thought that some of Wright’s other statements were inexcusable as well. So, Obama fans, I tried.)
Now, of course, this is all very anecdotal evidence and it is only one data point so far but my Mom was a two time Bush supporter who seriously thought about voting for Obama. She thought he was kinda cool at one point. But it’s not just Wright’s statements that have her concerned. She is very alarmed at his meteoric rise to national prominence and electoral successes so far as well. She doesn’t know what or who is behind it and that bothers her. She made up her mind to vote for Clinton probably due to the Tweety Effect but Obama is completely out of the question now.
I’ll be going to PA this weekend and intend to help out and do some of my own unofficial polling.
One other thing: I think it’s great that Hillary has been so even tempered and focussed about this whole thing. She didn’t join the anti-Wright bandwagon and like myself, truly believes that the country is ready to move past race and gender to elect the most qualified *person* to the job.
Filed under: Presidential Election 2008 | Tagged: Jeremiah Wright, Pennyslvania |
The Confluence 
I made the mistake of watching a bit of Chris Matthews–and Smerconish was on, along with Michelle Bernard, lovely rightwinger head of Women’s Independent Forum–so there was a virtual lovefest about Obama’s speech.
Wonder what Michelle Bernard will do in the general election if Obama is running against St. McBush?
Smerconish was adulatory.
It was a good speech, done with teleprompter so he came across as smooth and unhesitating. But, I felt he could have eliminated some of the gratuitous hits on Hillary and Ferraro and have made a substantially better speech.
The crowd, however, seemed subdued and quiet. Anyone actually there who could tell us what was going on in the hall?
FWIW – I have left churches that had sexist (or racial) undertones from the pulpit – AND that includes the church where I was married and my son attended school.
Sometimes, disagreeing with a message means voting with your feet. By contributing time, talent and $$, it IS saying “I approve this message” – regular church attenders know this and they vote with feet every Sunday.
Wow, and this being Holy Week. Good day to throw Grandma under a bus.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top12mar18,0,5953760.story
OT, but this is an interview Lyndie England gave to the German magazine, Stern. She thinks the photos, not the actual torture or acts of the American interrogators, caused problems and if the press had not released them things wouldn’t be as bad as they got in Iraq. She also says there were many worse photos.
Oh, dear–she really believes that. But perhaps she needs to in order to stay sane.
Oof. Tried out the David Gregory program–David has certainly absorbed the MSNBC Boys’ Locker Room talking points.
It’s scary when the only people making sense are the ex-Repub pols, such as Buchanan and Scarborough. But, they are the only ones who have not drunk the Obama Kool-Aide. May have done the McSame Kool-Aide; however, right now they make some astute political observations.
Good grief, David Gregory! He’s introducing topic of Hillary’s First Lady schedules being released–and is talking about it as if it’s going to result in all sorts of dirt.
I mean, he predicated the entire discussion on there being something damaging in these schedules.
Good-bye, Mr. Gregory.
Oh, no! I hope she didn’t have meetings with Reverend Wright as First Lady!
Jesus, who the hell do they think she was meeting with?
aaaaaaaaaaugh!
Another think coming. Think (as in “think twice”). Not thing. Never, ever thing
Sorry but that bugs me nearly as much as misplaced apostrophes.
stefanie: Er. can I help? Do I need to edit?
Ohhh, I get it. I’ve always understood it as “thing”, not think. As in, being hit in the head with a dope slap. That’s a “thing” not a think. In fact, I’ve never heard it the other way before.
But here’s the one that drives *me* up the wall: “I should of went…”
It’s like nails on a chalkboard.
Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!
Getting a cocktail.
Barry’s not sweating it. From the Baltimore Sun:
If Wright’s rhetoric costs Obama some votes, others believe that would be more than offset by voters moved by Obama’s ability to bring religion back into the liberal political message.
Ronald Walters, a political scientist at the University of Maryland, notes that Obama is getting the support of many black preachers who flirted with the Republican Party during the Bush administration, finding its position on cultural issues such as gay marriage and abortion appealing.
I’m really looking forward to this new ‘progressive’ coalition with preachers attracted to the Republican party’s positions on cultural issues.
I know this is blasphemy in some circles, but I’d support an independent run by Hillary Clinton in the general.
hlr: Then this is a really stupid assumption on Barry’s part. My Mother and her friends are super religious types and they are very offended by Wright. It doesn’t matter if Obama is bringing religion back into the public sphere if it’s more like militantism than religion. This will backfire on him. They can handle a mainstream, member in good standing Methodist like Hillary. She is the safe choice.
As for AA preachers, well, that’s great for Obama but he’s already got the AA vote sewn up. At most they are what, 15% of the population? He didn’t make any real gains there and he lost a truckload of religious whites in the process. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
So we really want a candidate who panders to the anti-abortion and anti-gay-marriage crowd? And how is he so different from McCain again?
I support an independent Hillary run too.
Teresa2: I don’t support a Liebermanesque run by Hillary. I would much prefer that she won the nomination outright as a Democrat. I still think that’s possible. As long as there is no reason for her to get out of the race, she shouldn’t.
jawbone – re: OT. I feel bad for Lynndie to some extent. inadequate training, off in the middle of that hellhole with officers behaving like they did, the military brass of course throwing the local soldiers under the bus like they thought of doing all that stuff only by themselves. I don’t believe it. (we’re from the same area actually. I am 100% in favor of the media releasing the photos though was well pissed off about media portrayal of that part of the country as mostly just poverty and trailer trash.)
And for the subject du jour being pastors, the one at my local church stood up and spoke out against the threats and name calling (traitor, etc) against Joseph Darby.. Darby was a member of our congregation. I’m very proud of him for what he did.
OMG, Joe Darby was a member of your congregation?! That man is a hero. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him to face such a tsunami of adversity and negativity for such an act of integrity and courage. I hope he is doing well and prospering now. He deserves a medal and I hope Hillary gives him one someday.
Riverdaughter: I was responding to hlr (agreeing with him/her).
If McCain and Obama are the nominees I don’t really think we have a lot to risk in electing McCain. Obama has never really signaled that he’d put Democratic principles above his own needs. His surrogates have already said he probably won’t get us out of Iraq. I don’t trust him on Roe v Wade. Economy? Well who will he pander to on that?
As always, I’m thinking long-term. At this point, I think the Democratic Party needs to learn a very hard lesson, about putting their foot on the scale to nominate a completely divisive candidate. They aren’t going to learn anything via an Obama win (although I really don’t think he can win a general, anyway).
Drafting Hillary as an independent would be just the means to that lesson I think.
She’s a good Democrat, so she wouldn’t do it. However, I DO hope she doesn’t agree to a VP slot.
And yes, I’m speaking as if I don’t think she’s going to win the nom, because at this point, she’s pretty much not going to, unless Obama craters. And I don’t think that’s going to happen. His media darling status is holding.
riverdaughter, Teresa2: Hillary Clinton will never ever run as anything but a Democrat. She deeply cares about our party.
This woman is a very good and very proud Democrat. Her campaign is based on the fact that we have the better ideas to improve peoples’ lives and do great things for the country.
I am actually very annoyed that her Democratic bona fides are even being questioned by the likes of Arianna and Markos, people who were Rightwingers until last week.
I would much prefer that she won the nomination outright as a Democrat.
Sure, I’m just thinking it might be a bit more fair if all 50 states are allowed to play — unlike the Democratic primary. It crossed my mind after receiving a fundraising pitch. I almost feel like the Democratic primary is a big waste of money, energy and resources with the MI/FL obstructionism. Mua-ha-ha! You must now win 70% of the vote!
Oh, and about Lieberman … he won.
Teresa2: I agree about the VP spot – if she doesn’t get the nod, she can run in 4 years regardless of the outcome of the GE.
In terms of the DNC leadership, I can’t help but wonder how much the current power in the exec branch might influence who they are most supportive of. I’m thinking the balance of power with obama would shift more to the Senate. He seems way too high level to worry about the details.
MI and FL superdelegates could be seated if an appeal is granted. There’s something about the charter overruling the Rules and Bylaws Committee, but I bet the “neutral” Brazille will “objectively” argue on behalf of Obama’s position.
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/3/18/163423/699
hlr: Yes, but as a former Lamont campaigner, I feel that Lieberman won dishonestly. He accepted the assistance and money from the party for the primary and then did not abide by the outcome. Then he ran as a Republican. The independent Democrat stuff was just a cover. I do *not* want Hillary to go that route and I don’t think she has to. I think she *will* win the nomination. The SDs will have to make her the nominee. They are not going to let the racial south and the mountain west call the shots. nah, gah, happen.
Murtha just endorsed her! There’s hope for the DP yet!
Teresa2: Do me a favor and stop going to the Big Boyz blogs. They are just doing a haka in an effort to demoralize you. I believe that she *will* win the nomination as long as she doesn’t drop out. She has every reason to stay in the race until PA and beyond if she is successful. Donna Brazille is dreaming if she thinks FL and MI can be written off.
I am not going to give in and you shouldn’t either. As for her accepting VP, she’d be a fool to do it. It would be just another example of a woman doing her boss’ work and not getting any credit.
Teresa2: At this point, I think the Democratic Party needs to learn a very hard lesson, about putting their foot on the scale to nominate a completely divisive candidate.
Yes, that’s where I’m coming from. It’s tongue-in-cheek right now, but I’m getting very uncomfortable with the dysfunction.
When you don’t have any real beliefs, these things happen! You don’t recognize the ridiculousness of the beliefs of others, because you assume that words have as much meaning for others as they have for you, which is nothing. This would just be a novelty, or a ha-ha moment, but it does bear on Obama’s overall view of adversaries at home and abroad. Why does he think that reactionary Republicans are fine folks who will go along with him in the interests of the higher good? Why does he think the most obstinately rotten governments in the world, from Iran to N. Korea, will melt once they have the chance to meet with him (without preconditions, as I recall)? Because he assumes they don’t have any real beliefs. They just say whatever shit comes into their heads if they’re undisciplined, or whatever their eyes-on-the-prize advisers tell them to say if they are disciplined as he is. The real significance of the Wright episode is that it shows that Obama thinks everyone is as vacuous as he is, which apart from whatever moral critique it deserves, doesn’t bode well for an effective presidency. And then there’s that 3 AM thing, now more than ever…
Obama took his own grandmother–who raised him, and who is still living–and threw her under the bus. Talk about “do anything to get elected”! Ugly.
Read all your comments. I’m studying for a final exam and my brain is full.
I’m with you. I’m with Hillary. I want what’s best for the citizens of this country.
At this point, I’m certainly conflicted about what IS best (if Hillary doesn’t win nom).
And I don’t visit the Blogger Boyz. I just seen handwriting on the wall.
Here in PA, I can definitely say it’s Hillary country.
I see Obama is asking Repubs and Indies to change their registration to Democrat, so they can vote in our closed primary.
He may want to stop that. In the last week I’ve given five Republican voters registration forms. They all want to vote for Hillary because they think she is the best candidate of the three.
Well, I guess this is as good a place as any to tell you all so long and thanks for all the fish – I’m truly non-commital at this point between Hillary and Obama, so I’m finding the comments here about Obama’s speech pretty much as much over the top negative as the fawning praise for it and damnation of Hillary are at the Big Orange Circus. So, I’ll check back in once the nomination is settled and hope that we can all get along at that point. Thanks for the welcome.
Geordie, I truly am sorry to lose you. I regret that my advocacy of Clinton is off putting. I mean to assure you that I really did try to convince my mother that I believe that Obama is a good and intelligent man. But I want to leave no doubt in your mind about one thing. I think his campaign has behaved very dishonorably towards Hillary Clinton. It is not in my nature to state things that may not be true. That is why you will find only one of the Wright video’s on this site and the only one where he is easily refuted. I don’t bring up Rezko because it is a painful reminder of Whitewater. But I have no problem discussing the slanderous accusations that Obama’s campaign has made against Clinton regarding racism. I think it was disgraceful campaign tactics, divisive of the party and informed me all too clearly about Obama’s character.
One does not bring a knife to a gunfight, Geordie. It is my responsibility to stand up for a person who deserves respect and admiration for her commitment to healing the racial divide. If our manner of fighting back is disturbing to you, you may want to ask your DNC leadership why they haven’t been more proactive in ending what will surely be a wealth of GOP talking points going forward. Geordie, we will be sorry to see you go. You are always welcome here. I really mean that. Peace out. Rd.
Riverdaughter – this comment is totally unrelated. I just realized that our debate on my blog earlier today started because you thought the word “insinuations” was aimed at you. No! I actually meant Obama should stop making insinuations. I’ve edited the post. Fun debating with you earlier.
I’m as radical as they come but when Wright’s feverish delivery on CNN last week scared me.
Have any Obama events been picketed by patriotic groups yet? Can see a VFW or American Legion bunch doing that. The interactions between them and some Obama types we know only too well, would make for great theater. I can’t believe we are going this way.
This speech is bound to stoke the race embers some more if Obama does not have specifics on how he could unite the race. Oratorical speeches that is not followed by policy would just make the division widen some more because the pro side would be clinging to every word of the speech and then be disappointed when the speechwriter does not meet their expectations. That is why action is important before those disappointments manifest itself more and more.
Lets just all hope that Obama would deliver on the specifics later on.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. You do need to edit: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004972.html
It’s sort of like “You thought once, and incorrectly, so now you’ll need have to think again”
And lemonv, I’m not sure why it’s Obama’s job to solve all of our problems, or it’s his place to legislate race relations. Maybe it’s enough for now that he has brought some of these issues to the table, and it’s time for Americans to take a long look at ourselves and start talking, really talking, about race in America instead of just talking *around* it. We all sort of pretend that so much of this doesn’t exist, and doesn’t affect the way we and others think, but it does. Pretending it doesn’t exist does not help us at all, and I’m glad he’s tried to get us to really think about these things, the same way I was glad that John Edwards pushed us to think about poverty and health care.
There’s been an elephant in the room for a long, long time. Maybe it will do us some good to admit it’s really there. It’ll take a while before anybody really has the nerve to look it in the eye, but I’ll take whatever incremental steps we can get toward improvement.
Stefanie, with respect, “We all sort of pretend that so much of this doesn’t exist…”
No, we all don’t. You are simply incorrect. Discussions about race—ethnicity, frankly, we’re all part of the human race—and issues regarding culture and values happen around us out here in the sticks all of them time. But then, I live in a mostly rural area with a very high population of Mexican immigrants.
It’s also known as the meth capital of the universe. If you think my neighbors and I don’t talk about our common problems of crime and watching people destroy themselves with this junk, guess again. We also talk about schools and better roads and what happens if Boeing shuts down and whose kid is thinking of going to the Army because our public schools suck and what else is he or she going to do.
My Spanish sucks, but I totally understand my neighbors. We have worked together to bring change here in my little neighborhood—it takes forever but you have to do what you have to do if you want to make it a little bit better. Sometimes that means getting the potholes filled and the street signs up, but the common accomplishment of small things has meaning and it’s good practice for tackling the big things.
And I also disagree that John Edwards’s great contribution in the election has been to push “…us to _think_ about poverty and health care.” (emph added)
He pushed us to _do_ something to resolve poverty and lack of health care. Not just think about it or talk about it.
Talking about it is easy, doing something about it is hard. And that, for me, is the difference between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton.
I don’t mean small-t talk, like we do amongst our neighbors and friends, about race and immigration and whatnot, I mean big-T Talk. Like the whole country. Where we really talk about race and what it means to be black or white in this country, warts and all. So when I say “all of us” I don’t mean me and the guys down the street, I mean we ALL of us, collectively, this whole country.
Obama’s pastor got raked over the coals for expressing a misguided and unpleasant view, but one which exists in the hearts of some people. We REALLY need to talk about that, about what it means to live in a country where there’s a sort of PTSD that covers an entire generation. We need to talk about what it means to know that your father or grandfather’s church was burned down, or what it means when a black kid in Mississippi is found dead under a bridge because he was dating a white woman *in the 21st century*. We talk about them when they hit the news, but then nothing is done. People forget that people were terrorized for being black *in our generation* and we have GOT to acknowledge that that screws with people’s heads.
So yeah, you can talk about race and immigration and meth and potholes with your neighbors, but when was the last time a politician got up in front of the country and “Hey. We’ve still got a problem with race. It’s got a long history and probably a long future before it gets better”
Why did Ferraro have to quit? Because she said something unpleasant about race (even though probably a lot of people agreed) and we, as a nation, don’t talk about race. We pretend that what she said was an aberration instead of confronting it and saying “people feel this way. Is it correct? is it helpful? Does it reflect a true understanding of race?”. So Obama, instead of just letting these things get brushed away, said “This is actually kind of an endemic problem” and he’s right… whenever someone brings up race, we FREAK RIGHT OUT, claim race isn’t an issue, and silence the person who brought it up. If we (and I mean the national we, not the local we) really had an open dialog about race already going, the Ferraro flap would never have happened. That’s what I mean when I say that “we” pretend it doesn’t exist. You and I know it does, but Washington doesn’t want to go there.
(And I’m kind of the opinion that if Edwards had successfully encouraged people to *do* something about healthcare, they would have voted for him. I think that real conversations (again, not just amongst our neighbors) about health care in this country have fallen off significantly since he dropped out. It’s a “big deal” but not nearly as big as it should be, given how many people are losing their lives over it. I kind of wish he was still around making people spend way more time talking about it, but there are a lot of other important issues that are getting talked about now, that haven’t been before, so I cant’ complain that much. I’m just glad that we as a nation are realizing that the Republican emperors have no clothes)
Stephanie: This is exactly the kind of discussion that Republicans would like for us, the Democrats, to have. They are going to keep bringing it up over and over again from now until November. But it will not be solved this year. The reason why the country is not ready to move beyond it is because Obama is not ready to move beyond it. His campaign foolishly stirred up this mess in SC and now it looks like Obama’s pastor couldn’t move beyond it.
And let’s be perfectly clear about this: most people my age, that is, Obama’s age, have gotten beyond race already. Yeah. We grew up post segregation. Our views were quickly corrected by our civil rights minded parents, our teachers and our churches. The Supreme Court was on our side for much of our young lives. We were READY for Obama. But Rev. Wright would very much like for those of us Obama’s age to take the blame for all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that have and still are hurled against AA’s in this country and many of US would very much like to just vote for the guy. It’s not like AA’s are the only oppressed group but we had an opportunity to transcend all of that.
Now, we can’t. Now, we have to stop what we’re doing and make white people feel guilty. That just strikes me as a really, REALLY bad idea especially when we have nothing to feel guilty about. Most Dems are perfectly capable of moving forward. Most REPUBLICANS are not. But here we are, half of us Democrats subjected to a lecture about race by the other half. The GOP must be laughing so hard they have to pee.
Please, no more moralistic sermons. I don’t want to hear it anymore. He’s a person running for a job. If he’s qualified, I’ll vote for him. If the other person is qualified more, I will vote for her.
Let’s move on.
Stefanie, again, I respectfully disagree. Big Talk happens when there’s enough small talk to make it. And maybe then we actually do something about it.
I guess I’d say that change trickles up, not down. Maybe the verb would be better be bubble, but I fear bubbling brings the image of a fart in a hot tub and I really would rather not go there.
Anyway, we do talk and Talk—for example, about the Jena 6. But the cruelty and injustice of situations like this don’t happen in a vacuum; they don’t just blossom out of nowhere.
It is the insidious, slippery racism that does the greatest harm and leads to this cruelty.That insidious stuff is only battled day to day, with neighbors and fellow town folk, especially those of differing opinions and life experiences.
The beauty of “I Have a Dream” (and it is beautiful) is that it is, among other things, a call to action to each of us.It is the content of one’s character that, like our crazy, can be made more perfect only by individual effort.
All credit to Sen. Obama to stand up and say, “Hey, we have a problem about race,” when it’s unlikely to help him win the White House. And I gave him credit for that.
But his speech will not make one iota of difference if the desire for change wasn’t already there (and one reason his candidacy has so much appeal, IMHO) and if regular people like me and you and our neighbors and friends and opponents weren’t already doing the day-to-day heavy-lifting regarding race and culture.
We can find our way across this divide by reaching across it. Not waiting for our leaders to do it. What is that saying? “Be the change you want in the world.”
Anyway…with Ferraro—she basically said the same thing the junior senator from Illinois said.
Please see
http://obama.senate.gov/news/050626-when_it_comes_to_race_obama_ma/
Quote:
Obama acknowledges, with no small irony, that he benefits from his race.
If he were white, he once bluntly noted, he would simply be one of nine freshmen senators, almost certainly without a multimillion-dollar book deal and a shred of celebrity. Or would he have been elected at all?
Unquote
Sen. Obama took full advantage of the opportunities presented to him through intelligence and hard work. This included the book deal that garnered him celebrity, which came about because of his election as the first African-American pres of Harvard Law Review.
And more power to him. Isn’t that part of the promise of our great American enterprise? Work, hard, be smart, and when your chance comes, grab it with both hands.
And isn’t that part of the problem with the cruelty of racism and classism and all those isms? For example, that our school system doesn’t ofer equal chance to prepare and our society doesn’t offer equal opportunity to grab that chance?
The problem may not be that there aren’t enough slots for college entrants but that someone may see that chance evaporate because the public school a student attended to sucks a$$ big time and that student is unable to capitalize on opportunities.
Schools won’t change unless we make them change. That happens on the ground. By going into administrators offices and demanding it. And not letting up until and after it happens.
I also disagree regarding Edwards’s position regarding a call to action on poverty and health care, but I’ll concede the point. I won’t concede, however, that Sen. Clinton has a much better chance of actually getting things done than Sen. Obama.
Thank you for this discussion and its civlity. We may not agree on these things, but talking about is a place to start understanding one another, eh?
Whoops, sorry, riverdaughter. I didn’t see your post until after I had blathered on and on.
Ohio: Oh, no problem. You said it all very well. Nice point about it trickling up from the bottom instead of from the top. The people screaming for a conversation about race are preaching to the converted. We’re not the ones that need the lecture and it would have been much better for all of us if Obama had just stuck to running on his merits than trying to defame his opponent on race. It was unworthy of him. OTOH, his merits, though substantial, lag behind hers right now. It was a temporary problem that 8 years might have solved. It’s too bad he had to go this route.
I understand that most people our age have gotten beyond race. To us, it’s ancient history, but to many people it’s still very fresh and raw. I’ll stray a little bit from race and use the example of children of Holocaust survivors. Even though that was over long before they were born, their parents suffered enormous psychological damage, and the children end up being affected by an event that was before their time. It wouldn’t be fair to say to these people that they should move on because we don’t have concentration camps any more. It takes a couple of generations before people stop being intimately connected to those horrors, and that’s what we’ve got with race right now, I think. Just because we don’t see or engage in racism today doesn’t mean it isn’t still having an impact right now.
Anyway, regardless of the political outcome or motivation, I’m glad that Obama talked about race because I’ve seen some open and honest discussions about how we deal (or don’t deal) with race in America. I think most intelligent Americans are color-blind, but not all of us, and the damage done by those bad apples harms us all, even those of us who don’t care if our president is black or a woman or anything other than an entitled white guy.
Ohio, I do believe in the idea of conversation bubbling up. I just don’t think it’s a bad thing to have it go in the other direction as well. If I may borrow some cheesy corporate-speak, it’s a team effort. The more people who are on board, the better. (And by “on board” I don’t mean on board with a particular campaign, I just mean being on board with working together, bottom-up and top-town, to fix things that aren’t working as well as they could.)
Stefanie, agreed. We can find a way to work together.
As an aside, I’ve never claimed to be color-blind. My eyes are as full of color as I can get them to remind me to never forget the human capacity for cruelty and beauty. And plain old laziness. And mendacity. And other words that end in “-acity.”
I consider this a strength and not a weakness. And I quote the Rodney King: Can’t we all just get along?
Ah, well, I’m a retard.
I live here in Pa and your Mom is not alone! I work in a restaurant and come into contact with all kinds of people each and every day. He was not popular here to begin with, no resume, no experience. He is the Anti-Christ now! I have yet to meet, in person, one single, living, breathing person who believes a word he said.
Obama is done in this state. Apparently the well water most of us use has not been contaminated with whatever they put in the kool-aid.
If Obama isn’t willing to change, then why should other Americans be ready. The contradiction to his speech is that his mere presence in that church indicates he chooses to emphasize one group over another. I find him to be totally hypocritical.