Obama Speech: 'A More Perfect Union'

[Txgoodoldboy]

Wow! I didn't watch the speech this morning, but I just checked it out on YouTube. Damn, it is great. The length is over 37 minutes, but well worth it. I think, whether pro-Obama, or not, it is worth the watch.

 

[Zingerific]

I loved the speech too (I didn't watch it, I read the transcript).

The big question is, thought, is will it do the job? Will it put the church issue to bed? Should it be?I have no idea.

 

[byro]

I thought it was brilliant and could (in an ideal world) help to re-frame the way in which we speak about race in this country; it was subtle, fair, complex, direct and truthful. (Whether it'll blunt the Wright controversy remains to be seen...). As I watched it I kept thinking, "I don't think I've ever heard a politician speak this way before." I'm not a Hillary hater in the least, but I do think that his way of re-framing the campaign arena makes her way of campaigning look old, nakedly mechanical, old fashioned and petty.

 

[Zingerific]

I worry that anyone Obama hasn't already been won over by his oratory isn't likely to be.

I agree, byro, that if this speech reframes the race issue, that'll be a bigger deal than this whole damn election.

 

[byro]

I worry that anyone Obama hasn't already been won over by his oratory isn't likely to be.

I know what you mean, but hopefully, at the very least, it'll turn the page (at least with the pundits) on this rut he's been stuck in for the past few days and allow him to move on. And now, when the issue comes up again (as it surely will, especially if he gets the nomination) he will have established a template for discussion that isn't defined solely by other people.

 

[White Eagle]

I watched the speech too and thought it was great. I was watching Hardball just now and Chris Matthews had on 3 other people, I didn't get their names. 2 African Amer and 1 Cauc. They all compared the speech to MLKs I have a dream speech.
Lets see what the Clinton people will make of that. I just watched a speech by Hillary that she gave after Baracks and she spoke well of it. She hadn't seen all of his speech but still was ok with it. We'll see.

 

[JackFTwist]

Those are the words that have needed to be said for so long in this country

for those who have been consumed by hate and wrath these past months, nothing will suffice

 

[NickCole]

I thought it was brilliant and could (in an ideal world) help to re-frame the way in which we speak about race in this country; it was subtle, fair, complex, direct and truthful. (Whether it'll blunt the Wright controversy remains to be seen...). As I watched it I kept thinking, "I don't think I've ever heard a politician speak this way before." I'm not a Hillary hater in the least, but I do think that his way of re-framing the campaign arena makes her way of campaigning look old, nakedly mechanical, old fashioned and petty.

Obama's speech that you say "re-frames the campaign arena" inspires you ("not a Hillary hater in the least") to immediately personally denigrate his opponent -- not her policies, not her positions, not her plans if she's elected President, but her way of campaigning.

If Obama failed to inspire his supporters --the ones who call his speech "brilliant"-- to stop their personal denigration of opponents, he failed to demonstrate he can inspire change.

 

[iman]

I found it to be a purely political speech. Essentially Obama rehashed race issues which most of got past many years ago and implied that the only way to get past these issues is to vote for him.

He held himself up as the only path for America's racial salvation after giving tacit approval of Reverend Wright's remarks by suggesting that the remarks were understandable given America's history.

The suggestion that America is in a racial crisis is pretty much like the mythic Kennedy Missile Crisis. Kennedy claimed falsely that America was behind the USSR in missiles and blamed the previous administration. Obama has invented a racial crisis that did not exist a few months ago and offers himself as the remedy. Apparently Teddy and Reverend Wright have taught him well.

 

[noah617]

Essentially Obama rehashed race issues which most of got past many years ago and implied that the only way to get past these issues is to vote for him.

Obama has invented a racial crisis that did not exist a few months ago and offers himself as the remedy. Apparently Teddy and Reverend Wright have taught him well.

What country are you living in? You have got to be kidding me. The country has gotten over race issues? Ignoring race issues doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[LukeatDuke]

This is a great speech. It had to be given by someone who is 100% for full equal rights for gays and lesbians, right? None of that "I'm for civil unions but not gay marriage" stuff. This person clearly is for 100% equality for all Americans.

 

[NickCole]

I thought parts of the speech were glorious. But it was also a political speech and that's a shame, a lost opportunity.

There is a forthright conversation we need in this country between blacks and whites. As Obama boldly and rightly pointed out, we have too many secrets and we pretend too much with each other.

This speech was Obama's opportunity to inspire that conversation. But I haven't heard people doing that.

I think that's because the speech was more political expediency than leadership in a new direction. In fact, judging by the zero talk about race and all the talk about rating his speech and how it will impact the campaign, I give him a failing grade. It demonstrates that Obama lacks the leadership (or the authentic will?) to get the conversation started and to guide it. He can say things well enough (in five or ten years he could be incredible) but he didn't come close to leading the way today.

 

[tmb1]

Wow! Surprise, surprise to see the three main negative people on here coming out against Obama on this speech. It is not surprising you guys didn't GET IT from what you have written on this site. This man is UNIFYING and says it like it is. Well Barack will take you forward with this country DESPITE your negativity.

Oh and it wasn't the "Kennedy missile crisis", it was called the "Cuban missile crisis." Anyone knowing anything about politics and history should at least know that.

 

[iman]

What country are you living in? You have got to be kidding me. The country has gotten over race issues? Ignoring race issues doesn't mean they don't exist.

Of course we have race issues. We have been addressing them for many years and we have an African American running for the Presidency. What I resent is Obama, who has been trading on race, telling the country that only he represents racial salvation for the US.

Race has become the Obama raison d'etre and I reject that. Obama could have been a race neutral candidate but chose not to be and instead has repeatedly injected race into the election and that is unfortunate.

 

[Yuki Sohma]

I sure hope that it is more than just a nice speech. Only time & future actions will tell.

 

[naked gent]

Essentially Obama rehashed race issues which most of got past many years ago

Oh and it wasn't the "Kennedy missile crisis", it was called the "Cuban missile crisis." Anyone knowing anything about politics and history should at least know that.

tmb what iman meant was the 'missile gap' which Kennedy falsely claimed existed.

Just another pol lying his way to the presidency.

I didn't see where Iman said that America has gotten over our racial issues, and that they don't exist.

Do you see it now Musicman?

 

[pisces_ken02]

Great speech.. I don't know if it will help. But it was DAMN GOOD.

 

[NickCole]

A few of the things Obama said today were problematic.

This is one:

“….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. This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up.”

Just words?


Anybody know who Rezko is?

Hundreds of thousands of poor people, including blacks of course, in his district when he was state Senator, suffered in squalid conditions because of slum lord Rezko -- while that same Rezko gave thousands and thousands of dollars to Obama for his campaigns. Obama did nothing to help them and has claimed he didn't know about the problems.

​

Obama said in the interview Monday that he was unaware of the scope of properties owned by Rezmar or the problems surrounding them. He said none of the affected residents personally sought his help and that aides at his state Senate district office did not recall any inquiries. Still, he said it was “possible” that during his tenure in the legislature that a constituent may have written or called his office “saying, ‘We’re in a building, and we’re unhappy with the service here.’”

Such problems, he said, would normally be brought to the attention of an alderman or the city’s Housing Department. “Had I known that there were buildings that were in deteriorating or poor condition, that certainly would have given me pause. But I didn’t know,” Obama said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0704230648apr24,1,671186.story

Would have given him "pause"??? But today he said circumstances like that "helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us." He says he's going to make change. Why didn't he make change for those desperately in need in his own district rather than take Rezko's money for himself?

 

[Spensed]

Excellent speech.

Whether it's Obama or Hillary, it'll be such a breath of fresh air to have a President who isn't an inarticulate bumbler.

 

[byro]

Wednesday's NY Times editorial on the speech, titled "Mr. Obama's Profile in Courage." And btw, they support Hillary and endorsed her.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/opinion/19wed1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin