03-21-2008, 11:32 PM
Mudy
Right from the beginning the BO candidacy i have been surprised to see public discourse (and BO campaign and HRC campaign and McCain campaign) ignoring race as an issue completely. Yes there were subtle hints here and there but nothing like reality. One had to decipher some kind of code language to determine if people were talking about race or what.
BO's speech gave a picture of reality of how and where whites and blacks need to work on, what the progress has been etc... This is what I am familiar with. He was brutally honest and still nuanced enough to convey the message. I have read people cherry picking parts of his speech both amongst the blacks and the whites to somehow diss him but you will get a totally different impression if you actually hear his speech in its entirety. Plus he comes out as a person with an intellect far-surpassing your normal politician, great oratory, fantastic body language and most importantly a very good thought process (or so i felt after i heard his speech).
I feel BO's speech and the framework that he laid out in that speech is going to be pathbreaking and will shape the way things are going to be IF (and that is a big IF, but still I am confident) the US is going to come out of the mess. And just for that reason this speech will be quoted over and over for years and years to come.
I havent heard Wright at all so I dont know where he is coming from.
Re BO not being able to survive in India, I have to disagree. I think BO will do just fine in India. I would even recommend the Indian establishment to build a long term relationship with him. He may not be electable right at this point, but I think eventually people like him will (should?) eventually get there - that is the only way forward for the US.
But for now , sadly, racial thinking rules...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/St...=4491851&page=1
Things to appreciate in BO and his speech.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Obama supporter Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., offered Obama this historically inaccurate compliment at a news conference today, saying that "what this man has done, Barack Obama, is, he, for the first time I think, as a black leader in America, has come to the American people not as a victim but rather as a leader. To say to white people who have legitimate resentments about racial politics in this country and black people who have understanding about bitterness and anger, especially older black Americans who lived through some of those times where they were told that drinking fountain isn't good enough for them." <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
But what people take away from it..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said today that Obama could "bridge the divide of religious extremism" and "in some cases go around their dictator leaders to the people and inspire the people in ways that we can't otherwise."
But when questioned about what made Obama so capable of such a large task, Kerry pointed to a surprisingly thin qualification -- "because he's African-American," the Massachusetts senator said. "<b>Because he's a black man</b>. Who has come from a place of oppression and repression through the years in our own country."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Right from the beginning the BO candidacy i have been surprised to see public discourse (and BO campaign and HRC campaign and McCain campaign) ignoring race as an issue completely. Yes there were subtle hints here and there but nothing like reality. One had to decipher some kind of code language to determine if people were talking about race or what.
BO's speech gave a picture of reality of how and where whites and blacks need to work on, what the progress has been etc... This is what I am familiar with. He was brutally honest and still nuanced enough to convey the message. I have read people cherry picking parts of his speech both amongst the blacks and the whites to somehow diss him but you will get a totally different impression if you actually hear his speech in its entirety. Plus he comes out as a person with an intellect far-surpassing your normal politician, great oratory, fantastic body language and most importantly a very good thought process (or so i felt after i heard his speech).
I feel BO's speech and the framework that he laid out in that speech is going to be pathbreaking and will shape the way things are going to be IF (and that is a big IF, but still I am confident) the US is going to come out of the mess. And just for that reason this speech will be quoted over and over for years and years to come.
I havent heard Wright at all so I dont know where he is coming from.
Re BO not being able to survive in India, I have to disagree. I think BO will do just fine in India. I would even recommend the Indian establishment to build a long term relationship with him. He may not be electable right at this point, but I think eventually people like him will (should?) eventually get there - that is the only way forward for the US.
But for now , sadly, racial thinking rules...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/St...=4491851&page=1
Things to appreciate in BO and his speech.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Obama supporter Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., offered Obama this historically inaccurate compliment at a news conference today, saying that "what this man has done, Barack Obama, is, he, for the first time I think, as a black leader in America, has come to the American people not as a victim but rather as a leader. To say to white people who have legitimate resentments about racial politics in this country and black people who have understanding about bitterness and anger, especially older black Americans who lived through some of those times where they were told that drinking fountain isn't good enough for them." <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
But what people take away from it..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said today that Obama could "bridge the divide of religious extremism" and "in some cases go around their dictator leaders to the people and inspire the people in ways that we can't otherwise."
But when questioned about what made Obama so capable of such a large task, Kerry pointed to a surprisingly thin qualification -- "because he's African-American," the Massachusetts senator said. "<b>Because he's a black man</b>. Who has come from a place of oppression and repression through the years in our own country."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->