Barack Obama delivered a very strong speech on "race" today, which he wrote by himself. I think it's revealing how various bloggers and pundits are pulling so many different quotes from the speech to highlight. Truly, there's a lot to like.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Obama's "A more perfect union" speech
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11 Comments:
I think he at least took the right approach. Not too much hemming and hawing and an attempt to almost speak honestly about something difficult.
Unfortunately, if talk radio this morning is any indication, it didn't get through to anybody.
Most of the people that did not get the message weren't listening in the first place. They may have wanted him to find a nice, polite church in the suburbs or they were never going to vote for him anyway.
It does bother me that so much political analysis has taken place due to the speech (I know he is a politician and there was motivation there to squelch the story). But too much political analysis trivializes the speech, which is a major goal of his opponents. Can we just have a discussion as to the content rather than it's implications for November?
My mind was made up long ago but I couldn't be more proud of who I voted for.
By 
Imajayhawk, at
9:14 AM
I suddenly feel like I need to delve into the NOLA.com comments on this story just to punish myself. Wish me luck.
Happy St. Joseph's Day, Poppa Oyster
By 
dillyberto, at
9:57 AM
If you're a masochist then by all means check out the boards but I wouldn't advise it if you're looking for a pick-me-up. I did it yesterday on Anderson Cooper's message board and was very, very disheartened. There are some ugly people in this world. But maybe today has brought a different crowd out of the woodwork (Optimisitc).
Hey dilly, when's that new baby of yours coming into our world? I know it's May sometime.
By Imajayhawk, at
10:36 AM
I enjoyed his speech because you usually don't get that kind of honesty the leading candidate, but from the more marginal candidates with less chance to win, like Kucinich or Gravel?
As for his opponent? She just doesn't seem to get into that sort of thing.
I was very impressed with the way Obama took the very issue being spun, racial fear in America, and stopped that buck right at his own doorstep. I grew up in the MS Delta where they invented mospquitoes, rednecks and niggers. If you don't believe me then ask Emmit Till's mother. This is a Hard Question with No Soft Answer. He took responsibility for his relationship to his faith and at the same time opened a very intelligent discussion on race that we need to have goddamnit.
In fact, that speech pretty much did it for me.
Obama~Gumbo, Red wine, Black Coffee no Chicory, Gravity's Rainbow:
"A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before but there is nothing to compare it to now."~ja de veiux...
Clinton~whitebread, Spritzers, decaf artificial creamer, word salad~de ja vue all over again.
Thank you very much.
By New Orleans News Ladder, at
10:54 AM
This isn't about race. It is about judgment--for befriending a man like Wright.
What would your position be if the situation were a little different, say, a white republican with 20 year ties to a lunatic racist demagogue, who then gave a speech trying to focus the attention elsewhere. Do I really have to ask? You would call bullshit . . . and rightly so.
By , at
1:34 PM
"a white republican with 20 year ties to a lunatic racist demagogue"
LMAO!! Are you kidding? Could a phrase be more redundant? Can I have the list of GOPers who DON'T have ties to lunatic racist demagogues? Perhaps that would save some time.
Umm, if a Republican Pol ever delivered a major speech about race that was half as insightful as Obama's I'd jump out of my skin in shock.
As we've covered many times before, you're blind adherence to one of the idiotic political parties continues to make your blog an astounding record of hypocracy.
You can take comfort in the fact, however, that you are not alone. You share this attribute with at least 95% of the rest of the country, whatever idiotic party thay may cling to.
By , at
2:12 PM
N.O. News Ladder...."I enjoyed his speech because you usually don't get that kind of honesty........."
Shit, I must have listen to the wrong speech.
Yeah d-bb, sounds like you did hear the wrong speech, or perchance you just wouldn't know honest oratory if it came up and pulled your thumb out of your...mouth.
While multi-level logic may be a bit more to handle than simple math even you might see the socio-cultural implications of calling a spade a spade, eh?
It appears that you may very well rest his case.
By New Orleans News Ladder, at
5:17 PM