Thursday, March 20, 2008

A Moment That Slips - Obama's Speech on Race

Barack Obama - An Imperfect Union


I posted this on a forum I like and thought it was good enough to post here.

I thought it was extremely courageous of him. He could have saved himself the problem and thrown his mentor under the bus, disowned him, and left the church in disgust. That would have silenced the critics. But it wouldn't have addressed the underlying problem of race and race baiting.

Instead, he chose to address it head on. He was not afraid to say that blacks are responsible too. That black fathers need to stick around. And that the old generation needs to give way to the new so that we can all move on with this discussion instead of confining it to the shadows.

He laid blame where blame was due, and everyones feet. He laid the responsibility for future dialog at the feet of us all. And lastly, he showed true character, by standing by a friend he knew was wrong. His own actions and words of over 20 years show he is not like that himself. Indeed, his former retired pastor has only three such controversial sayings in his sermons for the last 30 years, and thats with people pouring through them right now. Three mistakes, three bigotted statements, and the media and the public are willing to lay the most recent one, the one he wasn't there for, at Obama's feet. Thats neither fair nor just. Obama made sure people understood that he wasn't backing down, he still cared about his friend despite the fact that he condemned those words that are so controversial. But he also showed us that the man so many despise now, has done much more good than bad.

Prison ministries, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, rebuilding houses, helping the sick. These are things that this pastor STARTED in his community and things Obama was very hands on in helping. Do we now lay those things at Obama's feet, as something beneficial to him? If his mentors words are his bane, should not his good deeds, which far out weigh his bad, be his salvation?

Obama has shown nothing but the opposite of hate and bigotry these last 20 years. I am not willing to discard him because of the words of someone else, no matter how close. I am not willing to discard the man who has experienced racism against whites AND blacks from FAMILY members like his grand mother. I'm not about to discard the man who understands what its like to live in the poorest of conditions AND attend the most expensive schools. I'm not about to discard the man who understands the Muslims, the Catholic, and the Protestant because he has lived among all three.

He eats with those who are less than reputable. He associates with anyone, even if they are considered bad news. Isn't this the man we have been looking for in a president? He is the great uniter of this country, if only we don't allow ourselves to be blinded by ignorance.

2 comments:

RogerVeritas said...

For am man who puts on an impressive argument for the silliness of creation science you certainly have faith in a man whose essential political foundation began under the mentor ship of an evangelical Christian minister. B. Hussein Obama has no plan other than pull out the e troops and give Ronald Reagan stylized speeches/sermons about how great American can be. If I recall his Minister was a Marine. So was Lee Harvey Oswald. Ultimately BHO has done a superb job convincing you he is qualified. I hope you have really looked at his record...Oh there isn't one. No Foia. Even his BIO was removed from the U of Illinois website. His legislation - not his. His leadership - not his.

He doesn't have any real black marks in his Legislative career because he and his online army have whitewashed the internet.

A gifted speaker maybe. Me? I see a Black Ronald Reagan and we both know what a mistake he was. Looking forward to November BHO has burned his bridges with the backbone of the Democratic party - scorned them - American women.

And you know what they say about a woman scorned. They may forgive but they never forget. Barack Hussein Obama should concede and be a Gentleman and let the lady go first.

There is also the matter of LarrySinclair0926 on wordpress that seems to be simmering. The mainstream media has ignored it but the right wing online media hasn't.

konquererz said...

First, thank you for reading and responding, I appreciate anyone taking the time to read what I write.

That being said, its not hard to see how people really came about disliking Obama when they continually say "hussein". Sure that is his middle name, but you and I both know you focus on it because its "arabic sounding".

You say he has done a good job convincing me he is qualified. But I ask you, what are you looking for as qualifications? Someone with a lifetime of experience working for others in his community and state at a person level? Or someone with the experience in washington who knows how to work with the lobbyists? Is that really the experience you want? The same thing we have had forever?

When this race is over, you will get to see the reason I won't vote for McCain. And if Hillary is the nominee, you will see why she is truly unelectable. If this is the best they have to throw at Obama, then everyone else should be afraid. Both other candidates are up to their neck in corruption, Obama will not be so nice in the general election.

You say nothing of his claim is his. He does have a record, and its a record of working for people, even before politics, in his community. He thinks different than other politicians because he hasn't been there long enough to be so vastly corrupted by washington.

In the end, he has made his policies very clear, if only people will read them. What record do you want? A record like Hillarys? Voting to give Bush power on more than one occasion? McCains record? Which happens to be the opposite of what his positions are now? Looking at the choices, a minute record is much better than the ones sitting up there now.

Thank you for reading and I hope you will return in the future.

KNQ