Axis Mundi X discussion

Yesterday on the radio I heard a soundbite of Barack's speech in response to criticism he's been getting for being attached to Rev. Wright about how he (BO) couldn't distance himself from the rev for those comments anymore than he could distance himself from his white grandmother who'd confessed to having a fear of black men who crossed her on the street. Pretty powerful statement. Then last night at my bookclub meeting a friend asked if any of us had heard the whole speech (no) and went on to say how great it was. This morning the NYT posted a transcript of the speech and now having read the whole thing I agree: it's pretty f'ing awesome.

Here's the link if you're interested:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/...

Damnit, I've been trying to avoid joining this group--I already spend 90% of my day on goodreads as it is. Fuck it, I couldn't NOT respond to this...

Evidently he wrote it himself--no speechwriter, baby. I heard a statistic that not since '68 has any candiate written his/her own speech. Pretty f'ing awesome is right!!!

Did anyone else see this thread's title and think it meant "Body Odor"? Was it just me? It was? Oh. Ok. Forget I mentioned it.

I'm voting for Obama, no doubt about it. I get frustrated when people say "oh, he keeps talking about this pie in the sky future..." When Clinton, in Ohio, attacked Obama for being inspiring she rang the death knell on ever getting my vote. We need inspiration in this country. We need vision. We need Obama.

Oh my god, if the man wasn't my hero before that, now he is. I love that man. I swear to GOD he is OUR ONLY HOPE!!!

That speech was exactly what he needed to stay to reestablish himself as the erudite, honest candidate who is trying to do what he can. And to shut up some people who thought that he was so head in the clouds with his "hope" message that he could never hope to deal with the realities of life in office. He acknowledged historical problems and perspectives, both black and white, and did /not/ denounce a friend despite the incredibly stupid and angry thing that he said. There is such a thing as loyalty, and Obama was able to seperate the words from the man and do it with some delicacy and class.

When in doubt, speak the truth, and that's exactly what Obama did. Truth with all its complexity. He didn't promise to heal it all either. He knows he can't do that. (Bush's speech that he just gave on Iraq continues to spout the same shit from years ago- "Iraq! We need to do it!" over and over again.) He promised to try, which is the sort of attitude we need right now. We need politicians who /want/ to say yes, not ones who want to tell us five thousand reasons it can't be done.

I think that speech is one of the best recent arguements for why Obama can and should handle the job of President of the United States. It will restore my faith that it is possible to elect a good man to be President.

PS: If people are going to get this pissed off about Rev. Wright, then they need to be equally indignant about some of the crazy ass right wing preachers who have endorsed McCain, i.e.: Falwell and others who think that Katrina was caused by the gays.

Good point. Why DON'T people get that indignant???

Kelly- per your PS: Exactly!

Oh, and RA- I always think of body odor when I see those initials. That's why I use them. Those initial musta sucked in grade school when you had to write your initials the front of your gym clothes!

My theory is that if "liberals" got indignant, they would just be dismissed as liberals and nobody would listen to them, and most of the Republican party either a) is too scared of these huge mega church crazy preachers to say anything for fear of being kicked out of the rank and file or b) secretly agrees with them and/or isn't ruling out the possibility that their insane ideas are correct. Because you know, they are Men of God.

Bull fucking shit. I am so tired of that crap. Obama had to go on national TV and explain himself about his Man of God, and McCain doesn't? He gets to actively move to his right and welcome the support of these guys? The only guy he denounced was the one who kept saying "Barack Hussein Obama," at his speech. He /wants/ the rest of them. What does that say about his judgement lately? Someone should do a story on how power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is all I'm saying. War hero and all the good things he's done aside (and I don't totally discount them)... the man has wanted to be president for a long time, and he's done some pretty despicable things that clearly go against his own beliefs to get there. And if ambition makes him sing kumbaya with Falwell and nod his head eagerly next to Bush while he tapdances at the white house and pretends to like the guy... what does that say about the man's vaunted "character?"

Anthony...*sigh* I did too...*hangs head in shame*

(Tracy, I've decided I like your stars best!:)

It was, without a doubt, the best speech I've ever heard a politician make in my adulthood. After a week of mealy-mouthed mea culpas from governors making their wives stand behind them while they confess their peckerdillos with hookers, it was amazing to hear someone in such a heated campaign speak so directly, honestly, and complexly. I'd been waiting for some substance from the Obaminator, and he won me over. My only worry is that the speech was so direct, honest, and complex it lost him the presidency. Because we only seem to elect mealymouths.

I think it scored him the dems nomination. If he wants to beat out McCain, he's gonna have to continue this kind of oratory for the next 8 months. If this is his peak, he's through...

Jon Stewart still put it best last night, I think:
"And so, at 11'oclock on a Tuesday morning, a Presidential candidate actually spoke to Americans about race as though we were adults."

i feel your frustration, kelly, but you gotta consider why, say, Richard Nixon was able to open China and why Bill Clinton was able to indiscriminately rain bombs on yugoslavia with very little criticism. (actually, for those who remember, mccain was one of the few voices who urged boots on the ground over there so as to lower civilian casualties due to bombs)... had nixon been a democrat, he'd be branded as 'soft on communism'; had clinton been a republican he'd be seen as a warmongering bomb-dropper.

there are double standards. yes. this is a surprise?

and, yes, mccain let people down with falwell, but let's get serious: mccain needed to send a coded message that he wasn't the enemy. it's the guy's last shot. had he not compromised on meaningless shit like that (i'm surprised you didn't mention him caving on the torture issue; now that's truly egregious), the nomination might've gone to a bozo like romney or giuliani... rather than continue, and, as we're on a reading site, i recommend any and all check out david foster wallace's essay on mccain.

I was already on the Obama bandwagon because it's been soooo lonnng since I was inspired by ANY public figure. He is an amazing speaker, visionary, leader. I am so happy to hear he wrote that speech himself because it was perfect.

You know, Shelly, I had never thought about Obama's initials before. If Obama were to give a speech about what it was like to have the initials of "Body Odor" growing up...now that's a speech I want to hear.

oh, i'm with you on obama, donald. everything's in such shitshape right now, we need someone to shake it up. politics is just funny in that it turns everyone you are not voting for into such an interminable asshole. too easy, y'know? neither mccain nor obama (although they both are about to be) deserve to be slimed by the other party's slime machine.

yeah, Donald, i agree. that speech was that monumental. i was never on the Obama bandwagon, didn't vote for him in the primary. i was one of those who got irritated when people who were swept up in Obamamania would cite his eloquence as a main reason for their hysteria. "ok, he's a great speaker...AND?" but this speech wasn't just about flowery words and moving images ("I'm here because of Ashley"--holy shit! i ain't gonna lie, i cried when i read that. i cried a couple of times), it was about the content. "finally!" i thought. a real-deal candidate who isn't fringe, who actually has a shot here, with the sac to say what needs to be said. he's made a believer outta me.

and so then i'm feeling all warm and fuzzy on the internets "looking for a job" (ahem) with the TV on in the background when what should happen but those crows on The View start cackling about Obama's speech and think "hmmm. how can we turn this positive thing into a negative? how can we heat up this topic? i know, we'll have the republican one compare the reverand's comments to Don Imus's and talk about how Barack really should distance himself from this guy and not justify his relationship with him. after all, 'at least Don Imus quit'" ugh!
yes, yes, everyone--let's not have one single second of togetherness here. let's not discuss the issues BO's speech raises in a thoughtful manner. let's get right back down in the muck and mire and focus on the things that separate us!

assholes.

This is a great thread. Thanks to all of you...
J.

I am so sick and tired of the media making a big deal about Rev. Wright's comments. Yes, his comments were terrible. Obama's already denounced the comments and explained why he didn't denounce the pastor. Let. It. Go. It would be different if OBAMA said those things but he didn't.

The problem is, we Republicans know how popular Obama is and some of our more annoying fellows are trying to destroy that popularity. Instead it just makes Republicans look like assholes.

The funniest part is watching clips of Bill O'Really and Sean Inanity each claim they broke the Rev. Wright story and then bash the other for taking undue credit for bringing it to public attention. I mean, geesh, guys, it's not always about you...

An impressive speech it sure was. Too bad that a man as bright and energizing as he is going to be bad for the country if elected. A program of national health care is going to not only break the U.S. budget (like military spending collapsed the Soviets) but will provide crippling taxes and substandard service. Research single payer health care systems.

Or take a holiday in Britain and admire our National Health Service which a) doesn't cripple us with its tax burden while b) is really free at the point of delivery yet c) has, of course, its problems given medicine's propensity for inventing expensive new cures, still d) try to find ONE SINGLE British person who thinks it should be scrapped. That would take you a lonnnnng time. We love our NHS. We complain about it all the time but we love it so much even our rightwing party will defend it to the death.
Prediction (not so difficult, this has happened so many times in the past) - Obama brings in his national health care program, many Americans predict the End of Civilisation As We Know It, there is a feeling of mild panic everywhere and you can't turn on a tv without seeing doctors grappling on the floor of a talk show while the host looks on in horror. Five years later, with Obama beginning his second term, Americans look round at each other and say well.... this isn't so bad, you know. I thought it was going to be, I dunno, really awful. But this is okay, it seems to work, kind of... Five years after that all Americans under 40 are saying wow, remember when those crazy farts thought there was something wrong with a national heathcare program? What was that all about?