I was trying to think of an appropriate title for Obama's lecture-turned-political-campaign-speech that he just delivered in Philadelphia. His speech on "race relations" in America placed blame for the "Rev." Wright's hate speech on everything, and everyone, except where it truly belonged...upon "Rev." Wright.
I found myself walking around my home, doing some chores, directly after the speech ended. I shook my head in disbelief about some of the things that Obama said.
I feel very disheartened for the fact that he turned what I thought was going to be a repentant type speech into a lecture that pits "the haves" against the "have nots."
What about those who were "have nots" growing up and worked their tails off in order to be one of the "haves"?
What's more, what about the fact that many "haves" donate to charities, churches, children's funds etc. both here and across the world to help many of the "have nots"?
The way that Obama was speaking made it appear that rich (insert your color of skin) folks in America don't do ANYTHING in order to follow Jesus' admonition to "DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU."
The reason all of that was left out? Because he most likely wanted to paint just half of the picture of America that some perceive and embrace as factual and true. Did you notice that it was a half-baked picture designed to only boost his now fledgling presidential campaign after his disastrously racist "Rev." spewed some of the worst hate speech that I have ever heard spoken from a pulpit of a church in my ENTIRE LIFE!
I did learn a lot, however. I learned that those who would put on a friendly face in front of you might be raging against you in their barber shops, beauty shops, at the kitchen table, and even in their (insert your color of choice) churches!
There is so much more I could say, but I hope that my readers here will weigh in on the speech.
I purposely did not visit any websites (except to find the transcript of the speech), blogs, message boards, or other news sources so that my first impressions would not be influenced by others' opinions.
Don't get me wrong. There were some good points made by Obama in his speech. However, there were some points that absolutely failed, IMHO, as well as some comments like the following one that didn't belong in the speech:
...or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
For a speaker claiming to want to end the divisiveness caused by his rabid pastor's horrible comments, THAT most certainly didn't belong in the speech.
I'm just sitting here, shaking my head in disbelief, and appalled by some of what Obama included in his speech. I'm appalled at his audacity to lecture us on divisiveness - a trait that his pastor of 20 years has unequivocably and rabidly owned for all those years!
I heard that Obama wrote the entire thing himself...maybe he should go back to his speech writers.
Be back later.
Hat Tip: Fox News
*******
Some of the best links covering this story:
Michele Malkin
Right Wing Nuthouse - Obama's Speech a Call for a Victimhood Coalition
Hot Air
Scrappleface: Obama: Racial Unity Can Overcome Capitalism
Flopping Aces: The Obama Excuses - With Some Class Warfare Thrown In
[Note: Many additional links listed at end of article.]
Ronald Kessler: Obama's Stand on Rev. Wright Clear
Mr Kessler writes:
"Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views?” Obama asked. “Absolutely — just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.”
In making that remark, Obama maligned the vast majority of clergymen who would never utter the kind of anti-American hatred that Wright spews forth on a regular basis.
My thoughts too! Exactly!!
YID with LID
Excerpt:
2008/03/18
Obama's Desperation-HOW DO YOU THROW GRANDMA UNDER THE BUS?
Senator Obama's speech today was just what I thought it would be, eloquent, heart-felt, appealing to most liberal of voters and the biggest, most cynical crock of crap-ola since Bill Clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman. He blamed everyone and everything but himself for the controversy. Lets look at the worst of the worst.
Blame the Media:
I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
Folks this "endless loop of videos" he was talking about were being SOLD by Trinity United Church of Christ. It wasn't someone with a spycam, this is what the church sold to others. Its what the church WANTED people to know what it was about. [Note from Christine: Excellent point!!!]
He Voted Against it before he voted for it:
Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes.
Wait a second, didn't he say the other day that was NOT present for any of Wright's hate speech? Which is it? You know this "change agent" is beginning to sound awfully like a traditional politician.
Go here and read it all.
My comment (awaiting moderation) there:
Excellent point that the videos were being SOLD BY THE CHURCH!!
Good points about his not-so-hidden message of blaming God and blaming (as well as embarrassing) his own Grandma!
Sheesh!!
I'm so appalled that he has gotten this far in the Dem nomination campaign. My husband mentioned that maybe this firestorm of a controversy was a gift from God so that people will be shaken from their Kool-Aid drinking mesmerization with this would-be-messiah-imposter Tower of Babble.
Posts
14 comments:
I, like much of America, listened to Obama's speech this morning. It was truly inspiring. I think this "controversy" is going to be very short lived. He's already bounced back in the last two days and may actually get a bounce up from where he was last week due to this speech. It is pretty clear Americans want Obama. He is going to sail through the general election.
Go OBAMA!!!
American Thinker: Obama's Race Speech: The Gaping Holes has some excellent points about the one-sided responsibility presented in Obama's speech.
FYI - Updates included on original blog post:
Some of the best links covering this story:
Michele Malkin
Right Wing Nuthouse - Obama's Speech a Call for a Victimhood Coalition
Hot Air
Scrappleface: Obama: Racial Unity Can Overcome Capitalism
Flopping Aces: The Obama Excuses - With Some Class Warfare Thrown In
[Note: Many additional links listed at end of above article.]
Ronald Kessler: Obama's Stand on Rev. Wright Clear
Mr Kessler writes:
Quote
"Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views?” Obama asked. “Absolutely — just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.”
In making that remark, Obama maligned the vast majority of clergymen who would never utter the kind of anti-American hatred that Wright spews forth on a regular basis. /unquote
My thoughts too! Exactly!!
YID with LID
Excerpt:
2008/03/18
Obama's Desperation-HOW DO YOU THROW GRANDMA UNDER THE BUS?
Senator Obama's speech today was just what I thought it would be, eloquent, heart-felt, appealing to most liberal of voters and the biggest, most cynical crock of crap-ola since Bill Clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman. He blamed everyone and everything but himself for the controversy. Lets look at the worst of the worst.
Blame the Media:
I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
Folks this "endless loop of videos" he was talking about were being SOLD by Trinity United Church of Christ. It wasn't someone with a spycam, this is what the church sold to others. Its what the church WANTED people to know what it was about. [Note from Christine: Excellent point!!!]
He Voted Against it before he voted for it:
Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes.
Wait a second, didn't he say the other day that was NOT present for any of Wright's hate speech? Which is it? You know this "change agent" is beginning to sound awfully like a traditional politician.
Go here and read it all.
My comment (awaiting moderation) there:
Excellent point that the videos were being SOLD BY THE CHURCH!!
Good points about his not-so-hidden message of blaming God and blaming (as well as embarrassing) his own Grandma!
Sheesh!!
I'm so appalled that he has gotten this far in the Dem nomination campaign.
My husband mentioned that maybe this firestorm of a controversy was a gift from God so that people will be shaken from their Kool-Aid drinking mesmerization with this would-be-messiah-imposter Tower of Babble.
"In making that remark, Obama maligned the vast majority of clergymen who would never utter the kind of anti-American hatred that Wright spews forth on a regular basis. /unquote"
Really?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html
The Speech That Revealed So Much
Excerpt:
It was touted as a "major" speech. Facing criticism over anti-American hate speech from his pastor of twenty years, Barack Obama was forced to the podium to address the comments of Jeremiah Wright. Obama has built his campaign around a message of "coming together" and "moving beyond race." However, his speech did nothing to show that he, the candidate of change, has done any moving at all. In fact, despite specific words in which he denounced some of Wright's comments, the overall message of his speech was that Wright's comments were OK and that we just need to "understand" why he made them. Sorry Barack... you had your chance to move "beyond race," and you blew it.
Obama then said, "In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community." He goes on to give examples, but this is where his failure is complete. Yes, each racial culture in America has members who are angry, who feel cheated by "the man." And in the segments of angry people arise leaders to fan the flames of anger. However, those extremist leaders are denouncing by mainstream America, not embraced. Political leaders do not flock to side of David Duke, but rather they denounce his words and actions, and they separate themselves from everything Duke stands for.
What did Obama do regarding Wright? Well, Obama "can no more disown him" than he can "disown the black community." Wright may have grown up during racially charged times in America, but he is speaking to impressionable youngsters of the present. His words do nothing more than promote racial division.
Yep....Obama's failure is complete. The nation now sees how utterly unacceptable this man would be for the position of president. Frankly, I don't think he deserves to remain as a Senator, either.
Trent Lott was expelled from a top senate position for words that were far less offensive towards the black community than Wright's rabidly hateful sermons. Lott was only trying to make an old man, Strom Thurmond (at his 100th birthday celebration - who now is deceased) feel better about his unsuccessful run for the presidency back in 1948.
Lott said: "When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either."
Thurmond had based his presidential campaign largely on an explicit racial segregation platform.
Guilt by association? Of course!
But Barack Hussein Obama should get a pass for his 20 year association with a rabid hater like Wright? What is wrong with this picture?
As more and more articles come out about Obama, his pastor of 20 years, and what Obama said (AND DIDN'T SAY...WHICH HE SHOULD HAVE!) in his speech, the more the general public will realize he is not who he tries to give the impression he is at his campaign speeches.
I wonder how many people who voted for him in the primaries across our nation would love to take their vote back?
Another great article:
Pastor to the President?
I found it very interesting that Mike Huckabee is now coming out in defense of Obama and these attacks on his former pastor:
"HUCKABEE: [Obama] made the point, and I think it's a valid one, that you can't hold the candidate responsible for everything that people around him may say or do. You just can't. Whether it's me, whether it's Obama...anybody else. But he did distance himself from the very vitriolic statements.
Now, the second story. It's interesting to me that there are some people on the left who are having to be very uncomfortable with what Louis Wright said, when they all were all over a Jerry Falwell, or anyone on the right who said things that they found very awkward and uncomfortable years ago. Many times those were statements lifted out of the context of a larger sermon. Sermons, after all, are rarely written word for word by pastors like Reverend Wright, who are delivering them extemporaneously, and caught up in the emotion of the moment. There are things that sometimes get said, that if you put them on paper and looked at them in print, you'd say "Well, I didn't mean to say it quite like that."
JOE SCARBOROUGH: But, but, you never came close to saying five days after September 11th, that America deserved what it got. Or that the American government invented AIDS...
HUCKABEE: Not defending his statements.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Oh, I know you're not. I know you're not. I'm just wondering though, for a lot of people...Would you not guess that there are a lot of Independent voters in Arkansas that vote for Democrats sometimes, and vote for Republicans sometimes, that are sitting here wondering how Barack Obama's spiritual mentor would call the United States the USKKK?
HUCKABEE: I mean, those were outrageous statements, and nobody can defend the content of them.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: But what's the impact on voters in Arkansas? Swing voters.
HUCKABEE: I don't think we know. If this were October, I think it would have a dramatic impact. But it's not October. It's March. And I don't believe that by the time we get to October, this is gonna be the defining issue of the campaign, and the reason that people vote.
And one other thing I think we've gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say "That's a terrible statement!"...I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only Conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told "you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus..." And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.
MIKA: I agree with that. I really do.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: It's the Atticus Finch line about walking a mile in somebody else's shoes. I remember when Ronald Reagan got shot in 1981. There were some black students in my school that started applauding and said they hoped that he died. And you just sat there and of course you were angry at first, and then you walked out and started scratching your head going "boy, there is some deep resentment there.""
christine, i bet you have a daily blog-to-bash-obama (hey - that's got rhythm...) written even before he says anything these days. i can just see you sitting at your laptop - "Say something! Say something!" - and the minute his mouth opens you hit "Publish" and all the angels in heaven - or at least the ones that can fit on the head of a pin - start singing.
i think we need to talk about race. i think we need to admit that all the diversity training we had is good, but things don't change overnight - for anyone. but we all need to stop pointing fingers; instead, we should start raising hands and saying, "what can i do?".
racism works both ways. at some point we have to get past "what you did to me" and move on to "let's see what we can do - together."
but it is remarkable how different most black and white churches are. and how neither side really knows what the other is doing at 11am on Sunday morning - the most segregated hour in America.
mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com
Mike,
For me, personally, the color of Obama's skin has NOTHING to do with why I would not vote for him! It is his liberal left POLICIES that prevent me from ever doing so.
Have you been following all of my posts about him? If so, then you would know my number 1 reason for not ever being able to vote for him is...he is pro-abortion (he even lobbied against, and rejected, the Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2000. Do you know what that is about? If not, google it.)
I am staunchly pro-life. I cannot, with good concience EVER VOTE FOR A PRO-DEATH-TO-BABIES-IN-THE-WOMB CANDIDATE!! I don't care if they are black, white, brown yellow, handsome, young, old....you name it.
This is why, when Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for Gov. here in CA, I voted for Tom McClintock. He didn't have a chance to win, but he was pro-life.
Mike, you obviously know so little about me. In another thread, I went into detail about the fact that I ATTEND A MIXED RACE CHURCH AND THE PASTOR HAPPENS TO BE BLACK!
You are correct. I have never been to a "black" church that preaches "black liberation theology." Apparently, many other white people like me had NO IDEA what goes on in such churches. More than anything else, I am deeply saddened by what I have learned.
A woman called into the Sean Hannity radio show yesterday. She is a democrat who was determined to vote for Obama until she heard the hate speech that Obama's preacher spews in his church. She, like me, never even knew about the rage against white people that is happening in such churches. Being a liberal, she admitted being sheepish about calling Sean's show...you know...the enemy "republican" territory. Sean was very gracious towards her for her courage in calling. He even told the audience that he was sending her a lobster dinner gram.
Wasn't it Martin Luther King who advocated for peaceful protest against injustice based on race? Didn't he say that someday, he hope that, (paraphrased) 'people would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character?'
However, there were the Malcolm X types that raged against the establishment (which meant "whitie") and wanted to do harm and damage to get their
point(s) across.
Mike, can you show me a white church that rails against blacks? To be honest, I don't know if they exist in the U.S. either. Maybe they do? If so, THAT WOULD CHILL ME TO THE BONE ALSO!
Churches (of any color, creed, locale, religion, etc.) where ANY PREACHER PREACHES HATE against people is NOT GENUINELY CHRISTIAN...in my view.
Indeed, God hates sin - not the sinner. The job of the church is to show the way towards repentance for sin (have you read my new post??) and preach the gospel of Christ. Mixing political (and obviously resentment filled hatred) in with the gospel and biblical instruction (like Wright did in his church) is sinful!! That's all there is to it!
It also happens to be against the law. Churches and their pastors aren't supposed to side with any political candidate in front of their congregation. They can preach for particular POLICIES, but not mention the name of a particular candidate so as to influence their members to vote for them. So, that's the second problem with this Obama/Wright fiasco.
I agree with you that we need to talk about race. But "white people" have to walk on egg shells when doing so otherwise we are labeled as "racist."
In fact, your accusations towards me in your comment is a case in point.
i read and re-read my comment and for the life of me i cannot see what prompted your response. i never said you were against obama because he was black - i didn't think color even came into play in your thinking. (until now.) i just commented how you seem to be bashing him every day. which you do.
and your last sentence - "your accusations towards me" - the only thing i accused you of was sitting at your computer ready to publish a post! i didn't side with one camp or the other - i simply said that race is an issue to talk about. as a white male, i get irritated at getting blamed for everything when all i'm doing is putting one foot in front of the other trying to support a family. and i believe the black hip-hop culture is leading african-americans down a steep slope to more poverty and less education. that's my view - i don't have a problem saying it. just the same, i have never lived in the 9th ward in new orleans, so i have to hear their side if i want them to hear mine.
man, everybody is so touchy these days. the world would be a whole lot better if everybody was on my pharmaceuticals...
mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com
Michael Reagan nails the flaws in Obama's speech:
It's Not Compassion -- It's Wright-Wing Racism
Excerpts:
What people expected:
The speech was meant to be an explanation and expiation of his guilt for his years of remaining mute in the face of the outrageous anti-Americanism spewed by his pastor and bosom buddy, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
What people got:
What was not expected was Barack H. Obama's use of a litany of America's past racist offenses to justify not only Wright's blatant hatred of white America but his suggestion that it was a sentiment shared by most African Americans. And that is simply not true.
Nor was it true, as Obama charged, that the Reagan coalition was created out of white resentment for affirmative action or forced busing.
He charged that "anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime... talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism."
Poppycock! These are not only outright falsehoods, but echoes of what Obama learned at the feet of Jeremiah Wright and now preaches as his own beliefs. He learned his lessons well.
When he suggested that my father's coalition was based on anger over affirmative action and welfare he was peddling a blatant falsehood as egregious in its falsity as Wright's charge that whites created AIDS to wipe out the black population.
Everything Obama said was directed at suggesting that while Rev. Wright should not have used such inflammatory language, he was somehow justified because of America's white racism.
Try as he might, Barack Obama cannot claim the innocence of a lamb in his long years of worshipful association with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. He was either fully aware of the seething racial hatred that motivated Wright, or something of a blithering idiot who can't spot a racist hater when he spends years genuflecting at his feet.
What this reveals about Obama:
Barack Obama is not an idiot. He is a brilliant orator who exudes charm and arouses near-worship from his host of giddy, hypnotized supporters. He is also a committed socialist and a talented salesman for his brand of Marxist snake oil.
Beware of camels bearing gifts, and politicians promising utopia.
I thank God that many people in this nation have finally been broken of the hypnotic "Obama-messiah" spell that they were formerly under and now see that they don't want his type of Obamanation as our next Commander in Chief!
"Obamanation".
that's good! did you come up with that? i like it. has hillary been using it? you should send it to johnny mac (mccain, not macarthur).
"Obama-messiah".
that should really just be "Obamessiah", right? er, uh - wright? :)
There is an ironic story behind the term "Obamanation."
Apparently, it was started by Obama supporters. Then, it was changed to "Obamination" by detractors.
There is a website that sells bumper stickers, website banners etc. for BOTH SIDES! Now THERE'S a business that knows how to get a bang for a buck!
"Obamessiah"....heh heh...wrigghhttt....
I heard today that Obama's (now crushed under the tires of his bus) White Grandmother, according to one of Obama's own books, was once "Aggresively Panhandled" by a black man, and expressed fear of him, not all black men generally... funny how he spun that, wasn't it?
Funny too how he tried to equate what were, at thier worst, ignorant attitudes from his Grandmother, with the out and out hatred spewed by Wright.
As to the point of needing to talk about race, I disagree... it seems to be all some people have been able to talk about for years. I think we need to STOP talking about it for a little while, let everybody take a deep breath, settle down, and then maybe we can have a meaningful conversation, and move toward that color-blind America that most of us long for in any event.
As to Obama's speech being placed on a level with, or even above, Honest Abe or MLK Jr... what a bunch of post-digestion cattle feed!
Obamanation indeed!
God Bless,
Matt W.
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