[Timmy Mac]

The man was off his oratory game in the first section of his speech this morning. It was fairly clear that he dispised having to discuss and discount Jeremiah Wright's comments again. But he turned it up in time to get his message across. Pretty brilliant to blame his comments on the "not yet perfect" racial culture, and paint that culture as the enemy that we all have to fight today. Obama's campaign has always been about organizing the people against a generally defined cultural or political evil, (a vote for Obama becomes a meaningful strike against these evils) and this fits the bill.

He went on to explain both white and black standpoints and how they spawn "resentments", and finished out by reaffirming his faith as a motivator to fix these issues, and claiming that Wright's problem was that he didn't see the potential for change.. aka the audacity of hope.

I think this should put the Wright issue away for most, especially because the media won't be playing his sermons after this speech, nor can Hillary argue against his message. Anyone who's still stuck on this doesn't want to vote for Obama anyway.

Well?

[Zyx]

Timmy Mac, could you cite whatever you are typing on?

I had engaged in my spring vacation and so have not kept up with recent events, much less cared about Obama in the last 4 years.

What speech?

[Meistro1]

It was just on CNN.

[peter_co]

I think this should put the Wright issue away for most, especially because the media won't be playing his sermons after this speech, nor can Hillary argue against his message. Anyone who's still stuck on this doesn't want to vote for Obama anyway.

Ha, yea, that seems to be his most fervent dream. It's as though he tries to label the media as race baiters so they wouldn't play Wright's tape again. Well, tough luck. I think it's only fair to analyze Wrigth's message as well as Obama's response to it. Obama admitted to listening to many of his pastor's controversial speeches, and the media shouldn't let him get away with saying that there is still racism out there and blacks have a different perspective. Saying that the government invented HIV in order to destroy the Black population is lunacy, not a valid alternative perspective. Fortunately, there's no way the media will let this go, and this issue will be discussed in detail, clips and all.

[Timmy Mac]

Today, March 18, Obama just gave this speech minutes ago on live TV.

[Zyx]

What ev . . . is there a summary, I hate listening to Obama . . . he just rambles on as though he were actually saying something. [stupid troll responds inserts remark here.]

My money is that he does not even get the candidacy for the Democrats, and my laughter is to his supporters who were wooed.

[peter_co]

What ev . . . is there a summary, I hate listening to Obama . . . he just rambles on as though he were actually saying something.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much what this was again. I'll try to give a quick walk through. The founding Fathers had great principles, only the sin of Slavery stained the Constitution. Ever since then Blacks were oppressed through slavery, Jim Crow laws, and continuing racism. Race is a divisive issue and many have gone to far such as Wright or Feraro (wink wink). But Wright is family and even though Obama listened to some of his more radical speeches he didn't want to abandon him. This shows that African Americans have a different perspective, which is also valid and should not just be dismissed as the ideas of "cranks." Btw, my grandmother was also kinda racist, and she was white, so it goes both ways. We need to unite and have hope, not to be divisive, but unite and have hope and unite and have hope that we can unite even though some are divisive we can unite. A white girl supporting Obama only ate mustard sandwhiches and an old Black Man supports Obama because of her. The future of the country is based on such white girls and old black men. God Bless America. Weeeeeeee!

[Zyx]

Oh, thanks for saving me the, let me guess, hour?

Gargh, Obama eliminating race is like Bill Gates eliminating Capitalism; gargh that guy has audacity! Hope? No, but audacity? Yup!

[Kylie]

Here's a link to the topic of the OP.

[Lightman]

Obama does not know how to argue defensively. He can make a point, sure, but when he's in a pickle, all his masterful speech goes away and he rambles on unconfidently. He has no idea of damage control, rather making things worse with his rebuttles.

[Takkon]

Here is the full speech.

I suggest you read it. Summary articles usually suck IMO.

[Athanas]

Important highlights of Obama's recent speech:

"For the men and women of Rev. Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years.

That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Rev. Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning.

That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change.

But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races."

Regardless of what detractors say Obama does have direction and relates to many viewpoints and groups. He has the potential to speak across the divide and unite people on the issues we all agree on while helping to bridge the gap with those we cant reconcile. He may speak a lot about hope and potential empty promises but all of his issues are discussed and are accessible via his website. It is carictature to exaggerrate his optimistic appearance as vacuous or nonsubstantial. I could say the same of McCain on human rights and social freedoms, he is unaware of LGBT groups and neglects to even discuss them.

Will Obama be better than McCain or Clinton is hard to say, I have serious doubts about the direction of the country and the partisan nature of government when coupled with gross corporate greed and infringed civil rights. However Obama is one candidate I have liked to listen to and one of the few politicians who attempts to relate to the people; at the very least his speeches are relevant, moving, and charismatic.

It may be wrong to prefer Obama based on being a minority or being different but after so many years of the same old white house stereotype, it would be nice to have diversity. The major reason I do not like the GOP is its indulgent selfrighteousness which leads to hypocrisy and its exclusiveness and arrogance. Not to say that I dont agree with some of the platforms of republicans but I could never follow one party thoroughly, especially one that is spoiled to the point of believing the executive branch is their right.

[PredatorOC]

I tried listening to the speech, but found it quite unremarkable. I've read descriptions of people crying while listening to the speech, which dumbfounds me to no end. Obama isn't a particularly good speaker: he seems to appeal to emotionalism in every speech (at least those few I've heard). But it will be interesting to see if he will change to a more policy-centric mode when the primary is over, or whether he will try to get the presidency through ambiguity.

[PBVBROOK]

Obama screwed the pooch with this speech. He should have repudiated the man and acknowledged that he was a racist. He tried to have it both ways.
He has lost tons of white male votes on this issue and will loose more before the election.

This is an example of his inexperience. If Obama doesn't get better at problem solving than this McCain will have him for lunch.

Obama wants to run away from the race issue. How can I not view him as a racist if he makes excuses for racism. Will he do this when he is president? There are a lot of white folks (like it or not) who are asking this question right now. Obama may loose the election over this issue.

[Maxim Litvinov]

Surprise surprise - people who don't support Obama don't support the speech :/

And it's 'lose the election', not 'loose'.

[PredatorOC]

He has lost tons of white male votes on this issue

I thought that as well. I could be wrong, since I'm not an American and don't know how Americans will react. But the 'sin of slavery' part could come back to haunt him. I suspect it has worked to his advantage not to acknowledge the race issue, since it will divide people.

Also, Obama talking about slavery is quite odd, considering that his ancestors had nothing to do with slavery in the US. But I guess that is how collectivist ideas function: if you are black, you must have some ancestral connection to slavery.

Surprise surprise - people who don't support Obama don't support the speech

Well you have to consider why people don't like Obama. I personally have usually preferred Democratic candidates to Republican ones. Mainly because it makes the likelihood of nukes flying over my head a bit less likely. With Obama, I don't really know what the hell his plan is. I know he is planning to send more troops to Afghanistan, which is extremely discouraging. Not that any of the other media-supported candidates favor a sane foreign policy, but I would certainly expect more from someone who is receiving so much love from anti-war people.

[Athanas]

Obama screwed the pooch with this speech. He should have repudiated the man and acknowledged that he was a racist. He tried to have it both ways.
He has lost tons of white male votes on this issue and will loose more before the election.

This is an example of his inexperience. If Obama doesn't get better at problem solving than this McCain will have him for lunch.

Obama wants to run away from the race issue. How can I not view him as a racist if he makes excuses for racism. Will he do this when he is president? There are a lot of white folks (like it or not) who are asking this question right now. Obama may loose the election over this issue.

Obama did denounce the man but said he could not completely dissociate himself from someone he cared about. I see no problem with this, I have much greater ire towards televangelists who blame natural disasters on lifestyle choices of minorities and those that wish to influence government.

I am a white male, so he has not yet lost my vote though I see little differences between him and McCain other than McCain is totally ignorant to powerful civil rights groups like LGBT. Which is very telling about the Republican party and McCain, a president should not be so distanced from the people.

I see nothing wrong with discussing slavery and America's grevious ills throughout history but Im not sensitive about the topic. Obviously Wright shouldnt go about denouncing whites but like Obama mentioned there is a lot of bitter feelings left over from segregation and we should concentrate on how everyone feels rather than denounce them outright.

Also you are being highly unfair every politician has done the same thing as Obama. They minimize faults and scandals rather than discuss them honestly. What would you have done speak out against the man with equally hateful words? Showing compassion isnt a weakness, you can criticize peoples actions/thoughts without chastizing them thoroughly.

[Nets]

Surprise surprise - people who don't support Obama don't support the speech :/

Basically that is what it comes down to. People who liked Obama before the Wight thing still like him and defend him (and Wight), and people that disliked him (including myself) are seizing on the opportunity to attack him, nothing interesting here, the speech changed little.

The question is whether or not the speech was effective in convincing the borderline cases between him and Clinton, Reagan democrats and the like.

[Dr House]

Well, I'm a Reagan democrat and I'm not gonna vote for him.

McCain's positions and policy seem as effective and as liberal as his or Hillary's, but they cost less. His focus is on cutting the fat rather than the Social Democrat standby that the other two seem to subscribe to of throwing my money at the problems and hoping they go away.

[Athanas]

Dr. House would you care to provide links to these comparisons?

Any and all information about the candidates allows for better informed choices come election time.

Voting for McCain will depend on who he appoints for his vice presidency, if its some neocon I will have serious doubts.

I have problems with his contradictory view on water boarding but I suppose he doesnt want the option completely ruled out in case of emergencies. I am very grateful that he does not cater to the Christian Right. What about his view on foreign affairs, isnt he another Dubya in this regard? Or is this issue moot because we could not afford to enter new conflicts anyway?