"i got this" - Kenny Wyland
This isn't where I thought I was going to be when I looked forward into my life, but here I am....
Yes We Can
Read/Post Comments (7)
Damn, dude.... Obama is AWESOME
Again and again I am impressed with Barack Obama. As Jon Stewart put it, he's speaking to the American public as if we are adults. It's SO true. He says things that politicians aren't supposed to be able to say, but he does so with such sincerity and intelligence... dammit, it just makes me so happy. I have been waiting for a politician like Obama for so long. I want him to be the President. Please let him be the President!
Starting from the beginning...
The speech I'll be talking about below was brought on because the Pastor at Barack Obama's church said some edgy/offensive/angry/truthful/wacky/etc things in his sermons. While I don't personally like linking videos of O'Reilly Factor, this link on YouTube seems to contain many of the clips of Reverend Wright that are all over the news:
People are talking shit about the Reverend and about Obama. They condemn Obama for being a member of the church where Reverend Wright preaches. Clearly, Wright is saying some incredibly racially charged things. Obama publicly disagreed and condemned the things that Wright said, but didn't damn the man. He spoke intelligently about it and finally... a politician spoke to America as if we are an intelligent group of people who can understand a complex issue.
Transcript of Barack Obama's Speech on Race
It is a very long speech (about 40 minutes), but it is a beautiful and honest one. You can also watch it:
So often racial issues are flattened into a simple us vs. them situation, but Obama talks about the truthful complexities. Yes, we have finally passed laws to provide equality to everyone, but the truth is that many of these people lived through those times of segregation and they still harbor the pain of it. Even after the laws that were passed the discrimination continued in a direct or even subconscious fashion and that continued to foster anger and bitterness. He talks about how we may not like to talk about it publicly, but it does get talked about... and that perhaps we could fix these problems if we were able to honestly talk about these racial divides and fix them. On a side note, this exact thing is why I love Dave Chapelle's humor, because he addresses the racial divides and tries to close them by breaking the taboo.
He also talks about the other side of the coin, about white people who haven't actually been provided any advantages for being white who feel resentment because they are being punished for the acts of people who came before them. I certainly know that I was pissed when trying to find money for college that it was really hard to find scholarships and grants as a straight white man. I resented it... and he talks about it openly and honestly. He talks about white immigrants who have to scrape and claw there way into making a living who feel resentment because Affirmative Action gives a black person an advantage in getting a job even though neither they nor their ancestors took part in the Enslavement of blacks.
He spends a good deal of time talking about Reverend Wright as well. He talks about how it would probably be the politically safe thing to keep his head down and hope this all blows over.. but he steps up and smacks down the 2-dimensional stereotype of Reverend Wright. Politicians and other figures in the media get smashed down into a short enough description that it can be repeated 100 times, but that "talking point" version of the person in question isn't an honest portrayal. He talks about how Wright is imperfect, that he can be many good and wonderful things while still making mistakes. He manages to speak wonderful words of support and calls him "family" while at the same time expressing his disagreement with Wright's words.
A choice segment...
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
It's pretty late and I'm having trouble determining if I'm just babbling or if I'm making sense, so I'm going to wrap it up.
Please read or watch this speech. Please see the honesty he presents. Remember how many times in your life that you have been disgusted by the dishonesty and insincerity of politicians... and when the time comes please vote for Barack Obama for President.
Starting from the beginning...
The speech I'll be talking about below was brought on because the Pastor at Barack Obama's church said some edgy/offensive/angry/truthful/wacky/etc things in his sermons. While I don't personally like linking videos of O'Reilly Factor, this link on YouTube seems to contain many of the clips of Reverend Wright that are all over the news:
People are talking shit about the Reverend and about Obama. They condemn Obama for being a member of the church where Reverend Wright preaches. Clearly, Wright is saying some incredibly racially charged things. Obama publicly disagreed and condemned the things that Wright said, but didn't damn the man. He spoke intelligently about it and finally... a politician spoke to America as if we are an intelligent group of people who can understand a complex issue.
Transcript of Barack Obama's Speech on Race
It is a very long speech (about 40 minutes), but it is a beautiful and honest one. You can also watch it:
So often racial issues are flattened into a simple us vs. them situation, but Obama talks about the truthful complexities. Yes, we have finally passed laws to provide equality to everyone, but the truth is that many of these people lived through those times of segregation and they still harbor the pain of it. Even after the laws that were passed the discrimination continued in a direct or even subconscious fashion and that continued to foster anger and bitterness. He talks about how we may not like to talk about it publicly, but it does get talked about... and that perhaps we could fix these problems if we were able to honestly talk about these racial divides and fix them. On a side note, this exact thing is why I love Dave Chapelle's humor, because he addresses the racial divides and tries to close them by breaking the taboo.
He also talks about the other side of the coin, about white people who haven't actually been provided any advantages for being white who feel resentment because they are being punished for the acts of people who came before them. I certainly know that I was pissed when trying to find money for college that it was really hard to find scholarships and grants as a straight white man. I resented it... and he talks about it openly and honestly. He talks about white immigrants who have to scrape and claw there way into making a living who feel resentment because Affirmative Action gives a black person an advantage in getting a job even though neither they nor their ancestors took part in the Enslavement of blacks.
He spends a good deal of time talking about Reverend Wright as well. He talks about how it would probably be the politically safe thing to keep his head down and hope this all blows over.. but he steps up and smacks down the 2-dimensional stereotype of Reverend Wright. Politicians and other figures in the media get smashed down into a short enough description that it can be repeated 100 times, but that "talking point" version of the person in question isn't an honest portrayal. He talks about how Wright is imperfect, that he can be many good and wonderful things while still making mistakes. He manages to speak wonderful words of support and calls him "family" while at the same time expressing his disagreement with Wright's words.
A choice segment...
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
It's pretty late and I'm having trouble determining if I'm just babbling or if I'm making sense, so I'm going to wrap it up.
Please read or watch this speech. Please see the honesty he presents. Remember how many times in your life that you have been disgusted by the dishonesty and insincerity of politicians... and when the time comes please vote for Barack Obama for President.
Read/Post Comments (7)
Previous Entry :: Next Entry
Back to Top
