I though Barack Obama’s speech today on race in America was excellent. I don’t know how many minds it will change; mine didn’t need changing as I just couldn’t get all that upset over things someone’s pastor said -- it seems unreasonable to me to hold one person responsible for those words of another. I also wonder how many people will even hear the speech. Even the Jim Lehrer NewsHour on PBS only showed maybe a 15 second clip. You can see the whole speech on the New York Times web site.
Obama said a lot of wise things in the speech, but I thought he did a particularly good job of identifying the tempest over the Rev. Wright’s inflammatory words for what it is: the latest in an endless string of meaningless distractions that focus the attention of the media and the voting public someplace other than on the important issues of the day.
Regardless of how you plan to vote, and I still don’t plan to vote for Barack, I highly recommend the speech.
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Anyone with an open mind couldn't help but see how bright he is. This guy is a leader. He was given lemons and he promptly make lemonade. At so many turns he could have resorted to a position where he would have taken a stance which would have opened him to attack yet he never put himself into a corner. He related all to the common good. The man is a born quarterback.
It's interesting that the product of a black man from Africa and a white woman from Kansas was able to say things about race that other candidates just wouldn't have had the authority to say. The folks at Second City say he has just the right amount of black in him. One of his great qualities is that he can be perceived as being a part of everyone.
There is no doubt the man can give a speech but a leader? Reagan was a great speaker as well but at least he had been a govenor before becoming president.
What has Obama done?
I think Maureen Dowd was spot-on in covering OB's excellent and important speech -- but the end result is...
"The candidate may have staunched the bleeding, but he did not heal the wounds. His naïve and willful refusal to come to terms earlier with the Rev. Wright’s anti-American, anti-white and pro-Farrakhan sentiments — echoing his naïve and willful refusal to come to terms earlier with the ramifications of his friendship with sleazy fund-raiser Tony Rezko — will not be forgotten because of one unforgettable speech."
This will continue and definitely be the GOP banner if Obama gets the nomination.
I do not think you can hold Obama responsible for his minister's anti-American remarks. What he can be held responsible for is his reactions to the remarks. He should have publicly condemned the remarks as soon as they were uttered and chosen a new church. His attendance at the church may have legitamized the minister's comments in the eyes of the other worshippers. Obama went to this church for 20 years, he had plenty of time to distance himself from this man. I am sure that Rev Wright has made countless speeches that were just as inflammatory and anti-American. To try to say that this is representative of racial problems in the USA is disingenuous. The statements attributed to this minister reflect much more than race problems. They were ignorant, insulting,and insensitive, meant only to inflame his listeners. Many Americans were still trying to forget his wife's remarks. This reflects very poorly on Mr. Obama and I think you are going to find many Americans are now unwilling to accept him as a candidate for president. He may be a leader but now people are worried as to where he might lead them. The Democrats are also worried that the Republicans will make this such an issue that he would lose the general election. I know that I feel very uneasy supporting him. I am not a great fan of Mrs. Clinton but I feel much more comfortable with her now and will probably vote for her in the NC primary.
This was one of the few speeches I've seen that is just as moving when read as when listened to. I think Obama accomplished what needed to be done and then some. The subject now is not Jeremian Wright but Obama'a response. This will help him in the nomination contest immensely. The talking heads are now back to horse race issues and are saying that Clinton will have a very difficult time wresting the nomination from Obama.
The general election will be a different story. The republican election machine will do everything they can to portray Obama as equal parts Louis Farahkan, Jane Fonda, and Osama bin Laden. Ultimately though, I believe they have a very flawed candidate. McCain's mistakes in misidentifying which side is being supported by Iran (he said it three times) will either be treated as a "senior moment" (not good for a 72 year-old man) or simply part of the Bush strategy of conflating things that aren't related. We'll see. Apparently he does this all the time and the press cuts him slack.
I'm not sure if this speech was for fifth graders.
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