There aren't enough words to describe the respect I have for this man. I know the majority of those on this board will not agree with me, and that's okay. But his powerful, moving, and completely sincere speech proves to me that he could possibly be one of the greatest presidents we will ever have.

-nab

My thoughts exactly bamabob.

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

This from the Trinity church of Christ website under "about us". How can Obama be true to his native land and true to this country also. This pastor is a racist to me. What do you think would be said if a white candidate had a long time friend named...say David Dukes, and the candidate states "he is my good friend, I just don't share his beliefs." This is not the right man for president.

Growing up in the Deep South with an ordained Pentecostal preacher as the family matriarch, I have heard my share of fire and brimstone sermons. But, never have I heard anything coming from the pulpit that remotely resembled the words of Rev. Jeremiah Wright! That was/is inexcusable and he has warped many young, impressionable minds with his public display of hatred.

For Obama to compare Wright’s rants that have crossed international boundaries to the little things his white grandmother may have said over the years is rather detestable. His speech did not win me over in the least and I think serious consideration should be given to the many other radical extremists (Farrakan, Ansky, Dohrn, Ayers, etc.) he has aligned himself with over the years. There appears to be an undeniable pattern.

It appears that many of y'all are expecting some perfect person to be our next president. Wow, are you gonna be in for a big disappointment.

It's impossible for me to understand how anyone could listen to Obama's entire speech (or read the entire transcript) and not "get" what he's trying to tell us. In our troubled world - and is there a one of you that would not agree it IS troubled? - Obama is trying to pull us all together and remind us that as different as each of us are we are tied together as Americans...each with our own shame, faults, insecurities, prejudices...but still Americans striving to reclaim some of what we've lost and move ahead.

Of course most of the anti-Obama crowd did NOT watch his entire speech or would consider reading the transcript so naturally they can't grasp the significance of his explanation in it's entirety. These same people are so used to hearing lies from our present administration they are completely incapable of recognizing honesty and sincerity from a politician. After 7-1/2 years of Bush, we now have a chance to be represented in the highest office of our country in a completely different way, with a leader that America can finally be proud of...,and that the rest of the world can finally respect instead of hate.

McCain, who would be the same as Bush, will be a divider just as Bush has been. Hillary can't garner respect...she too is divisive and abrasive. Only Obama has a vision for something different, something bigger than each one of us individually. Inexperience? Look where "experience" has gotten us so far. Wisdom doesn't come from plodding along in the wrong direction for years. It's something you either have or you don't and Obama's got it.

The media is certainly partially to blame for not only this latest witchhunt but all the ones that are still to come...and there WILL be more. It's a long time until November. National media gets hold of something inflammatory and they throw it in our faces on every TV channel and every newspaper and then local media picks up the ball and keeps running. We've got a war out of control, fifteen billion dollars a month of OUR money funding it, the economy sinking like a stone and a dozen other truly serious issues...and all McCain and his supporters have to do is sit back and enjoy the ramblings of some crazy preacher spread out in every media outlet that exists.

But the tide will turn...it always does. McCain will do something incredibly stupid, or maybe something simple and not that important at all that will be blown up and plastered all over the news and that will replace Obama's stupid preacher for awhile and the focus will once again be off what's really important in this election. But that's the American public. We get all riled up for fifteen minutes and then it's over until the next thing happens to be all riled up over. We're like Chicken Little..."The sky's falling! The sky's falling!" But then it doesn't and everybody but the hard core radicals move on.

I wouldn't have ever said this two days ago, but this episode with Obama's preacher...it WILL go away. It will be forgiven and forgotten, except by those so rabid they wouldn't have forgiven Mother Teresa if she transgressed. If anything, I think he's proven himself to be even more worthy of the presidency.

-nab

Do you even know what Obama's proposed policies are, or do you just like the way the guy gives a speech?

Do you even know what Obama's proposed policies are, or do you just like the way the guy gives a speech?

Are you serious? Do you think I support a candidate whose views on issues I don't know? I both know his stand on issues and love his speaking ability.

Here's an interesting article from Glenn Greenwald about "Obama's Faith in the Reasoning Abilities of the American Public".

(snip) I haven't written about the Obama speech yet (video here) because I spent much of the day reading the instantaneous reactions of virtually everyone else, and because the issues raised by the speech are complex and my views about it are somewhat ambiguous. Personally, I found the speech riveting, provocative, insightful, thoughtful and courageous -- courageous because it eschewed almost completely all cliches, pandering and condescension, the first time I can recall a political figure of any significance doing so when addressing a controversial matter.

There were numerous manipulative tactics which the average cynical political strategist would have urged him to employ, and none of those were found in his speech. It was as candid and sophisticated a discussion of the complexities of race in America as any individual could possibly manage in a 45-minute speech, particularly one delivered in the middle of a heated presidential campaign and a shrill political controversy. Then again, I found the whole Wright "controversy" manufactured and relatively petty from the start, and worse, the by-product of a glaring double standard, so the speech obviously wasn't aimed at people who had the beliefs about this whole matter that I had.

The speech will be adored by Obama fans, the political and media elite, and high-information, politically engaged voters other than those firmly entrenched on the Right. But politically speaking, that isn't the target audience either. Barbara O'Brien describes perfectly the real question with regard to the speech's political impact:

I think the question about the speech, articulated by Rachel Maddow on David Gregory’s new MSNBC program, is whether white America will step up and receive the speech in the same spirit in which it was given. Obama's speech was challenging. He assumed that his audience could hear his words and and think about them. He assumed people could get beyond simple narratives, sound bytes, and jerking knees.

Petty, personality-based demonization works, and the belief that it won't work any longer in the absence of a major war against it may be more a by-product of faith and desire than reality. Obama's calm reason and rational (though inspiring) discourse are matched against very visceral images and psychologically gripping strategies. As Pam Spaulding said in commenting on the Jeremiah Wright videos:

That said, people have to acknowledge part of the reason for the discomfort lies in Wright's delivery of the message. It's so black, isn't it? It sounds militant to tender ears outside the traditional black church. . . .

I want to turn the discussion back to race, because I think this episode with Rev. Wright exposed the whole "scary black revolution" primal fear here. . . .

When I heard Wright, I heard a delivery not unlike the unhinged gay-bashing Rev. Willie Wilson . . . . The delivery sounds so angry, so harsh to many. You get the feeling, based on the reaction out there, that people are afraid Barack Obama by association, is some sort of Trojan Horse of Black Anger waiting to be unleashed, prepared to exact revenge on white society by pulling their wool over their eyes by appearing friendly, "articulate" and non-threatening. In other words -- not that [Wright] kind of black guy.

I think that's a perfect summation of the overarching question, one that nobody is really able to answer. The truly distinctive and "change"-oriented aspect of Obama's campaign lies not in any new or exotic policy positions -- his views on the Middle East, for instance, are often as conventional as it gets. What is distinctive is the far more consequential assumption that Americans want and are able to engage an elevated and more noble type of politics than the depressingly familiar garbage spewed from the Rush Limbaugh Show, The Drudge Report, Fox News, the cable news media stars, and all of their cooperating media and political appendages. We'll know soon enough if Obama is right. (snip)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html

What is his platform in an abbreviated list?

Why is it that some of us on this message board have the will and persistence to make our beliefs known day after day with a variety of endless issues when Obama cant do this in his own church? This is someone he calls a friend and mentor remember? If we took the attitude Obama has taken and distanced ourselves from these issues, no one would be on this message board at all. My point is, he has shown that he really doesn't have the ability to unite. What would happen if he had a situation as President, that we as a country depended on him to handle with a country for example, ( Iran or N. Korea) that needed persistence and back bone to keep us safe? He should have stood up to his Rev. Wright and at least tried to unite their ways of thinking and understanding and he possibly would have helped his mentor and friend see the light himself. I still say Obama is not ready to be our President. Yes I do give him credit for being able to read from a teleprompter with emotion, and yes he does have a good group of speech writers but that's it. Obama, should have handled this problem differently and showed us that he can handle any tyrant no matter who they are. God help us if he does wiggle his way into the White House.

"It appears that many of y'all are expecting some perfect person to be our next president. Wow, are you gonna be in for a big disappointment." NAB

But isn't that what you expect from Bush or McCain? It seems that your candidate can do no wrong and the others can do no right!