In this speech, he seemed to own his own heritage and take his place in the black community and especially the black *religious *community more than he has in the previous seven years. White presidents haven’t hesitated to claim a particular faith home, but Obama, in his attempt to be the President of everyone, has been more circumspect and IMHO hesitant in that regard.
Let me add that those who hate and oppose him would have found fault no matter what stance/position he took on being black, religious, intellectual, whatever. They might not have declared that he was Muslim, but they would have found something else wrong with whatever position he took. In the eyes of some (they know who they are) he could do no right. As President you make yourself a target-- that’s just the way it is.
I really like the man I’m seeing now. I hope he stays in Fearless Mode right up until the next election.
I thought it was great, one of the better pieces of public speaking in US history.
Reading between the lines: the use of Amazing Grace as the central theme. The hymn was written by an Englishman who participated in the slave trade (as a common worker, not an actual trader) who had a religious conversion and opposed it. Whether accurate or not, he is depicted as an important figure in the 2006 film of the same name about the end of the slave trade in the British Empire. Obama certainly knows all of this.
So if inclined, you could see this as a statement that the nation is still stained by its original sin of slavery. If we understand this–and it seems that the nation as a whole finally has within the last week–then we once were lost and now are found, we were blind but now we see.
The changes that have come to this country within the last few years and weeks are to me nothing short of miraculous. Whether you want to credit God or chance or the work of millions or the power of the internet or the best way humans can deal with horrible injustices and tragedies all depends on how you see the world.
As a historian I think it will be remembered as one of the defining moments of his presidency. It was an extraordinary speech capping off the best week of his presidency.
I love how he paused just long enough to make people think “WTF? Did he lose his train of thought?” It made the moment he broke into song all the more powerful.
My first reaction - Now that’s a mther fckin’ PRESIDENT!
My second reaction - Oh God, please please PLEASE, to all the other current candidates and future presidents, PLEASE don’t think you have to have your “Obama Moment” and start singing in churches whenever there’s a camera pointed at you. Just don’t, m’kay?
It looked like nobody there was expecting the President to break out in song. Can you imagine being the musicians there? “Whoa, he’s singing! Quick, break out the hymnals! What page is Amazing Grace on?”
Dyan Roof may (depending on one’s belief) have been carrying out God’s plan, just as was Pilate.
But for Christians, that doesn’t mean that Roof heard God’s voice telling him to get a gun and drive to that church and shoot everyone in it. It means that in this evil, God is giving us an opportunity to respond with love, with the assistance of His grace. I think Obama spoke eloquently about grace and the response to evil, but he was speaking to a crowd that (presumable) understood Christian teaching about God’s plans, and evil, and grace, and love.
I didn’t watch video of the funeral, but the news sites showed photos of eight state troopers carrying the coffin into the state house. Perhaps that’s who you were seeing?
BTW, I’m slightly amused that Dylann Roof’s actions seem to have spurred people to eliminate displays of the Confederate flag and other symbols of the Confederacy. Quite the opposite of what he intended.
You know you have a good speech when the church organist spontaneously backs you up.
Like I Love Me, Vol. I, I also watch the video several times for the reactions of the audience behind Obama. It’s not often that you get to see a crowd embrace a politician like this one embraced Obama.
Yes, we can read them. And there’s nothing at all inconsistent about what he said. “Best he can do” and “inadequate response because they have no answers” are the exact same thing. By claiming they are inconsistent, you have to be assuming he said thing he didn’t say.
The real question is why you are posting in this thread to pick a fight.