Obama took a gamble with this speech, and I’m sure that his advisers tried to steer him away from the idea. Has any politician ever responded to a scandal quite like this? Hell no, because most of them are too cowardly to do more than weasel and squirm and hope that it’ll all go away by itself. Obama has clearly shown that he isn’t about taking the easy way out, and that’s a rare thing today.
Obama did a bold thing by talking so candidly about racism, that’s for certain. But most importantly, he showed his political genius by folding the views of Wright in with the views of poor, disenchanted whites. You can tell that not only was he speaking to and about Hillary supporters, but also the supporters of McCain.
His speech was as much about getting white America to see where blacks are coming from, as it was about getting blacks to see where whites are coming from. It speaks to his credibility that both sides will listen to him and be open to understanding. I can’t imagine any other person being able to pull this off. Not Jesse or Al. Not Bill or Hillary. Not McCain or any other Republican. He knows his power and he’s already using it, and he’s not even in office yet.
A good speech, but not a barnstormer. But then, a barnstormer would have been wrong. The cued applause failed to appear once or twice and his thanks at the very start were poor and perfunctory. But these are minor criticisms. His were the right words at the right time and he just about nailed it.
Foolish as there is no way she’s heard this speech. His very making of the speech was his acting on his morals. Like I said this needs to smoulder, and it will. I doubt she’ll be saying the same things after seeing it.
It’s interesting to me that a politician could give such an unobjectionable speech that is simultaneously a courageous act of truth-telling. And is there anyone who doubts that it is both? I mean, is there anyone on this board that either disagrees with what he said or believes that this has been said before by another major politician? Wouldn’t it be great to see Hillary give a similar speech about sexism?
I would like to see McCain (or any other Republican) give a speech disavowing the bigotry of the religious right. That’s the real hypocrisy that underlies the Pastor Wright flap.
What a fine speech. It gave every answer, showed every choice, and accorded every respect that it should have. Obama raises a very big tent.
The story about Ashley made me cry and then made me make another online donation.
Race has been a terrible thing in the USA. I’ve had 13 generations of white ancestors living the good life here and helping smooth the ride for me in ways some of which I will never even notice, but all of which I took benefits from. I never meant any harm and don’t think I’ve done anything bad or bigoted, but, these unfair advantages are a part of me now, like it or not. How to even begin fixing such things?
How are we ever to do right by our opportunities and the people we share the world with, if we don’t open our windows wide enough to let them overlap? We are going to offend and misunderstand and even abuse one another in ways and for reasons that we are blind to. Everybody has to reach more than halfway if we are even to barely touch fingers.
So. I don’t think it’d be a good idea for Wright to set national policy, but I can’t accuse him of being wrong or even unfair. I suppose he came by his ideas honestly and through hard work. I’d like to let Obama soak up the ideas, views, and even rantings of others wherever he’s inclined to find them. But, elections are hard things to win, and as a practical matter Obama probably has little freedom to do all that soaking up in all the places I’d let him, so, here’s hoping he achieves with this speech, and with his other work, all he needs to achieve.
I said above that he had been disingenuous all along in denying knowledge of these sermons - the campaign knew Wright was going to be a problem from the get-go.
I’m sure they also knew his black skin and a name like “Barack Hussein Obama” would also be a problem. But at the end of the day, he and his campaign (and so far a majority of voters) felt that those things are irrelevant compared to what Sen. Obama stands for and what he can do for this country.
He decided to run for president. What’s your point? It was only at that time that publically distancing himself from some of Rev. Wright’s views became relevant. Before that, I’m sure Sen. Obama still disagreed, but what’s the point of making the disagreements public?
Wonderful speech. Absolutely wonderful. It said many things that absolutely needed to be said. The Clinton and McCain campaigns will never be able to directly reference Wright again. But their proxies can.
Which is my nagging doubt. While I think most people who were going to give Obama an honest chance would find that speech very persuasive, the truth of the matter is that most people won’t hear or read the whole thing. They’ll see snippets on the news, or commentators -some of whom make our Mr. Moto look like Shayna- talking about it. I don’t know how this will play when it’s cut up and mined for soundbites and run against Wright’s greatest hits.
But it speaks very well of Obama the candidate as well as Obama the man. It shows he can react decisively as well as quickly to a political crisis and turn it into an opportunity. I think this will play even better for the superdelegates, the political junkies that they are, than it will for the general public.
My biggest fear, yesterday, when I heard he was giving a “race speech”, was that afro-centric content combined with his typical “speechifying” would lead the media to tout him as a new “black leader” instead of just a presidential candidate.
It was great that he put everything into its proper context. That he did a good job of explaining why both groups perceive things the way they do. He would be a phenomenal president. He did exactly the right thing by being less emotional. He needed to be as unemotional as possible without being wooden, to contrast himself more clearly against Wright and to avoid sounding like a preacher.
I belong to a non-denominational black church with a pastor who is very studied and highly intelligent but also makes comments similar to Wright, but in a localized context. Like Obama, I enjoy getting a more scholarly interpretation of the bible. But I don’t agree with the divisiveness which seeps into my pastors sermons. I am also ready to move forward, past the Black vs. White mentality. I am sure that my pastor listened to Obama’s speech today. I wonder if he’ll take any of it to heart? I hope this starts to resonate in black churches across the country.
This is false. He denied hearing some specific statements being spoken in his presence, but he did not say he had never heard controversial sermons and he also said he knew that wright had said questionable things outside of his presence.
You’re grasping at straws.
As for honesty (I won’t even comment on Bush. Too easy), how do you feel about John McCain’s lying to CNN that the Baghdad streets were safe for Americans to walk and that Gen. Petraeus frequently drove around in an unarmed Humvee (statements which provoked laughter from military personel who were asked about them)?
It’s worth remembering that most of the incendiary statements played for the past week have been from speeches Wright made in the past year or two, during which time Obama has been in D.C. or campaigning. It’s very plausible, even probable, he didn’t hear those particular remarks.