Today, while surfing the net, I came across a blog with all of these articles, and many more. If you would like to check it out, go here: Is Barack Obama the Messiah?"We have to fix our SOULS - Our souls are BROKEN"
We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another — that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these. That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the ONLY person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation.Via "Michelle Obama's Vision of America" (Hugh Hewitt, February 15, 2008).
Friday, February 22, 2008
Barack Obama WILL REQUIRE YOU to work. He is going to DEMAND that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation and that you move out of your comfort zone. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage.
Barack will NEVER ALLOW YOU to go back to your lives as usual – uninvolved, uninformed – you have to stay at the seat at the table of democracy with a man like Barack Obama not just on Tuesday but in a year from now, in four years from now, in eights years from now, YOU WILL HAVE TO BE ENGAGED.Michelle Obama, campaign speech at UCLA (links to video, audio @ Protein Wisdom)
"I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear"
Barack will NEVER ALLOW YOU to go back to your lives as usual – uninvolved, uninformed – you have to stay at the seat at the table of democracy with a man like Barack Obama not just on Tuesday but in a year from now, in four years from now, in eights years from now, YOU WILL HAVE TO BE ENGAGED.Michelle Obama, campaign speech at UCLA (links to video, audio @ Protein Wisdom)
"I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear"
BALTIMORE — Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings has held elected office for more than a quarter-century, so he's seen his fair share of politicians come and go.
But apparently he's never seen one quite like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
"This is not a campaign for president of the United States, this is a movement to change the world," he said as he introduced Obama last week in Baltimore.
"You do not get 13,000 people in this auditorium with a campaign."
As over the top as it may have sounded, Cummings' sentiments weren't all that unusual.
Because when it comes to Obama, hyperbole seems to be the rule, not the exception.
His charms seem tough to resist, even for some of Hollywood’s biggest names.
"He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere, anywhere," George Clooney told talk show host Charlie Rose.
"I'll do whatever he says to do," actress Halle Berry said to the Philadelphia Daily News. "I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear."
The true believers can “Obama-ize” just about anything. Knitters for Obama crochet for him, Runners for Obama jog for him, and Hold 'Em Barack, well, they bet on him.
In Chicago, a recent art exhibit showed works depicting the candidate on canvas, paper and even in animated videos.
On Etsy, a crafts auction website, you can buy Obama jewelry, paintings, and even a homemade Obama Valentine. The card shows a sketch of the candidate with the text, "I want to Barack your world."
Last week, Obama attracted a crowd of 19,000 to the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
Four days earlier, more than 18,000 voters filled Seattle's Key Arena to see him.
The 3,000 that didn't get in waited in the cold for over an hour to hear a roughly two-minute version of his stump speech.
When Obama finally took the stage, the crowd roared so loudly that a local reporter in the press section covered her ears.
At an Omaha, Neb., rally the day before, supporters leaned perilously over railings, screaming and crying, trying to touch Obama as he passed.
During both speeches, a supporter yelled out, "I love you." This happens fairly frequently and Obama is always ready with a smooth answer.
"I love you back," he says, with a quick, almost cocky smile.
The campaign works hard to cultivate the rock star image. After he's introduced, Obama routinely waits about 30 seconds to enter the arena.
The excitement grows, until his entrance is perfectly timed with the soaring chords of U2's “City of Blinding Lights.”
"I can't really verbalize exactly what it is about him," says Avila. "Part of it is just beyond explanation."Lisa Lehrer, Politico Feb 20, 2008.
But apparently he's never seen one quite like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
"This is not a campaign for president of the United States, this is a movement to change the world," he said as he introduced Obama last week in Baltimore.
"You do not get 13,000 people in this auditorium with a campaign."
As over the top as it may have sounded, Cummings' sentiments weren't all that unusual.
Because when it comes to Obama, hyperbole seems to be the rule, not the exception.
His charms seem tough to resist, even for some of Hollywood’s biggest names.
"He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere, anywhere," George Clooney told talk show host Charlie Rose.
"I'll do whatever he says to do," actress Halle Berry said to the Philadelphia Daily News. "I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear."
The true believers can “Obama-ize” just about anything. Knitters for Obama crochet for him, Runners for Obama jog for him, and Hold 'Em Barack, well, they bet on him.
In Chicago, a recent art exhibit showed works depicting the candidate on canvas, paper and even in animated videos.
On Etsy, a crafts auction website, you can buy Obama jewelry, paintings, and even a homemade Obama Valentine. The card shows a sketch of the candidate with the text, "I want to Barack your world."
Last week, Obama attracted a crowd of 19,000 to the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
Four days earlier, more than 18,000 voters filled Seattle's Key Arena to see him.
The 3,000 that didn't get in waited in the cold for over an hour to hear a roughly two-minute version of his stump speech.
When Obama finally took the stage, the crowd roared so loudly that a local reporter in the press section covered her ears.
At an Omaha, Neb., rally the day before, supporters leaned perilously over railings, screaming and crying, trying to touch Obama as he passed.
During both speeches, a supporter yelled out, "I love you." This happens fairly frequently and Obama is always ready with a smooth answer.
"I love you back," he says, with a quick, almost cocky smile.
The campaign works hard to cultivate the rock star image. After he's introduced, Obama routinely waits about 30 seconds to enter the arena.
The excitement grows, until his entrance is perfectly timed with the soaring chords of U2's “City of Blinding Lights.”
"I can't really verbalize exactly what it is about him," says Avila. "Part of it is just beyond explanation."Lisa Lehrer, Politico Feb 20, 2008.
"I felt this thrill going up my leg . . ."
I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often. No, seriously. It's a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment.Chris Matthews, MSNBC [MP3 Recording Video February 12, 2008.
I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often. No, seriously. It's a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment.Chris Matthews, MSNBC [MP3 Recording Video February 12, 2008.
One would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Obama on the stump. It's not so much by what he says but it's the way the crowds respond to his words. When 16,000 people, without prompting, start shouting some of his keynote phrases as he delivers them, you know something special is going on.
The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands.- Washington correspondent Geoff Elliott. The Australian February 9, 2008
The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands.- Washington correspondent Geoff Elliott. The Australian February 9, 2008
"the source of new hope on a parched land -- as rain from a Kenyan cloud"
Barack Obama, . . . has come like rain on American politics.
His campaign theme - 'the source of new hope on a parched land' is a cleansing agent in a land weighed down by crusted blood of Iraqis murdered in their own territory by Americans who came to save them from "weapons of mass destruction".
Obama has come as rain from a Kenyan cloud that seeded in the plains of Iowa and fell in Hawaii, but refuses to be tied down as just another "black candidate" pushing primarily for the restoration of justice for African-Americans by reminding white America of its guilt.
Instead, he insists on the freedom of a collective American Messiah who has come to mobilise all disillusioned children of American democracy to open up a new frontier in politics. This is Obama's venture of building hope using the power of hope.
Like rain, Obama must rouse new winds that will blow away drought, which drought will not depart without a fight. . . .
Barack Obama is uniquely placed to support the fruition of this dream knowing, as he now does, the sublime challenges of conducting political rain on a scale as grand, in terrestrial and human space, as the United States of America. May his rain come down to sprout a Union of Africa. To which some Nigerians say "Amen."Okello Oculi, Daily Monitor AllAfrica.com. February 20, 2008.
His campaign theme - 'the source of new hope on a parched land' is a cleansing agent in a land weighed down by crusted blood of Iraqis murdered in their own territory by Americans who came to save them from "weapons of mass destruction".
Obama has come as rain from a Kenyan cloud that seeded in the plains of Iowa and fell in Hawaii, but refuses to be tied down as just another "black candidate" pushing primarily for the restoration of justice for African-Americans by reminding white America of its guilt.
Instead, he insists on the freedom of a collective American Messiah who has come to mobilise all disillusioned children of American democracy to open up a new frontier in politics. This is Obama's venture of building hope using the power of hope.
Like rain, Obama must rouse new winds that will blow away drought, which drought will not depart without a fight. . . .
Barack Obama is uniquely placed to support the fruition of this dream knowing, as he now does, the sublime challenges of conducting political rain on a scale as grand, in terrestrial and human space, as the United States of America. May his rain come down to sprout a Union of Africa. To which some Nigerians say "Amen."Okello Oculi, Daily Monitor AllAfrica.com. February 20, 2008.
"... a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany ... and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Obama" - Barack Obama Lebanon, New Hampshire.January 7, 2008.
It is plain to see that there are many misguided people who think that Barack Obama is the one who will bring happiness, prosperity, and peace to the whole world--including Barack Obama, believing that he is chosen for such a time as this.
10 comments:
When emotion trumps reason and plain old serious thinking, then things have got to a very dangerous stage.
I'm not surprised though, as a lot of people on the left have never grown up.
Yeah, that is what the Germans thought about Hitler.
Obama is a socialist at best and I would not be surprised if he is not a closet follower of Marx. All of his visions of change involve taking it way from those who have it because they have worked for it and giving it to those who have not earned it.
His medical plan alone will bankrupt the country and his ideas of building an economy from the bottom up can only be done if the government puts the money at the bottom..and the government can only get the money by borrowing or taxing or both.
Capitalists are already leaving this country..and I can't say I blame them. At the rate we are going the dollar will soon be worth less than a peso..the only silver lining in the cloud I can see is that when this happens maybe the illegal aliens will go home.
Morris..you are right, on both counts.
guyk..the whole thing is crazy, and it is hard to believe that people can be so blind.
I'm with you..I wonder where everyone thinks all this money is going to come from, too.
Watching some of the rallies, it is reminiscent of past history, as you said.
....mmmm. Mr. GUYK, I share with you a distaste for the gov't going out and borrowing and borrowing to get what it wants. You must know, however, that this present administration has presided over the raising of the federal debt limit 8 times. Made us the most indebted country on earth. It has borrowed more money than all previous [ALL previous] administrations combined. It has borrowed all of the money to go to war in Iraq [ when every single president since Lincoln raised taxes temporarily when the country was at war to pay for the war so as not to devalue our currency and put future generations in financial peril]. You mentioned how the dollar was sinking towards the peso; the unrestrained borrowing is doing part of that. The more money the gov't prints, the less a unit of that money is worth. This administration has been writing IOUs to the Treasury and printing money at an unprecedented rate in history. So, folks, for someone to suggest putting money back in the Treasury and trying to make our currency worth something again is not a bad thing.
You mention capitalists leaving the country [jobs go too]. One reason is that companies receiving gov't subsidies and tax exemptions can go relocate off shore and not lose those exemptions or subsidies. Sen.Obama has voted to end that practice. Socialist. Marxist. Druggist. Call him what you may, that seems like a reasonable position to take....to me anyway.
How does Sen.O plan to pay for what he wants to accomplish? First, he says he wants to pay [not borrow] for what he wants [sounds like an old style GOP position]. He'll do that, he says , by capturing some of the $2.4 billion per week going to fund the war in Iraq. [Not going to abandon fighting terrorism; just going to redeploy and go after bin Laden et al] Some he will get from closing tax loopholes for the Oil Industry. Allowing the Bush taxcuts to expire in 2010 [Jan, McCain said those were "reckless and for the rich" ] will put $650 billion back in the US treasury over 5 years. Obama also will look at raising the ceiling on Soc.Sec. taxes.
I've gone on long enough. Thanks for reading this far, if you're still here. I hope I'm not boring anyone...
"Thanks for reading this far, if you're still here. I hope I'm not boring anyone..."
Richard..you're not boring anyone, but it is plain to see that you are one of Obama's staunchest supporters.
All those promises sound good, but the truth is that most campaingn promises are just that..promises, and not so easily kept.
But they sound good. :)
Jan,
I didn't start out as a staunch Obama supporter. The herd of candidates has kind of been culled down to where there are fewer choices. I've found myself clarifying for some of your readers what I know Obama has said or what his resume is. I certainly don't see him as a messiah....but I have cast myself in the role of defending him here, haven't I?
You're right: promising and delivering are two way different things.
As with most voters, I look at what my hopes, values, and desires are for my country and then try to match a candidate with those. I want a strong dollar, a balanced budget, an end to waste in spending, a foreign policy that provides real security for us, that returns us to the position of respect in the world that we so much deserve and that our soldiers have died for while keeping the rest of the world free. I know you want much the same and more.
I'm enjoying your blog. Thanks again for having me "over". :]
Richard..thanks!
Drop by, anytime! :)
Richard Said:
How does Sen.O plan to pay for what he wants to accomplish? First, he says he wants to pay [not borrow] or what he wants [sounds like an old style GOP position]. He'll do that, he says , by capturing some of the $2.4 billion per week going to fund the war in Iraq. [Not going to abandon fighting terrorism; just going to redeploy and go after bin Laden et al] Some he will get from closing tax loopholes for the Oil Industry. Allowing the Bush taxcuts to expire in 2010 [Jan, McCain said those were "reckless and for the rich" ] will put $650 billion back in the US treasury over 5 years. Obama also will look at raising the ceiling on Soc.Sec. taxes.
I'm not sure where Richard came up with the stated figure of 2.4 Billion per WEEK for the Iraq War. According to the Congressional Research Service the 2008 Consolidate Budget "...Congress has approved a total of about $700 billion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid,embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the
9/11 attacks: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Afghanistan and other counter terror operations; Operation Noble Eagle (ONE), providing enhanced security at
military bases; and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)." The amount for security at military bases covers all military bases world wide.
On the healthcare front alone the savings figures that Obama states may not even cover the cost of the current Medicare and Medicaid programs. In 2006 Medicaid cost taxpayers $180.6 billion for the year. For the arithmetically challenged that comes to $903 Billion over 5 years (without allowing for any increase in cost). The Medicare cost to taxpayers in 2005 was $336 Billion ($1 Trillion 680 Billion over 5 years). And that amount did not include the new Part D drug benefit. In the 2005 Medicare Trustees Report, the Trustees projected Medicare costs exceeding Social Security payments ($702 Billion in 2005) by 2028. The first year cost for Medicare Part D was $47 Billion. In early 2007 projections were made that the early cost projections exceeded the new projections and the program would grow at a lower percentage than expected (5%). But early this year increasing drug costs caused non-governmental experts to revise the projections upward. Even at $47 Billion, the 5 year cost to taxpayers is $235 Billion with no increase.
I think we can get a "feel" for what a universal health care program will cost the taxpayers from the above. As a cancer survivor I have no desire to have the government decide whether I should have treatment, or when I should have treatment. My particular cancer (Renal Cell Carcinoma) is only treatable by surgical removal of all or part of the kidney. The earlier (and smaller) the tumor is removed, the better the chance of surviving the cancer. The experience of other countries on surgery (even for life threatening illness) is that there is virtually no chance of rapid surgery. Failure to remove my kidney early would have reduced my survival chances drastically.
There is a reason people from other countries which have universal health care often come to the US for their care (at their own cost).
Richard writes an interesting story, certainly with more "facts" than his favored candidate. But I submit his data does not "add up".
anon..thank you for dropping by my blog, and thank you for your comment, which has a lot of good information.
Since the post is an old one, most readers will not see it, so I am considering using it as a post.
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