Just Words?

Have you read any good books, lately? May I suggest a couple that have some pretty enlightening information in them? I wouldn't suggest going out and buying them--the author is probably already pretty well-set--but they are available at your local library.

The books I am suggesting are, "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity Of Hope" by Barack Obama. I find it fascinating how much you can find out about a person in his written word--especially when his words are directed toward one particular group of people, or maybe, those who have the same ideology, whomever they may be.

Who knew, when he wrote them, that they would be read by such a diverse group, many of whom feel quite resentful at the philosophy of a man well on his way to becoming the President, and leader of our country?

Here are a few quotes from the two books:

Dreams From My Father

"The person who made me proudest of all, though, was [half brother] Roy .. He converted to Islam."

"never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself.."

"The emotion between the races could never be pure..... the other race would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart."

"There were enough of us on campus to constitute a tribe, and when it came to hanging out many of us chose to function like a tribe, staying close together, traveling in packs.

"It remained necessary to prove which side you were on,to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names"

"I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."

"That hate hadn't gone away," he wrote, blaming "white people — some cruel, some ignorant, sometimes a single face, sometimes just a faceless image of a system claiming power over our lives."

The Audacity Of Hope

"Lolo (Obama's step father) followed a brand of Islam ...."I looked to Lolo for guidance."

"We are no longer just a Christian nation," "We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers."

"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

After reading the words, and sensing the passion found in his books, one has to wonder if he will be President of all the People...or just a chosen group, or groups. After all, his words speak for themselves.


"Where ambition can cover its enterprises, even to the person himself, under the appearance of principle, it is the most incurable and inflexible of passions."
~David Hume 1711-1776
Scottish Philosopher, Historian