The Speech I Missed
Yes, I missed Senator Obama’s speech yesterday and actually totally forgot about it as I was sitting in work and my phone buzzed. Trying to make sure my manager did not see me since there is a very strict no cellphone use policy during working hours. I opened up the text message to see that it was from Twitter indicating Senator Obama was giving a speech in Berlin, I had to stop the involuntary action to get up because I still had another 3 hours of work left. Anyway when I arrived home, a little dissapointed, I was happy to see that the Huffington Post had posted the clip of the MSNBC’s coverage of Senator Obama’s speech.
The speech was not as flamboyant as I expected however I was impressed as always, mainly when Senator Obama indicated he was a citizen of the world. Many liberals like myself will admit to that, especially those who have spent some time traveling and living overseas however, unsurprisingly, Rush Limbaugh was the first person to jump on the comment:
I’m growing weary of Democrats and their presidential candidates finding something wrong with being an American citizen
I think this is a systemic problem with some conservatives, they really think that liberals/progressives/democrats are not proud to be American. I will grant you that some of us are not proud to be American but that lack of pride only exists because of the actions of the current administration. If every person loved his or her country completely then we might be veering into “borg” territory. If you don’t know who the borg are, I urge you to watch some Star Trek, it is a great show.
The simple fact that some Democrats disagree with America or express their shame for the direction the country has taken is what makes America so great. My friends (Ireland and Mass.) and I realize that we have a greater duty beyond country, it is a duty to have a positive impact on the world. If everyone endeavored to improve the world within their own country as well as outside, we would truly have a world approaching the proverbial utopia.
Senator’s Obama speech hit on two points that are critical and reflect why I continue to support him:
- He admits that under President Bush, America has lost the respect of the world and needs to regain it.
- We are all citizens of the world and need to work together to improve this world and tackle the issues that affect everyone in every country.
Some of the Senator’s points are echoed in a report released this month by the Phoenix Initiative, a group of prominent scholars and policy analysts:
The next president of the United States must forge a new national security strategy in a world marked by enormous tumult and change at a time when America’s international standing and strategic position are at an historic nadir. Many of our allies question our motives and methods; our enemies doubt American rhetoric and resolve. Now, more than at any time since the late 1940s, it is vital to chart a new direction for America’s global role.
Please do read the whole report if you have time, they touch on some important issues for the next President. I know some of you do not agree with the Senator but perhaps you might agree with some of the points he made in his speech?
July 25 2008 06:37 pm | American Politics
July 25th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Well, I may surprise you. I have something good to say about Obama. Today when Zarkozy asked a question where Obama would have had to disrespect the current administration, he explained that when traveling overseas there was a policy to not do that, and he didn’t. I give him credit for that! But that’s as far as I can go, Crian.
July 25th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
“I’m growing weary of Democrats and their presidential candidates finding something wrong with being an American citizen” Ho Hum, and I’m growing weary of that loudmouth RL finding something wrong with the many of us who happen to disagree with him…
July 25th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
mccain will hang around until the debates and the nomination.
as election day approaches you will see a groundswell of independents breaking towards obama.
let the cranky old man fulminate. i for one can’t wait to see his head explode as the pressure cranks and it slowly dawns on him he is going to be roundly repudiated by the voters.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Hey Gayle, you did surprise me, I must say and thank you for that surprise, it is a great start to a very humid weekend in Ireland.
Well said BB, RL gets way too much media exposure for someone whose words are so insidious.
I hope you are right Garth, CNN’s poll of polls only gives him a 3% point defecit but hopefully that will widen as the election draws closer. I am hoping Senator McCain will make his choice for VP this week or next so that Senator Obama will have the advantage in making his choice.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Quite a long speech, but good as expected, he is yet to make a bad one. What I was interested most was his meeting with the French president. I’m sure we are all aware o Frances troubled times with immigrants, blacks in particular. They must really see America as promise that it is possible. From what I have read there is only one black person in their parliament. Given their diverse population that is atrocious especially for liberal country they claim to be.
July 26th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I get almost completely dumbfounded listening to the hard-core right. Life forms like Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan, and the endless parade of neo-cons that come wheeling out of the shadows and into the major “media” say the most jaw-droppingly amazing crap. Listening to their outright lies, distortions, and mind-numbing spin is making me believe that they’re not actually Homo sapiens.
It used to really piss me off, but now I’m thinking that it’s some kind of alien trick. Aliens have abducted them, fucked with the cranial neurons, then returned them to us as completely delusional creatures on a mission. And the mission is: “You’re Either With Us or Against Us”.
And all you have to do to be “against” us is go against the fascistic policies of Bush/Cheney. Any criticism of institutionalized torture qualifies you as most certainly not being “with us” in the fascist camp.
These rightwing-nuts scare the shit out me, frankly. And witness how successful they’ve been in instilling their fear and terror in the general American populace. The degree to which the four horsemen of Bush/ Cheney/Addington/ Yoo have been able to institute fascistic policy, with the spineless compliance of the Congress, is just jaw-dropping. It has been so easy.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I have heard some strange things from my french friends in ireland, one of them suggest that Sarkozy was a neo-nazi and believed that every french citizen should prove their citizenship by going 3 generations back.
I think France is a pretty accepting country but perhaps the only reason there is one black person is no one has considered running amongst the non-caucasian populace.
Hey Cyan, you always have the best take on things dude, I have listened to Rush Limbaugh a few times but stopped because I had reached my patience limit. Some of the right-wing policies really do bother me but that is why we liberals have to put up a good fight to ensure we have a democratically controlled house, senate and president.
July 27th, 2008 at 1:36 am
All Praise to Rush and his drug problem. I watch fox news not to find truth but it is form of escapism like going to the movies and watching star wars. Fantasy can be cool .. and did I mention i will be joining
“the world is flat” society
And the French they need unrest to proceed and it will. Even after 3 generations of francophone’s rise to the elite they will still have problems.
July 27th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Hey Tate, your Fox analogy was quite fitting, entertaining to a supreme degree. Did you watch the latest episode of Fareed Zakaria’s GPS. In it, he talked to a frenchmen about Barack Obama and he hinted that one of the reasons France likes him so much is because its sort of a societal growth step so that eventually the French could vote for a minority candidate as President.