Sure am firsty this morning...

Damn you!

WHY are there SO MANY non-law-related political threads??? I intentionally avoid all the Obama-Clinton-McCain chatter. PLEASE STOP.

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/03/real-men-of-geo.html

Obama's speech was amazing. I have never heard a politician express such a deep understanding of race relations in this country. Clearly the man thinks about these things! What a nice change it would be to have a president who thinks about things. . .

Obama's speech was one of the few recent times I can remember where a politician actually spoke to an audience like they were intelligent.

Did you just say the word change? Did you say it more than once? Are you a trendy guy, with your nice suits, eloquent speeches, and are you a minority? Nevermind your [lack of a] record, or your [lack of any outlined] policies, I think I'll vote for you.

I really just Obama to be president already.

9:47, why would anyone address an audience of Americans like they were intelligent (assuming by they you're attempting to refer to the audience)?

Did you say CHANGE? Are you like every other politician? Do you believe America can be better than it has been? Can you relate to all segments of society (rich, poor, black, white, multi-racial, educated, ignorant, urban, suburban, rural, immigrant, native)? Do you think about things? Can you motivate people? Well, I think I'll vote for you!

Yes, it was a real wonderful speech -Black peploe I fell your frustration, immigrants, I feel your frustration... its all the fault of big corpoations run by white america. With speeches like that he'll definitely bridge the racial divide.

10:19- way to pay attention to his speech... ass

10:19 here. Unfortunately, I'm the only who paid attention.

Obama's speech yesterday was very good and really impressed me. I think he is very intelligent and is an extremely capable orator and speech writer. I still won't vote for him, though. His policies, as thinly laid out as they are, will take this country in the absolute wrong direction. We can't pay for Medicare and Medicaid by a long shot, and he wants to introduce an even bigger government healthcare program. That will cripple our economy. He will pull us out of Iraq when we are so close to finishing the job there. It will collapse into a breeding ground for terrorists who will then be able to focus on attacking us here in the US rather than having to fight our military there in Iraq.

A vote for Obama (or Hillary) is a vote to destroy this country.

The speech was definitely a rousing call to action. Obama anticipated that some would hear the speech, brush it off as puffery or empty rhetoric, or ridicule him as trying to score political points. We’ve seen a bit of that today on this board (10:14?), but by overwhelmingly we’ve heard commentators say that this was one of the most important speeches of this generation.
It was refreshing in its frankness; it’s precisely that he didn’t use his usual soaring rhetoric, and he didn’t shy away from admitting that people of all hues are angry and bitter – and justifiably so in many instances – that the speech was so moving.
I also loved how he linked us getting past some (not all) of our bitterness and anger as imparative to improving our collective fate. If you want better schools, healthcare, lower crime rates, jobs, etc., it is necessary that we start learning to bridge some of these gaps.
I’m optimistic. I told you that this Obama guy is the real deal. Hopefully this speech goes to show all the critics that “good speeches” are important tools.

I too think the speech was fantastic - no one ever said that man couldn’t deliver an amazing speech & he did the best he could to somehow fit those comments into something almost palpable. Pastor Wright & his sorry diseased words are not important to me – What is more then disturbing is that such a popular candidate chose THIS MAN to be his spiritual advisor for 20 years, have the man to marry him, baptize his kids, etc. There is a major difference between disowning the nutty uncle and having him in the center of your life – unless, of course, you agree with him.
Whoever votes for him is a moron.

10:19 is correct.

See, e.g,

"A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us."

Give me a break.

"so close to finishing the job there"? Whhuttttt??

"so close to finishing the job there"? Whhuttttt??

______________________________________

Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn't know if you get all your news from the liberal media, but the surge worked and things are getting a lot better in Iraq. The political problems are still there, but the people are starting to take things into their own hands as far as stopping all the violence. They are cooperating with us and with each other to root out terrorists and extremists. There is always going to be some level of violence and extremism there, but the point is to get to some level of normalcy where people can get back on their feet and live their lives.

This whole obsession with pulling the troops out of Iraq makes no sense anyway. We have been in Germany since the end of WWII and have been in Korea since the early 50's. Why would we leave Iraq after just a few years? Getting the job done and winning in Iraq does not mean pulling our troops out. It means getting the country to the point where its citizens can live their lives with some degree of normalcy.

So he gets you a desperately needed job, so you can feed your kid, and the first thing you do when he becomes governor is throw him under the bus?

"We have been in Germany since the end of WWII and have been in Korea since the early 50's."

And how many fatalities have we had in Germany and Korea in the last 5 years?

And how many fatalities have we had in Germany and Korea in the last 5 years?

_____________________________________

Well, since we've only been in Iraq for 5 years, that period would encompass the entire war. The more relevant and appropriate comparison would be, "how many fatalities did we have during the first 5 years in Germany and Korea?" The answer to that question would be many, many, many more than we have had in Iraq.

We've been out of Vietnam for about 30 years. How many fatalities have we had in Vietnam in the last 5 years? Just asking!

Sadr is playing us. Violence is down because he wants it to be down. It's not because the Iraqi security forces have suddenly blossomed into an elite unit. The political problem we have is that we wanted Iraq to vote. Guess what - they voted and vote for the shiite militants. Careful what you wish for, I guess. Now we have Sadr running the show. Is he better than Saddam? Maybe. But __ billion dollars and __ total lives better? No.

Not an Obama supporter,

I'm just curious, have you ever served in the military?

How can you stupid Neo-Cons actually be for this war? You must be sadistic animals! We went in on a whole heap of lies and deception (No WMD, No Al-queda link, No Bin Ladin link, no yellowcake, etc.) and now you want to stay and continue to WASTE our blood (4,000 American soldiers) and treasure (12 BILLION/mo. not including care for the soldiers when they come back fucked up)? Are you kidding me? We are supposed to be educated and greedy individuals, if all of the above didn't convince you, Gas has damn near tripled since this farce has began! Please tell me you guys don't think there is no better way to spend our 12 Billion dollars a month than pissing it away in Iraq!

11:48,

Your screed is pompous enough without any signature. Signing off as "the Messenger" is just gratuitous. Next time, why don't you just sign "Truth," or "Yahweh"?

11:52, no, what's "gratuitous" is going to war without a justification and then insisting on staying to either (a) "win" an unwinable civil war, or (b) prevent the terrorists whom our actions brought to the region from claiming "victory."

No one "wins" under these circumstances; and the so-called surge is the equivalent of putting a dam up in front of a ranging river. When the dam is removed, the water comes back. Our increased troop presence is the dam. When we leave, …

You and your neo-cronies think you're playing the board game Risk. However, the lives of American soldiers and their families aren't game pieces to be moved around at your childish whims.

Lastly, way to address the substance of 11:48's point, "not a neo.. (yeah right, and there were WMD's in Iraq)."

"Lastly, way to address the substance of 11:48's point..."

That should read: "way to address the substance of *MY* point..."

I am so tired of hearing the idiotic claim that the Us brought terriorists to the region - they were already all over the region. Radical Islam is a growing epidemic - and we infidels didn't need to give them a reason to hate us or act againt us, before or after 9/11.
And as for the ridiculous claim that "You and your neo-cronies think you're playing the board game Risk" it just proves what a complete shmuck you are. What a disgusting generalization to make about a group of your fellow Americans - that we don't value or understand what is being sacrificed. Perhaps we just understand the alternative better then you do.

As for the (yawn) continued commments on the Us lying to us to get us into this war, try to remember that everyone at the time thought Iraq had the weapons Saddam was pretending to have.

God damn America!

It was a wonderful speech, i think Obama should be elected to replace Tony Robbins and keep him (Obama) far, far away from the White House.

Obama ducked press questions all last week on the Wright issue, promising to answer all in yesterday's speech.

Instesd of answering the key questions (such as precisely which Wright remarks Obama was aware of and when) Obama changed the subject with a speech on race generally.

When radio shock jock Don Imus made his single racist remark, Barack Obama was the first politician in the United States to call for his immediate firing and Obama made that demand less than a week after Imus transgressed. At the time Obama said:

“There’s nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group.”

But Obama did not fire Wright from his campaign advisory committee until late last week when he had no choice.

Clinton now leads Barack by 7 points among Democrats in Gallup's daily tracking (Obama was up by 11 points two seeks ago) and 56% of nationwide voters of both parties say they will not vote for him now.

Wake up from your Kool-Aid hangover and smell the coffee.

Did you say Kool-Aid? I LOVE Kool-Aid!