Barack Obama!

[Doris]

Re: Barack 2008!

Whenever I visit this thread it makes me think of Beatlemania.

I imagine Doris as a pimply faced teenage girl squealing hysterically at her pop idol Barak.

Isn't that when JFK was shot?

I imagine I'm sitting back smiling as I watch the poll results in November, almost two years after first seeing him and knowing instantly that this man could change the world.

I Imagine a future of international peace and cooperation.

I imagine Michelle becoming the first female president.
...

 

[wayneL]

Re: Barack 2008!

I imagine I'm sitting back smiling as I watch the poll results in November, almost two years after first seeing him and knowing instantly that this man could change the world.

I Imagine a future of international peace and cooperation.
...

Nice thought, but it's not wholly up to Obama, even if he does have pure intentions. A future Mr Keonfxqcnhrkquov or Won Hung Lo might just mess up the party, or indeed factions inside the US.

Not everyone *wants* peace, particularly the US military/industrial complex.

 

[noirua]

Re: Barack 2008!

An article last January from the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, "A drunk and a bigot - what the U.S. Presidental hopeful HASN'T said about his father...": http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=431908&in_pge_id=1770

 

[2020hindsight]

Re: Barack 2008!

lol - here's a book by a bloke name of Frank Luntz , "Words that Work"

http://books.google.com.au/books?id...cal+thinking"&sig=j_gh5q0XGxBhMq5p7kFosYbsE9I

"A leading communications expert explains how the tactical use of words and phrases influences what we buy, who we vote for, and what we believe, in a volume that encompasses sections ranging from "The Ten Rules of Successful Communication" to "The 21 Words and Phrases for the 21st Century."

This bloke is or used to be a Republican pollster (apparently)...
Here's a review... I suggest by a Democrat

so often in this book, you'd think that Republican pollster Luntz would have taken his own advice to heart. Yet in spite of an opening anecdote that superficially attempts a balanced tone, the book as a whole truly reads more like a manual for right-wing positioning. Even in the sections where he is less partisan, Luntz's advice is not particularly insightful.

For instance, his first chapter, on "Ten Rules of Effective Language," starts by instructing readers to use small words and short sentences in their communications. The least effective section in the book is the chapter on "Personal Language for Personal Scenarios," where Luntz advocates manipulative strategies for getting out of traffic tickets, boarding airplanes at the last minute and apologizing to one's wife with the "miracle elixir" of flowers. The most readable and redeeming feature is the two case studies, where Luntz demonstrates his skill as a communicator by identifying real-world communications successes and failures. Unfortunately, by the time nonpartisan readers reach these chapters, they will have already lost patience

"instructing readers to use small words and short sentences in their communications" ....
Ahhh, THIS is why GWBush's speeches use small words!! - shame he can't remember them and /or gets em mixed up.

 

[2020hindsight]

Re: Barack 2008!

lol - here's a book by a bloke name of Frank Luntz , "Words that Work"

http://books.google.com.au/books?id...cal+thinking"&sig=j_gh5q0XGxBhMq5p7kFosYbsE9I

"A leading communications expert explains how the tactical use of words and phrases influences what we buy, who we vote for, and what we believe, in a volume that encompasses sections ranging from "The Ten Rules of Successful Communication" to "The 21 Words and Phrases for the 21st Century."

This bloke is or used to be a Republican pollster (apparently)...
Here's a review... I suggest by a Democrat

so often in this book, you'd think that Republican pollster Luntz would have taken his own advice to heart. Yet in spite of an opening anecdote that superficially attempts a balanced tone, the book as a whole truly reads more like a manual for right-wing positioning. Even in the sections where he is less partisan, Luntz's advice is not particularly insightful.

For instance, his first chapter, on "Ten Rules of Effective Language," starts by instructing readers to use small words and short sentences in their communications. The least effective section in the book is the chapter on "Personal Language for Personal Scenarios," where Luntz advocates manipulative strategies for getting out of traffic tickets, boarding airplanes at the last minute and apologizing to one's wife with the "miracle elixir" of flowers. The most readable and redeeming feature is the two case studies, where Luntz demonstrates his skill as a communicator by identifying real-world communications successes and failures. Unfortunately, by the time nonpartisan readers reach these chapters, they will have already lost patience

"instructing readers to use small words and short sentences in their communications" ....
Ahhh, THIS is why GWBush's speeches use small words!! - shame he can't remember them and /or gets em mixed up.

PS Trust the politicians to employ a wordsmith to do their polling (true, all polling is potentially a bit sus). I wonder if he writes the answers as well as the questions?

 

[Doris]

Re: Barack 2008!

Nice thought, but it's not wholly up to Obama, even if he does have pure intentions. A future Mr Keonfxqcnhrkquov or Won Hung Lo might just mess up the party, or indeed factions inside the US.

Not everyone *wants* peace, particularly the US military/industrial complex.

Very sober comment Wayne!
All the more reason to have a 'conversationalist' as commander in chief.

On a micro level, I face ferals who don't want peace in the classroom. They are dysfunctional and I would get nowhere if I employed battle/war tactics. I give them detention and spend the time listening to their lives to figure out why they're seeking disruptive attention. 'Treat people the way you'd like to see them' often works. When you hear their stories and then help them to divert their energy towards a constructive pay-off for them, or refer them on for professional help, they are grateful that someone cared.
It's not always easy. But someone has to be the adult.
GWB reminds me of a Nun Hung Lo in the playground with his gang behind him to compensate for his inadequacies.

 

[2020hindsight]

Re: Barack 2008!

Sorta off topic.
Except that Barack is probably keeping his image cleaner than most pollies...
(PS I almost posted this on the Global Warming thread - as a reflection of some of the scientists in the pay of the oil companes - but this will do just as well I guess).

A couple of quotes in general ...
by Robert Walpole, first PM of Gt Britain..

http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page174.asp

1. "All those men have their price." (His opinion of his fellow parliamentarians)

2. To the Earl of Bath on their elevation to the House of Lords:
"My Lord Bath, you and I are now as insignificant men as any in England."

ROBERT WALPOLE, AND THE PRICE OF A MAN”S OPINION.
It was Walpole’s words at first steps, as
the first democratic PM -
as he stood in the stare of his house of reps
and he stared right back at them;
"Let’s proceed with the work of governing, Gents
and honour each other’s advice
but never forget , (and to hell with offence)
that ALL YOU MEN HAVE YOUR PRICE".

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Walpole, a Whig, served during the reigns of George I and George II. His tenure is normally dated from 1721, when he obtained the post of First Lord of the Treasury; …… Walpole continued to govern until he resigned in 1742, making his administration the longest in British history.

…….. (early share market )

Soon after Walpole returned to the Cabinet, England was swept by a wave of over-enthusiastic speculation which led to the South Sea Bubble. The Government had established a plan whereby the South Sea Company would assume the national debt of Great Britain in exchange for lucrative bonds. It was widely believed that the Company would eventually reap an enormous profit through international trade in cloth, agricultural goods, and slaves. Many in the country, including Walpole himself, frenziedly invested in the company. By the latter part of 1720, however, the company had begun to collapse as the price of its shares plunged. Walpole was saved from financial ruin by his banker, who had earlier advised him to sell his shares; other investors, however, were not as fortunate.

In 1721, a committee investigated the scandal, finding that there was corruption on the part of many in the Cabinet. Among those implicated were John Aislabie (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), James Craggs the Elder (the Postmaster General), James Craggs the Younger (the Southern Secretary), and even Lord Stanhope and Lord Sunderland (the heads of the Ministry). Craggs the Elder and Craggs the Younger both died in disgrace; the remainder were impeached for their corruption. Aislabie was found guilty and imprisoned, but the personal influence of Walpole saved both Stanhope and Sunderland. For his role in preventing these individuals, and others, from being punished, Walpole gained the nickname of "Screenmaster-General".

 

[Doris]

Re: Barack 2008!

It seems the media want Obama, by their tactics.
I feel sad for Bill as they try to villainize him... promoting the twisting and colouring of his words. I believe Bill's 'fairy tale' comment in South Carolina was also blatantly misinterpreted. But the mud sticks...

DID Bill infer Obama was unpatriotic? Were Bill's comments a reference to Obama's complicity with Wright's rantings... or simply his attempt to focus on a concept of objective unity and not divisiveness for the country, as he promoted his wife's candidacy?

Is McPeak an opportunistic perpetrator of Chinese whispering?


Did Bill Clinton Call Obama Unpatriotic?

A new controversy flared up in the Democratic presidential race Saturday over remarks by former President Bill Clinton whom Barack Obama's campaign accused of using divisive tactics and unfairly trying to question the Illinois senator's patriotism.

Retired Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak, a co-chair of Obama's campaign, said he was astonished and disappointed by recent comments the former president made while speculating about a general election between Obama's Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Republican John McCain.

Standing next to Obama on stage at a campaign rally in southern Oregon, the retired Air Force chief of staff repeated Bill Clinton's comments aloud to a silent audience.

The former president told a group of veterans Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina: "I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country. And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics."

McPeak then said... "As one who for 37 years proudly wore the uniform of our country, I'm saddened to see a president employ these tactics. He of all people should know better because he was the target of exactly the same kind of tactics."

That apparently was a reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, when he was accused of dodging the Vietnam War draft.


Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton's campaign, said Saturday that McPeak's comments were a "deliberately pathetic misreading of what the president said." Wolfson said the remarks had nothing to do with Obama and were merely meant to underscore the need to keep the presidential race focused on issues.

It was not the first time Bill Clinton has been criticized for comments while campaigning on his wife's behalf. Before and after South Carolina's primary in January, the former president was accused of fanning racial tensions for appearing to cast Obama as little more than a black candidate popular in a state with a heavily black electorate.

McPeak also had made off-the-cuff remarks to reporters Friday in comparing the former president's comments with the actions of Joseph McCarthy, the 1950s communist-hunting senator.

"I was going to college when Joe McCarthy was accusing good Americans of being traitors, so I've had enough of it," McPeak said.

Wolfson called that comparison outrageous and called for a retraction.

"I think most Democrats were shocked to learn that a two-term Democratic president was compared to Joseph McCarthy," he said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/22/politics/main3960032.shtml

 

[Doris]

Re: Barack 2008!

Obama's acknowledgement of Richardson's endorsement seems to me like Obama's potential endorsement of him as his VP!

Sounds good to me!

2020... watch his hand movements. This is one of the best techniques of a good speaker!

 

[2020hindsight]

Re: Barack 2008!

ahh, lol
Taylor Mali runs rings around him

Totally Like Whatever by Taylor Mali

PS - you'll like this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU&feature=related

 

[Doris]

Re: Barack 2008!

An article last January from the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, "A drunk and a bigot - what the U.S. Presidental hopeful HASN'T said about his father...": http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=431908&in_pge_id=1770

A comprehensive and interesting article Noirua! (January 2007... a year ago)

... the sins of the father. What a sad story. What a tragic waste of talent and opportunity.


Obama's book, Dreams from My Father...a Story of race and Inheritance, the source of article's comments, was first published in 1995... the year his father died. Re-published, unabridged, in 2004.


I so admire the way Barack's mother always gave him positive feedback on his father. This is not the norm for divorced mothers!
A boy must respect his father, as he grows, for a healthy self concept.

Barack only met his father once, as a teenager, when his father visited. He died when Barack was 21.


Isn't it ironic that Obama has been likened to JFK when he actually owes his life to him!

JFK Brought Obama’s Father to U.S. in 1960:

http://rfkin2008.wordpress.com/2008/01/12/jfk-brought-obamas-father-to-us-in-1960/

 

[Doris]

Re: Barack 2008!

ahh, lol
Taylor Mali runs rings around him

PS - you'll like this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU&feature=related

So true! Lovditt!

This one is hilarious too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjhOBiSk8Gg&NR=1

But this isn't:

1 hour ago: http://www.dawn.com/2008/03/23/top15.htm

WASHINGTON, March 22: The Bush administration is involved in a new political storm following revelations that State Department contractors had improperly reviewed private passport files of three leading presidential candidates, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain.The scandal may further hurt the incumbent Republicans in an election year.

The news of prying into Mr Obama’s file came on Thursday evening and on Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice publicly apologised to Senator Obama and revealed that Mrs Clinton’s passport file was also breached in 2007 but gave no details.

The State Department said later Friday that the same contract employee who examined Senator Obama’s file also looked at Senator McCain’s.

 

[Julia]

Re: Barack 2008!

I so admire the way Barack's mother always gave him positive feedback on his father. This is not the norm for divorced mothers!
A boy must respect his father, as he grows, for a healthy self concept.

At the risk of perpetuating being off topic, I'd completely disagree with your comment that a boy must respect his father. Don't you think it would be completely inappropriate for any child to attempt to feel respect for an abusive father? There are plenty who fit this description.

And if Barack's mother gave him positive feedback about alcoholism I'd also have some doubts about her sense of values as well.

 

[wayneL]

Re: Barack 2008!

Feeling a bit infantile about the whole Hillary/Barrak schmozzle?

http://www.miniclip.com/games/street-fight/en/

The Hillary versus Barrak fight game.

 

[noirua]

Re: Barack 2008!

Feeling a bit infantile about the whole Hillary/Barrak schmozzle?

http://www.miniclip.com/games/street-fight/en/

The Hillary versus Barrak fight game.

Barack seems to be backing away from the fight and his wife is pushing him back in. I can see who is the power behind the throne here. He's taken a terrible beating, when it's backs to the wall old Hillary can knock 'em cold, that's for sure.

 

[2020hindsight]

Re: Barack 2008!

Don't know what you blokes thought of his "More Perfect Union" speech
- being hailed as one of the best since Lincoln's "Gettysburg", or King's "I have a Dream"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/why-obamas-speech-on-rac_b_92374.html

"Why Obama's Speech on Race Was Such a Political Home Run ?"
"Barack Obama showed America that he is the guy you want answering the red phone at 3AM."

Barack Obama's March 18th speech on race in America was game-changing, and very likely will be remembered as historic. Here's why.

In electoral politics -- particularly presidential politics -- people don't vote based on the issues or positions of the candidates. They vote based on their assessment of the qualities of the candidate. Their votes have much more to do with their assessment of candidate character than on 10 point programs.

The videos of the sermons delivered by Barack Obama's former pastor, Reverend Wright, presented problems for his candidacy because they caused voters to question three key candidate qualities that are central to Obama's narrative as to why he should be president.

Most profoundly they caused doubt among white voters as to whether Obama was "on their side" -- the threshold question of all politics. Ironically, the potential that he might completely disown Reverend Wright, raised the same question among African Americans.

Second, voters want leaders who have strongly-held core values. They don't want leaders who tell them one thing but believe something else -- or even worse, have no core values except their own desire to be elected. The Wright videos caused voters to question whether, as they believed, Obama was indeed committed to the core values of unity and hope that have been the central themes of his candidacy.

Third, voters want leaders who are strong, effective leaders -- leaders who can respond to crisis with cool, decisive, effective action. The videos had put Obama on the defensive for days. In politics, when you're on the defensive, you're losing. The crisis put Obama to the test. How, they wondered, would he respond?

With his speech in Philadelphia, Obama passed all of these tests of character -- and more.

His speech made it clear to all who listened that he was absolutely "on their side." He demonstrated a knowledge and empathy for both sides of the racial equation. His speech rang true to African Americans who grew up in the segregated America of the '50s and '60s. But it also rang true to white ethnics who have had to struggle for everything in life and whose jobs are now being outsourced to Southeast Asia.

Rather than a posture of moral superiority, he affirmed the legitimacy of both sides' anger and called on Americans to unite against the forces that have historically stifled the aspirations of both groups and fanned the flames of hatred and division.

He reminded everyone that as the son of an African father and a white mother from Kansas, he is the personal embodiment of an America where everyone is on the same side.... etc

 

[2020hindsight]

Re: Barack 2008!

But the other refreshing thing (accoring to this article) is that he is speaking to Americans as adults.. and demonstrating his skills as an inspiring and "a transformational figure - both in America and on the world stage"

But Obama's speech gave us insight into two other critical qualities as well.

Obama talked to Americans as adults. He presented a serious, no-holds-barred discussion of race in America. He showed he trusted the voters. Voters don't want leaders who patronize them like children -- who pander or sloganeer. They want leaders who treat them with respect.

Finally, Obama demonstrated once again the power of inspiration. He showed us again that inspiration can overcome fear. When leaders inspire us they call on us to be more than we are; they call on us to be the best we can be. Obama didn't lecture or moralize. He declared his commitment to lead America to overcome racial division and hatred -- to be all that we can be.

In the end, it is his ability to inspire us -- to call on us all to be part of something bigger than ourselves -- to sacrifice for our common future -- that has the potential of making Barack Obama a transformational figure -- both in America and on the world stage.

 

[2020hindsight]

Re: Barack 2008!

WASHINGTON, March 22: The Bush administration is involved in a new political storm following revelations that State Department contractors had improperly reviewed private passport files of three leading presidential candidates, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain.The scandal may further hurt the incumbent Republicans in an election year.

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoba245624218mar24,0,4113753.story

Editorial: Investigate passport-file breaches
March 24, 2008

Dirty tricks? Say it ain't so. Better yet, prove it ain't so.

I like it

Right now, it's hard to believe that the three State Department employees caught snooping into Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's passport file were just gawkers. That's the administration's story. At least for now.

But Friday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton revealed that her passport file had been rifled in 2007. And Republican nominee John McCain's file was accessed earlier this year. The Justice Department needs to investigate these breaches. The State Department's integrity is at stake. If the files of such high-profile people are fair game, how can anyone trust that their privacy will be respected?

The curious-employee scenario would be easier to believe if President George W. Bush had a more admirable history when it comes to snooping and politicizing government. But his laundry list of questionable activities is long.

The National Security Agency illegally wiretapped Americans' overseas phone calls and e-mail without warrants. The Justice Department abused national security letters to snoop into private phone records. And the White House stands accused of politicizing the Justice Department by firing U.S. attorneys who refused to mount politically motivated prosecutions against Democrats or to go easy on Republicans.

We've been down this road before. In 1992, during President George H.W. Bush's tenure, someone snooped in then-Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton's passport file. Has someone been rooting around in confidential files this political season in search of information to use against political rivals? The suspicion is inescapable.

PS I'd love to know how long they spent looking at McCain's file - (ok next!)
compared to Obama's file - or Clinton's file for that matter

 

[noirua]

Re: Barack 2008!

PS I'd love to know how long they spent looking at McCain's file - (ok next!)
compared to Obama's file - or Clinton's file for that matter

Spot on 2020, It seems far more likely that they wanted to look at Barack Obama's file only, and then decided to look at Hillary Clinton's file and John McCain's file, to make 3 wrongs look more right or at the very least, not one wrong on its own.

 

[noirua]

Re: Barack 2008!

Reverend Otis Moss III will replace Dr Jeremiah A. Wright Jnr as Senior Paster of Trinity United Church, according to Bloomberg, today. Details of the Pastors at the TUC Church: http://www.tucc.org/pastoral_staff.htm