What a Speech - one for the ages

[rurallib]

Last edited Sat Mar 7, 2015, 07:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Obama pulled no punches.
It was remarkable, IMHO.

ETA here's the video 32 minutes:
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-live/watch/president-obama-at-50th-anniversary-in-selma-409797699703

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Agreed!

[JaneyVee]

2. That will be the speech they play on Barack Obama Day in the future.

[cilla4progress]

31. YOU JUST GAVE ME CHILLS!

You made my day with this post. Lump in throat. Chest swelling. I think I can make it now.

Partly because some days I question whether there will be a future. And the rest, because of the recognition this beloved President has earned and deserves so much, which your thought puts out there.

Thank you.

[erronis]

69. OMG - what a speech. For the history books and lodged in my heart.

[Number23]

41. Barack Obama Day -- oh, child. You just gave a bunch of folks here and at Free Republic

the heebies AND the jeebies.

[cilla4progress]

72. hahaha indeed!

Let's start a movement!!!

[steve2470]

85. +1000000000000000000000000000000000 nt

[azmom]

88. LOL

[Zoonart]

45. Incredibly powerful

There are those here at Du who will snipe and disagree with so much of what this man does, but I am convinced that when he leaves office, we will miss him like no other. IMHO He is a giant.

[vlyons]

55. agree completely

He will be most remembered for weathering all the disrespect, lies, and vicious hatred, and maintaining a calm abiding to stay above the fray. He never once publicly showed any pay-back gotcha crap. Always showed a polite ridicule at the silly stuff that the tbaggers come up with. He is a master at disagreeing without being disagreeable.

[calimary]

59. Welcome to DU, Zoonart!

Glad you're here! Yeah, many folks who are, let's just say, "extremely particular" about various issues. There! Like "consciously uncoupling"!

But I think you're correct. History will be VERY kind to this man. The perspective of history will place him probably in the top five. Just in terms of who he was, what he achieved - especially in spite of the opposition and the constant and disgraceful disrespect he's been shown by far too many - and the bold steps he took, he will be one of the big ones.

[Historic NY]

76. +300 mill

[H2O Man]

64. Beautiful!

(I haven't heard it -- busy day traveling for my youngest daughter's b-ball game -- but you have me interested. Very interested. And I love your comment!)

[Historic NY]

77. try this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1102&pid=28122

[Triana]

3. It was STUNNING.

He KILLED it - hit all the points and then some. Held nothing back. And at this point, why would he? History will be very kind to this President, I believe.

[h8okra]

24. Brought out

as much emotion in me as watching the news footage as a young man back in 65.

[Triana]

26. Welcome to DU!

[calimary]

62. Welcome to DU, h8okra!

Good to have you with us! Love your screen name! LOL! It's really mind-blowing to see some of that earlier footage. He stood out, way early. I'll bet there were people around him or who knew him or worked with him or went to school with him who suspected that he was or was gonna be one of "those": the ones who seem to have been born under a special star - that makes them always bubble up to, or toward, the top. You know who they are. You probably had one or maybe even several in your own school. The ones who just stood out, they just seemed shinier than everybody else, more charisma, more je-ne-sais-quoi, more of that intangible - the ones you just knew you'd expect eventually to see either on the cover of TIME magazine or at the top of the big-ass corporation or the big-ass best-seller list or on TV in some way, or whatever it is - OR even perhaps in the White House. You just got the sense from those individuals that they were probably gonna be the ones who'd make it.

And even the merely recent footage. His star-making speech at the Dem convention in 2004. Or him with the family the night he won in 2008. And now you marvel at how gray his hair is. Well, with those kinds of burdens on his shoulders every day, I'm really not all that surprised.

[Skidmore]

4. I hope there is a recorded version available.

I have no way of recording.

This was a speech that said much that really needed to be said. Remarkable, indeed.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. If it makes it to YouTube, I hope someone posts it on DU.

[Skidmore]

7. Do you know how to download from youtube?

I used to be able to do it but something changed about that site and I can't anymore.

[Newest Reality]

10. This should work for you:

It is a site where you type in the url of the video and you have several options to convert it to:

Clip Converter
http://www.clipconverter.cc/

[Skidmore]

15. Thank you.

[Newest Reality]

16. You are welcome.

Oh, there is a checkmark to download an "accelerator" when you start. Uncheck that.

[awoke_in_2003]

19. Thanks for that link...

do you know if it works with Apple computers? (Sorry, work firewall isn't letting me get there)

[Newest Reality]

21. Not sure,

but it should.

The conversion takes place on the server and then you just download the file. The formats for video and sound should be compatible.

Notice that you can get an MP3 version of the sound for the video, as well. That comes in handy.

[awoke_in_2003]

22. Thanks for the info...

sounds like it should do the trick.

[mopinko]

50. i watched it here.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/watch-live-pres-obama-speak-selma-commemorate-50th-anniversary-civil-rights-marches/

several minutes of dead air at the beginning, plus a lot of other speeches. watch john lewis' fersher. perfect lead in. perfect handoff.

[hopemountain]

81. whitehouse.gov

has an archive of recordings/videos.

[mcar]

6. Truly amazing

[brer cat]

8. Honest and with genuine emotion.

Can't fake it and PBO doesn't have to...he feelings it.

[rurallib]

11. even seemed to channel MLK at the end

I was actually drained at the end.

I could almost hear right wing heads popping as he spoke.

[tishaLA]

20. Yup. And you could tell he went off the prepared remarks

a couple times and was just going extemporaneously. It was a helluva speech.

[Marxizm]

9. Sorry, im new here

Can someone link the speech when it is posted online please?

[Electric Monk]

13. Hi. Here's a link for you.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/obama-marks-50th-anniversary-of-selma-ala-march-for-voting-rights-1.2985727

[Marxizm]

29. Thanks!

Appreciate it comrade

[cally]

42. Also, I saw a link on DU homepage

in upper right hand corner. I was extremely moved by John Lewis that is included in the longer clip.

[rurallib]

14. it just ended. MSNBC carried it live.

Hopefully they will post a video in the next couple of hours.

I will try to check later - just go to MSNBC - should be on their front page when it is ready.

[rurallib]

67. here you go

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-live/watch/president-obama-at-50th-anniversary-in-selma-409797699703

[one_voice]

12. He seemed very emotional...

I loved it. Wonderful!!

[loyalsister]

49. wow

I think he was holding back tears and absolutely pissed in some places. I got the feeling he resisted an urge to drop some profanity when he stumbled a little on "why are we pointing to somebody else when we could take the time to go to the... the polling places."

That was real and raw and exactly what we needed. He called out the cops and challenged us to do what we should have been doing his entire presidency. The language about the word we and a "yes WE can" reminder was pretty obvious to me.

It was inspiring and sobering. The way he seemed to demand civic participation really moved me.

[cyberswede]

17. That was a great speech.

[HappyMe]

18. I loved every minute.

Remarkable? Hell YES.

[cleduc]

23. here's a link to Obama's speech

http://www.c-span.org/video/?324607-3/president-obama-representative-john-lewis-selma-50th-anniversary

[Duppers]

25. Thank you!

Rep. John Lewis is speaking now.

[Bluzmann57]

51. Thank you for the link

I was busy at the time of President Obama's oration (better than a speech) so it is wonderful to be able to see it now. Magnificence personified.

[spanone]

27. it was inspiring.

[cilla4progress]

28. Sheeit - missed it!

I am so glad I read about it here - I didn't know about it. Thank you.

I'm DVR-ing it on C-Span. Just turned it on @ 2:05 west coast time. I see John Lewis at the podium. Did I miss President Obama? Anyone else? Hopefully it will be re-run.

THANK YOU FOR POSTING ABOUT this so I can watch it.

I am a child of the 60s. This stuff chokes me up like nothing else. My parents were strong, committed, activist civil rights workers. Volunteered for Fair Housing, marched against the war in Viet Nam. I thank them for giving me my social justice conscience.

[ImaPolitico]

34. For anyone /all who missed President Obama's great speech today,

C-Span announced they will re broadcast the entire event of the day tonight and most of all will include the president's speech. Also check on Cspan2. A do NOT miss speech.

I am so proud of my President Obama and for all he does for our country.

[ImaPolitico]

46. Here is link to President Obama's speech

compliments of ** Huffington Post **

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/07/obama-selma-bloody-sunday-transcript_n_6823642.html

[asiliveandbreathe]

30. Absolutely - one for the ages

Needs to be shared...printed and framed.....

I watched live - as a side note - I couldn't help but notice Gdubya flopping around like a kid running around loose...tripping all over himself and others..after the speech..too funny..what a duffus..

[ImaPolitico]

36. What a great idea

to frame President Obama's great memorable speech.
I will do that exactly as soon as speecht becomes available on the Internet. Thanks so much for the tip.

(Am making a scrapbook of all things Obama and his family. )

[calimary]

68. Welcome to DU, BOTH of you - ImaPolitico, AND asiliveandbreathe!

Glad you're both here! We were out on the freeway earlier and I noticed there were many more than the usual cars driving along with their headlights on. During a bright, sunny, cloudless-sky late-morning. I wondered if that was in honor of Selma-50. I'll bet this will be a landmark speech, for sure.

I bet there'll be a really marvelous pavilion within his upcoming Presidential Library where you can put headphones on and listen to entire speeches of note during his presidency, and other earlier landmark moments in his life. The 2004 Democratic Convention keynote address comes to mind. Riveting as can be. And that one in particular, I'll bet, launched questions in several million minds - "gee, I wonder if I'm watching a future President of the United States?" I remember that convention and that speech. And I remember that same question popping up in my mind throughout.

[ImaPolitico]

37. Yes, I noticed too

how the Bushie's reacted while sitting next to FLOTUS.
Why does Laura Bush always seem like she is NOT in the moment? Have always noticed that about her. It's as if she was not interested in what was going on.

[hifiguy]

66. Way too much Xanax.

She always seems zoned out and always has.

[George II]

89. Stepford Syndrome

[cally]

43. I'm impressed that Bush attended

Very few Republicans attended. I won't criticize Bush today.

[NBachers]

73. You know what? When I first saw him, I thought, "What the hell is HE doing there?"

But then I thought, at this occasion, his presence is better than his non-presence. I can set aside my own personal feelings of animosity this one time.

[azmom]

90. You are a much better person than

Some here on DU who could not restrain themselves and had to spout their disagreement on President Obama's policies, although they were asked not to in honor of this day.

The insensitivity floors me.

Much respect to you.

[olegramps]

92. I truely believe wasn't smart enough to realize he was being misled.

I remember when he was assured that we would find WMD in Iraq by the CIA. He was told it was a slam dunk. I don't trust his brother since he was one of the original members of the PNAC that howled for the invasion of Iraq and only shudder to think that he could be elected. I think deep down he is nothing more than a sleaze bag of crap.

[olegramps]

93. It was masterful in its scope and clarity. Fantastic delivery.

I can only hope that the millions who can't get off their dead ass to vote wake up before the situation becomes dire. As seniors, my better half and I really appreciate that Colorado has mail in ballots. It leaves no excuse for not participating.

[lordsummerisle]

32. Great Speech n\t

[adieu]

33. He did a Shatner

King, and Jesse Jackson combined.

[annabanana]

35. It was wonderful.

Gawd that Man can talk!

[Gothmog]

38. It was a truly great speech

President Obama gave one of the great speeches of his presidency

[ImaPolitico]

39. Loved, loved the president's speech, but

was more worried than anything about the president and his safety standing / speaking at the foot of the bridge what with all that is going on at present.

Also, just read the First Family was delayed leaving the WH for Selma due a bomb threat. You can see a short writeup and video on ** Crooks and Liars' **site.

[Number23]

40. Love what he said about the weakening of the Voting Rights Act

Anyone that thinks that racism is no longer an oppressive, stifling, component of American life that touches almost everything for far too many is too stupid to even insult.

[NBachers]

75. I watched all the speeches. There were many references to this- some moderate, some impassioned

[SidDithers]

44. Kick, so that all DUers can celebrate the wonderful address...nt

Sid

[grntuscarora]

47. brilliant, inspiring.

sending the link to family and friends.

[Cha]

48. Kick.. mahalo, rurallib. looking forward to it!

[Spazito]

53. It was truly inspiring!

The President pulled no punches when it came to calling to account those who are working to take away those hard fought civil rights while reminding us all how much was achieved by those courageous marchers.

The key first steps were taken in Selma, we all have to pick up the torch to protect the rights won and fight on, walk in their steps to continue the fight for equality.

[Cha]

56. So I'm reading, Spazito! No wonder the Cons wanted to stay as far away from Selma as possible!

[Spazito]

58. They can run but they cannot hide!

Their absence speaks volumes, imo.

[Cha]

60. Infinite "volumes"..

Dr. David Romei @DavidRomeiPHD
Follow
#Golfing on the day of the #Selma anniversary. #JohnBoehner has his priorities just right. Hooks and Slices America.
6:20 AM - 7 Mar 2015 531 Retweets 214 favorites

http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/07/selma/

[Spazito]

61. Oh.......Geez...

What a fucking POS.

[justhanginon]

94. This might make a great campaign poster

with a split screen shot of Boehner golfing on one side and a Democrat who is running for office shown attending the Selma event on the same day. The contrast could not be more striking. That should get people who care to register and to vote.

[Cha]

97. That's an excellent idea, jho

[mountain grammy]

52. K & R It was a wonderful speech. Watched every minute, John Lewis too.

What a memorable day all around.

[applegrove]

54. I love it when the president calls out the GOP in a big picture

way. Jon Stewart is great at the big picture, politicians and the MSN not so much.

[GGJohn]

57. You got that right,

I was riveted to my TV, he hit it out of the park today.

[hifiguy]

63. Just finished watching it.

That was a terrific speech, one of his best, and that is saying something.

Unfortunately, capitalism has crushed democracy.

[libdem4life]

65. Just watched replay. Home run, to be sure. Delivery, as usual, in perfect timing.

I just kept hoping that somehow, someway enough people/leaders would shift even if just a bit, to evoke cooperation and walking a bit away from confrontation and obstruction.

But then again, those that needed it the most, probably weren't watching. But those there and watching must surely be changed.

[AtheistCrusader]

70. Oh man, I am heading straight to freerepublic to watch heads explode.

We should make a drinking/bingo game with words like 'hurtful' and 'divisive', see how many of us survive alcohol poisoning.

[lexington filly]

71. Inspirational!!!!!!!!

Loved his pointing out that all our struggles for equal rights across the spectrum of society are intertwined and build or fall upon one another's progress and setbacks.

[tilsammans]

74. "What could be more American than what happened in this place?"

Indeed, Mr. President.

[NBachers]

78. I've got to give a shout-out to Representative Terri Sewell's speech

I watched all the speeches. Many were downright remarkable. I really enjoyed Representative Terri Sewell's speech. I've sent this fax to her Washington and Montgomery offices:

Dear Representative Sewell,

I've just watched the extended video of the events at the Edmund Pettis Bridge today.

I just wanted to let you know how impressed I was with your speech. You were intelligent, inspiring, and brimming full of boisterous energy.

I watch politics, but I had not been aware of you before. It was a pleasure to see you up there; you really connected and communicated well.

And I know what you mean about being a colleague of The Honorable John Lewis. There are few people whom I respect as much as Congressman Lewis. You are honored to walk on the same ground as him.

Well done, Representative Sewell.

Thank you,

NBachers
San Francisco CA

[Iwillnevergiveup]

79. A stemwinder!

I hope it gets printed out somewhere - it's one to experience all down through the ages like MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. I was really surprised to see him and FLOTUS making their way through a huge crowd afterward. But then again, Barack has always wanted to get close to people to make the connection.

Bravo, sir - you did yourself proud today.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

80. oh thank you, thank you!!!

[Cha]

82. KICK

[world wide wally]

84. He spoke like a "leader"

A language Republicans cannot understand in the least

[steve2470]

86. YouTube link:

OUR PRESIDENT MADE A HISTORIC SPEECH, INDEED.

eta: here's the link in another form: http://youtu.befDELETETHIS/NVAZp1j0tKc (delete the obvious phrase in caps)

[Rose Siding]

87. American Exceptionalism Unplugged

Just watched and I can't stop tearing up.

It is Bloody Nose Sunday for the fools who say he doesn't love our country The Way We Do.

[azmom]

91. Forwarding to my daughter

She is coming home for Spring break, and I can't wait so we can share this together.
Thank you for the link.

[locks]

95. He did a great job of

reminding us of the time when we stood with the Selma marchers and Martin Luther King as they sacrificed to set the nation on a new course and finally saw the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Too bad that anyone, especially those holding high office, would want to take us back to the dark time of bigotry and violence.

[ancianita]

96. This speech firmly puts this event in history books. It will be studied along with MLK's Letter

from the Birmingham Jail for both its construction, and as one of this country's greatest statements of who Americans are and what a work in progress this country is.