Obama speech in church today surprises devout secularist

[Adelante]

Steve Clemons: If I heard more commentary like that from pols — that took risks at the pulpit and did less pandering — I might revise a bit of my objection to this sort of politicking.

But kudos to Barack Obama for surprising a devout secularist today.

And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community.

We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.

Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.

So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others — all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face — war and poverty; injustice and inequality.

We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.

Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/obamas-tough-love-speech_b_82368.html

[Bluerthanblue]

1. k&r eom

[sandnsea]

2. This is what he always does

Some of us have been posting these kinds of statements for months. Why do these people who make so fucking much money never find the complete story on the candidates.

[Adelante]

15. Oh, I know, I've posted them, too

I'm just glad Clemons woke up today.

[calmblueocean]

3. That's what I like about Obama

He challenges all his audiences to break out of their traditional boundaries, their traditional condemnations of "good people" and "bad people" and gets them to acknowledge that we are all human beings and we all have merit, and if we stop hating each other for just a little bit, we can find common ground and move forward together. No one else running does that.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

4. That is one of the best speeches i've heard in ages

I am however unsure if i should shake my head sadly or just chuckle at the what a commenter on huffington posted tho(leaning strongly toward doing both)

Obama was pandering. He was pandering to gays at the expense of the black congregation as if it was their fault he brought McClurkin on tour with him. He was pandering to Jews because Richard Cohen linked him to Louis Farrakhan because the minister of Obama church had the nerve to give an award to Louis Farrakhan. And he was straight out throwing blacks over with the whole immigrants and jobs because blacks and others have a legitimate complaint that ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION drives down wages.

[thunder rising]

7. Right 'cause if your not insighting hatred you're pandering ... got it

The sermon could not be about stopping the hate between the most common of people change the politics that brings things back into proportion. If you can recall the Southern Strategy is about division; don't look at the policies that allow a situation to exist, look at the people (the common people) that you see everyday. The policies of the Republicans exist to wedge us apart on every issue.

[papau]

5. Great speech - but "So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me" - I thought this was about MLK?

[Perky]

6. Ever read his Selma Speech?

[papau]

18. A great speech - but why the mis-direction about Selma?

I dismiss the quibble about JFK's term starting after his Dad came over - and whose money brought his Dad over. The fact that JFK had the Kennedy foundation give $100,000 in August 1960, toward a program the State Department had not yet funded, makes the plane ride in September a reasonable "JFK" memory.

But the Selma thing bothers me - not because it is a provable lie - it isn't. I don't like his trying to bring in the image of the 1965 bridge march by saying "what happened" in Selma inspired his family when by his lanuage he knows he is implying a lie (he is smart enough to realize folks will note he was born 4 years before the Selma bridge march. God only only knows what happened in Selma between Sept 1960 and Nov 1960 when he was concieved that he is using as the basis for saying his parents were motivated by Selma).

Too cute by half.

But the speech was fantastic as a speech - he has amazing speaking and writing talent and great knowledge of his (and my) religion.

[DJ13]

8. Heres an interesting pro-Obama website

http://www.republicansforobama.org/?q=consider
Consider Obama | Republicans for Obama

[creeksneakers2]

9. Great speech n/t

[cali]

10. one of the most amazing speeches I've ever heard

it brought tears to my eyes- and that is rare.

[peoli]

11. Me too... and tears dripping on my keyboard as well

[wndycty]

13. Is it available anywhere?

:kick:

[Donna Zen]

12. What surprised me

was how hard this made me cry. This speech spoke to my heart.

[kevsand]

16. I remember feeling this way whenever I watched "American Son."

Part of the reason I like both Wes and Barack (and RFK) so much is because they constantly remind me of how things should be.

[Donna Zen]

20. The Real State of Union Address

Wes always touched me with his vision of what America can be. I think I choked up during his speech at the New America Foundation because he understood so well. The Real State of Union Address was great. If I had to chose one, which is difficult because there are some really, really good ones, I chose his speech at Pembrooke Academy. The applause crashed like untamed waves against the stage as Wes moved as perfectly balanced panther around the stage. I filmed the speech and cannot watch it ever again but the memory of bouncing out of that gym lives on.

The major difference for me of appeal of these two men lies their point of connection. Wes awakened the feeling I get when I read the words of the Founders. It is a place of great belief in the possibility of our nobel experiment in self-governance. Their similarity comes with their appeal to us, "we can do this, and we can do it together." I think those are Wes's words. As he has also said, "Generals can loose wars; only armies can win them."

That is true. Anyone can hire the smooth sounding policy wonks, but only leaders can lead.

[HughMoran]

14. Excellent speech

Obama is a very inspiring person!

[madrchsod]

17. i see the teachings of christ in that message

[ZombieHorde]

19. charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical c

Fantastic line.