Kos Diary: Obama's Life Prepared Him for Just This Moment

[K Gardner]

I don't usually quote diaries here, but this one was exceptionally moving and reflected sentiments I've had for a couple of days now. The man is destined for greatness, and quite a bit of that he has already achieved. But you just get the sense when you hear him, when you see him, that he is something quite more than a man who has done well. Its more a sense that you're watching Destiny unfold. Thanks to "cherbear" for this.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/17/225428/816/112/478889

<snip>

cherbear's diary :: ::

I am not worried about Senator Obama's speech tomorrow. He will do just fine. I am not worried about those who will continue to spew hate towards him. They will continue to do so because they were never willing to give him the chance in the first place. With or without them he will be fine.

Obama's life has prepared him for such a moment as this one. Look around you people. Who else could stand up and face such a storm dead on with dignity and pride? Only such a person as Obama.

He is comfortable in his skin because he has spent a long time learning to live in it and he has chosen who he wants to be in this world. Obama struggled long and hard with issues that many multicultural and multiethnic people struggle with.

Obama could have chosen to live this life in a much easier way. He could have embraced his white side and denounced his black side but he did not. He married a black woman who is very comfortable in her black skin and is proud of her heritage. He worked amongst poor blacks in Chicago and joined a church that did much for the black community. He fought for the rights of those same people to vote and he became a scholar of the constitution. He conducted his life with a class and dignity that is very becoming of someone so young.

If he still cannot covince this country as a whole that a good descent man, who happens identify as African-American, is the one to lead us out of our troubles and sorrows, then we would have lost out on a special moment in time. We would have lost an opportunity to work ourselves out of the predjudices that have so divided and controled us thus far as a nation.

As far as Senator Obama is concerned he will do just fine tomorrow. Because his life has prepared him for this moment and he is at peace. Can we say the same for our country as a collective?

<more at link>








Obama Formally Launches Presidential Bid


SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Feb. 10 -- Illinois Sen. Barack Obama formally launched his candidacy for the White House here this morning, invoking memories of Abraham Lincoln and challenging a new generation of Americans to help bridge political divisions and transform the nation.

"Let me begin by saying thanks to all you who've traveled, from far and wide, to brave the cold today.We all made this journey for a reason. It's humbling, but in my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/10/AR2007021000879.html

[NanceGreggs]

1. Cherbear is quite the writer ...

... and thanks for sharing his/her thoughts with us.

[K Gardner]

7. Welcome Nance.. thanks for all the thoughts YOU share with us, as well !

:hi:

[NanceGreggs]

9. Thank you so much ...

... :blush:

Really, thank you.

[cindyw]

2. Is that his grandfather? Cause, if so, he kind of looks like him.

[K Gardner]

4. Yes, it is his grandfather :-) They look so happy, don't they? More carefree times...

[stillcool]

3. I bet he's had lots of practice...

with this kind of stuff. I think it's a shame that the point that Reverend Wright made regarding 'Blowback' didn't get more attention. God Damn America. What is wrong with people that they can not understand that the chicken is indeed going to come home to roost. It already has with our economy, with veterans coming home having to rebuild their lives with no help from the country that sent them to war. Ah well. Who cares?

[K Gardner]

11. I've come to believe that the Silent Majority care.. we're just not heard as much through

the loudness and screaming of the RW and of , well, The Others.

In the silent stillness, the voices of pacifism and healing will always be heard. Barack will be heard. And he's said, he carries our voices with him.

[stillcool]

17. I too think there are more of us...

than there of them, but we don't make the headlines.

[woolldog]

18. I don;t know K,

I'm starting to think that the silent majority is stupid and ignorant.

[K Gardner]

20. I don't think we've learned how to "fight" effectively, but I think we're trying :-)

[Cha]

5. Obama gets savagely attacked and

he uses it as an opportunity to help us all learn from it..including himself, no doubt.

Here's to our candidate's speech tomorrow in Philly, PA.

[K Gardner]

6. He looks fired up and ready to go in that pic you posted !

[Cha]

8. Indiana Obama!

Taken right before his rally there.

[femrap]

10. Sorry, but as adults, you need to

get a grip. This idol worship is getting out of hand. You act as if he's the second coming....is that what you believe? You're statements are creepy...and you're setting yourself up for a major heartbreak. He is not a miracle worker. Our country is facing a financial meltdown...there is little he will be to do to relieve misery.

Please stop looking for someone else to take responsibility for your lives. He can't solve your problems. And if he doesn't win the nomination or the presidency, what then? Do you plan on rioting? Start looking at this country as adults.

There is no Easter Bunny.

[K Gardner]

12. How many times have I told you.. its two white pills in the evening. Take with water.. feel better

[femrap]

39. My, what an intelligent woman....

she can't make an argument so she just uses childish insults.

Read a book lately? Join the list of other willful ignorants.

[nolabels]

15. Who pissed in your cornflakes?

So sorry, my mistake, maybe somebody in your family died or something :shrug:





P.S. maybe you want to ask yourself what we did before we ran into your posts :think:

[femrap]

37. Voted Republican?

Go piss on yourself. Gotta add to my list...

[ClassWarrior]

19. So because Obama is uniquely qualified to speak on race, I'm...

...abandoning responsibility for my life?

:crazy:

NGU.

[femrap]

36. And you

think I'm :crazy: ???? What does being biracial have to do with BO's idol worship??? I believe each human being is uniquely qualified to speak of her/his experience.

[bling bling]

23. Hillary Clinton invokes depressive-like symptoms where Obama inspires higher conciousness.

A lot of us think that Hillary Clinton's supporters are getting played by a business just like Bushco played their supporters.

Listen to what people are saying about Clinton. Can you set your anger and disgust towards us aside for a moment and let your self see so that you can see a new perspective through other people's eyes why they like Obama and dislike Hillary?

Re-read your OP. Is that who you really are at your core? A cynic through and through? I don't know, only you know. But I hope not. In any case, I like being on this side of the aisle. Your leader looks really unattractive and unappealing in this campaign to many Democrats. She doesn't draw me in, she pushes me away.

It has nothing to do with believing in the Easter Bunny. It has to do with believing that we can do better than what we've had up to this point. And the bar is actually pretty low, to be frank. I don't think it will take divine intervention. Obama uses common sense and a language that resonates. It's simply called leadership. It's a shame that so many other politicians are so poor at genuine leadership ability that it makes Obama and the people who simply think like him (and are happy to invest in and rally around someone who speaks about what we believe in) look to you like he's some sort of an idol being worshipped.

[femrap]

35. If I could have one wish, it would be to

have Edwards back in the campaign...but that isn't going to happen.

I shouldn't have to apologize for my distrust of BO. Why don't you listen to what others are saying about BO? He leaves me cold...I see ambition. I don't believe he cares about women...Oh, they're OK as long as serve their husbands. He has never said a word against sexism...he just lets the sexist attacks continue.

I do not trust him and his seven 'present' votes on Choice. And if a woman does not have Choice, she is not a free human being capable of determining her destiny.

I'm fairly well resigned to a McCain presidency...the Democratic party has been 'Divided and Conquered' as far as I can see. If you think that what I call 'reality' is cynical, that is certainly your right.

And why does Jeremiah Wright get to display his anger from a church pulpit while Geraldine Ferraro is condemned for hers? Why is that? Because our culture does not allow a women to show her anger...it's not 'ladylike,' is it?

I'm tired of my feelings/beliefs/life experiences being ridiculed and cast aside as not important. Shirley Chisholm said it best: "Men are men."

[bling bling]

43. Here's my long response.

I would never support anyone who wasn't pro-choice. I was very upset with our party when Harry Reid became majority leader. I didn't make a big issue out of it, though, because as long as he doesn't take away my rights, that's the bottom line. I think Obama, though, really agrees with the pro-choice point of view. He isn't paternalistic or authoritarian in his nature. The other night bigtree posted an article in the NY Times that provided an exquisite biography of Obama's mothers life. She was an independent thinker, the type of person to take action rather than talk about it, and her philosophy of life was inspiring. I can see now where Obama gets it from, his courage to stand up for his convictions. The fact that Obama went on the 700 club and STILL stood up for his pro-choice stance was proof that he's not not going to cross the aisle if he's elected. Obama seems to understand how to convey the same message in ways that speak to the audience he's addressing, but it is the same basic message. As far as his seven present votes go, that issue has been addressed time and time again by Obama himself and many others including Planned Parenthood directly whom he conspired with on how to vote on those measures in terms of the larger picture. If you genuinely are "concerned" about it, then it's because your gut thinks that Planned Parenthood would lie for Obama. Not because of anything grounded in fact. So I DO think you ought to apologize for voicing distrust about his stance on a very important issue without any backup. I think you're hiding behind your "concern" while throwing "concern darts" to hurt Obama's reputation that he doesn't *at all* deserve.

Obama responded that Geraldine Ferraro's statements were "ridiculous" and "wrong-headed". You make that sound soooooo much worse than when he made special appearances on national TV, specifically to denounce and disagree with the viewpoints of his friend Jeremiah Wright. And he had already denounced those views in the past, anyway. He didn't disown his friend and he didn't call for the head of Ferraro either. The media was worked up into a frenzy equally. The public became outraged after both incidents. If anything, Obama was called out to react to the outrage by more people on his own side here and certainly by more pundits than Hillary was. So who's your imaginary beef with anyway? Trying to imply it was a "sexist" double standard just doesn't hold water.

"Men are men" you say. Okay. I'm tired of your feelings/beliefs/life experiences being ridiculed too, by whomever is doing it. I hate people who do that. But Obama didn't do it and you're making him guilty because of others who have.

I'm not tired of people who simply want a woman president. I'm tired of people who are talking down to those of us who voice our admiration for Obama (see your first response). I'm tired of the people who try to link Obama to sexism directly or indirectly (see your response to me) when he has done nothing to deserve being smeared in that way.

With Obama we can start a new chapter for the party and history, too. Yet many of Clinton's supporters seem hell-bent on making McCain be the alternative and using sexism as one of the justifications for not suporting Obama. That is a smear campaign right in line with the ugly, ugly campaign Clinton has *led*. And if, in the end, it's so-called feminist women who sink the party by abandoning it simply because Obama was nominated and not a woman and linking their justification with sexism, then my great admiration and appreciation for the women's movement will be stained forever with an asterisk that will EXCLUDE the unwelcome service of a very specific subset of women who failed us ALL on a global scale in 2008 by pushing smears against a good man on our own team without any care whatsover of the natural negative consequences. Not that you would contribute to such an activity. Just saying in general. And hopefully I am way off base about that even being a possibility.

[jasmine621]

13. Sorry, but there is no way Obama could have embraced his white side

and denounced his black side. He had no choice. He is black. He was then, he is now, and he will always be black in America and in the world. I am a product of a mixed marriage. Unless you are born with blue eyes and blond hair and fair to white skin, you are black. It's just that simple. Ask the daughter of Strom Thurmond.

[Drachasor]

27. Deleted

Meant to post in response to the OP

[Scurrilous]

14. K & R

:thumbsup:

[BenDavid]

16. 20 years of indoctrination from preacher wright will sure as hell

prepare you to know how to play the game and play it in such as way that most people cannot reconize the con....

i care not to listen to a man that will try and justify his non action to a pastor that for 18 plus years ranted and raved about the evil "white man" and "white America". Obama cannot tell me anything about race in america and the con will be he has the same contempt as his instructor pastor wright.

Jeremiah Wright preaches to his congregation hatred and bigotry towards whites, his sermons are divisive and offensive. This man is the man that Barack Obama called his spiritual leader and good friend. Obama says he is the only candidate that can bring America back together and heal our souls, yet this is who he looks to for guidance?

Here is part of Obama’s statement after the good “reverend” left the Obama campaign.

“What I hope is what the American people will trust is what I believe,” he said, that “my values, my ideas, what I’ve spoke about in terms of bringing the country together will override a guilt by association.”

It should tell you something when Obama uses the term “guilt by association” when talking about the man whom Obama seeks direction from. Obama touts his judgement leading up to the Iraq war to claim that he would never have invaded in the first place. What kind of judgement does it show the American people when Obama is influenced for twenty years by this bigoted “reverend?”

Barack Obama has run on bringing the country together, uniting us, and healing us. Yet Obama’s minister preaches the opposite. Barack Obama is not fit to be president, this just reaffirms it. Obama’s spiritual leader and good friend is nothing but a race baiting bigot, and Obama looks to this man for guidance.

How can Obama unite the country when his guidance councilor is so adept at dividing America?

We had this election won in november until obama decided to "unite us" and boy has he done a good job of it.

[K Gardner]

21. You've proven time and time again on this board what you are, Ben David. And there are

plenty of those type of threads for you to piss on. As for me, I've had enough of your hate, so you go to ignore tonight.

[Growler]

24. Good lord....

[bhikkhu]

25. My request would be that you read the Christian bible, the books of the prophets

condemning the wickedness of Israel in the same tone and words that Wright used, and consider what was the intent of those prophets. Then take a good look at US history -there have been wrongs.

Black Americans were largely brought here to work as slaves to White Americans. That is reality. A war was fought for the ending of slavery, but in much of the country it ended only as a legal term. The sixties brought progress, but Wright and much of the older generation are still apart of that unjust age, where the divisions were still structural and oppressive. That age has passed...and Obama is of a new generation. I can see what this is like in myself. My grandfather spoke of "blacks" and "jews" as people who were "not like us", but no one in my generation (b.1965) speaks so, at least on the side of the country I have lived. you can speak of Barack's indocrination, but I see nothing of it in his words or actions. I think, like me, that it makes no sense except as an abstract and obnoxious injustice. People are people, and are judged so.

My point being, I have some understanding of Wright's sermons, and wish that you could understand as well. I believe that Barack, like me and much of my generation, just "doesn't get" the racism of past generations, and is motivated instead against injustice in general.

[K Gardner]

29. Excellent response.. unfortunately wasted on "ignored" :-)

[SunsetDreams]

22. K&R

[Frank Booth]

26. LOOK!!!! OBAMA'S ATTACKING THAT POOR OLD WHITE MAN IN THE TOP PHOTO!!!

I think that's Jeremiah Wright behind them throwing a stick at the old white man.

Why does Obama hate white people SO much???

[Drachasor]

28. I have to agree that if Obama fails tomorrow, it probably speaks more of this country than him

As the diary the OP quoted said, he is uniquely qualified and capable of giving this speech. If after that, America (as a whole) can't come to terms with itself (and the whole Black America/White America/Hispanic America/Etc), then there is something really wrong with this country.

[K Gardner]

30. It really IS a test for America, too. I just wish we didn't have the damned MSM as a "filter".

[dkf]

31. K&R

I am so looking forward to Obama's speech tomorrow.

I know it will be a historic.

Go Obama!!!

[jlake]

32. I see the koolaid dosage has been upped.....

Pretty soon y'all are going to start OD'ing and dropping like flies.

Jesus Christ. Obama has clearly shown he is part of the problem
Why else would he attend a hateful racist church for 20 years?

"His life has prepared him for this".... what a fucking crock of shit.

[Jensen]

33. Thank you for posting this Cherbear's Diary....You are spot ON!

Since he was a youngster with his back ground he has felt the heat and look what a great person he has become. There is nothing like walking into a grocery store, church, any public setting with his grandparents in tow and feeling that feeling as when ("E.F.Hutton speaks") You can actually hear a pin drop! It will make you run out & shrink like a violet or as tough, brilliant as diamonds! He is definitely a Diamond with a million facets!

Let the light shine...GOBAMA 08!!!!!

[K Gardner]

34. Kicking because this was, indeed, TRUE

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

38. His time has come!

[knixphan]

40. silent majority, join me! DONATE!

Throw the equivalent of a few beers into a 25-buck donation on barackobama.com

[IsItJustMe]

41. K&R

[Bonobo]

42. K/R