During last Friday’s Vox Populi, we were discussing how the GOP/Tea Party, assisted hugely by Fox, the MSM and corporations, has foisted this fraudulent series of racist and hateful “issues” on the nation and into our politics.
Pres. Obama, being a thoughtful man of reason, responds earnestly to accusations about mosques near Ground Zero, his being a secret Muslim, etc.
We arrived at a consensus that instead of this accomplishing anything, Obama’s responses merely validate and empower the GOP hate machine which is continuing to whip up more and more irrational fear and hatred against non-whites, non-Christians and any other group that can be portrayed as the evil “other”.
A legitimate concern is that such rabid, omnipresent and publicly sanctioned hate mongering is deteriorating social discourse and behavior as well as our democracy…not to mention increasing the likelihood of more terrible, hate-inspired incidents.
What Pres. Obama needs to do, in our opinion, is to bust this fraud wide open and expose the cynical greed for power behind it. Instead of playing defense in this rigged game, Obama needs to kick the board over.
We would like to see Pres. Obama make a speech from the White House to the American People, laying bare the racism and xenophobia being used to manipulate people to empower the GOP and corporate America. He needs to explain to the nation that the GOP’s blocking of everything that would help America recover from the GOP/Corporate-caused economic crash, purely for their political gain, is unAmerican.
By doing so, he could short circuit this dangerous scheme and turn the focus to where it belongs, on those who would betray the people for their own pursuit of power. Instead of standing by while the GOP propaganda machine continues spewing lies and hatreds that Obama needs to keep addressing, it’s time to put the GOP back on their heels and on the defensive for their ruthless and disgusting behavior.
And a bold, confrontational speech by Pres. Obama declaring that this campaign, by the GOP and the Corporations behind them, is about placing the greed for power above what’s best for the citizens of our nation would change the conversation profoundly from the manufactured accusations and divisive distractions from reality to the true reality we’re actually living in.
Such a speech could rally the nation.This country desperately needs to reverse the polarization and come together to confront and overcome the immense challenges facing us, not allow the GOP and Fox to increase the ongoing deterioration of this Union and its future because it’s to their own financial and political benefit.
So we came up with the idea of setting up a collaboration for folks here to offer their thoughts and suggestions on what Pres. Obama could say in such a speech and also what we should say to him in a cover letter to convince him to take such action.
Once we’ve had folks weigh in on this, we’ll draft a speech and a cover letter based on the comments below and post them so people can add their names (confidentially) as signatories to endorse them (and get the word out to try to gather as many people as we can to add their names). Then we will send the letter and speech to Pres. Obama for his consideration.
So please feel free to dive right in with any suggestions, please share your thoughts on what Pres. Obama should say in an address to the nation to defuse this mercenary campaign that seeks to further tear apart our nation and instead inspire people to come together for the common good.
SueInCa
choicelady
AdLib
Kalima
Khirad
I think with Obama there is “no there there”. Unless he shows a side of himself that he’s kept in his back pocket, I think he is not really interested in saying or doing anything that will cause upset. He has become as bland as they come.
Boreack Oblanda
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First, Obama comes from a background of being a community organizer, that is just part of who he is, a guy who wants to bring people together.
Also, I think it’s been clear since he entered the primary that he has been placed on notice by “society” that America will be watching him closely to make sure he’s not an “angry black man” or he will become our enemy.
So, not only is that part of his temperament but he has this racial onus on him that allows white people to scream hatefully at him but he is not “allowed” to show too much aggressiveness or he’ll no longer be our, “nice black friend”.
He does have to transcend this artificial barrier and his prior sensibility.
But if a logical man recognizes that calm,cool reason is not working, a logical man would eventually seek a path that does work.
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I don’t think he enjoys doing things “that will cause upset,” but that doesn’t mean he’s confrontation averse. During the health care debate he took it to the Republicans, and wasn’t afraid to debate them vigorously when he was the only Dem in the room.
If we just throw up our hands and say he’s Boreack Oblanda, what happens to the rest of his administration? Do we just check out and hope for the best? I think that would delight the Tea Bag people, but it wouldn’t do much for the sane element of the population.
He has shown that he hears popular opinion; we just have to make sure we don’t stop expressing it.
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I’m sure he’ll debate vigorously because he’s a Harvard lawyer and that’s what lawyers, especially one of Obama’s stature, do. To what extent some of these things he does are done symbolically, it’s hard to say. The rest of his administration are sort of cut from the same cloth. Elizabeth Warren would be a departure and she’s still from Harvard.
Why this whole thing with Harvard? Because Harvard owns Goldman and Goldman controls the money in his country. I think it’s key. Corporate America!
We shouldn’t give up, but if we protest maybe we should storm Harvard.
As Jack Kerouac said “And that ain’t no Harvard lie”.
I go through cynical periods, kes. This may be a more entrenched one.
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I think I’d rather storm Goldman, MB!
Now there’s a company I love to hate.
But Jack Kennedy came from Hahvahd, too, so I can’t dump all the blame on them. We are a bit too Ivy League, I agree. In government and the Supreme Court.
I’d love to see Joe Biden taken off the leash and muzzle. Now there’s a guy who knows how to talk to the working class. He was in town on Monday and charmed the lunch boxes off of the factory guys/gals here. Go Joe!
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Here’s what I’m going to post over there:
Rabid, omnipresent and publicly sanctioned hate mongering is deteriorating social discourse and behavior as well as our democracy. Obama’s responses merely validate and empower the GOP hate machine which is continuing to whip up more and more irrational fear and hatred against non-whites, non-Christians and any other group that can be portrayed as the evil
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Excellent, thanks so much HITO!
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He’ll never do it HITO. It isn’t in him.
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You could be right but then again, everything else he is trying isn’t working. When he was confronted with the Rev. Wright situation, that’s exactly what he did.
Will he be that bold again? No knowing but if the seed can be planted, it could grow.
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He was bold during the election. He wanted to demonstrate something that he may have no need to demonstrate again.
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I wonder whether he cares if it’s working or not. What sort of seed will be planted and who’s going to be planting it?
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Johnny Adlibseed.
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Yes, you are….love it!
You better add a TM.
Johnny Adlibseed
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How delicious – how golden-ey delicious, AdLib!
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I think you guys all give Joe American way too much credit. First of all, most Americans only have a dim idea of what’s going on politically. They don’t even know there are smear campaigns going on and if they get an inkling about it, they shrug and say how disgusted they are with politics and move on to the dinner table. If Obama were to suddenly pipe up with this notion of…hmm, something like a “vast rightwing conspiracy” (sound familiar?) most Americans will just think he’s paranoid. You’re writing the speech that YOU want to hear, but it’s not the speech that most Americans want to hear.
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Of course I don’t agree, my friend.
The American People in general can indeed be an uninformed group that thinks with its emotions.
Which is actually my point.
Many may be poorly informed but they do have a feeling that something is terribly wrong in our democracy. Polls continually display that one of the main objections people have to our politics is the lack of bipartisanship, Dems and GOP working together for the best interests of the people.
This is a salient and effective direction to campaign.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting presenting this as a “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” speech so the attempt at disqualifying this effort on those terms wouldn’t be accurate.
I don’t believe that telling people what they kind of know already is challenging. If Obama was to present such a speech with the theme of, “Reject those trying to pit us against each other, we must come together for all of our sakes”, I don’t see any of the issues that you are addressing.
Granted, I did focus my post on calling out the GOP and Fox, that’s more the core of what I would want expressed in such a speech but as I mentioned to Bito, it would admittedly be wiser to refer generally to those who are whipping up intolerance and hostility between one group of Americans and another for their own political and financial gains.
Would the public, that already is disgusted with the partisanship and lack of progress in repairing the damage to our economy be bored with or spiteful towards a president who expresses the same?
My opinion is that it would be effective and cut through the torrent of BS the Repubs are pouring into the media and our democracy.
Hey, if you want to talk about conspiracy theorists, that’s all that the GOP consists of now and people are eating it up. So in fact, the proposition that today’s American public rejects conspiracy theories is hard to argue.
I think it is worth the effort. As they say, the longest trip begins with the first step and whatever results from these efforts, it is promoting this sensibility amongst the public and directly to the White House.
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“Hey, if you want to talk about conspiracy theorists, that
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Nope, not saying that Obama should aim for conspiracy theory land, just saying that there shouldn’t be a concern that his calling out those in this nation who would sow division because it benefits them might be perceived as a conspiracy theory.
I do think Obama should take one small page from the GOP book and that is to be aggressive about opposing them at every turn. After all, they represent a nihilism and mercenary sensibility that is, when seen in the light of day, disgusting.
I don’t agree that it’s too late but I do agree that it is not what he wants to do.
Yet, even to the most cool headed, logical person, when painted into a corner and nothing else can get you out, it is indeed logical to attempt solutions you haven’t wanted to try before.
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We’re talking about TV, aren’t we? When it all comes down to it, that’s the greatest Slumber Inducing Sheepalizer that mankind has ever invented, isn’t it?
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Although I don’t intend to get involved beyond this point for various reasons, I just wanted to say that I agree with your thoughts and comment here escribacat.
Now I’ll just take a step back to my borderline and mosey on back to my side of the fence.
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You get in here right now OG !
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You’re not alone in THAT department, K! I tend to piss everybody off at one time or another!
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Evening wts. Have you been out in the pea soup air tonight?
If you have time, please check out my latest adventure in pissing people off without lifting a finger, both hands tied behind my back and mouth and eyes taped shut, on MB.
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I’m sorry to hear about Rosie, I’m still praying for rain.
I have no idea how many scam artists there are, but I think by the way the email is worded every time that I have the same bugger each time with a different name but the same spelling and grammar mistakes. I wish that I could report him, just don’t know what my options are after my obvious failure with Yahoo.
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yes, she just becomes absolutely drained and searches, in vain, for the “coolest” place in the house to sleep in.
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I read your story, such an ordeal! It’s ridiculous how many scam operators there are out there in cyberspace.
My outside tribe complain loudly, I feel so bad for them. My lot just want attention all the time, and sit close to me in this heat just to annoy me I think.
I’m sure that little Rosie must really hate it too, they are all covered in hair, poor little things.
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will do!
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And yes, out in the thick, moist, soggy air. How are the cats holding up? Rosie hates this weather.
I agree. Most Americans need to be first woken up out of their trances before they can hear anything new that doesn’t put them back in a trance.
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Which is why I think hammering something like this is a good idea, something like this could snap some out of their trances.
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Unless they get put to sleep. It needs to get their adrenaline going.
That’s why I endorse fear. A mild fear, but enough to get their attention.
People are also in a trance from media and entertainment. Not including the trances they are in in their day to day social interactions. There are many layers to break through.
I am by nature an idealist but I am also a pragmatist. To get the job done one may need to abandon the ideals and get ornery and manipulative. Fight fire with fire.
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I agree, there are legit fears that Obama should discuss.
The return of Republican control of the economy which would smother the recovery and plunge us into a deep depression, the loss of our democracy to corporate plutocracy, the end of the middle class along with Social Security and Medicare, the destruction of the planet by corporate plundering…and on and on.
There are good reasons to have fear of dangerous things that are impending, to prevent them. And Obama should be hammering those while Repubs hammer on deadly gay marriage and Muslim recreation centers.
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I’m hoping we’re not giving Joe American too much credit, e’cat, although there’s a part of me that, sadly, knows and recognizes the truth in what you say.
But then I remind myself that Joe Americans did, after all, elect Obama (as astonishing as that seems now).
And if Americans are able to conceive of Obama as paranoid in describing these attacks from the right, I have to hope that they might be induced to see the genuine paranoia machine that’s actually manufacturing those attacks.
Just out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on what would be the speech that most Americans do want to hear?
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Obama provided hope, or at least the promise of it. It succumbed to fear and there was no hope plan B in place. Or so it seems to this Joe American. I think Obama has a hard time convincing people he can address their fears because he doesn’t appear to feel them. He is cool. Too cool.
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I agree that a real distance has developed between Obama and many people out there, one that wasn’t there during the campaign.
That’s why I think something like this is doubly important, it would give Obama a chance to connect to Americans again as a caring, concerned and principled human being on an encompassing issue that needs his leadership.
I am not naive about the American Public, they are suckers at times, they did like Bush because he was the kind of guy they would want to have a beer with…a brilliant pre-requisite to leading the free world as we all witnessed…but as in any matter in being well received by the public, connecting with their concerns and sensibilities is effective.
People are frustrated in general because they don’t feel like those in power, Dems or Repubs, appreciate what they’re going through or care.
This kind of speech can connect with all of that, expressing the same goals and saying that the only way to achieve them is to reject division and hatred.
This should be “A house divided against itself cannot stand” type speech and I think it could hit a home run for Obama and for the nation.
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People liked Bush because he was a plain speaker despite his verbal handicap. He was impassioned and “clear”. Reagan had the same sort of clarity.
Americans need guidance and that means they can’t be exposed to ambiguity as much as we may like, they can’t tolerate it.
I think Obama is principled. But I also think his passion is circumscribed and so muted that he appears to float above it all. We were told this before the election. It has panned out. What he says is going to be less important then how he says it.
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Coolness. It’s both a blessing and a curse. In times of crisis, we crave leadership with a cool head. But we also want to be cuddled. It’s hard — nearly impossible — for one person to do both. This was one area in which Bill Clinton shone. But I can say that in retrospect.
When he was actually in office, he was on the receiving end of the worst of the right wing conspiracy operations, big time. And it wasn’t all in Hillary’s imagination, either!
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This is easy. President Obama needs to hold up a mirror of history. There are several good examples.
Pick an ancient civilization that grew, prospered, and then collapsed into the dustbin of history. Romans, Greeks, Babylonians, Sumerians, Byzantium, Ottoman, etc. Why, what happened? In a word, Hubris. Pride goes before a fall.
But he won’t do it. Why? Hubris.
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I think he might do it. He knows and appreciates history.
But Americans won’t hear it. They don’t know or appreciate history. And they really don’t think it ever applies to them! They are the Magnificent Exception.
National hubris.
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Absolutely true. Cynical politicians like McCain, Osarah bin Palin, Boehner, etc. and scum bags like Rove are feeding the national hubris of American exceptionalism, Christian dominionism, and conservative political triumphalism, their daily megadoses through the mouthpiece of beck and limbo.
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Yes, d. Beck, especially, revises and warps American history on a daily basis. And reframes it in ways that would have made the founders wretch with nauseated dismay.
Beck is also, as I’ve said before, trying to plug the Constitution into the same “slot” the Bible holds in the brains of the religious right. Everything new in the 21st century has to pass the litmus test of its originator’s being able to cite chapter and verse in the Constitution for its justification. Not the real Constitution, of course, which recognizes the need for growth and adaptation, but the Beck-rigid, immutable, infallible and God-dictated King James version, with interpretation by the Prophet Glennda and his chosen disciples and no one else.
History needs to be taught by someone besides the football coach in high schools. It’s too important; and generations of kids shouldn’t be allowed to doze through it, only to wake up, flip on FOX, and be “skooled” by Beck.
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USA!!!
USA!!!
USA!!!
HUZZAH, HUZZAH, HUZZAH!!!!
I love the idea, Adlib.
But Obama ALREADY is literary and intellectual. Like all of you! He needs grit, beer and bowling.
The unfortunate thing is, he doesn’t appear to have it in him. He can’t seem to depart from a mode which has served him so well up until now.
Obama’s brain hides his heart
The heart is more visceral, primitive and persuasive. Fear works. It is the first emotion to have and it is hard to extinguish.
The GOP uses the Ape Movies model. Apes in movies and in the wild are first afraid and then angry. That’s the solar fuel that drives the GOP’s Fear/Anger which is repeated and mirrored and cloned. We need to make Ourselves paranoid of the Republicans. O won’t because he won’t get black and white about it. But the GOP sure does! That’s why they win. They create ABSOLUTE VALUES. Absolute Fear values, absolute Anger issues. Obama creates gradations. Dems are afraid or ambivalent about indignation. Repubs drink it like milk.
Obama needs a Cyrano who’s a real mutha.
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You raise a valid point, MR!
Whether by nature, nurture or experience, Obama has needed (or wanted) to be Spok or Data of Star Trek legend. And that, as you say, has worked beautifully until now.
Deep inside, I think there’s a little voice telling him: “If you lose your cool and show your anger, they win.” I believe most of the time, that little voice is right.
But now, the “no drama Obama” we all knew, loved and voted for may be perceived by the suffering public as detached and indifferent. This is really a dilemma, because losing his temper is still fodder for criticism by “them,” and, knowing how “they” operate, reason enough to slap the “angry Black dude” label on him.
So the trick, I guess, is to show passion without fury. Disapproval of their lies without defensiveness. He uses humor beautifully, but even there, he has to be careful, lest he be viewed as having a laugh at other people’s expense.
As you note, it’s much easier for the Repubs. Entropy is always easier. So much simpler to burn the house down than it is to build it.
Damned entropy….
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I agree; it needs to be a story. But it can’t be the same story. It can’t tap into the same primal fear bullshit the Republicans have made their forte. It needs to be a fable, something Arthurian, something that makes people see how poisonous the air has become. He needs to keep asking, “Is this really who we are? A bunch of wimps afraid of our own shadows? What has made us this way, what are the voices we’ve been listening to?”
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There was an old Star Trek episode about an amorphous alien that kept trying to get the Klingons and the Federation to fight, and finally they realized what was going on and refused to fight. The alien “starved”. That’s the kind of narrative I would like to see being spread now.
Arthurian is too emotionally removed to do anything. It DOES have to tap into primal fear. Obama/Dems just have to do what the Republicans don’t do: come up with a solution to the fear.
The Republicans only offer fear without solutions.
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sorry, can’t agree. Too much fear already. Fear IS the poison that is wrecking everything. If not Arthurian, then Rooseveltian. We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
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I agree about Rooseveltian. But disagree with you otherwise.
Fear is universal and will never go away. Fear is not a poison, it is a very important part of who we are. It informs us. Fear or anxiety can motivate because it causes an increase in the energy of people. Fear is adrenaline. It makes them move. Fear is needed for progress. Trying to minimize fear by not introducing it into our existence would be a brittle existence subject to denying reality.
All activism starts with fear and powerlessness and leads to indignation as a result. The indignation through protestation is the physical manifestation of the fear.
(I’m not talking about propagandized fear manipulation).
Sorry.
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I think our disagreement rests on just that last bit you placed in parentheses. Propagandized fear manipulation has become so prevalent, and so combustible, that ANY more fear risks just throwing gasoline onto the fire. I know that life is more complicated than fiction, but in the Star Trek episode I referred to, Kirk and the Klingons (great name for a 60s rock band, I know) LAUGHED at the entity. Fear and anger would only have strengthened it.
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Michael Moore, I feel, nailed it in his segment in “Bowling For Columbine” where he talked about the Fear Machine, the “tall black man”, the bogey men all around us. Marilyn Manson. Things We Must Be Afraid Of. I think it wouldn’t hurt for the president to call that baloney out, call it what it is “propagandized fear manipulation”, and challenge Americans to be better than that.
Sounds good to me, wts!
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This is a fascinating debate.
I’m inclined to think that fear tends to incapacitate and paralyze people, more often than not, though. Or to make them do really stupid things. What energizes people is hope. It might carry an edge of outrage, but before you can have activism, you have to believe that you can succeed at it.
One of my history profs in college noted that revolutions rarely occur when people are at true rock bottom. They happen when things begin to get ever so slightly better. Because that’s when people have a small glimmer of hope.
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That’s right! That’s why I said originally, I believe, we need to make us fear the looming Republicans. Then we give ourselves hope.
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Heh. I’m just as happy to let the Repubs do the looming. They can be the gargoyles of our nightmares. If we can be the party of hope and light, that’s yin-yang enough for me!
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Drives out, but not absolutely. To have only hope would not be advantageous to us as a species. It would set us up. Some amount of fear, I think, needs to loom in the shadows. I see it as a fear-hope dialectic.
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Hey, b’ito! We’re both up really late!
And you’re totally right on that one. It’s a rare person who can make sound decisions in times of severe stress. That’s why we need each other for support.
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And one of your nursing profs probably pointed out that a person in fear (pain, serious/terminal illness)are incapable of or will make poor decisions.
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Agree for the most part, MR, but while hope and fear may both be present in a given society at the same time, I think in the human heart, one tends to drive out the other.
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Hope is precisely the solution the Dems need to inspire. That’s their edge.
Hope, ideally, directs fear.
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It appears we were thinking in Star Trek terms at exactly the same moment, WTS…
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Great Minds Trek Alike!
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hey guys – only a minute to weigh in, but my thought is
“There is nothing fair and balanced about lying about people or misrepresenting situations. There are laws for slander and libel that should protect us from such actions. Unfortunately, we allow certain people and certain media outlets to say what can only kindly be referred to as untruths. But many of us know they are lies. Perhaps someday – sooner rather than later – those who knowingly lie and distort reality will be held accountable for their actions. That’s a Citizens United that I would like to see.
Some of these lies seek to make us afraid – afraid the government is out to hurt you, afraid some people who look differently than you or who worship differently than you are out to hurt you, afraid that you need to take your country ‘back’.
(VOICE AMP UP) I say: Take your country forward into a brighter future, where we are not seen as waging war against another country because of where they are located, what resources they might have that we might need, or because they are simply different than us.
I want to see Christian churches and Christian leaders – be they Protestant, Evangelical or Catholic – send in money to help build the Islamic Cultural Center. I want to see Rabbis and synagogues do the same. I want schools to help raise money to help build the center. How will that play overseas, by those who want to lie about us from places that wish to harm us, when we stand shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, with those who are different than us? We are a nation of immigrants, and together we can and shall work to make the United States an even brighter light of hope for the world.
We are truly at a turning point in this country. We can choose love, compassion and understanding; or we can choose fear and hatred and stupidity. The two paths cannot reside in your heart at the same time. I believe, as Americans, we can choose wisely. God Bless America, and God Bless the World.”
That’s what I would say. AND that I am ordering the FCC to revoke the license of Fox News for its blatant political overtones and malicious manners. An EXECUTIVE order……….
Out for the evening. Have fun – I’ll read tomorrow. Good work all.
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Magnificent!
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Great AB, did you cheat and have one of your girls write that?
They may have more respect to our form of government than some teabaggers.
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http://www.awwproject.org/
Hi Bito! No, my girls did not write “my” speech, but they DO inspire it. Although they are capable of writing much better than me…. And reading what kesmarn wrote about there not being a drive for revolution when you are at rock bottom is EXACTLY what I kept trying to say about Afghanistan – now that they have “seen the future, and it could be us” with cell phones, computers, movies, tv shows on the computer, music, etc, they may be more ripe to make the needed changes than they were when the Taliban controlled everything. At least, that is my hope.
Waiting to hear the results of the visa application for my little writer on that site – will let you know when we hear something. Cross everything you can and send good thoughts……..
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Bravo, AB!
I especially love the part about taking the country forward rather than back. Terrific!
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Great idea, AdLib! Obama is so naturally eloquent that the idea of putting words in his mouth, so to speak, is a little daunting. But never let it be said that I was too chicken to be daunted.
I think if I were in the oval office (and, thanks god, I’m not), I would say something like:
“Perhaps you’ve noticed that there’s a little more fear in the air lately, and a little more anger. Now, of course, those two emotions are not uncommon during times of great challenge, like the times we’re living in now. But I’m going to suggest something different to you. I’m going to ask you to ask yourselves a question. And the question is this: are there people and institutions out there who WANT me to feel afraid and/or angry?
“Now I know that sounds like an odd question. After all, what would anyone or any group have to gain by encouraging fear and anger? And that’s exactly the second question I would like you to ask yourselves.
“When you open up the newspaper or turn on the television or the radio, are there messages being presented that seem calculated to stir up these emotions? I think there are; and I believe you think so, too.
“What are some of the things that tend to follow when people are angry and afraid?
They tend to want someone to tell them — not only what to do — but how to think and feel.
Their own thought processes become more paralyzed.
They tend to want to cling to the familiar — even if it’s negative — and resist change.
They become fearful of “outsiders” and new ideas.
The past appears comforting, not because it was always really so wonderful, but because it is a “known” when the future is not.
They become easier to manipulate, to believe what is said to them, if it’s said in a very authoritative way.
“Does any of this sound familiar?
“I ask you to ask yourself: are there persons and corporations who would have a vested interest in making sure that the progress we’ve achieved over the last year and a half is undone?
“I believe there are. There are entities and large institutions who stand to lose some of what was ill-gotten to begin with, if you, the American people, start to gain ground. And they will stop at very little to convince you that your interests are really their interests.
“I think you’re smart enough to know that — while we benefit from capitalism and capitalists — we can’t allow them to operate completely unfettered by any regulation. But there are some who want just that and they are willing to spend billions trying to get you to see it their way.
“They’ll use words like “freedom” and “patriotism.” They’ll toss around terms like “socialist” and “radical” to try to goad you into an emotional knee-jerk response.
“I ask you to think about what billionaire-financed movements like “Americans for Prosperity” are really asking for. Take a little time to read up on the financial underpinnings of groups like the Tea Party.
“Then ask yourself: if they want me to be this afraid of change, progress, and all the movement in the right direction that we, together, have achieved: What are they afraid of?
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What you wrote is perfect, K, but it makes me want to add something like, “When a house becomes divided against itself, as ours has, we must take a moment to move above the fray, to take our sights off our perceived “enemies”. Rather, we should turn our attention to the voices that are most loudly stirring up the rancor between ourselves and our fellow citizens. We’ve been warned about such voices. They appear in our children’s fairy tales and in our most sacred texts. To fall under the spell of such voices is to lose that which is most precious. We must identify those voices, recognize their true intent, which is nothing other than to loot the once proud house as it collapses from the forces of divisiveness that they themselves fomented, and we must loudly and decisively reject them.”
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Ahhhh! See? that’s what makes collaboration so amazing and so much fun! That is wonderful!
“We
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That’s great! That’s what needs to be said, truly.
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That means a lot to me, WTS, coming from a person like you, who really does know how to write!
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and THAT means a lot to me, coming from YOU!
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Kes….
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OK, Patsy!!! That really did make me laugh out loud. The kitty here wonders what is wrong with me.
WONDERFUL!!! Great work Kes!
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Thank you, AdLib!
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Ditto what HITO said,
Excellent AdLib!
One fact to remember is that all of this serves
as a great big distraction to what IS happening.
Some recent words from our President Obama
Obama Columbus, Ohio August 18th
Clean Energy August 16th Wisconsin
Education August 10th Texas
Weekly Address August 21st
All Weekly Addresses
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/weekly-address
No we can’t -- Recent Fundraiser
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2010/08/18/bts.obama.fundraiser.remarks.cnn.html
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http://www.truth-out.org/eugene-robinson-change-accomplished62470
Thank you Patsy, and I think that before we write the next speech for the President, it would serve us well to listen to the ones you posted.
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How many people in TV-land even heard any of these speeches? 12 sec soundbite? Who even carries his weekly address? Did not F*x not even cover his last speech? Who didn’t cover a speech by FDR? I have seen, read or heard more about the demonstrations, pro and con-mostly con, concerning the Mosque in Manhattan, NY., a place I have never visited.
Thanks Patsy!
The problem is that all of the good work Obama has accomplished and speeches of substance Obama is making are almost totally drowned out by the sensationalism of this GOP/Corporate Hate Machine.
As we discussed, (and BTW, this post grew out of your original suggestion so big props to you!) Obama needs to break through this vicious “game” and turn attention and the conversation to the destructive manipulation that’s going on so that people can see it for what it really is and focus instead on substance and working together for a better future.
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Thank you AdLib but I must Thank you, for getting this rolling!
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Excellent, Adlib.
Can you give me a link that is postable over in hell? I’ll probably C&P a sentence or two of this as well. If you’d rather email it to me, I’ll be on the look out.
Thanks very much.
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HITO, thanks so much! Here’s a link that will work at HP and re-direct folks to this post:
http://referurl.net/2622
This link posts fine at HP right now, please let me know if that changes and I’ll provide a new one.
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My Fellow Citizens, tonight I would like to address the nation on the divisive hate that is being used for no good use. What are you fucking people fucking numskulls? Can’t you see you are being fucking manipulated?
OK AdLib, good post and I will give it some thought. One has to remember he is the President not a pundit. What he can say at a political rally and what he should say from the WH are very different.
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bito…great opening…only wish he could get away with it. Of course after some of the things we hear over the air waves, most recently Dr. Laura, the case could be made for “Freedom of Speech Applying to the POTUS too”!
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Bito, you make a great point that he is our President not a pundit.
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All the more reason that people on the outside (us bloggy types)
flush out all the talking points
of a pundit, that can still be said by our President.
But enough of that,
I like your first paragraph.
I second you on that first paragraph, Patsy.
Although we might not want to sugar-coat it quite that much….
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No kidding Kes.
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Bito, don’t be shy!
You’re absolutely right about there being a difference between a campaign speech and an address as President.
I do think back though to speeches by FDR, Ike and Carter that were bold.
FDR railed against the “fat cats” and corporations as a threat to Americans. Ike boldly warned against the Military Industrial Complex. Carter challenged Americans to reject rampant materialism and the abandonment of our most important values.
I agree that Obama would need to substitute phrases like, “There are those who would…” as opposed to “Republicans” or calling out the party or Fox specifically.
However, he could still expose this game and condemn the ones behind it without naming those behind it…most people would recognize who he would be talking about.
He could stand tall on principle and in this era of pandering and manipulation, I think he will be respected for stepping up on this and turn around the waning of support for him.
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