Glenden Brown“The Speech”
Okay, yeah, totally schmaltzy video but it’s part of the politics.
U2 - of course. From How to Dismantle - the City of Shining Lights, IIRC.
Can you just imagine what it is like in that stadium right now?
Americablog has the text of the speech but I’m going to control myself and not read it.
Good line: “we meet at one of those defining moments.”
Good line: We are better than these last eight years.
He’s laying out a vision not of economics but of justice - a vision of America as a nation which acts justly. It’s not about parties, it’s about a way of behaving better.
“eight is enough” - weird pop culture reference but it worked.
“what does it say about your judgment when your judgement says George Bush has been right more than 90% of the time . . . I’m not ready to take a 10% chance on change.”
Nation of whiners riff.
Okay, I think this is a side of Obama we haven’t seen - this is the tough, on the offensive Barack Obama. He’s really laying into the Republicans - it’s not red meat, but it’s an interesting switch.
” . . . they call this the ownership society, what it really means is you’re on your own. . . It’s time for them to own their failure.”
This is an aggressive speech. He’s tackling lots of issues and he’s doing it well. It’s easy to forget - he’s the son of a single-mom.
He just hit back on McCain celebrity nonsense.
“Government should do that which we cannot do for ourselves. . . . our government should work for us not against us.”
“we rise or fall as one nation.”
August 28th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Not that many politicians write their own speeches. Hearing someone deliver a speech they wrote themselves is really an important guide for voters.
Republicans mock Obama’s speeches as just speeches, but they have the virtue of being his speeches, not just his speechwriter’s speeches.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Obama gives brilliant speeches. He’s a gifted orator. Even better than Clinton. Not as good as Reagan, but I’m biased.
It’s his non-scripted moments that don’t go so well.
August 29th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
jd longs for the great communicator:
“Well……………………… trees cause pollution too, you know, and Ketchup is a vegetable.”
August 29th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Larry,
When trees die, they release CO2 into the atmosphere.
Isn’t CO2 a greenhouse gas?
Thus, trees cause pollution.
The main ingredient in Ketchup is a vegetable, isn’t it?
No matter. Relish your factoid.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
jd:
That’s it, you just keep on laughing and joking. Your kids and grandchildren will just love reading about your comments decades from now and realizing what out of touch idiots the right-wingers of the day were!
August 29th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Nobody is going to read this Albert. In fact at the rate we are going in education at the public level, there is a good chance peoples grandchildren won’t know how to read.
August 30th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Water is the main ingredient of human beings, but that doesn’t make us rivers does it? It would in Reagan’s world if he could divert money to wasteful war endeavors using the category.
He did have a decent and intelligent biological son though: Ron!
August 31st, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Do you mean the same way we’re realizing how out of touch and dangerous the Left of the Sixties has been? Thank goodness we’re smart enough to repudiate the worst of their insipid ideas.
Weathermen
Red Brigades
PLO
Baader Meinhoff
SLA
PC Codes
FMLN
Wheee!
Oops…I guess not everyone is repudiating the Weather Underground, are they?
August 31st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Good point JD… Extremists seem to come from the left far more often than the right. I know the right has the occasional abortion clinic bomber but they seem far less organized. Is there something about left, liberal or progressive thinking that leads to breaking the law and acts of violence if they don’t get what they want? Maybe it is just a misperception and there is equilibrium in extremism. This certainly would make an interesting discussion topic. Would the Branch Dravidians be considered right wing for example? Someone should top post this as a topic…
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:29 am
Nah nah, Mr. Okelberry.
The Right has it’s fair share of wackos, too.
The Christian Identity goofs.
Aryan Nations
KKK
John Birchers
Anti-Castro terrorists
Army of God folks
Minutemen
The left has been a little more ’spectacular’ with it’s violent extremists - but the folks on the other side of the aisle haven’t exactly been angels, either.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:56 am
jd:
For completeness, you can add the Bush administration to your list, too!
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
You are absolutely right, jdberger… There certainly are extremists on the right as well… Many of which have a long history of violence… But let’s look at today, with all the clashes between protestors and police at both conventions. When you see a group starting fires and creating riots in the street during the conventions, is it you general reaction to believe they are left or right in their political leanings.
Oh… by the way, while the KKK is now populated by many on the right, during it’s hay day, when they were lynching and burning crosses in the south they were almost all southern Democrats and it was Democrat Governors fighting against integration of schools. Now days the KKK and similar white supremacist groups are almost always peaceful in demonstration because they have learned that it is the best way to insight those that come to protest them into violence.
Just a bit of history for you…