They ran this video at the convention but you should all see it.
Breaking News
Oprah Quitting TV Show In 2011
Oliver Willis
Like Kryptonite To Stupid
-
-
Breaking News
- Tila Tequila Live Streaming Mental Meltdown
- 31 Die In Chinese Mine Blast In Heilongjiang Province, 82 Trapped
- Victoria Justice Stars In New Nickeloden Show “Victorious”
- CERN’s Large Hadron Collider Back Up And Running
- Megan Fox Alive For Transformers 3
- Maryna Linchuk @ 2009 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
- Madison Parker Works Out
- Sony Reveals Lame Attempt To Fight iTunes
- Brian Thomas: UK Man Gets Away With Killing Wife In His Sleep
- Olivia Wilde @ US Weekly Hot Hollywood 2009 Party
Live News
This is a refreshing change from secessionist Sarah Palin and the blame America first crowd she hangs with
Phew. I was afraid it would be some generic hopey-changey thing, with messianic overtones and something vaguely reminiscent of “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer” rhetoric.
What a relief to be wrong.
J.
something vaguely reminiscent of “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer”
When some random contributor in a MoveOn contest does that, you go all Goodwin on us. Keep raisin’ the discourse, Mr. Tea.
I’d be a little more believing about the whole “Change you can believe in” thing if someone could show me some examples of actual change that Obama has pushed for and achieved in his career.
Yes we can.
Damn skippy.
go all
GoodwinGodwin on us.I thought that didn’t look right.
I just realized that little sunrise logo looks a lot like the logo used at some food and farmer’s cooperatives. I wonder whether that was a deliberate homage to people with whom Sen. Obama has had trouble winning over, against their own personal and financial interests.
Careful, Dave… specifics to Obamoids are like garlic to vampires.
The only time the Obama campaign releases specifics, they immediately burst into flames upon contact with reality and some unnamed low-level staffer is blamed for speaking inartfully.
Sometimes, it even goes so far as to have Obama say “that’s not the advisor I knew” as they get chucked under the bus.
J.
specifics to Obamoids are like garlic to vampires.
oh jeezus effing keerist. Read his damned web-page already.
Read his damned web-page already.
How does that help? His web page is all about the changes he’s gonna make once he gets in office.
What has he ever done to demonstrate that he actually is (and will continue to be) an agent of change?
show me some examples of actual change that Obama has pushed for and achieved in his career.
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=LatestNews.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=8dcb8c35-802a-23ad-4d37-9c8ea9c43460
Lugar – Obama Bill Passes Congress To Keep Weapons Out Of Terrorists Hands
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/kankakee-il/TEJEHH26UIGBAPNF3
Ethics Reform
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/19/AR2007011901456.html
It should also be mentioned that Obama has ‘pushed for’ and inspired millions of young people to register to vote. This is a major change in politics as we know it.
Peace.
Obama/Biden ‘08
So Dave, you agree that Obama has posted detailed, specific policy statements on his website? That’s progress, anyway.
As for what he’s done to demonstrate his commitment, his entire adult life of public service comes to mind.
Yeah, that John McCain sure has made the world a better place with all his myriad achievements during the extra 25 odd years he has on Obama.
Seriously, that is a damn good political advert. That should run on teh tee vee. Right there, another handful less undecideds.
And isn’t it interesting that for a messianic Leni Riefenstahl propagansda film about how Obama is Jesus and Hitler, Obama doesn’t actually appear in person at all, and his voice isn’t heard until less than 30 seconds before the end?
I responded with examples for Dave, but I don’t know what happened to my post.
So Dave, you agree that Obama has posted detailed, specific policy statements on his website? That’s progress, anyway.
Yes, and I note that he’s revised them as necessary to reflect reality (see ‘Failure of the Surge’). That is progress.
As for what he’s done to demonstrate his commitment, his entire adult life of public service comes to mind.
That’s it? That’s your definition of “change”? Is that really the best you could come up with?
By that definition the 20 year veteran of the Dept. of Motor Vehicles stationed at window 12 is “Change we can believe in”.
I am determined to remain unsatisfied by anything you say.
Jay Tea, Sep 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 am
Careful, Dave… specifics to Obamoids are like garlic to vampires.
You mean specifics like this? Or like this? Or like this?
I’m not an Obamoid (whateever the frell that is), but I would seriously question the honesty of your previous statement, as well as your ability to prove that this statement is anywhere near to being reality based. I would also question whether this sort of statement is in any way provable.
Can you possibly provide some sort of evidence to back up your claim?
Yes, and I note that he’s revised them as necessary to reflect reality (see ‘Failure of the Surge’). That is progress.
I also prefer political leaders who revise their policy positions based on new facts.
That’s it? That’s your definition of “change”? Is that really the best you could come up with?
By that definition the 20 year veteran of the Dept. of Motor Vehicles stationed at window 12 is “Change we can believe in”.
The adult life of public service is her definition of ‘commitment.’ The agenda, not the person, is the root of the ‘change’ theme (or motto, or mantra, or whatever noun you prefer).
So Dave, you agree that Obama has posted detailed, specific policy statements on his website? That’s progress, anyway.
As for what he’s done to demonstrate his commitment, his entire adult life of public service comes to mind.
All I’ve seen is aa entire adult life dedicated to making his living off the public dime, with virtually no paper trail showing what he’s done over those years.
He’s reminding me more and more of John Kerry. Kerry’s big congressional accomplishment was leading the investigation into the BCCI, which brought down that corrupt institution; Obama’s was passing a bill that required the police to videotape interrogations in capital cases.
Apart from that… a whole lot of “present” votes at the state level, a whole lot of “not present” at the federal level…
Lots of grandiose plans (subject to change without notice), little discussion of how they’ll be applied, and no record of actually getting things DONE.
And his assistant is Biden? Biden, who can’t ever keep his stories straight?
McCain and Palin have actually done things, achieved things, given HOPE to those who wanted CHANGE and reform. Palin took on — and took down — a corrupt Republican governor in a bruising primary, then took on — and took down — a corrupt former Democratic governor, then drove through serious reform measures.
Obama? He gives good speeches off a teleprompter, and makes people feel all hopey and changeful. Let’s elect him national cheerleader.
J.
It’s not fair, the Democrats have got a charismatic statesman who can fill stadiums and we’ve got Mr Wilson, well OUR GUY IS BETTER ANYWAY, TIMES A BILLION AND NO BACKSIES! BECAUSE, THAT’S WHY!
McCain voted for an cheered a disastrous war. Sarah Palin supported a bridge to nowhere. Obama had the judgement to be against the Iraq war, when he got in national office he helped pass ethic legislation and legislation to secure loose nukes.
John McCain is a hothead who subscribes to the same failed foreign policy as Bush. Barack Obama is a deliberative thinker who thinks the best way to defend America is to have a brain.
John McCain wants tax cuts for the uber wealthy. Barack Obama wants tax cuts for the middle class while allowing the ridiculous largesse given to the uber wealthy to end.
John McCain wants tax cuts for big business and companies who move jobs offshore. Barack Obama doesn’t.
We already elected a cheerleader president, you supported him. His name was George W. Bush and he was a fucking failure at every level whose work has led to the deaths of thousands of Americans. John McCain is more of the same bullshit.
I am determined to remain unsatisfied by anything you say.
Well when it’s all been bullshit so far, what do you expect?
Anything you say that I don’t want to hear is bullshit. LA LA LA I’M NOT LISTENING I CAN’T HEAR YOU LA LA LA LA
You mean specifics like this? Or like this? Or like this?
Tom, your reading comprehension skills are poor. I didn’t ask for examples of what Obama says he’s going to do when he gets in office, I asked what has he actually done to demonstrate that he is a man who has worked for and acheived change?
Still waiting.
I also prefer political leaders who revise their policy positions based on new facts.
So do I. I also like the ones who are right about a position in the first place (see “McCain, John” and “the Surge”).
You genuinely believe that as well, don’t you? You’re one of those people who needs to walk around with a disclaimer.
You genuinely believe that as well, don’t you? You’re one of those people who needs to walk around with a disclaimer.
OK, Nimrod. Appropriate that.
Anything you say that I don’t want to hear is bullshit. LA LA LA I’M NOT LISTENING I CAN’T HEAR YOU LA LA LA LA
Heh. I notice that no one has managed to provide an example of actual Obama change. Other than Southern Quaker’s lame “entire life of public service” claim.
Pretty telling.
JR, secessionists are hardly anti-American. On the contrary, they are pursuing the genuine American ideals of freedom, independence, democracy, self-determination and human rights. We want our own countries, free of federal totalitarianism, and the right to pursue our own destiny. It’s the minority of people who continue to support an archaic, worthless, worn-out, undemocratic, fascist, violent, imperialist union that are “anti-American.”
Have you ever heard of the Declaration of Independence? I suppose not. It begins by stating the most basic and fundamental of all human rights: the right to “dissociate themselves from the bonds that have connected them to others.” If you don’t support the right to self-determination then you aren’t American.
But it doesn’t matter. Your union is ancient history at this point. It’s falling apart as we speak. Doesn’t matter what you say or do, your time is past.
Oliver, this video strikes me as being a classic example of corporate propaganda. It uses meaningless phrases like “hope” and “change” to distract attention from the reality of Democratic and Republican evil. I found it very offensive. Just MHO of course.
Yes, I am quite a mighty hunter, really. Nice to see that you’re so sure of your premise that instead of defending it, you resort to insults.
Yes, Dave, they have. Quaker has. Whoever it was told you to go to Obama’s site and read his biography, which has plenty of stuff listed, did as well. Only you said it didn’t count, simply because you didn’t want it to count, which kind of discourages anyone from trying.
Nice to see that you’re so sure of your premise that instead of defending it, you resort to insults.
So after saying that I’m “one of those people who needs to walk around with a disclaimer”, I point out the irony, what with your name being Nimrod (’slang: idiot, jerk’ is the definition I was using) and all, you whine that I’m resorting to insults.
Jeez, don’t get your knickers in a wad, Nimrod.
Yes, Dave, they have. Quaker has. Whoever it was told you to go to Obama’s site and read his biography, which has plenty of stuff listed, did as well. Only you said it didn’t count, simply because you didn’t want it to count, which kind of discourages anyone from trying.
No, Nimrod, they didn’t. Everyone likes to think they did, though.
Here is Obama’s bio, directly from his website:
Barack Obama was raised by a single mother and his grandparents. They didn’t have much money, but they taught him values from the Kansas heartland where they grew up. He took out loans to put himself through school. After college, he worked for Christian churches in Chicago, helping communities devastated when steel plants closed. Obama turned down lucrative job offers after law school to return to Chicago, leading a successful voter registration drive. He joined a small law firm, taught constitutional law and, guided by his Christian faith, stayed active in his community. Obama and his wife Michelle are proud parents of two daughters, Sasha and Malia.
Early Years
Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British.
Barack’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton’s army. Her mother went to work on a bomber assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to Hawaii.
It was there, at the University of Hawaii, where Barack’s parents met. His mother was a student there, and his father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams in America.
Barack’s father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
The College Years
Remembering the values of empathy and service that his mother taught him, Barack put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.
The group had some success, but Barack had come to realize that in order to truly improve the lives of people in that community and other communities, it would take not just a change at the local level, but a change in our laws and in our politics.
He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate, where he served for eight years. In 2004, he became the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
Political Career
It has been the rich and varied experiences of Barack Obama’s life – growing up in different places with people who had differing ideas – that have animated his political journey. Amid the partisanship and bickering of today’s public debate, he still believes in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose – a politics that puts solving the challenges of everyday Americans ahead of partisan calculation and political gain.
In the Illinois State Senate, this meant working with both Democrats and Republicans to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. He also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education, and after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Senator Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.
In the U.S. Senate, he has focused on tackling the challenges of a globalized, 21st century world with fresh thinking and a politics that no longer settles for the lowest common denominator. His first law was passed with Republican Tom Coburn, a measure to rebuild trust in government by allowing every American to go online and see how and where every dime of their tax dollars is spent. He has also been the lead voice in championing ethics reform that would root out Jack Abramoff-style corruption in Congress.
As a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator Obama has fought to help Illinois veterans get the disability pay they were promised, while working to prepare the VA for the return of the thousands of veterans who will need care after Iraq and Afghanistan. Recognizing the terrorist threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, he traveled to Russia with Republican Dick Lugar to begin a new generation of non-proliferation efforts designed to find and secure deadly weapons around the world. And knowing the threat we face to our economy and our security from America’s addiction to oil, he’s working to bring auto companies, unions, farmers, businesses and politicians of both parties together to promote the greater use of alternative fuels and higher fuel standards in our cars.
Whether it’s the poverty exposed by Katrina, the genocide in Darfur, or the role of faith in our politics, Barack Obama continues to speak out on the issues that will define America in the 21st century. But above all his accomplishments and experiences, he is most proud and grateful for his family. His wife, Michelle, and his two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, live on Chicago’s South Side.
Please point out the examples of actual change that were pushed through and achieved by Obama.
There’s a lot of “Working with…” and “Speaking out…”, but no actual change that I can see.
I’m not going to read it for you, I’m not your nanny.
Dave,
I’ve listed specific examples and provided links. Scroll up.
Peace.
Obama/Biden ‘08
“McCain voted for an cheered a disastrous war.”
So, as I recall, did Joe Biden. Biden, who in 2002, said of Saddam “He’s a long term threat and a short term threat to our national security… “We have no choice but to eliminate the threat. This is a guy who is an extreme danger to the world.”
Just once, I’d dearly love to hear one of the 81 Democratic Representatives and 29 Democratic Senators who voted in favor of the war to explain just when they changed their minds, and what was involved in that decision… Biden? Clinton? Dodd? Edwards? Feinstein? Harkin? Kerry? Reid? Schumer? Anyone/ Bueller? Bueller?
Boy, it’s a good thing that warmongering fascist Biden isn’t on the ticket, isn’t it?
J.
Yes Jay Tea, the democratic leadership made a huge mistake falling all over themselves to jump on the Iraq war bandwagon. Not to mention blithely ignoring the implications of giving this particular president cart blanche to pursue his personal vendetta/neocon agenda/whatever-the-hell-he-was-thinking.
(For which they have been roundly excorciated in the liberal blogosphere, btw)
In the aftermath of 9/11, nobody wanted to be labeled as unpatriotic, or a terrorist sympathizer by injecting a bit of common sense into the debate.
They have also, by and large, admitted it was a mistake, and in some instances even apologized.
Your guy? The cheerleader, commander-guy? Not so much.
And, Southern Quaker he wants us to be in Iraq for 100 more years.
Actually, he doesn’t want us to be there for another 100 years, he just doesn’t give a fuck if we are.
I like clarifying that because it makes it even worse.
http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/01/14/obamas_strong_record_of_accomp.php
It’s all there, Dave.
Oh and BTW, you might wanna google Nimnrod. It don’t mean what you thnk it does.
So, Quaker, then just when did they come to this stunning realization? What was it that tipped them off?
As far as I can tell, they — almost to a one — all came out in favor of the war, then shut up to see which way the wind was blowing, then started talking as if they were never for it in the first place.
I find myself wondering that, had Obama been in the Senate at the time, he would have voted “present” for this one.
J.
Dave in SoCal, Sep 2nd, 2008 at 11:46 am
You mean specifics like this? Or like this? Or like this?
Tom, your reading comprehension skills are poor. I didn’t ask for examples of what Obama says he’s going to do when he gets in office, I asked what has he actually done to demonstrate that he is a man who has worked for and acheived change?
Dave – your reading skills have just been shown to be poorer than those you claim I have. I was not responding to your request. I was responding to Jay’s assertion that specifics to Obamoids are like garlic to vampires.
Funny – you don’t seemed to have noticed that in your hurry to insult your fellow commenters here…
Yes. It’s called admitting you made a mistake. I know eight years of the most stubborn, arrogant prick ever to hold the office has made a lot of people forget that notion ever existed, but it did, and it might just be making a comeback.
I also prefer political leaders who revise their policy positions based on new facts.
Hey, me too! Often times though, political leaders of any stripe that do this, will be attacked for being a flip-flopper. We need to be careful how we allow other organizations to discourage actual change from taking place.
There is definitely flip-flopping for political reasons which of course is closely linked to insincerity and corruption for votes.
(And linked to the propaganda behind statements like:
And, Southern Quaker he wants us to be in Iraq for 100 more years.)
Argue with the guy on the issues, there are a million ways in which he is not the leader we need. Discuss why his Iraq policy was wrong and is wrong. Don’t go with shallow misrepresentations that “he wants us to be in Iraq for 100 more years.” That paints you as an unenlightened propagandist, hardly someone I would consider progressive, or liberal.
Actually, EL, I was referring to Bush.
But yeah, my point could just as well be addressed towards McCain. Who still thinks it was a good idea to go into Iraq.
Thanks for your concern, jerry.
[...] • This is beautiful. [...]