"We don't know him". But these folks do
Opponents will protest that "we don't know anything about Obama," but this is utter nonsense. There has been so much written about him and by him over the years, it's hard to keep a straight face when one hears this "complaint."
Here's an interesting bio from the Guardian. It's vignettes in time by people who knew him well.
Read the entire article.
Here's an interesting bio from the Guardian. It's vignettes in time by people who knew him well.
Schoolfriends remember his love for comic books, basketball and teasing the girls. A former boss recalls him as a young man running a community project in Chicago. A fellow senator remembers being beaten by him at poker. Gifted student, quiet persuader, charismatic speaker, loyal friend... We speak to the people who knew Barack Obama best, revealing an intimate, often touching, portrait of a man on the brink of greatness.
Read the entire article.
posted by Jim at 10:53 AM
5 Comments:
Hi Jim~
Saw you @ Mark's site. Beg to differ w/ you here. We know precious little about Obama's 'body of work,' b/c there is precious little to know. He intentionally positioned himself as a gray slate so that people could project onto him whatever they chose to project. Thus, he became this nebulous panacea-messiah (God forbid) figure to the public at large (& to the world, too). Politically brilliant, I'll give you that...
It's really quite frightening that a man who on his own wouldn't get FBI security clearance b/c of his associations is now behind the Oval Office desk.
Re: the article you cite...It's really quite silly to pass off his love of comic books, etc. as 'knowledge' of who he is as a political figure & what his mature political/life philosophy is...
No 'utter nonsense' in my estimation.
Susannah,
Thanks for coming to my blog and for your refreshingly civil tone.
Although Obama had, by your measure, a small body of work, it was no less, really, than Bush 43. He had legislative experience in both Illinois and the US Senate. His record is public. He has written two widely-read books which provide a lot of information on his thoughts about America and the political system. I'm reading "The Audacity of Hope." He is very articulate and nothing in this book hides his political leanings. It's all there.
I would also object to the "messiah" meme. This is a phony idea dreamed up by Obama's enemies. Probably more than half of the people who voted for Obama had another first choice. I did.
People don't worship Obama. They are just happy to have the previous 8 years over.
The FBI security clearance is also false. According to Snopes no security clearance is needed for US Senator or president, and nothing in Obama's background would have disqualified him if it were. This is more made up sleaze from Obama's enemies.
As to the article I site, it is 13 pages long and over 6,000 words. To pass judgment on Obama, his life and career, or the article as a whole based on the one phrase I pasted in my post is rather unfair, don't you think? Why don't you read the article itself. It's really quite interesting. Makes Obama seem, well, almost human.
"Thanks for coming to my blog and for your refreshingly civil tone."
Thanks for leading me back, Jim. I had forgotten I'd left this comment. As for the civil tone - well of course. There's no point in screaming (as both sides do), b/c then no one can hear anybody else (but I guess that's the point).
Re: body of work, I'll not argue the particulars. You've made up your mind anyway.
Re: "People don't worship Obama." Actually, they do; or they're doing a darned good job faking it. My Senior Pastor (a very kind, wise black man) invites lots of people to church. One person he invited came last Fall wearing a "Faith, Hope, Obama" button - in WORSHIP! In MY church! I was mightily offended - using scripture (I Cor. 13) & inserting Obama's name where a synonym for God should go. And, Shaw Kenawe's site has a picture of Mr.O on the sidebar w/ a caption saying "Our Savior" or "Messiah" or some such rediculous thing. It's very offensive the way people deify him. (Perhaps it's offensive to God too...?) You'd have to try pretty hard to deny that it's out there (just b/c you don't partake).
I didn't say or imply that an FBI security clearance is a requirement for POTUS. My proposed scenario was hypothetical (darn, that nuance again)... And if I had intimate dealings w/ 'former' terrorists, radical characters, etc. do you think I'd be able to get clearance?? I think not. Not sleaze, just educated speculation...We'll never know, though will we?
I'll read your article in its entirety, if it makes you feel better. :) Although, researching his past won't change my absolute opposition to the policies which he has put forth ever since campaigning...That's what really matters now, isn't it? That's what I'm working from...
Thanks again for your persistence w/ this. I would've hated to miss this dialogue.
Welcome back!
You've made up your mind anyway. Regarding bodies or work, it's not a matter of making up my mind. Obama's body of work is no less than Bush 43's was. Did you have any complaints about Bush's body of work prior to becoming president?
I don't know who Shaw Kenawe is? I googled the name and found his blog and the Messiah picture of Obama. Didn't read enough to get the context of it. But I've never heard of him and I read liberal blogs extensively. I'm sure there are people here or there who have some sense of worship about Obama, but then I recall seeing and reading lots of people saying thanks be to God that he gave us George W. Bush.
Speaking of liberal blogs, I read a lot of the better known liberal blogs: Think Progress, Media Matters, Daily Kos, etc. Most of them are pretty hacked off at Obama for a lot of things, especially not being more aggressive on holding the Bush Administration accountable for the torture memos and activities at Gitmo and elsewhere. I am, too, although I understand it's not a simple thing.
The blogs also think he should let the banks fail if they aren't solvent. They think he is too beholden to Wall Street. I kind of agree and I work for a bank.
The blogs think he should get out of Iraq sooner and not build up troops in Afghanistan. I have mixed feelings about both.
I wanted to see more stimulus spending and much less tax cuts in the stimulus bill. Most liberals felt the same.
What I'm saying is that most of the left is not worshipping Obama. They're taking the things they agree with what he's done and continuing to stay on his case about the things they think he should or shouldn't do.
As far as "intimate" dealings with former terrorists, there is nobody in the FBI, CIA, or anywhere else who has shown any kind of "intimate" dealings with Ayers. There is a difference between acquaintances and intimate dealings. I was once had dealings with Mario Savio (google him), and I never had any problem getting security clearances.
Lastly, I'd be interested in knowing exactly which Obama policies, specifically, that you are really upset about.
Oiy ~ it's all the Yiddish I know, but somehow I think it fits here. I'm really tired. Tomorrow's Monday.
Please allow this explanation to suffice. There's no point in recounting who knew what about whom & when (BO vs. GWB) There's no progress to be made w/ it. But, I KNOW that the MSM failed me by not pursuing any kind of professional curiousity re: Barak Obama. (You'll ask me to explain, I know. I don't feel like it. I'm getting cranky. But come now, we all know he had a slide on ice w/ the MSM.) Bernie Goldberg wrote a book about it. Take a look at it, if you're curious.
What policies specifically, am I against? I absolutely ABHOR the 'stimulus bill' that was recently passed - w/o anyone save for congressional interns reading it, & then probably only in chunks. It is so crammed full of social programming & creation of GOVERNMENT jobs. Please don't tell me 'it creates jobs' b/c a govt. job is the same thing as a tax burden. Even the $ it provides State & local communities is time-limited, then when the time runs out, who gets the tab? You guessed it: the State & local TAX PAYER. And about Mr. O's 'tax cut' that's gonna go to 95% of Americans? Something like 45% of those people DON'T PAY TAXES! Around here, when you get a check, but haven't contributed, we call that WELFARE.
I do NOT agree w/ his take on GITMO or his dallinces w/ World Leaders recently - which netted him nothing. I think his behavior in Saudi Arabia, bowing to the King (& please don't say he wasn't bowing, or that his bow was somehow appropriate & shouldn't offend the American people. That's just silly. It wasn't appropriate & it should/did offend.). And his smug, off the cuff secular progressive apologetics in Turkey was an abomination - no pun here - I did a post on it (read more there if you like). His recent yukkin' it up w/ Hugo Chavez, doin' gangsta handshakes & all that is an absolute DISGRACE.
I believe he is about as undignified, classless a person as we could have ever allowed to darken the WHs. threshold (& I couldn't stand Bill Clinton, but at least he knew how to behave himself as a dignitary). I could go on, Jim, but I'm tired & this is making me angry.
I'll close w/ a bit from an email that I sent to a relative during the campaign. It outlines, in principle, my opposition to everything that I had - to that point - learned about Mr. O.
"I am so very concerned about what the Secular Progressive movement is doing to our society. In my opinion (from what I've observed in the Judiciary, & my own personal experience), it is seeking to destroy 'traditional' American values. I have listened to Obama speak (haven't read his book), and I cannot agree with his view that it is government's role/responsibility to 'take care of' people. I do not stand with him in his "shared prosperity" (i.e, socialist) agenda, nor can I abide what I've heard him say about abortion. I don't believe that Obama embodies all of secular progressive agenda (nor does any one person in particular). However, from what I've heard him say, I believe that he would appoint judges who would advance the s.p. agenda (read here CA Supreme Court decision on marriage, etc.). My list of concerns goes on, and I'm sure you don't want to hear the rest."
And my list could go on Jim, but I'm sure you don't want to hear the rest. Good night & take care.
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