Cha
Cha's Journal"Of all the recent SCOTUS decisions, Arizona has the biggest potential to make America a functioning
democracy again."Jon Favreau ?@jonfavs
Of all the recent SCOTUS decisions, Arizona has the biggest potential to make America a functioning democracy again.
4:36 AM - 29 Jun 2015 68 68 Retweets
71 71 favorites
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/06/29/rise-and-shine-1059/
"Dylann Roof reminds us how hate destroys. The families of those he murdered remind us of the love
were capable of."The Pope knows more than Bill Nye and MdT on the safety of GMOs, imho. mahalo bananas.
"Ten days that turned America into a better place" Michael Cohen~ The Guardian~
Snip//
Some day, people are going to write books about what happened over the last 10 days in the United States. It began with a depressing reminder of what is, perhaps, the worst of America. A disturbed young man, armed with an easily obtainable and high-calibre handgun, shot down nine people in cold blood. It was a shocking act, but largely because Americans have become so inured to the daily carnage of gun violence that the only types of incidents that stand out are those that are uniquely horrific.
Of course, what made the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, so particularly notable was the where and why a white gunman, nine African-American victims, a historic black church in the cradle of the former Confederacy. Dylann Roofs crime was distinctively evil, but the sentiments underpinning it were depressingly familiar. They reflect the original and ongoing sin of this nation the more than two centuries of mistreatment, prejudice and discrimination visited by white America upon black America.
But then something amazing happened. Practically overnight, America had a national epiphany. For decades, the Confederate flag, which has flown on the grounds of the state capitol building in South Carolina and across the south, became recognised for what it truly is not a symbol of regional heritage, but a painful, modern symbol of racial exclusion.
Within days of the shooting, politicians across the Deep South couldnt run fast enough to the nearest microphone or television camera to denounce a flag that a week earlier they would have self-righteously defended. Corporations from eBay to Wal-Mart quickly joined in, announcing their newfound realisation that the stars and bars causes pain. By the end of the week, there were serious discussions taking place in both north and south of removing all vestiges of Confederate reverence statues to southern generals, schools and highways named after Americans who, at their core, were racists and traitors.
MOre at the link~ http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/28/ten-days-that-made-america-a-better-place
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/06/28/two-must-reads/
I have a couple of more today, mcar..
The Time Has Come to Recognize President Obama's Game-Changing Liberal Legacyt wasn't supposed to go down like this. In the aftermath of the 2014 midterm elections, when Democrats ceded control of the Senate and saw their deficit steepen in statehouses across the country, President Barack Obama was widely expected to set aside his ambitions and map out a more cautious agenda.
http://mic.com/articles/121452/the-time-has-come-to-recognize-president-obama-s-game-changing-liberal-legacy
After momentous week, Obama's presidency is reborn
This came very close to being the worst week of Barack Obamas presidency, and, effectively, the last: a possible repudiation from both Congress and the Supreme Court, from his own party, from a country struggling with the same racial tensions hes approached with a caution thats often come across more like muted fear.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/barack-obama-momentous-week-president-reborn-social-issues-119503.html#ixzz3eP25vEWf
mcar
Obama's Grace~ The President is an inspiration~
And of course it was. His singing was the aspect of the speech that will be easiest to remember. That is in part because it was so unusual and in part because it was so brave: Obama sang well, but not perfectly. For someone so precise and aspiring-to-perfection in most other realms of achievement, and so obviously hyper-aware of his levels of skill (he told Marc Maron in his remarkable WTF interview that he didnt like playing basketball any more, now that he recognized that age had made him the weakest player on the court), singing like another enthusiastic parishioner, and not like a featured member of the choir, was brave and said something about his comfort with this crowd.
"The choice of grace as the unifying theme, which by the standards of political speeches qualifies as a stroke of genius."
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/grace/397064/
Of course the rwingers hate him bringing together mourners with Grace and Comfort.
Poor Bernie.. his advocates think they have to tear down the President and everyone else to build him up.
Bernie is the one running for President. President Obama's polls are 86% among Liberal Dems..
We're doing just fine.
Sen Sanders is the one who's going to want Obama's coalition if he should win the primary.
"Obama's Grace".. The president delivers his single most accomplished rhetorical performance, and
its one you should watch rather than read."From your link..
And of course it was. His singing was the aspect of the speech that will be easiest to remember. That is in part because it was so unusual and in part because it was so brave: Obama sang well, but not perfectly. For someone so precise and aspiring-to-perfection in most other realms of achievement, and so obviously hyper-aware of his levels of skill (he told Marc Maron in his remarkable WTF interview that he didnt like playing basketball any more, now that he recognized that age had made him the weakest player on the court), singing like another enthusiastic parishioner, and not like a featured member of the choir, was brave and said something about his comfort with this crowd.
"The choice of grace as the unifying theme, which by the standards of political speeches qualifies as a stroke of genius."
That had to be it.. it was most definitely the most Amazing aspect of the whole tragedy.
end snip//
If you watch the speech again, note how carefully the was blind, but now I see theme knits together its elements. As a matter of composition, this is harder to pull off than you would think. And as a matter of political framing, it may not actually make a difference, but its as much as a political speech could possibly do to induce people to think about issues in a different way. Appreciate how this approach comes across, versus you were wrong, we are right.
Mahalo flamingdem.. that was compelling..
"He's had 7 years to crush these societal problems.." Oh yeah, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir
Rice, and all the other Black people killed by the police were President Obama's fault.
Racism didn't stop when President Obama was elected.. they came out from under their rocks in droves and Black Americans know this.. and Bernie has to acknowledge it.
It's not true what he said in his statement on the 2014 elections about "..the African American community is very very proud that this country has overcome racism and voted for him for President"
Bernie is not expected to fix it.. but again.. he has to acknowledge the problems.. if he wins the Dem Nom he's going to want President Obama's coalition behind him.
But, it's not just about "poverty" .. and bigtree has it right..
"Also, he'll need to recognize that black voter concerns go beyond his pet issue of economics; the same way that economic success for many black Americans hasn't insulated them from discrimination in employment, policing, housing, voting rights, and other advantages of citizenship that have been elusive for the black community. Hopefully this is more than window dressing."
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