Obama to Brownback: "This is my house too - this is God's house"

[beaconess]

Today, during an appearance at Rick Warren's Saddleback megachurch, Sen. Sam Brownback needled Barack Obama for his rock star status. "Last time, we were both addressing the NAACP," Brownback said. "They were very polite to me, very kind but I think they kind of wondered, 'Who's this guy from Kansas?'" And then Barack Obama follows and now we've got Elvis. But {here} I'm a little more comfortable. {turning to Obama} Welcome to MY house."

Obama responded, "One thing I've got to say, Sam. This is my house, too - this is GOD's house."

[ret5hd]

1. SSSSSSSLAAAAAAAP!

Way to go, Obama!

[HockeyMom]

2. God's House is WITHIN every human being

Be they Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or Wiccan, whatever.

[Mojambo]

7. Not to quibble

But this isn't strictly true.

I'm an atheist and his house isn't in me.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. Are cells within you?

Then we can call your house the House of Cells....or DNA....or whatever you like :)

[Mojambo]

15. Does it have to be a house?

I'd prefer an apartment or condo.

[blondeatlast]

16. Time share?

(Just kidding, I swear...) :rofl: :hi:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

25. Absolutely!

and you can decorate it any way you wish :)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Amin!

This is not my body, this is the temple of God...this is not my heart, this is the altar of God (a sung prayer done by the Sufi choir in a four part choral-wish I had the music to share!)

[TheLeftyMom]

3. Brownback is such a f*cking idiot

n/t

[beaconess]

12. I think he meant well - he was trying to be funny. But he sure walked into that one!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. OchreBack is misnamed. Something in a more yellow tone, I think

So, how long did Sam serve in the military, anyway?

I guess the question will be, how long will members of this administration serve in the future, at a federally funded limited access vacation home?

[Pirate Smile]

5. That was great. I saw it on Tucker.

Beaconess - I just saw this post on the Political Insider and I'm sure you'll like it.


The Empty Suit Myth

Unlike Tom Vilsack, who November 30 launched a presidential bid highlighted with talk of oil dependency and national security, among other topics, Barack Obama is miles away from Mount Pleasant, IA. Today, he is addressing a crowd in California at Saddleback Church, along with Republican Sen. Sam Brownback.

There, he will take his second HIV test in less than six months, meant to highlight the AIDS epidemic. His first, of course, was during his much-covered trip to Africa in early August. While on his trip to Africa, his third in total, he spoke of the genocide in the Sudan and forming "international communities."

As Hillary tries to get around her Iraq war vote, the Illinois senator spoke to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and was praised for the consistency of beliefs (he favors a gradual draw-down of troops). Despite John McCain's recent plea to send more troops to the country, Obama is not in his corner. Nor does he support the idea furthered by Democrat Joe Biden to slice Iraq in to three different nations.

The difference between Obama and other possible 2008 contenders is stark, and not limited to Iraq policy positions. He continues to speak on a more grand scale, a style highlighted, or perhaps started, at the Democratic Convention in 2004. There, he spoke of the "true genius of America" and a country with "faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles."

Overall, his speech and many thereafter seem apolitical. While the senator is able to talk at length about standard political issues, he often talks as a cultural leader in speeches, which bring crowds full of voters out in herds.

On his trip to Africa, when referencing government, he remarked, "Good government is not getting shaken down by a bureaucrat if you want to start a business, not being pulled over by police to pay a bribe, being able to get a business license in a few days instead of a few years." Hard to imagine Giuliani delivering that line.

Likewise, a Chicago Tribune article about his speech on Iraq contained a quote by Dick Longworth, a senior fellow at the council, who said, "If we'd put this thing on for another senator, we could have held it in a phone booth." It's hard to imagine John Edwards drawing such a crowd.

Put simply, Obama's grandiose vision of America and the masses that react to it are the problems other Republican and Democrats will have if the senator from Illinois enters the race. To many, he is not an empty-suited young politician, as his challengers will say. He is a figure that directs the soul of the nation.

-- Jeff Gohringer

http://politicalinsider.com/2006/12/the_empty_suit_myth.html

[beaconess]

8. Thanks, Pirate - you're right. I like it.

[wiley]

6. Please join this thread!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2637659

[Doctor_J]

9. Sounds like Barrack feels alot more comfortable around

christians than whiteback is around blacks.

Seriously folks, Obama could actually court christians and Robertson and Dobson couldn't lay a glove on him.

[beaconess]

10. Bwaahaahaa! That's SO true!

And, given their response to him, the feeling seems to be mutual.

[Doctor_J]

26. OTOH, after taking that bitch-slapping, Brownback showed some nerve just

staying around.

[IndianaGreen]

11. Obama has the potential of unifying a lot of groups

and his retort to the idiot Brownback is exactly what Jesus would have said.

[David Zephyr]

23. I have to say, that was a very quick and powerful comeback.

I'm impressed.

[Kahuna]

30. Exactly, my friend. Brownback showed his ignorance to suggest

that a house of God, belongs to anyone but God. What an idiot.

[Leftist78]

17. Awesome

I truly do love that he is able to take the supposed moral debate and throw it right back in their faces. He's not my first choice in '08 or anything, but it's way to early IMHO for me to decide something like that. Great quip!! :applause:

[beaconess]

19. And I loved that the audience responded so favorably

Isn't it nice to hear a politician good-naturedly needle another while making a strong point, without being mean, nasty or petty - unlike some others we know?

[fujiyama]

45. The only other politician

I've seen do that effectively is Bill Clinton.

Obama has some real potential.

[Kahuna]

32. It's always good to have many voices to plead our cause. Obama..

is perfect to address the co-opting of faith by the religious "WRONG."

[Leftist78]

42. Absolutely

I'm personally not a Christian, more of a UU with Buddhist leanings, but I'm tired of the right convincing the American public that they have a monopoly on morality especially when they ignore truly moral issues like poverty, health care, and homelessness.

My favorite book on the subject is God's Politics by Jim Wallis. It really sums up the way we should be talking about morality from a progressive point of view.

[monmouth]

18. I remember shortly after the Dem Convention

I e-mailed his office and offered congrats, admiration and a hope that he would seriously consider a run in '08. This was before a prez run became national talk. Anyway, I told him my first vote was for JFK, (coming from a Rep family Christmas was bleak that year). As an Irish Catholic I mentioned the thrill for us that an Irish Catholic could possibly be POTUS. The excitement and anticipation was inspiring. The Irish, at least in the northeast couldn't even get a job less than 75 years before that. I then told him he brought back that feeling of hope from so many years ago. Shortly after I received an e-mail from his office thanking me so much for the kind words and would I like to be on his mailing list??? I live in Florida, not Ill I told the woman. She was so sweet, "Oh that doesn't matter, the Senator likes to know who his admirers are." I loved it. The right is scared to death of him, that's why they push for Hillary, Ed Rodgers the other night was so moronic, imagine a Rep strategist (??) (how's that going for ya?) immediately counting him out. Sorry, didn't mean to go on so, but am sick of the MSM and those who trivialize Obama. I don't think he suffers fools, and he's so much smarter than they are.....They should tread lightly..

[beaconess]

20. What a nice story.

I SO identify with what you're saying about how Irish Catholics felt about Kennedy. I saw that same sense among Blacks when Jesse Jackson ran. It was a joy watching the faces in the audience, especially those of elderly Black men and women, some of whom had probably been denied the right to vote only 20 years before. They looked so proud and ecstatic and hopeful all at once - it must be so amazing to feel for the first time that you actually belong, that you count, after a lifetime of being denied equality and opportunity.

It was wonderful to see! And I think that Obama inspires that in people - Black people definitely, but not just Blacks.

[monmouth]

22. Thank you Beaconess - I'm really giving my age away here, but

when I was in the third grade Jackie Robinson was going to play for an American baseball team. There were maybe three, four black kids in the two or three grades below and above me. The pride they felt was awesome. I remember being so happy for them, but even back then they were very careful to not be too "uppity" about it. Jim Crow lived on for many years. That was the same year, I'm pretty sure Israel received statehood and either Golda Meier or Moyshe Diann (sp.?) became their leader. I was so impressed that a woman was going to be Head of State...

[beaconess]

37. Wow - that brings back wonderful memories of stories my family told me

about how excited and proud they were when Jackie Robinson was called up to the majors. I don't remember anyone even referring to him as Jackie Robinson. He was just "Jackie."

They told wonderful stories about how the entire neighborhood would pack picnic lunches and pile into cars to go "see Jackie play" whenever the Brooklyn Dodgers came to town. They loved and identified with him so much - felt that "Jackie" was one of them and that every time he took the field, or caught a ball or stole a base, he represented all of them.

Jackie sure made my peeps proud.

[Kahuna]

33. Welcome to DU, Monmouth!!!

:pals: :hi:

[elehhhhna]

21. OB was raised in Hawaii. Don't EVER try to chuch a Hawaii-raised man.

LMAO

[beaconess]

41. LOL!

[AtomicKitten]

24. ooooooh - SNAP

I think the reason he appeals to people is he knows sassy and ain't afraid to speak up.

[beaconess]

38. Nothing badder than a brother who KNOWS he's the smartest person in the room! :-)

[AtomicKitten]

43. plus he has a beautiful, young family

that always plays well on the tee-vee

[beaconess]

46. Did you see him Jay Leno last night?

Leno said Obama had to leave and asked whether he had important Senate business back east. Obama told him, no - he had a ballet recital to attend. His daughter was in the Nutcracker Suite. "She's a mouse, which is a very important part, I understand."

[AtomicKitten]

47. he lights up a room

His youth and fresh perspective make him a very attractive candidate. He was so at ease talking to Leno. He definitely has the gift of self-deprecating gab which if he chooses to run will come in handy on the campaign trail. He's just so likable.

[question everything]

27. Back in 2000 California had a ballot measure, later passed

which was anti gay. I do not remember the details except for voting NO, of course, and angrily removing a YES yard sign which was on the public road but next to my house..

Several days earlier, a pastor at a local church invited opponents of the measure to use the place and to talk. He started, very simply by welcoming everyone to the church, saying: this is your house.

[truedelphi]

29. Good for him.I love that. n/t

[Rowdyboy]

28. Well put, Senator....The perfect comeback to an irritating asshole

[zbdent]

31. Just wondering ... were there any heads of anything demanding

that Brownback not speak to the NAACP before the appearance? You know, like the "church leaders" who demanded that Barack not be allowed to speak at the "megachurch"?

[beaconess]

39. Not that I can recall n/t

[Doctor_J]

34. Welcome to a preview of the 08 debates if these two get nominated

Brownback will be sliced, diced, shredded, wrapped, and carried out on a metaphorical gurney.

The era of preening idiots being in charge is over.

[northofdenali]

35. One big gold star for Obama!!

Take THAT Brownback, you unChristian neocon shit!

[JI7]

36. so Brownback is admitting he doesn't feel comfortable around black people

[Cameron27]

40. Ha!

The man's got style! and class! and intelligence! and a sense of humor!!!

[AtomicKitten]

44. and hearing this stuff

makes me smile like I haven't in a long, long time.

This fella knows how to set 'em up and knock 'em down. I think he might just be ready for prime time after all.