RE: OBAMA "All he did was give that one speech."

[goclark]

I just received this as part of an email going around the internet....


"How many great people have defined their lives, the
scope of human history, and changed the world in a
speech? Moses, Jesus, Paul, Martin Luther, Frederick
Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F.
Kennedy, Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela,
Jesse Jackson, all have changed the
course of history of the world and the hearts of
billions of men and women in societies since the
beginning of time with a speech."

"That is the purpose of a rally. A person speaks, and
it prepares all to act in relation to the spirit of
what is spoken."

:patriot:

[andyrowe]

1. It's the cynicism, stoopid.*

The Chorus of Optimists will drown them out soon.!

[goclark]

2. Love it

:patriot:

[cd3dem]

3. and what is #2?

[suston96]

4. Senator Barack Obama......

I knew all those people. They were my friends.

And, no offense, but you, sir, are no Moses, Jesus, Paul, Martin Luther, Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F Kennedy, Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela, or Jesse Jackson.

[tekisui]

6. No, Barack Obama is his own man. In his own time.

He is doing things his own way. We don't need another MLK, JFK, Jesus, Ghandi or any other. They were right for their time, for their way.

We can learn from them, take cues from them, try to practice what they taught.

In this modern age, this time filled with cynicism, consumerism and lack of faith in leadership, it truly impresses me that Obama has the ability to impress so many.

No other US political candidate of the last 30 years has invigorated the populace like Obama. No one has brought so many to the political process that have ignored it their entire lives. That counts for something.

[VolcanoJen]

8. So very, very well said.

Thank you. :-)

[goclark]

12. You sir did not understand the post

Obama didn't hardly make that comparison, you did.

Obama is much too classy to compare his words to those greatleaders.

[stillcool]

5. What to think?

On the one hand, anything one says is not to be believed. On the other hand selective text is taken out of context in a way to misinterpret what one says...and that should be believed.
On the one had language is construed as meaningless, on the other hand the critics use the most derisive, divisive, and caustic language possible which is very memorable and meaningful.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

7. This is what many people just don't seem to get.

No president can do everything single-handed, and you can't impose real change from the top down.

The best leaders are those who work from the bottom up, inspiring people so they will all work to accomplish goals.

That is exactly what Obama means when he says, "YES WE CAN!"

[depakid]

9. I think you misunderstand the process

and so are relying on talking points.

Systemic political processes are both "top down" and "bottom up." They rely on deductive logic and the sort of experience and leadership to persuade people to support broad policy proposals.

The processes are also inductive- learning from past example as to what works and what doesn't. Details and implementation are furthered along by participation among individuals and groups that support the general policies. In short, it offers people "ownership" of the "deal."

The New Deal was primarily a "top down" process- made popular through citizen involvement. Big business (corporate America & Wallstreet) fought tooth and nail against the proposals, and as we've seen, they're still fighting to this day.

Bush's policies are also top down- and no reasonable person can argue that they weren't "successful" in terms of getting precisely what their supporters at the top wanted- however dysfunctional that was and is.

It's extremely difficult to generate braod ideas from "the bottom up" and get them implemented. As anyone in management who's tried the various processes for doing so knows all too well. And the political arena, it's a very rare thingthat fails much more often than it succeeds.

[Levgreee]

11. The problems we are facing today have to be largely approached from the bottom up

combating poverty, inequality, the impact WE, as people who choose how we live, have on the environment....

All these things have a large necessary component, of the people uniting, working from the bottom up(in addition to working from the top down).

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

13. I think you just restated my post, using more words

The leaders inspire, the people implement.

[depakid]

15. Substantive policy has to come from the top

Leadership is more than just fireside chats.

Roosevelt's policies were formulated from the top... as were Reagan's.

[Zynx]

10. I was waiting for somebody to compare Obama to Jesus. There we go.

[LittleClarkie]

14. Some people act like he was born that day

that he doesn't have an actual biography. He was a community organizer. He was a civil rights lawyer.