"Author! Author!"

[saltpoint]

Senator Obama speech today was by his own hand.

The Wright controversy was a mound of wet straw. Obama rolled his sleeves up and spun it into gold.

I feel we heard a history-making address today from Philadelphia.

[K Gardner]

1. First K&R !! I was going to say lemons into lemonade, but your analogy -

as usual - is so much more literate !

I have fallen, and I can't get up :-) :hi:

[saltpoint]

3. Hiya, K Gardner.

I'm grinning you a hello right through cyberspace!

[BuyingThyme]

2. Oh, you're gonna make Team Hillary so mad.

[saltpoint]

4. She said all Sen. Obama had was one speech. Now he has two.

[DavidDvorkin]

9. Heh.

[boppers]

14. Two, Two, Two Speeches, Muwah ah ah...

:evilgrin:

She better be careful, or he'll start writing more... ;)

[Voice for Peace]

36. He has at least three. This one is brilliant, from 2006

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid463869411?bctid=416343938

the relationship between religion and politics.

[saltpoint]

76. Thank you for that link, Voice for Peace. It's a keeper.

[JuniperLea]

5. Was there a definitive story, a link?

Showing he wrote that speech? I've seen a lot of back and forth on this today, but never proof.

[saltpoint]

6. He spent two days or so writing the address.

No handlers, no spin doctors, only his own editor's instincts and command of the language.

I just blew me away.

[JuniperLea]

8. Link? eom

[K Gardner]

10. Self-delete

[Cha]

20. Sage advice..

:hi:

[JuniperLea]

26. How civil...

:puke:

[Cha]

44. Don't hurl your

guts out.

[JuniperLea]

25. Oh, how pleasant you are...

:puke:

You can't even manage a civil response. Fine.

[Voice for Peace]

38. Truly. He writes his own speeches. Unthinkable for a politician, I know.

[wildeyed]

11. "Obama dictated a first draft to his young speechwriter Jon Favreau on Saturday,

then reworked the speech until 3 a.m. Monday."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/124122/page/2

[JuniperLea]

31. Thanks, wildeyed...

Thanks a lot.

:hi:

[wildeyed]

70. de nada

:hi:

[saltpoint]

13. I will give you this link via Daily Kos / THE ATLANTIC, Juniperx, but

next time there'll be a fee.

http://openthread.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/18/17135/6770/569/465227

[JuniperLea]

29. Thank you! That's all I was looking for!

Bless you, Old Crusoe! Now I know.

[Swamp Rat]

19. CNN’s Jack Cafferty says, "Obama wrote the speech himself."

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/18/does-obama’s-race-matter/

"Obama wrote the speech himself. No speechwriters."

[JuniperLea]

30. Thanks, Swampy!

:hi:

Always nice to find a few civil people around here:)

[Swamp Rat]

48. Yes, I appreciate civility, and expect it from most long-time DUers.

:hug:

Unfortunately, I will be putting a few on ignore after the GE. Until then I will watch and listen.

Though I still consider myself a Kucinich supporter, I am moving in the direction of Obama. Today's speech had a profound effect on my voting preference, but it was also an important speech for all Americans, whether they realize it or not. ;)

:hi:

[JuniperLea]

93. I hope you are right...

I sincerely do.

[Binka]

89. Shouldn't You Be In a Field Waiting Rumi?

I am so confused by your posts. Would Rumi want links?

[Samantha]

97. A political wind has blown you away?

Come back to us! Who will start all the neat threads, if not you?

It was a tremendous speech, but that's an understatement. I do not know what will happen in this Presidential contest, but Barack Obama has left his fingerprints on this nation for decades to come.

Sam

[K Gardner]

7. Nevermind.

[JuniperLea]

17. Oh stop with the ad hominem attacks!

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! I'm asking for edification here and you give me hubris!

[Voice for Peace]

45. No... step back.

Obama's actually setting a great example of being a human being.
Don't be quick to attack.

[K Gardner]

72. You're right, sorry. Tired of senseless attacks on him and too quick to jump to defense.

[Voice for Peace]

90. Well surely you're not alone in that, I've reacted quickly myself

and often before I really understood where the other person was coming from.

With some people I've started using the ignore feature because all they
ever do for me is make me angry, and I don't want to spend my time that
way. Sometimes though people are just confronting things I need to
look at or think about more carefully, including sometimes a mindless
bias of my own that I'm not ever aware of.

I've just been sitting here listening again to Obama's speech from
yesterday. It's so simple what he's talking about. "We have a choice in
this country." I love it.

[TwilightGardener]

12. He stepped up and addressed the issue about as honestly, eloquently, and responsibly

as was possible--all in that calm, thoughtful, reassuring manner of his. He exemplifies leadership.

[saltpoint]

18. Yes. He spoke to the immediate controversy, made it at once personal

and then universal.

Great leaders toggle seamlessly between local grievance and universal anthem.

Lincoln could do that.

So can Barack Obama.

Hi, wienerdoggie. Good to see you as always.

[TwilightGardener]

40. Good to see you too, OC.

The way I see it, the Democratic party unwrapped a real gift this past year, to the point where Republicans have been soiling their diapers with fear, and jealously searching their House and Senate chambers and Governor's mansions for their OWN Obama to run next time. I hope the Dem Party elders and Superdelegates were watching today, and were moved, no matter what Howard Wolfson and Sean Hannity and the PA polls say.

[saltpoint]

64. Agree -- the GOP has likely been filling quite a few diapers of late and

not just Senator Vitter.

McCain's handlers must be contemplating leaving him high and dry, or low and slow, and joining up with the next U.S. president, whose speech today in Philadephia re-rang the Liberty Bell for a lot of us.

[Swamp Rat]

15. Good evening Old Crusoe.

Obama's speech was more important than some realize. ;)

:hi:

[saltpoint]

28. Swamp Rat, you are absolutely correct. Which isn't at all surprising, but

it needs repeating. This speech casts a long trajectory over the lives of people not yet among us.

This was a nation-shaper.

This address is going to rattle the rafters of the Far Right in ways they can't smear with antigay marriage initiatives and bullshit swiftboating of reputations.

This one was for the ages, and the man wrote it himself.

[JuniperLea]

33. I wish I could get caught up in the fervor over this man...

Really... honestly I do.

Thankfully, I already voted... for Edwards... and I don't need to decide between these two. I'll vote for whomever ultimately gets the Dem nod... passionately I will support them! I promise!

[saltpoint]

42. John Edwards is a wonderful man. Would that more heard his

proposals for economic justice.

I am not seeing any good argument stood against his work, his ideas, his character.

[JuniperLea]

49. Yes, I agree...

I'm jaded, I admit. I work in the PR field, and am involved with a lot of media training and speech writing. I guess the glitter has worn off for me.

[saltpoint]

54. Our first chore is to whip the crap out of John McCain, no matter how long

that will take in his case.

I'll take any of our 8 originals over any Puke, and especially over McCain because despite spending 5 years in a goddam cage, he still wants more bloodshed, more carnage, more hostility generated from the Oval Office.

His is a very dark vision for the planet and we simply can't abide it.

[Swamp Rat]

39. Yes, and it was a long time coming.

Amazingly, some of the gutter sniping is not coming from the far right nutjobs.

I am truly appalled at what I have seen here today.

[saltpoint]

46. I am hearing you on that, although I think this address in Philadelphia

is shaking people's bones.

The rest of the activity in the 08 campaign, to borrow from a favorite passage of literature, will become merely one long awed comment on the scope and depth of this address.

That's only one guy's take, but this one is being discussed right now across some very high-powered chow spreads inside the Beltway.

There are eaters of that high-priced chow staring at each other, mumbling, "Damn. This thing is over. She has nothing in her arsenal to compete with that kind of talent."

[Cha]

16. "Mound of Wet Straw Spun into Gold"!

Obama most certainly did roll up his sleeves and stay up until the wee hours of the morning and write his own speech..he's the one who lived it.

[saltpoint]

22. Hi, zidzi. That allusion was intended as praise.

Obviously I screwed up!

[Cha]

63. I think it 's a beautiful metaphor.

I haven't seen the negative replies about that yet.

But, the bottom line is we have someone who is running for president who we can be extremely proud of and he took all the negatives thrown at him over these last months and brought our country up to a higher level with his Speech in Philly, PA.

[saltpoint]

68. Nicely put -- he did exactly that.

It's not just the skill with the words, either. It felt like they sprung from him unbidden into the public square.

I was very proud of my country after that speech today. It's a nice feeling.

[Ninga]

21. You, OC, are like a coast guard ship, cutting through the bull shit of life. I dig it!!

:hi:

[saltpoint]

24. Hi, Ninga. It appears some folks here and there see that assessment in

different terms!

But what the hell, that speech today was a history-maker. It clutched at a lot of hearts.

I hope high school civics teachers had their wits about them and made their students watch the address on tv in their government classes.

[Voice for Peace]

47. I bet many kids will see it tomorrow if they didn't see it today. nt

[saltpoint]

57. Yes. Tomorrow's good, then. But I think the teacher's planning notes

can be suspended for a day to ask young folks to consider Obama's address.

Their educations aside, I'd really like it if they talked about an address like that among themselves on the bus ride home.

[Voice for Peace]

61. I bet they'll think about it, even if they don't talk about it.

And some of them will talk about it. And many will remember this time.

[saltpoint]

69. Yes. Bless 'em all on that bumpy bus ride, and I love your

assessment and scenario. "...even if they don't talk about it" but still think about it.

[Voice for Peace]

91. Thank you. Kids are the hope of this country. When my own kids were in junior high

and high school I was amazed. I never recalled that I had been so wise,
so energized, so outrageous and righteous and able to think for
myself. The internet has been such a force, mostly for good in my
opinion, as zany as much of it is. I did a web search many years ago
for "creativity + insanity." The websites I came up with at that time
were mostly sites of high school or college kids -- and they were
insane, creative, brilliant. Since that time I've always felt kids ought
to have more power in making decisions about the country,
especially about their own education. Their ideas are much better
than all the education czars in the universe.

[saltpoint]

95. Pablo Casals said once that we grown-ups need to strive to make

the world worthy of its children.

I think he nailed it pretty good.

[Voice for Peace]

96. Yes. exactly.

[ClayZ]

23. Those were HEART felt words!

He had to walk the walk to talk the talk!

K and R


GOBAMA

[stillcool]

27. "it's just a speech"...

It doesn't matter! Communicating with the people of this country, and other countries has nothing to do with being President of the United States. That's why we have bombs! :sarcasm:

[saltpoint]

32. the right wing nutbag pundits who are saying

"It's just a speech" remind me of someone who says "The Constitution is just a piece of paper."

Those words are alive.

[Voice for Peace]

34. Beautifully said, thanks.

[NanceGreggs]

35. Ooops!

"Error - You have already recommended this thread."

It should have sunk in after the first dozen "error messages" that I'd already recommended this thread as many times as I was allowed.

I think we should review the one-REC-only rule - in cases like this, it just doesn't seem appropriate nor fair.

[saltpoint]

37. Holy cow, ma'am. From you, that is mighty high praise.

But the man of the hour is this Obama fella from Illinois.

Ain't heard speechifyin' like that in quite a spell.

_ _ _ _

Obama has the editor's skill, but this speech went deeper into his bones than just the skill level. It opened a lot of windows across the country. My guess is it's being emailed furiously to a LOT of households as we speak.

[saltpoint]

41. Cooper Union. Abraham Lincoln. The speech that made Lincoln president.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1876321

We may have heard the speech today that makes Barack Obama president.

[NanceGreggs]

55. Must agree, OC ...

This young'en not only has a way with the words, he has a way with the heart.

I'm thinking that's a winnin' combination - not just for the party, but for the country.

[saltpoint]

59. Agree with that, Nance, and with Swamp Rat and others here -- this

was not a political address for an immediate problem. It was a very long look, long overdue, into our collective futures.

I was just thrilled by it.

Also, I think the "plagiarism" issue just got done evaporated.

[Swamp Rat]

65. It will be the subject of TENS OF THOUSANDS of sermons next Sunday.

;)

I was reading a poll a few moments ago, about whether he'll get a "bump" in the polls this week as a result. I cannot speak to the short term, but in the long run, Obama's speech will reverberate in the minds of 10's of millions of Americans.

I am willing to bet, a billion humans will know of it within a few months. :D

[saltpoint]

71. I think that's a reliable figure, too. Lincoln's Cooper Union address,

stunning as it was, was made in an agrarian world. Word reached rural folk by two mules and a shitwagon.

Obama's address comes in the age of "the internets" and people heard it today in Singapore and Bolivia and Scotland.

And I want to add a tiny P.S. to their download of that speech to say, "See? THIS is who we really are -- not the George W. Bush model you've been seeing for the last 8 years. Don't give up on us yet!"

[Swamp Rat]

53. I'll donate my rec on your behalf.

:hi:

[NanceGreggs]

58. Thanks, Swamp Rat ...

... now can you find another two dozen DUers willing to do the same?

:hi:

[backscatter712]

43. Here's an observation.

If Bush's brain is Karl Rove, and Hillary's brain is Mark Penn, Obama's brain is Barack Obama. Sure, Obama makes use of experts like David Axelrod to keep on top of the technicalities, but Obama takes charge and makes the decisions rather than letting himself be manipulated by sycophants.

And that gives me a lot of confidence in Obama.

[saltpoint]

51. Yes. Obama has crafted his adulthood out of his own instinct and dedications.

Whereas Bush for example is the puppet Rove and Cheney have manipulated for the last 8 years.

Bush must have hit the sauce early today, realizing that nothing he has ever been, or will be, is anything up to the level Obama is at and has been at for years.

[VolcanoJen]

50. I just finished watching the entire speech, for the first time.

I don't even know what to say, really. It's the most thought-provoking, relevent speech I think I've ever heard in politics. He's challenging this nation. He's asking us to do something for our country, to move our conversations forward, to stop obsessing about the utter worthlessness of conventional negative politics and instead challenge our media, and especially each other, to have a different kind of election this time.

I don't see how anybody couldn't see his speech as earth-shattering, one of those true watershed politically historical moments, and I think he's really proven he's got what it takes for the fall campaign. And then some.

[saltpoint]

62. There it is. He is raising the bar by asking us to regard the broader landscape.

And it is a landscape that goes back through generations of our forebears and forward through the landscape of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well.

[Unsane]

52. underrated Al Pacino film

[saltpoint]

66. It is underrated, Unsane. I loved that damned film. May God forgive

me, but I have seen it several times. Al's good in many films, but I think he's rarely better than he is in this one.

[citizen snips]

56. It was wise for Obama to firmly denounce Wright's comments.

Maybe some DU'ers will now have second opinion of Wright. Obama showed a good amount of courage by analyzing race. However, Fox News will probably not stop talking about Wright until hell freezes over.

[saltpoint]

60. The next best step in the game plan would be to stop watching FOX News.

I'm not seeing as how FOX News has added anything to public discourse over some many years.

[citizen snips]

75. its ok OC, I don't watch Fox News.

I have heard that they keep on playing the Wright videos. However, I sometimes read the Wall Street Journal.

[saltpoint]

78. I knew you weren't a FOX News fan, MATTMAN. No one who is as

consistently right-on with every major social issue as you are would be a FOX watcher.

The WSJ has it's moments. I don't always think in business and market terms, so it pays sometimes to see what the WSJ has got to say.

[citizen snips]

81. It will be a challenge for them to spin Obama's race speech.

In fact this election year will the hardest on Fox News.

[saltpoint]

83. Agree. FOX News could be in for a real turbulent season.

I hope they grow dizzy from repeated blows to their already-bottom-feeder status and keel over dead.

I won't miss Brit Hume one iota.

[dailykoff]

67. It's a great speech, JFK-league. He's killing two birds, too,

the Muslim thing and the Wright thing. Listening to a rebroadcast now.

[Swamp Rat]

73. More than two.

He secured the nomination. ;)

[saltpoint]

74. Agree. My guess is a great many hard-bitten realist Dem stalwarts

are nodding their heads 'yes' this evening.

And the folks over at McCain headquarters are just saying, "O shit."

[better tomorrow]

77. He was up until 2 AM writing it.....then the phone rang at 3

and it was Hillary saying, "Barack, please don't mess up my roll....." He hung up on her.

[Condem]

79. crusoe

I couldn't help thinking that Obama is the Tiger Woods of politics. The bigger the stakes, the better he performs. BTW, I donated last night. I had all the faith he would nail this one!

[saltpoint]

80. Then you called it right, Condem. The week of the Wisconsin Primary,

Sen. Obama's opponent in the nomination contest accused him of "plagiarism."

With this address in Philadelphia coming as it did from his own hand, I think the "plagiarism" charge, which was baseless crap to begin with, has disappeared from the debate.

[Condem]

84. Now, Crusoe

I'm a little worried about PA. I was raised as a Philly democrat. Do you know what that is? My first recollection of politics was my father at the 1972 democratic convention saying, " son, nothing but sp**cs and sp**ks here on this channel. The irony- he voted for JFK and RFK! Now then, I've conquered my demons but a lot of the people I grew up with are still wrestling with theirs...like my sister. My wife bet me $20 that Clinton would be done by PA.
I disagree. If she crushes in PA, it goes on. What you say?

[saltpoint]

85. She has the lead at the moment.

But after this morning's speech in Philadelphia, I think we may see a tightening of the contest.

Obama reached back to the keystone hour of our republic, and at the same time, to the immediate engagement in the Pennsylvania primary.

This guy's got it together.

[Tatiana]

82. He won over the undecided superdelegates with his moving words. n/t

[Condem]

86. crusoe

He cut's it in half- It's a win.

[saltpoint]

87. True, especially against the numbers I'm seeing now. But he may do

better than that.

Hard to tell, I realize.

But the next few weeks are going to be sizzlers in the Keystone State.

[mathewsleep]

88. agreed

[saltpoint]

92. Hi, mathewsleep.

Good to see you on the boards.

As always.

[cooolandrew]

94. Is gore operating Obama I heard another speech and he sounded just like him, No problem with it cool

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5155313&mesg_id=5155313

[Coexist]

98. and his last two speeches on Iraq and the economy were worthy of Rumpelstilskin

[Coexist]

99. and his last two speeches on Iraq and the economy were worthy of Rumpelstilskin