This Obama Photo Takes My Breath Away

[CatBO]

This blog at DailyKos is filled with beautiful pictures and photos, but this one above all the photos from Obama's trip simply takes my breath away. This is him at the Holocaust memorial laying down a wreath. The camera seems to have caught a most sincere moment in his eyes. I think Obama is great, but he often has barriers up and is very tough to read. All the "walls" seem to be down with this look in his eyes.

More wonderful pictures from this fantastic diary link:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/23/114032/409/658/555635

[madaboutharry]

1. A visit to Yad Vashem is life altering.

You never really see the world the same way again.

[leftynyc]

11. I was thinking the same thing

I couldn't even speak for around an hour after I finished that musuem. He'll never forget what he saw there.

[roguevalley]

20. I'm sure his uncle who liberated one of them was on his mind. What

a gentleman Barack Obama is.

[leftynyc]

70. It probably made him realize why

his great uncle couldn't leave the house for 6 months (I remember reading that somewhere). To have seen it up close and personal must have haunted him.

[dave123williams]

81. Agreed. It's all the little tiles in there. Truly chilling.

Puts the whole scope of the inhumanity in stark relief. I know I'll never forget going there.

[tekisui]

2. What a world of difference. Obama looks solemn and touched deeply.

Upon viewing an aerial shot of Auschwitz, Mr Bush said the ruling not to bomb it was "complex."

He then spoke to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's decision, clearly pondering the options before rendering an opinion of his own, Mr Shalev said.

"We should have bombed it," Mr Bush said.

[hisownpetard]

4. Dear George: Have I told you lately

how I hate you?

[SharonRB]

5. WTF?

We should have bombed Auschwitz? During the war? While it was occupied by prisoners? You've GOT to be kidding me. I thought I had heard everything from the Idiot in Chief, but I guess not.

[ShaneGR]

17. The thinking would go that bombing it would have prevented its use in the future....

And that the loss of life as a direct result of bombing would have been far less than the overall total Aushwitz death total. The problem with this logic is that the Germans would have simply begun moving their prisoners to different places.

[madaboutharry]

29. The thing is that the locations of all the death camps were

known. They should have all been bombed. Millions could have been saved. I believe that all the camps could have been destroyed, preventing greatly the success of the "Final Solution."

There is a wonderful book entitled "A Hole in the Heart of The World" by Jonathan Kaufman which beautifully tells of the great loss suffered by us all by the death of vibrant communities, brilliant scientists and poets, and millions of children who never grew up to create lives and families of their own.

[krispos42]

64. The prisoners would just have been used to rebuilt them

At gunpoint. And if Allied high explosives and napalm killed them instead of a furnace or the showers, well, tough shit.


It would be one thing if maybe we could have bombed the guard's barracks, knocked a few holes in the walls, and let the prisoners escape, but in the heart of the Third Reich, that's just not an option. :-(

[goclark]

34. That is the lowest of the low things from his insane lips

[roguevalley]

16. he obviously wasn't aware that a big chunk of his family's money

came from Auschwitz. He has a heart of stone, the evil, evil little wanker.

[City Lights]

25. Uhmerica's biggest asshole!

Gawd, he's a disgusting excuse for a human. :middlefinger:

[ecstatic]

27. I think after this trip, I consider Obama to be my president now

:)

[tekisui]

28. President Obama's 1st term started this week.

[Blondiegrrl]

59. Smug bastard. Ugh. One of the many things I can't stand about Dubya

is that he always looks like he's gloating.

[Virginia Dare]

79. Life is just a cocktail party......n/t

[bullwinkle428]

72. Does that little fucker think there's ever been a problem in the world

that could not have been solved by bombing the shit out of it! :banghead:

[Cha]

3. Thanks, that is

a good pic of our next Prez.

[gateley]

6. And this --

He is obviously so deeply moved and affected.

[Hoof Hearted]

61. Or

perhaps it was hot

in the middle east

in late july

[Hope And Change]

7. K & R!Thanks for posting!

[my2sense]

8. Thanks for the link

What a wonderful feeling it will be to have a leader that has humility & compassion again.

[calimary]

12. Man, you can say that again.

LONGING for the REAL adults to be back in charge. Instead of a bunch of spoiled, pissant whiners.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6530245

[jillan]

9. wow - that brought tears to my eyes.

I'll have to check out the thread at DK.

[Withywindle]

10. Wow.

What a contrast indeed with the * photo. Obama seems unaware of the camera - he's alone with his thoughts and feelings, and they go deep. * can't do anything but mug for the photo-op ever.

When Obama talks about the need for listening to many different points of view, it's not just intellectual, it's emotional too. It's all about empathy. When you have empathy, it's much harder to behave unethically because you're truly aware of the suffering of others who are hurt by callous or selfish or hateful actions.

* is a sociopath and has no empathy. He really, truly doesn't experience other people's pain as something that's real. That's why he won't go to funerals - because he knows he has to fake something he doesn't feel, and he's not a good actor. Because he knows he won't be the center of attention.

This country just needs a better quality of human being as President. Bush sets the bar very, very low and then limbos under it. Obama puts it up high again, where it should be.

[Barack_America]

13. This one got me...

So genuine. So powerful.

[glitch]

32. Woa. Spontaneous tears on that one. Thanks for posting. nt

[jillan]

14. Look at this one, also at the Memorial

[gblady]

15. there were so many.....

great photos on Yahoo news pics from today...
this must have been a life changing experience...











others while trying to speak...

[roguevalley]

18. If memory serves me, they put ashes in each of the flames in the

monument. You would have to be a Bush to go there and not be hurt by the horror of the Holocaust. All the victims, never again. I hope.

[Hawkeye-X]

41. As a 3rd generation of a Holocaust survivor, who also visited Yad Vashem

over 20 years ago, with a strong desire to return to Israel to visit Yad Vashem again. I am mighty proud of my choice, and continue to be proud of Obama today.

My grandfather would have loved you, Obama.

Hawkeye-X

[GeorgeGist]

19. This one's even better

Of course no one would dare build a Holocaust to the 'Native Americans'. Afterall, they had no friends to save them from the judeo-christians.

[polichick]

21. America's holocaust - so sad!

[hedgehog]

22. Playing the game of my pain is worse than your pain is stupid.

[JuniperLea]

23. I think if we looked from the perspective of the American Indian...

We'd be horrified every time someone mentioned genocide, because they never got set free from theirs. They are still living it.

Ordinarily I would agree with you. But in this case, I'll always err on the side of supporting the American Indian. They get so little, and have lost more than anyone.

[JuniperLea]

24. Make that "have"...

They still have no friends here. It's pathetic. They are still the victims of genocide even today.

[cbc5g]

26. We all need to call it what it was...the American genocide, the American Holocaust

What was done to Native Americans was disgusting genocide. And yet people seem to not care as much because we were the winners and the winners set history. There is also still a belief that Native Americans are lesser human beings because their culture is different. It's really sad.

[Hoof Hearted]

62. thank you

[vaberella]

55. God, made me cry. Couldn't we call Slavery another Holocaust?

[BridgeTheGap]

71. Technically, Slavery would not be a "holocaust" because it was not

the intent of slave owners to exterminate blacks. Yes, it was a crime against humanity but not all crimes against humanity are holocausts.
I guess it's also questionable as to whether or not what happened to native Americans was a holocaust. Most whites wanted them "subjugated" and not destroyed, even though that got pretty close to happening. Still, another "crime against humanity" with out a doubt.

[ecstatic]

75. I heard estimates of 800 million dead

during the slave trade (which occurred over many centuries). Of course, the numbers can't be verified since nobody felt it was important enough to keep count.

[BridgeTheGap]

76. Yes, many died in transit...out of sheer neglect which seems rather stupid

on the part of the slavers, who were being paid to deliver these captives.
Amazing Grace is a great film on this very subject.

[boppers]

56. American Holocaust memorials are still being built all over the nation, as we speak.

No memorial can ever correct it, but the purpose is not to undo horrors which can never be undone.

That is not the purpose the memorials serve...

Visit these, if you have a chance:
http://www.nps.gov/trte/index.htm
http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/trail_of_tears/indian_removal_project/site_reports/north_little_rock/chickasaw.htm
http://www.trailoftears.org/
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/MO-JeromeTears.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4703136

Last time I was at the National Holocaust Museum, they had a heart rendering exhibit about "internment camps" during WWII for the Japanese... this long history of suffering, these devastating memorials, belong to no one culture, no single group, and no individual tribe.

These are memorials to our shared humanity, and the horrors of what we do to each other when we forget that we really are one blood, one people, one nation, one world.

[Zhade]

30. He looks... sincere.

NT!

[applegrove]

31. If it had been cheney he would of had on a parka! Yes it is a good

picture. Important memorial.

[bullwinkle428]

73. The picture of him wearing the "Staff" knit hat at Auschwitz was

truly the most unintentionally hilarious picture that ever came out of the entire Bush administration!

[applegrove]

80. Auschwitz was really bad. How could he not know that a somber wool

coat was called for.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ecstatic]

36. That was so unnecessary

:eyes:

[TwilightGardener]

38. WTF??

[Motown_Johnny]

40. So, you are saying that Obama is like Hitler?

how about this hero instead?

[vaberella]

43. WTF? There are some people than have a nack for turning good things into bad things.

~sigh~

[BlooInBloo]

49. Nothing to see here, folks. the mods allow the Obama-underminers...

There's no point in us bitching about it.

[The Magistrate]

51. First Alert On This was Received Ten Minutes Ago, Sir

If someone had alerted earlier, the thing would have been gone earlier. We cannot act on things we do not know of.

[BlooInBloo]

77. I'll take your word for it.

[petgoat]

57. Hero Worship is very bad news. It warps the Worshiper and the Worshipee. nt

[The Magistrate]

58. And Your Intention, Sir, In Comparing Sen. Obama To Hitler Was What?

Of course, picking a thread begun with reference to a visit to the Holocaust Memorial in Israel to do that in adds a bit of special interest....

[petgoat]

66. The intention was not to compare Obama to Hitler.

The intention was to compare hero-worship of Obama with hero-worship of Hitler.

I've paid a lot of dues, fighting anti-semitism in the 9/11 Truth movement, so
you're barking up the wrong tree there--though given the presence of anti-semitic
infiltrators in the Truth movement I can see where you might suspect such an
agenda.

[The Magistrate]

68. Nonsense, Sir: A Distinction Without A Difference

The kindest thing that could be said is that you went for a cheap emotional hook in pursuit of a dubious purpose.

Comparisons of leading Democrats to Hitler and Nazis, comparisons of supporters of leading Democrats to supporters of Hitler and Nazis, meet no conceivable standard of constructive criticism, and meet squarely every criteria of divisive and imflammatory attack.

[The Magistrate]

69. Nonsense, Sir: A Distinction Without A Difference

The kindest thing that could be said is that you went for a cheap emotional hook in pursuit of a dubious purpose.

Comparisons of leading Democrats to Hitler and Nazis, comparisons of supporters of leading Democrats to supporters of Hitler and Nazis, meet no conceivable standard of constructive criticism, and meet squarely every criteria of divisive and imflammatory attack.

[petgoat]

82. I disagree that the distinction has no difference.

Suppose a comparison of lying for Obama to lying for Hitler.
The point is that it's wrong to indulge in lying regardless of whom you do it for.
The criticism is of lying, not of Obama, and not of Obama supporters.

In the same way I am criticizing hero worship itself, not attacking the worshiper.

The cult of the personality has led to some of the most dangerous criminal regimes
in history--or have you forgotten the lesson of the regime of George W. Bush?
Remember how the rednecks worshipped W's balls?

[gblady]

35. another......

[ecstatic]

37. Is it customary for people to wear that

head gear when visiting? I'm just curious. Thanks

[vaberella]

42. Yes it is. Even if you're not Jewish. Similarly non-muslim women in Mosques must wear a hajib.

[Hekate]

63. If you are male and ever visit a synagogue, you'll be handed a yarmulke. God says to cover your head

Who knows? a Jewish friend might invite you to a wedding, and it will be good for you to know this in advance. :hi:

Hekate

[bullwinkle428]

74. It's somewhat dependent on the particular denomination - I was

raised attending a Reform synagogue, and the yarmulke was not a requirement during services, although I do recall that being the case at some Conservative synagogues...

[krispos42]

65. Yeah, I had to wear one at a bris once.

In a synagog. Synagoug. Syna-...

<sigh>


At the temple.

[Devil_Duckie]

39. these photos are breathtaking...

you would have to be subhuman not to be emotional when visiting that memorial...

side note: when did Obama start wearing a flag lapel pin??? I know it's waaay off topic, but that was such a huge deal to the conservatives a few months ago, now he's suddenly wearing one? Huh.

[ecstatic]

44. For quite some time now, actually nt

[muryan]

45. He started back during the primary

Near the end, I think it started making a regular appearance around the Indiana primary.

[Devil_Duckie]

46. Haven't seen it until now.

Must not have been paying close enough attention. Thanks guys.

[ieoeja]

78. A veteran gave him one. He has (mostly) worn it ever since. n/t

[Zynx]

47. Apparently all of those e-mails had it wrong. He's actually a Jew.

;-)

[vaberella]

54. DEAR GOD!!! What an Amazing image. WOW!!! Now that is BREATHTAKING!!!

Thank you for this.

If you were a thread I would totally kick this!!

[BlooInBloo]

48. Look at him - *obviously* he's muslim....

:rofl:

[gblady]

50. a couple from inside Yad Vashem

must be mind-numbing to see the faces...and the babies...

[AZBlue]

52. Wow.

Talk about a photo saying a thousand words.
Thanks for the post!

[Aristus]

53. He looks so Presidential. It'll be nice to have a President who looks that way.

After eight years of the Chimp... :eyes:

[Raster]

67. Won't it be nice to able to take pride in our President again someday?

Seriously...I so want to be able to be proud of my country again and not be ashamed.

[chill_wind]

60. Fantastic images. K & R

eom

[Lilith Velkor]

83. He looks so cute with a yarmulke on. n/t