Obama and Memphis

[emilyg]

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I want to say that I'm deeply disappointed that my dear brother Barack Obama decided not to go pay tribute and lay his wreath for the great Martin Luther King, Jr. That brother Martin's profound love and deep sacrifice for black people, America and humanity is in no way reducible to political calculations, even for the campaign for presidency. That Martin Luther King Jr.'s deep commitment to unarmed truth and unconditional love can in no way be subject to strategies for access to political power. Hence, I have a very deep disagreement with my dear brother, Barack Obama -- in this case, commitment to truth is in tension with the quest for power.
link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cornel-west/on-obama-not-going-to-mem_b_95179.html
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[RBInMaine]

1. He gave a great speech in Indianapolis with many AA's there, as did Bobby Kennedy.

He also spoke to MLK's children, and will speak again on the issue in NC.

[Boz]

6. Not only was it a great speech, but it was anchored in the movement foward that King was

all about.

[goclark]

2. His speech was outstanding and I thought

the setting was perfect.

I watched it a few hours ago.

[GrantDem]

3. He gave an awesome tribute to Dr. King in Ft. Wayne...

My wife was fortunate enough to hear it in person (I had to work).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABdDSxI6eSY

[sandnsea]

4. He spoke to people in North Dakota

about putting their hand on the arc. I think that's much more important than laying a wreath.

[tokenlib]

5. Barack did better than laying a mere wreath

...I am finding these critiques rather lame.

[anigbrowl]

8. The HuffPo column is hypocritical BS - you would think Obama had completely ignored the date

How can you write a piece complaining that he was not in Memphis and leave it at that? If he had discussed the speech and said why his presence in Memphis would have been more important, I'd respect it. But you'd think Obama had taken the day off from reading this silly article.

[EffieBlack]

12. How interesting

that some of the same people who dismiss Obama because he "just talks nice" and who poo poo as meaningless the symbolic value inherent of his candidacy and potential nomimation and election, are now pretending to be SHOCKED SHOCKED that Obama did not choose to run down to Memphis to engage in the symbolic act of paying tribute to Dr. King - a man whose words inspired and still inspire a nation - by staging a photo op on the spot where Dr. King was murdered.

How interesting. How hypocritical. How stupid.

[Blondiegrrl]

27. Pssst! He also doesn't wear an American flag pin!

What a phony! How dare he not set aside time from addressing concrete issues to pander to symbolism!

[C_U_L8R]

7. I am glad Obama was not there

and he honored Dr King in his own gracious way.

Frankly the sight of John McCain who voted AGAINST MLK Day
showing up in a Memphis media circus with an umbrella man made me ill.
As McCain unfortunately proved.. it's not about being THERE,
its about being with Dr King.. no matter where you are.

[Blondiegrrl]

28. Man, that video footage of McCain was AWK.WARD.

I cringed all the way through it.

[woolldog]

9. I liked this comment:

"Why was King in Memphis? It was because it was where he needed to be to advance the cause he had dedicated his life to. Why was Obama in Indiana? I think King would understand."

:applause:

[kentuck]

10. Obama is running for President of all the people...

Just as he refuses to follow the dictates of those that demand he wear his flag pin in his lapel, he also refuses to follow the dictates of those that say he has to be in Memphis to "honor" Dr. King.He honors the flag and Dr King both in his own way. It is a more honest way. He follows his heart and he has a keen intuition. Brother Cornel West and others are reading him wrong.

[emilyg]

14. It would seem to me he would want to be there.

[woolldog]

30. You don't get it do you?

He doesn't need to show his support for King's dream by attending a photo-op. He is living King's dream.

[thoughtcrime1984]

19. I applaud this response. nt

[rodeodance]

11. REC

[HCE SuiGeneris]

25. You'd better fall back and get your groupies.Y'all are getting hammered here with intelligent dialog

[QC]

13. Check out the vicious comments at that link.

They're appalling.

[FrenchieCat]

15. I'm glad that my Dear Brother Barack Obama did exactly what he did.....

His was the best speech I heard on the subject today......and less self serving as well: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x114418

Shallowness is an easily gotten commodities these days....especially when it is convenient.

[JI7]

16. he was busy spreading King's message

[BlueIdaho]

17. Perhaps you prefer McCain

He was in Memphis.

[BeyondGeography]

18. Like you give a shit

[GarbagemanLB]

20. The best response from that link:

Dr West,

I'll keep my name to myself, but I knew you as a Harvard student. Your were full of crap then, you're full of crap now. The brother is running for president of the United States, not head of the Afro-American Studies Department. Why are you stressing him? Jealous? He's run a dignified campaign that's trying to reach all Americans; he's go tto do what he's got to do. Get off your self-serving pedastal for a second and think about what he has to do; he need to be in Indiana right now - or would you prefer the race-baiting Clinton machine to win? Let the brother do his thing.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

24. An excellent response, borne of intelligent thought.

[anamandujano]

21. He doesn't like playing second fiddle to anyone else's image.

He thinks of himself as to go-to guy on race relations and so should all of us.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

23. No. He thinks FOR himself and for the country. That is why he will be a great leader.

[Hepburn]

22. Emily is just jealous....

...Hillary gave that sucky, phony, lying speech today about having shaken Dr. King's hand and made a fool of herself while Barack rocked out as usual.

Emily....your green eyes are showing again! LOL....:D

[DerekJ]

26. In this thread Barack Obama hates black people. In a similar thread he is a homophobe and hates gays

In an earlier thread he hates Jews and he is Anti-Semitic. A week or so ago, he hated "typical white" people.

All what that tells me that it is you that sees hate everywhere.

[Middle finga]

29. It's a shame Barack have to avoid events with large gathering of

black people just so he will not frighten off white people. He avoided the State of the Black Union event in February just so he would not be labeled as a "Black Candidate" and the irony is, they still found away to paint him as "Angry Black Candidate". Most Black people understand what Barack is going through and what he must do but at the same time black people don't want to be taken for granted either especially when they are giving you 90% of their votes. Hillary and McCain or any other politician would not dare turn away from or avoid a voting block that represents 10 of millions of voters that's giving them anywhere from 80 to 90 percent of their votes. I guess the assumption in america is, it's ok to marginalize black voters. Bush was allowed to go speak at Bob Jones University without anyone questioning his agenda but Barack isn't allowed to give a speech at an event honoring Dr. King. Whats wrong with that picture?

[whistler162]

31. Sounds like Senator Obama....

handled this like Lot, looking and moving forward, instead of like Senator's Clinton and McCain who handled it like Lot's wife.

[acrosstheuniverse]

32. you know what that concept was absolutely beautiful...

Things are really getting more and more interesting this year.

[LTR]

33. Memphis today was merely a photo op

I mean McCain, the guy who voted against the MLK holiday, was there, for cryin' out loud.

And why celebrate MLK's death, when it would be better to celebrate his life?

If Obama went there, with the whole media circus, it would have seemed as cheap and desperate as Hillary and McCain being there. He didn't need to be there.

[C_U_L8R]

34. Exactly !

Obama is the real deal. A class act.

[AllentownJake]

35. I lived in Fort Wayne 2 years ago

It is predominantly a white midwestern city. Delivering that speach there had much more of an impact than if he would of done a ghoulish photo-op on the balcony where a great man sadly passed away. He got his message of healing to white America who needed to hear it. BTW I'm white so I don't hate white people.