Senator Obama Opening Remarks in Kuwait - Enthusiastic Response!

[jefferson_dem]

Run time: 05:22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp_s92SlENo   Posted on YouTube: July 19, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: July 19, 2008 By DU Member: jefferson_dem Views on DU: 4891

 
:patriot:

[Hope And Change]

1. K & R!

[gateley]

2. Thank you! They all look so HAPPY to see him! Hope? Recommend. nt

[Inuca]

3. I could barely understand a word

but what a crowd reaction! Very nice, thanks

[jefferson_dem]

5. LOL!~ True.

This reminds me of some of those early audience-recorded Dylan bootlegs. Barely listenable...but we cherished them anyway. :)

[elocs]

39. Thank God! I thought it was just me. The enthusiasm came through loud and clear though. n/t

[Speck Tater]

4. Nice response from the crowd, but the audio is horrible. Can't understand a word. NT

[Voice for Peace]

6. worth watching just to see the faces of the soldiers, their response to him

[Olney Blue]

7. He is going to be a most excellent Commander in Chief!

[Windy]

8. great video!! n/t

[bluedeminredstate]

9. I've never seen the Chimperor get such a reception

I can't understand a word Obama said other than "Jack Reed" but the soldiers looked mighty happy to see him. The smiles on their faces were very welcoming! I wonder if Cheney or Chimpy walked in there what the reaction would be...

:patriot:

[elehhhhna]

10. remember when the mil wouldn't salute Clinton?

We need a commercial of these soldiers --

"Vote Obama -- their lives depend on it."

[grantcart]

11. more please

Interesting provider: MilitaryNewsNetwork

[lyonn]

12. Hard to hear, but, I did get where he praised the military and

their commitment, etc., and recognized those congressmen that were with him, Hagel and Reed. Brought tears to this old (70 yrs. old) white lady. How can one ignore his sincerely? I want to believe he really cares and knows our pain??

[Muttocracy]

13. Here's what I could hear, lots of gaps but gets the jist - they're about to play B-ball!

first of all...i am so grateful to all of you for your extraordinary service to this county....

introduce two of my colleagues...Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.....both of them are veterans....

I hope you all came out here because you want to see me get beat by your fellow soldiers... Now fortunately... I have an old hip injury...You don’t believe me?......I was playing a couple weeks ago... point guard for the Bulls, now for the Knicks..............

The main thing I want to tell you is all of you have made such extraordinary service and sacrifice to our country.......when you’re being deployed, when you leave your family and you leave your friends......I just want to report to all of you guys, whatever political things are going on at home, whatever political party you all belong to, America is unified in being so proud of the extraordinary, brilliant, dedicated, professional service that is provided by the members of our armed forces......

...by the way, Chuck’s a Republican, Jack and I are Democrats, but we share that sentiment. And we also share a commitment that when you get back home after your tours and service are completed, that we’re not gonna forget you

.....some of you may decide to stay in uniform throughout your career, some of you may decide..... regardless, ...part of the finest fighting force in the history of the world....and that is something that the American people should always...

...United States Senator from Illinois. Just know that I’m going to be here for you, I’m going to be fighting for you...retired vets...no one has been more dedicated to our troops than Jack Reed from Rhode Island, no one has been more dedicated to our troops than Chuck Hagel from Nebraska.... Thank you everybody, god bless you...


Another video in the forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x159213

[jefferson_dem]

14. Thanks for the transcript.

:hi:

[bjobotts]

15. Is our military mostly black or are they just showing the black crowd

[Muttocracy]

16. poked around on DoD briefly for data

found this from 2003: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=29582

"This official debunked the notion that the all-volunteer force would lead to a higher percentage of African-Americans and other minorities being killed in a war. He said blacks comprise only a slightly higher percentage of enlistees than found in a comparable age group in the general population - 21 percent of military service members versus roughly 14 percent of the general population."

[DLnyc]

18. So the proportion of blacks in the military is 50% higher than in the civilian

population. I would call that much higher, not "slightly higher".

[mucifer]

34. My guess is that more black soldiers decided to see him than white soldiers

Maybe they had a choice.

[ooglymoogly]

20. I wondered the same thing.

When they panned the audience it was pretty mixed. They kept zooming in on this one group of all blacks. Still; though I could not understand a word, it was exciting to see the way he is being received. This man is someone we can be proud of as a real American and one of us.

[jwirr]

17. What a great reception. Thanks for posting it.

[Divine Discontent]

19. Charlie Brown Teacher - "woh woh woh... woh woh..." lol

that's what it sounded like, lol.. but I loved seeing their response to him. The two guys with him look good, either of them would be good VP for him, but only if Hagel agrees it's wrong to discriminate against GLBT human beings. I'd still prefer Clark, Biden, Edwards, or Webb.


many more stickers/shirts at - www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

[Plucketeer]

21. I can't WAIT...

til January 20th! What a great day in history that will be. :woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

[bluevoter4life]

22. Thanks for the video

Sent shivers down my spine seeing the reaction (the good kind of shivers by the way)

[unapatriciated]

23. Thanks for a great vid...

the troops need to know that we Dem's do support them and want them home. I loved seeing all the smiling faces and the very warm and enthusiastic reception Obama received.

[jillan]

24. Wow! They love him in Kuwait!

[ClayZ]

25. Thank you for posting! K and R

:patriot:

[LaStrega]

26. Obama is over there ...

Meanwhile, McCain will be at a Yankees game with Guilliani later today.

Speaks volumes.

Yeah, it was great to see the enthusiasm ... though I couldn't make out much of what he was saying, either.

[Muttocracy]

27. oh, please, please, let McCain pick Rudy for VP

if not, at least a photo op with him.

[LaStrega]

28. Agreed!

[ebuendia]

29. I am concerned about one thing...

As an earlier post mentioned, many in the audience were African American. There were a few soldiers of other ethnicities, but the majority were African American. Now, I have one close friend serving in Iraq, and he tells me that the military somewhat mirrors our population in terms of representation. Did soldiers of other ethnicities decide to skip this event or did the military have something to do with it?

The reason I bring this up is because if this footage is shown in the MSM it will appear that only African American soldiers support Senator Obama, and of course that is not true. And did they have to have the hoops segment? I'm sorry, but Senator Obama has enough of an uphill battle without being portrayed as a basketball player. True, it rings well in my book and many like-minded progressives, but racists and xenophobes will take a cue from this video.

I support Senator Obama with all my heart, and he's in a tough spot: the ignorant of this country will see him shooting a basketball and it will enable their hatred; on the other hand, if he would to take up a tennis racquet they would label him as an elitist, or being "uppity." The guy can't win. Which is why we have to smack our fellow Americans and tell them to wake up and stop voting against their own interests. Unfortunately, here in the upper midwest it has been difficult for me to convince people: they are that obtuse.

Here's hoping that they may wake up some day.

[webDude]

30. I have to agree, it worries me that it APPEARS that a lot of white ...

people are still afraid of those "darkies", like they're goin' to rape our white wimmen or get crazed on that marijiwanna.
I am white skinned, sometimes when I talk to similar colored skin people it comes to a point in the conversation when they stall and get that look like somethings going on in their mind that they don't want to say, and they say something that does not make sense, like we don't know much about him or he's inexperienced. I hate to say it but I fear the military is a bit more racist than the general population, and that is seen here. Semper fi, yes, but I'm more semper fi for this marine than that marine because...., uh..., well, just because.

I will say, though, that I don't get that reaction from very many white skinned people, thank God.

[mdmc]

31. welcome to DU

[LaStrega]

41. I entirely understand your concern ...

I just have to believe that the enthusiasm Obama has created in the youth vote will override any derision the video may draw. Plus: anyone who'd be negatively swayed by the predominantly African American attendees ... well ... more than likely they'd already made up their mind.

As I've said in another post, my daughter and her friends are psyched about the upcoming election. They're campaigning vigorously ... door to door and via phone. I've got confidence in the youth of America.

Also stated in another post, I've seen countless Obama bumperstickers and other items. Just today a woman was in the grocery story with her two teen children, mom and daughter in Obama t-shirts, the boy in an Obama hat (I'd guess the kids were between 14 and 16). I have yet to see even *one* *single* McCain ... anything. Not even a bumpersticker.

[xxqqqzme]

40. That reception should be very interesting!

[yellerpup]

32. Thank you, jefferson_dem!

Always a pleasure to hear the next President speak! :kick:

[whistle]

33. I think the more important question that should be asked is just how segregated does the U.S.

...military remain after over four decades of effort and laws to to achieve integration. I believe that the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars as well as the Bush and republican agenda for the past seven and a half years has regressed integration efforts and polarized the races in the military as well as government in very subtle but never-the-less deliberate ways.

For example, as a soldier in a war zone, you can't attend these political rallies if you are on watch, shift duty or assignment and that should be investigated by the press who are there.

Still it was a great reception and thanks for posting. K & R

[graywarrior]

35. Since when did Hagel become so hot?

[helderheid]

36. WOW!!!

Look how thrilled they all are!!

[WillyT]

37. Man... The Pride On Those Faces...

Especially those black faces...

I'm cryin here.

:cry:

:grouphug:

:kick:

[Libby2]

38. Me too.