Obama - perspectives

[Troy McClure]

I feel compelled to add, since my background is half Caucasian / half Mexican descent. My initial support for Obama was that he felt the same way about Iraq War 2.0 as I did. I also liked how he portrayed himself and his upbringing as not really being any different than what's normally considered the 'American Dream™'. Yes his skin color was different, but he didn't use it to his advantage or as an excuse. That's how I was raised by my white mom (my parents divorced, but I was still close to my Mexican dad). When I got to college in 1995, it was hard to relate to my non-white friends who used their skin color as an excuse / advantage. I know they had different experiences than I did, with name-calling and stuff like that. But as they became close friends, we all realized you make your own path, and if something is blocking, you either quit, or bulldoze through it.

Also, my neighbor came over to celebrate with my mom and I. She is turning 80 in January and she is black. I had never seen her that joyful since her grandkids were born. She told us of growing up during segregation, and now this is the best 80th birthday present she could hope for.

Obama winning should be the example of kids anywhere in America. You don’t need that traditional family crap that the GOP trots out. Kids just need someone who believes in them.

-Jason

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Obama got in trouuuble, Obama got in trouuuble:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/...nce/index.html

[Sean]

Originally Posted by jOHN rODRIGUEZ

Obama got in trouuuble, Obama got in trouuuble:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/...nce/index.html

So glad to see that the country is maintaining it's laser-like focus on the important issues we're up against - like Obama telling a bad joke. Whoop-de-do.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Troy McClure

I feel compelled to add, since my background is half Caucasian / half Mexican descent. My initial support for Obama was that he felt the same way about Iraq War 2.0 as I did. I also liked how he portrayed himself and his upbringing as not really being any different than what's normally considered the 'American Dream™'. Yes his skin color was different, but he didn't use it to his advantage or as an excuse. That's how I was raised by my white mom (my parents divorced, but I was still close to my Mexican dad). When I got to college in 1995, it was hard to relate to my non-white friends who used their skin color as an excuse / advantage. I know they had different experiences than I did, with name-calling and stuff like that. But as they became close friends, we all realized you make your own path, and if something is blocking, you either quit, or bulldoze through it.

Also, my neighbor came over to celebrate with my mom and I. She is turning 80 in January and she is black. I had never seen her that joyful since her grandkids were born. She told us of growing up during segregation, and now this is the best 80th birthday present she could hope for.

Obama winning should be the example of kids anywhere in America. You don’t need that traditional family crap that the GOP trots out. Kids just need someone who believes in them.

-Jason

Thanks for sharing the perspective.

[BeautifulBurnout]

This just in!

Obama's Use of Complete
Sentences Stirs Controversy

Stunning Break with Last Eight Years

In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.

Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS' "Sixty Minutes" on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth. But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring.

According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a President who speaks English as if it were his first language.

"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."

The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate - we get it, stop showing off."

The President-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has
already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.