Thank you, Mr. Corn, for bringing this story to alternet, and for your positive comments praising this brave man. I am absolutely staggered by the wisdom and courage that Barrack Obama displayed in addressing racial concerns and candidly discussing his pastor's comments as seen from an understandably generational perspective. Obama's ability to see both sides of the fence (and far beyond) makes him truly unique as well as his willingness to be open, as a uniter, to a better America for all people, regardless of race, gender, religion, cultural heritage and experience. Obama's further rational and well-reasoned ability to put these issues into a broader perspective (lifting America up by addressing substantive issues) goes straight to the heart of healthcare reform, education reform, and economic reforms that can only be achieved through everyone pulling together to address new heights - not old biases.

Mr. Corn, we need more honest commentators like yourself who are not just making a living by fanning the flames of controversy for more readership or viewer ratings. The politics of fear and hate will divide America and continue to cause misery for its people both economically and emotionally. We as a nation are in crisis and we know it - let's get behind a leader who can lead us - out of the darkness and into the light.

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THE TORRES-VIGNALI CONNECTION is explored in detail in a congressional report that resulted from Pardongate, when revelations surfaced that President Clinton granted clemency for Carlos Vignali Jr. — convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in 1995 — along with other convicted criminals and one-time international fugitive Marc Rich. The granting of clemency occurred after payments were made to Clinton’s brother-in-law, Hugh Rodham, the brother of former first lady, New York state senator and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Released in March 2002 by the congressional Committee on Government Reform, “Justice Undone: Clemency Decisions in the Clinton White House” details Hugh Rodham’s involvement in the Vignali affair, as well as the long business history Vignali once shared with George Torres.

The report takes to task top L.A. elected officials, including county Supervisor Gloria Molina, then–state Senator Richard Polanco, then–state Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa and U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra, among others, for lobbying on behalf of Vignali Jr., in light of his drug conviction and the fact that DEA agents long suspected Vignali Sr. to be involved in drug trafficking — along with Torres. While a member of the California state Assembly, Villaraigosa wrote the first letter on Vignali’s behalf on May 24, 1996.

In particular, L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca and former U.S. Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas were heavily criticized for lobbying for Vignali Jr.’s clemency. The report found the input of Baca and Mayorkas to the White House to be “instrumental” in the decision to grant clemency to Vignali Jr., who at his drug-trafficking trial in 1994 confirmed a close family association with Torres. Attorneys for Torres told the Weekly in 2005 that the association between the Vignalis and Torres has long since ended

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I'll be impressed. But on that issue, he's strict party line.

Who in their right mind wouldn't be attracted to Obama's message of racial honesty? When you come right down to it though, this is a diversionary tactic as effective as any other wedge issue, though with a positive rather than negative spin. I'm all for honest discussion, on ALL issues.

Still, a wedge wedge issue it remains, powerfully diverting attention from events, individuals, and institutions serving up the lions share portion of exploitation and suffering in the world today. Smoke and mirrors. Smoke and mirrors.

Have to hand it to the puppet masters. This is pure brilliance.

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The speech delivered by Obama was refreshing to the maximum degree. Finally a major candidate in a national election addressed, in ADULT form to a presumed ADULT audience that issue that always swirls and bubbles just beneath the surface and is usually broached in the most coded and 'tenderest' of manners in political contests: the race and racialist perspective. The speech had integrity, despite what each one of us may think of its content. And integrity is not high on the list of this most expedient and compromising and compromised society of ours; it's certainly not one of those 'values' most admired or practiced, that's for sure.

And now, fair is fair. Given that the whole issue was introduced slyly, efficiently and very deliberately by the Clinton camp in South Carolina (and McCain's sly and aloof distance for the moment!), it's only reasonable that Mrs Clinton and John McCain be held to that same standard and that they deliver a speech regarding the issue with that same honesty as seen in Obama's speech. Let's all hear what they REALLY think of race and racial issues in this USA of ours, and of its place in their politics!

Obama assumed Adult Human Beings as his audience; let's meet that assumption head on. Whatever his fate in this cynical RealPolitik arena of mendacity we are habituated to, his speech has elevated the field to a needful discourse for those who still hold reason, truth and integrity as capacities worth having.

CAN we meet this assumption?

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I watched/listened to Obama's entire speech on C-SPAN. He convinced me that he is truly a uniter... not a divider. Not only a uniter of parties, but of races and classes. He is a statesman. America hasn't been graced by the likes of him for a very long time.

I believe there are more US citizens that agree with Reverend Jeremiah Wright's remarks than would like to admit. I have spoken to some.

Centavo's remark about 911 is true. Unfortunately if Obama tried to address the issue now, he would be removed from TV... kind of like Howard Dean was.

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I have to agree with Paul Street and William Kristol of all people:

AMBITION, ARTIFICE, DECEIT, AND CONCEIT

The closer we get to the general election, the more and more it is going to dawn on entranced Americans that Obama is just another capitalist politician. As the neoconservative New York Times columnist William Kristol – no common or natural ally of this essay’s author – recently noted in the wake of the Wright revelations:

“Obama seems to have seen, early in his career, the utility of joining a prominent church that would help him establish political roots in the community in which he lives. Now he sees the utility of distancing himself from that church….”

“The more you learn about him, the more Obama seems to be a conventionally opportunistic politician, impressively smart and disciplined, who has put together a good political career and a terrific presidential campaign. But there’s not much audacity of hope there. There’s the calculation of ambition, and the construction of artifice, mixed in with a dash of deceit – all covered over with the great conceit that this campaign, and this candidate is different” (William Kristol, “Generation Obama? Perhaps Not,” New York Times, 17 March, 2008, p. A23.).

Penned though it may be by any leftist’s moral and ideological enemy – by a leading and enthusiastic advocate of the racist, arch-criminal, mass-murderous, and petro-imperialist Iraq occupation (launched with what Obama considers to be "the best of itentions")– Kristol’s well-crafted judgment strikes me as all too perfectly accurate and on-point.

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Obama's speech played well to the uninitiated, those who have little to no interaction with people of color or their history or Christianity for that matter. It reads like or is reminiscent of early Malcom X / 1960s Black Panthers rhetoric albeit made more palatable for general consumption, i.e. " White people are to blame for chattel slavery and this country should be ashamed of itself and therefore feel guilt for the situation black Americans find themselves currently (those who are not doing well economically)." This sounds like more, "we need reparations, blah, blah, blah" to me. What is so Christian about any of this? Where's the one is responsible for oneself, and the Lord helps those who help themselves? I don't remember Christ saying sit around and say woe is me and everyone else is to blame for my misfortune, rather I recall the Bible stating the Lord helps those who help themselves. My Christian teachings were along the lines of you know what is right and what is wrong and it's up to you the individual to do the right thing. Not "this country goes out of its way to bring misfortune to people of color, blame it and God Damn America."

This speech also plays on the heartstrings of those who have a tacit understanding about this country's history. Try going beneath the surface to real facts about the issues. Most people in this country had little to do with slavery, most did not own slaves (when slavery was legal over two hundred years ago). Slavery was an attempt by those who participated in large scale farming and processing industries to contain costs. Historically, slavery wouldn't have lasted, it would have become too expensive to continue (e.g. medical expenses, housing, feeding, clothing, etc.) and would have eventually been replaced either by sharecropping and/or industrialization, you don't see too many people using horse, mule and ox teams currently do you?

I notice Obama's approach and those of many American people of African ancestry that it does not take into account the fact that most slaves were sold in Africa by other Africans. Little is made of the facts that most Europeans were unable to penetrate beyond the coasts of Africa due to malaria and the Tse Tse fly (which killed European cattle which was a staple food source of European colonization). Little mention is also made of the fact that slavery of black Africans by black Africans had a long history prior to the sixteenth century when Europeans in ships began to spread their culture and influence around the known world. Obama also leaves out the fact that the slave trade that occurred around the turn of the nineteenth century (1800) was facilitated by American freed blacks who returned to Africa for that purpose and to cash in on the practice that was soon to be outlawed by the British (who controlled the seas at the time) and the USA.

I could go on and on but it shows how if one conveniently picks and chooses what facts one wants to highlight while leaving out the facts that disproves one's thesis it is easy to make an invalid logically unsound argument. This type of argument is called sophistry and was repudiated by Socrates back in the fifth century B.C. Someone with a Harvard education should know that and that further calls into question Obama's motives. There is no justification for what Reverend Wright stated, "...God Damn America." Obama's speech comes across as an insiduous attempt to deflect people away from the point in question and direct us away from the facts that he does not want to face: a highly influential man in his life is a race baiter, how un-Christian of him. All in all Obama's speech comes across as the fallacy informally known as argumentum misericordia, appeal to pity.

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Barack Obama showed powerful insight describing, for those of us desiring to heal our nation, a path to unity. Many will scoff at this visionary speech as "just politics"; but those are the people that want to maintain the status quo in America. Personally, I don not.

For to long we have dealt ineffectively with history that has made us less strong as a nation, less tolerant, less effective in the world. Each individual citizen dealing with life from purely an egocentric viewpoint. I don't think that we are so small that we want to be ruled by a bunch of selfish, old white men who want a world in which its every man for himself.

Obama shows us a path to unity. A path which, in a modern world where every individual, every state and country are inextricably linked. Linked by our world economy, by global warming, by the need for energy and food. We have huge challenges ahead and if we do not unit the world will devolve into a deeper chaos then we are experiencing now.

Obama talks about unity, talks about a new order in our approach to politics. The old goats, elephants and donkeys may not want to upset their apple carts and participate, but a vast majority of plane, average Americans do. Why? because when we join together we can accomplish the great things that we as Americans and Yes we as citizens of the world, can accomplish.

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Last night I listened to Barack Obama speak about race in America. I know he's a centrist Democrat with strong corporate ties, but he spoke about race in a public way that I haven't heard in many years.

Whatever you may think of him as a man and as a political leader, he spoke some important truths last night for all those with ears to hear and minds to think with.

His were the kind of words that got people like ML King and Fred Hampton killed. It seems that when a respected leader talks about multi-racial unity in this country, they put their life on the line.

I sincerely hope that we have moved past that kind of political ugliness. The emerging Chernobyl on Wall Street suggests that we'll need a working class unity the likes of which we have never seen in this country.

Barack Obama can't save us from the economic meltdown that some are predicting, but he could provide the political context that could help us save ourselves.

Bob Simpson

The BobboSphere

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One point that Mr Corn's wonderful coverage of Mr Obama's speech misses - a point that no one seems to have mentioned yet - is that the speech not only attests to the fact that Mr Obama is the paradigmatic American, but also that the issue of race is inextricably linked to the very issue of our identity as a people.
His speech begins by reminding us of our colonial experience, when we were forging a people of a new identity, one that John Adams characterized as stripped of European origins, but nevertheless forged of the various metals that constitute the world's diverse ethnicities - as Arthur Schlesinger argued in his monograph, "The Disuniting of America."
As Mr Obama continues his speech, he focuses on himself: an American of multi-ethnic identity, whose life has pivoted on embracing that multi-ethnicity, an acceptance that has allowed him to overcome the adversity his life typically faced.
Our society's problems of race pivot on its own identity problems, its refusal to embrace an identity that is no less multi-ethnic than Mr Obama's own - and as does Mr Obama, so should America. Mr Obama's message of hope is witnessed in his very person: once we Americans understand and accept who we are, in all of our rich multi-ethnic diversity, will we be able to improve the foundry that molds each of our identities and begin solving the ills that infect our society.
Hopefully, this historically important speech will not be construed merely as a response to Mr Wright's comments - it is so much more than that .... In any case, has no one heard of the fallacy of guilt by association?

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All-in-all a fine analysis of a fine speech. However, I found one part of Mr. Obama’s speech, one that Mr. Corn did not mention, very disappointing, and that was where he bowed down to the Israel Lobby and blamed the Palestinian problem on “radical Islam” instead of on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, as well as their attempt to break the will of the Palestinians through hardship and humiliation. Note that I say “disappointing,” not “surprising,” because I have seen this time and again: a politician indicates a willingness to view the Palestinian issue with a modicum of fairness, then gets beat up by the Lobby, then protects his or her career by “getting with the program.” Ick, uck, yuk!

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Obama Speech Analysis

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This is apparently a speech that Obama wrote himself--a rarity in politics today. It provides remarkable insight into his character. He strikes me as intelligent, thoughtful, and perceptive. Even more, he's empathetic--he appears to understand well the racial and class grievances that separate us. He's also aware of how cynical elites use race and class grievances to turn people against one another, while these same elites vacuum up all the money and enjoy life in their secure and exclusive enclaves. Hillary and McCain keep talking about "experience," but how about character and wisdom as key qualities of a president? With this speech, Obama shows once again that he has the character and wisdom to lead this country to a brighter, more inclusive, less divisive and exploitative, future.

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It was a wonderful and brave speech, except for the Israel-kow-towing, of course. But...
Right at the beginning, Obama could have pointed out that the Teachings of Jesus do NOT stop at the boundaries of THIS COUNTRY, or, for that matter, THIS Religion!
THAT, I believe, was the point the fiery Reverend was making. God has already BLESSED this country enough...and look what we've done with it!
...but of course, like the Dean Scream, the Zionazi Media has taken his "God Damn America"
comment completely out of context and trumpets it ad Nauseum, propaganda-meisters that they are!

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Senator Obama's speech reveals his complexity and his intrinsic ability to touch people in a meaningful way. In this sense, it distinguishes him from other politicians like our current President and Vice President who have no inner compass other than the arrogance of their ego and the weakness of their character.

It also reveals how difficult leadership is when contrasted in the public light with the temerity of one's own ambition and the reality of one's own deeds. It is true that the Senator said he has chosen not to renounce Rev Wright for uttering those words of anger. Those words are however not any different from the words of any evangelical leader to the right, as when Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell blame Katrina on the sins of New Orleans. At least, Rev Wright did not claim he talked to God and God told him who the next president will be. Yet, when one separates words from deeds, whether voluntarily or by design, this man who has given his own community the best years of his life and guided their spiritual quest, is now being sacrificed and pushed into an early retirement so the story of the young Senator can have the desired happy ending.

There is an intrinsic flaw to the thought process for politicians: every truth begins and ends with their story. Truth be told, it does not. The story of this nation is not the story of our political leaders. It is the story of the men and women who go to work every day and build it, some day with resentment, but every day sacrificing and toiling for their children, their families, their State, their nation. Senator Obama talks about the resentment and in many ways panders to that resentment. The courageous thing would have been to have Rev Wright in the room and recognize him for the sacrifices he has made for him as his spiritual mentor. His absence speaks louder than the Senator's words.

It is a courageous speech. It is a heartfelt speech, but until our young Senator grows up and leads us in the way he grows up, he will become like all other politicians, overly impressed with his own story, caught up in the search for power and ultimately unable to cast a long moral shadow of integrity for the next generation which has him on a pedestal.

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again with Jim Shaw and others who resent the existence of Israel. Hamas and other Islamic terrorists have been sending rockets, suicide bombers etc. into Israel for 60 years. I am glad that Obama, a true statesman, doesn't hate Israel and we Zionists.

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This article is like a breath of fresh air. Like something molding in the attic has finally been brought out into the sunlight. Racial anger is real and is felt by all races. I am an Anglo living in the southwest with many Hispanic and Native American friends. There is anger from a time when their native languages were forbidden in the schools, when their culture and way of life was being destroyed. Anger that land, once open, is now protected for only the wealthy behind the gates of gated communities. And there is anger in the white communities that are struggling financially. As Obama pointed out, there is anger in seeing that after a lifetime of hard work and struggle there isn't enough money to survive. An Anglo friend of mine is moving to Costa Rica as health care here is so bad that a major medical emergency would take everything she has managed to save. These are things that need airing, that need open and frank discussion, and a will to move forward. And.......
There is another divide that needs a real hard look, and that is the gender divide. When Alternet publishes articles on pornography there are more comments than I see on any other topic. The anger women feel over centuries of oppression still simmers. It comes out in conversations in beauty shops, and places where women gather. The hatred men feel towards women is evidenced by the violence against them that is portrayed for male enjoyment. I am glad the racial issue has come to the forefront to be addressed openly. Now let's see the same happen for the male/female chasm.

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Here's a parallel for you. Growing up gay in an affluent white suburb of New York City, son of a clergyman and living in a rectory, I often heard my father, who was both my father and a clergyman, mock and degrade effeminate boys and men, parodying them by making his wrists go all limp and fluttery and raising his voice into falsetto. I would absolutely cringe and, in those moments, actually loathe the man. But disown him? Certainly not either possible or even entering into my head. He was my father and most of the time the most honorable and compassionate of human beings. He had a blind spot and on occasion gave it expression.

Is my father to be condemned for his behavior? Certainly, and no more so than by his own son. Am I to be judged guilty of his bigoted language and behavior by association and proximity? Certainly not. As I say, I loathed his little displays of stupidity and prejudice. He was a clergyman and an imperfect human being. None of us can lay claim to perfection of any sort.

Obama's reference to the bigoted stereotypes uttered by his grandmother resonated with me, because I had similar moments with my own father. And the endless loop of a few extreme statements from the sermons of Obama's former pastor certainly might cause one to renounce those statements, as Obama has so clearly and repeatedly. But the truths contained in the entirety of those sermons are not to be gainsaid, because they are truths. Listen with open ears and mind to an entire sermon, why don't you?

One final thing. Obama is one of the most clear and articulate speakers of the English language ever to enter the political arena. I and we do not need the likes of Blitzer, Russert, Scarborough, et al,--or worse, the hoard of right wing gasbags-- to "translate" the meaning of his speeches for us. The fact that the minute Obama's speech ended, we had to be subjected to their bullshit commentary "explaining" it all to us ignoramuses out here made me want to hurl. Of course, I immediately darkened the TV screen.

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Obama is the only candidate appealing to America's higher nature.

He accurately acknowledges the anger on both sides of the racial divide and, with this speech, invites America into a conversation on solutions. Furthermore he has the courage and wisdom to insist that our problems can only be solved by being inclusive in this debate. Silencing radical impulses impulses in this conversation will only make them fester. People are in pain. Let them be heard.

There is a double standard in play here:

Where is the outrage at Minister Hagee's world view that most Americans, white and black, are hell bound? Where is the condemnation of Pat Robertson's take on 9/11? Yet John McCain embraces their endorsements with little political fallout. He, in fact, repudiated his earlier view of Robertson as an agent of intolerance and went to Liberty University to court the evangelical right wing. So it's cool if John McCain cozies up to right wing hate speech but Obama's minister has to mind his Ps and Qs?

If McCain gets to bring Hagee and Robertson to the table to sit with the grown ups then I see no problem with Minister Jeremiah Wright and Rev. Al Sharpton sitting there as well. Let the healing begin.

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As always, I thoroughly enjoyed David Corn's article, and I agree that Obama showed great compassion, understanding, and statesmanship in his speech. One thing missing from his comments, and from those of all the posters here is a point made in an article by Frank Schaeffer in a recent Huffington Post. It can be read here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html

(note that this link will not work because it was designated too long by Alternet. I put in a space, so if you copy and paste it in your browser, you will need to remove the space between / and frank.)

Schaeffer is the son of Francis Schaeffer, one of the founders of the far right Christian movement in America. He has since not only distanced himself from the movement he helped his father create, but has written at least one book on the subject.

The gist of the article in Huffington Post is that Francis Schaeffer, along with many other fundamentalist evangelical preachers, condemned America and America's government much more harshly than Wright ever did. This was done in both speeches and in writing. But there was no political or media backlash from their remarks. In fact, Schaeffer was invited to Jack Kemp's home. He was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr.

Not only did Schaeffer denounce American culture (as rightwing church leaders continue to do), he compared it to Nazi Germany and Communist Russia! He declared that God is judging America for the moral decay of its society, abortion, and tolerance of gays. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Somehow when rightwingers, be they political or religious, condemn our government, our schools, our moral credibility, this is somehow viewed by the media as either unimportant or even correct. But if a progressive or liberal dares to criticize from a leftwing slant, this becomes an "all liberals hate America" moment and is splashed all over the media.

I have a rightwing friend who says that our government is "broken" and that he no longer votes because "all politicians are corrupt." But let someone say that our leaders have interfered with other nations' sovereignty, lied to the world about reasons for invading Iraq, or created even some of the problems we face in international relationships and this same friend is up in arms about how some people just want to "blame America first." Talk about double standards!

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An honest discussion of race and gender politics must occur in this election cycle thanks to two Dem candidates.

Obama met the task, albeit in typical politician style on the one hand condemning Rev. Wright's "most incendiary comments;" and on the other hand pointing to issues of racism yet to be overcome. Then, showing understanding and compassion for a genderation of blacks still hurting from the not so distant past of Jim Crow and white supremacist terrorism and lynchings; but challenging us to do better.

Overall, it was a good speech and, hopefully, a chance for (mostly white male) political pundits to change the dialogue from one of chastising candidates for support from marginalized voices, to one of a honest discussion of race, gender, CLASS issues that surely exist today.

I want so much to believe in Barack Obama's "hope" campaign, but nothing he has done since entering Congress has demonstrated that he has the moral courage to challenge the status quo. In the end, corporations will still rule the world. Until we have that discussion, nothing will change.

peace

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I was struck by the fact that nothing Obama's former pastor said about this country was untrue. After 100 plus years of coups, occupations, invasions, overturns and war crimes by American soldiers(we only haven't gone on trial because we're the biggest and bulliest kid on the block) we should be ashamed of our country. As far as the God damn America. Well, what if another country had done the things America's done in the last century. We would be all saying "damn that country", wouldn't we? I was sad to hear Obama say Iraq was responsible for its horrible mess. She was raped...first by Sadaam then by Uncle Sam. How is the "mess" Iraq's fault? It seems to me like raping a woman then saying to her, "get dressed and clean yourself up, slut. Why did you throw yourself on me anyway?" This is hypocritical and arrogant to the nth degree.

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Please see www.discussrace.com

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Please see www.discussrace.com

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What I like the best about Obama’s speech was that it is simply ground in reality. A big portion of America is ready for a reality check. My dad was in WWII and I have heard that called the great generation many times in the media. They won WWII and us kids lost Nam. But you know the military my dad was in was a segregated military. The military I was in was an integrated military. That is what Obama brings, a new look in the mirror. One has to look at the past and realized what we did not do, but one also has to look back and see what we did do. After listening to Obama and then listening to the media mouths on fox and their swift boat people. It is obvious that Hannity and friends are not even in the game anymore. “That preacher said god dam the pusher man, evil black man, evil black man. Try and look intelligent when you say it”. This should put an end to the race and gender issue; sooner or later it had to come to the forefront, fortunately, Obama was there to put it into the proper perspective. Now lets get to the issues, trade, jobs, taxes, debt, healthcare, war, education, God does it never end.

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Mr. Obama describes the problems created by racism and greed that affect all Americans; however, he stops short of explaining how he would address these issues.

Addressing the problems he describes would require several major changes in American domestic policy. For example:

[1] An immediate end to the War in Iraq, which is bankrupting the nation with each passing day.

[2] Free higher education for all, regardless of race or gender.

[3] Massive investment in America's crumbling infrastructure.

[4] An immediate end to economic deregulation, which ships much needed jobs to China and India, while bankrupting Americans at home.

[5] Tariffs to stop the influx of cheap goods from China, which further accelerate the processes described in number [4].

[6] The immediate institution of a 1% Tobin Tax on Wall Street and financial speculators, which would free up $5 to $10 trillion in funds in the first year to finance the rebuilding of America described in steps [2] and [3].

[7] Massive food programs to feed the poor and hungry. This would give poor children the nutritious diet necessary to do well in school. This is desperately needed in order for children to succeed.

[8] An immediate return to the Keynesian economic policies/programs, which created the American middle-class.

[9] A complete rejection of Reaganomics/Bushonomics (so-called "Supply-side economics"), which led us to the present crisis.

[10] Huge tax decreases on the poor and middle-class. Massive tax increases--up to 90% of income/capital gains--on the rich.

That's how I would heal America; however, I heard NOTHING from Mr. Obama in terms of a plan to address the issues he describes in his speech (And, yes, I've been to his website, and there's no plan there either).

If Mr. Obama will not tell us how he plans to address the problems he describe in his speech, I must assume that he has no plan. Why must his plan to re-build America be kept secret? What's the point?

So, what's his plan?

If he has a plan, he's not telling us.

Merely repeating "hope" and "we can do it" doesn't cut it. I want to see a plan, not lofty rhetoric.

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Obama's description of the racial tensions that exist among and within minorities and poor and middle-class whites, and of how they arose, was spot on.

However, what Obama couldn't say, and what the media won't say, is this:

Such divisions are actively encouraged by the ruling aristocratic class in the United States, who also can be understood by looking at the history of slavery in the United States - except these were the slave and plantation owners of their day.

Don't you ever wonder how the Southern aristocrats managed to protect their positions of wealth and power when they were always surrounded by poor white crackers and oppressed field slaves?

An even bigger question is this: how did the slave masters get the poor whites to fight for them during the Civil War? They had nothing to gain, and everything to lose - so why did they? (I suppose one might as well ask why the German soldiers fought for Hitler...)

What they did was to set the poor whites and blacks at each other's throats. One way to do this would be for a wealthy white man to have a exquisitely dressed black slave - a person especially hated by poor whites. Thus, the origin of the racial slur, "house N". This was also the rallying cry of the old racist South, right? "We need to keep the blacks in their places!" Clever old bastards, those plantation owners - must have been a lot like GW Bush and Dick Cheney.

This was a deliberate strategy, and it was done to hide the real hand that controlled wealth in the old South - the slave masters. The first time poor rural Southerners got any help with their daily misery was when Roosevelt decided to bring in electricity along with the New Deal - before that, the South was like a Third World colony - plantations with black slaves, mansions with white aristocrats, and poor whites living hand-to-mouth.

This is not just historical - in today's world, the slave plantations still exist, but they've been outsourced to places like Mexico, India, China, Burma, and so on - places where de facto slavery, complete with whips and overseers, still exists - something that the plantation owners, now seated on their ivory Wall Street thrones, like very much. Slaves are a far cheaper source of labor than are unionized employees, after all.

There is a certain class of politician, once called "Southern Democrats" and now going under the Republican surname, who understand all this very well, and who do everything they can to inflame racial tensions as part of their political campaigns. It's a mentality that crosses party lines, as Ferraro and Clinton have recently shown. It can be described as a "get out the racist vote" approach.

Clinton's little dirty tricks are nothing compared to what the Republicans have planned - you can count on that.

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Toni Morrison, the Nobel and Pulitzer prize winning author who in 1998 first referred to Clinton as the "First Black President" has endorsed Obama. Her endorsement letter is brillant and reads in part:

"Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.

When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?"

There are some who choose to shoot down an extraordinary man like Barack Obama with small thinking and petty attacks. If they think their absurd and low slams are going to deter or distract either Obama or the supporters behind him, then they are gravely mistaken.


YES WE CAN, WOMEN FOR OBAMA '08!

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As we white seniors surrounded the gym yesterday to the young basketball players, I wondered how much the black kids coming in the door hated us. If the kind of stuff that I heard from Obama's preacher is prevalent in black churches across the country, then I know who perpetuates the anger and hate. A kid filled with this negative stuff is likely to give up attempts at achieving anything. My African friend tells me that black Americans treat her as if she is white. Wow! But, yes, I'm voting for Obama whenever I can.

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We don't choose our relatives, but we do choose
everyone else in our lives and Obama chose
Wright and stayed for 20 years. He could have left at the first sermon he heard in the church that he writes about in his first book.
He could have said, this is not the path I want to follow in my life. I have one question for Senator Obama, would the white mother you love so much have felt comfortable sitting in that church?

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Except for the gratuitous dig at the Palestinians, who were smeared as "hateful, radical Islamists" by Obama, the speech was pretty good, even admirable.

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I'm not talking about the usual cast of characters from the right-wing universe who are more than content to keep things the way they are, but those here in our "liberal" sphere. These folks know who they are, and in their endless blathering about what was wrong with Obama's speech, they seem to forget that once again it took a black (or half-black) man to challenge the conscience of a nation. I seriously doubt that their sainted Dennis Kucinich or Ralph Nader could/would have ever delivered a speech on race in the same caliber). Then again as white males, they wouldn't have to.

Obama's words yesterday are a wake-up call. Unless you are willing to be part of the solution, shut the hell up and let the adults get busy untangling this mess called race.

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I haven't heard the whole speech, only the parts Jon Stewart played on The Daily Show, after which he said "Barack Obama talked to the American people like they were adults". I agree. The speech it reminds me of the most is Kennedy's speech on why being a Catholic didn't mean the Pope would be giving him orders about governing. I'm still for Edwards, and then I favor (not really the right word) Clinton, but this speech was so impressive, I will have no regrets about voting for Obama in the national election. If only all speeches were like this.

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Is he the second coming of Martin Luther King? Or, is he the reincarnation of John F Kennedy? Is it Tuesday or Wednesday? Like Michael Gerson of the Washington Post, I found Obama's recent speech on his pastor and race in America to fall far short of the laurels and praises being lavished upon it by the liberal press. In fact, I found it somewhat insulting to the issue at hand. Most insulting was the specious comparison of Jeffrey Wright's black anger to the anxieties of white suburbanites over desegregation and affirmative action. On the one hand, you have Pastor Wright's visceral response to over two hundred years of systemic, institutional racial injustice and on the other hand you have the mostly baseless, media inflated fears surrounding the civil rights movement. It was af if Obama was saying that on the one hand you have a historically documented socio-economic phenomenon but on the other hand you have to admit that Archie Bunker has a point, too. Dr. King may have advocated non-violent social change, but he did not equivocate on his associations with more radical black voices or shirk the labels of communism. Kennedy did not fail to say, "Ich bin ein Berliner," even though he may have risked being associated with Nazism. They say that water is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. So is Obama!

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interesting:

CNN filmed the entire speech without crosscuts in a medium-longshot. No close-ups. I think it may be because Obama appeared to be wearing a diamond earring in his left ear.

a good title for this speech might be A MORE PERFECT UNION

he does not list "Imam" when he speaks of congregations disagreeing with their spiritual leaders.

he mispronounces "irrevocably", says "should have never been" rather than "should never have been"...

and there's a "whose" that needs to be "who's"

apart from these tiny critiques: a very erudite speech.

wonder if he used prompters.

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Barack Obama is asking the American people to behave like adults instead of children. Are we up to the task?

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After observing the last two elections and the seemingly scripted media circus surrounding them, I am starting to think that Osama, I mean OBAMA is a media/corporate set-up, a fall guy to rouse the emotions of the dispossessed in this country, without talking about the real issues that effect the WORKING CLASS in this country of all races. He is a set-up. The main corporate goal behind Osama, dammit I mean OBAMA is to get us believing that change is possible, only to have him lose horribly to McCain in the next election (that is if Bush doesn't declare a state of emergency after attacking Iran in August)

Everything about him seems to unreal, right down to his name. After the last eight years of corporate propaganda, the numbing of the American mind by Corporate Christianity, TV, and pharmaceuticals, and rampant anti-intellectualism, Osama (why do I keep doing that?!!) I mean OBAMA seems like a sham.

Our elections are a charade. It is getting more obvious by the day.

I would love a black president, but it seems too unreal that it's happening right after Bush.

Also, I am convinced that Republicans have been registering as Democrats in the primaries to help nominate an unelectable candidate for the Fall election

This is why I'm voting for Nader. People say that I'm throwing my vote away, but I have to vote for the person who has the clearest agenda for helping my class, the WORKING CLASS.

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Obama is a set-up to crush the hopes of the dispossessed in the country so that no progressive change can occur.

Unless we separate ourselves from the "reality" that the corporate world creates for us, nothing will change.

Obama is a fake.

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From a friend:

On the positive side, the speech deals with matters of substance, with a certain amount of candor, intelligence, & dignity. Compared to the filth that Americans have been exposed to over the last 7 years, that might be enough in itself to sweep many listeners off their feet.

But the basic perspective of the speech rests on thoroughly false assumptions. It leaves unchallenged the foundational myth of "America, the Virtuous" -- which is exactly why Establishment reviews of the speech (for example, by the NY Times) have been so effusively positive.

Let's start from the very first line of the speech: “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union...” // America's problem today is not about correcting a few flaws to become "a more perfect union." It's about confronting the fact that our society tortures, commits mass murder in wars of aggression, is drowning in corruption, and has blatantly violated our own founding documents.

Obama says, "But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one...."

- We are not "truly one." The leaders of business & industry who pushed the current wars upon us, and who created the current financial disaster, do not have the same interests as the rest of us. These people are criminals. If they are not held accountable for what they've done, there's no prospect of ever rising out of the swamp of corruption.

"...we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike...."

- The nation is not "great" or "good." It's more like Sodom & Gomorrah. It's baloney to be still hawking this nonsense about America's "goodness." You can easily see why the criminals like the unity idea, since it guarantees them safe passage. That's no reason for the rest of us to buy it.

"This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned...."

- This is a skillful attempt to please everybody. On the one hand, it pleases the rightwingers & "patriots" who still labor under the delusion that "fighting for our flag" is always automatically virtuous. On the other hand, he tosses out to liberals the idea that "the war should never have been fought." But he doesn't say WHY it shouldn't have been fought. He leaves open the possibility that the reason is simply that it's turning out to be too expensive -- a mere tactical blunder. He doesn't condemn the war as immoral. (That would anger the rightwing, which Obama takes pains never to do).

"This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together..."

- Sure, this sounds nice. But who are the "special interests?" Well of course, they're the giant corporations & their lobbies. But Obama knows you can't say that (John Edwards tried -- and look what happened to him.) So he opts for vagueness. (His health plan is also careful not to threaten insurance companies or drug companies.) This means nothing will ever be done about these "special interests."

- Richard Mynick

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Seriously. O-v-e-r-r-a-t-ed

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Oh, lord (pardon the pun). It's only March and we have to listen to this non-issue about a sermon given at Obama's Chicago church. And how quickly pastor Jeremiah Wright's sermon was denounced by Obama and the media.
Look at this way: Old and New Testament prophets nearly said the same thing about inequalities in society. Jeremiah, John (NT), the Apostles, Peter, et al. would have been much harsh in criticism. And let's not forget about that rebel rouser, Jesus. He was killed for striking a raw nerve in Roman society.
We know there are two Americas, and both sides have experience life in America quite differently. Some Whites cannot understand what the majority of Blacks have experienced. Your ancestors weren't shackled in the bottom of ships or sold into slavery.
How many of your churches were firebombed, or went to a segregated school, had a cross burn on your front yard, or your children had dogs sicced on them, or how many of your loved ones were lynched? Wright was a part of that generation who lived through such times. And at the same time we still hear reports of synagogues vandalized or get Molotov cocktailed-at least in Los Angeles. The hate is all around to see.
In the year 2008, we look to another spring of basketball tournaments which is known as March Madness. But Wright and others are mad, too at how many of us are mired in poverty. A current inventory of American life:
Companies are discharging employees like ballast. People are begging for food everywhere. Hospitals are closing in poorer neighborhoods. We spend billions on a war (war is a government program) while our schools can't afford to hire nurses or buy books and want to layoff teachers. College tuition is like a mortgage payment. People are losing their homes-and their minds. Jobs are sent across oceans. Transportation costs us more. And we're not creating enough jobs as fast as we did.
We cannot stop gun violence, rape and other unpleasant side effects of modern life. Yet we drink and laugh, close the wound, hide the scar. Wright opened up a sore.
One thing about preachers: they will say things that will make us squirm in the pews. It will be about any topic-be it political or spiritual or even about raging hormones in teens. And you know those who have attended church have heard a sermon on teen sex and other transgressions.
In an election year, wayward comments get taken out of context directly or indirectly related to the candidates as Geraldine Ferraro and others have said which forces the candidate to explain away. And we have more than seven months of mumbo-jumbo of these kinds of "stories" to report on.
Whether it's a preacher or talking head saying wild things, remember this Russian proverb: Once a word leaves your mouth, you cannot take it back. Wright meant every word. So did Jesus. So did Bill O'Reilly and others.
Obama can unite us if we can overcome the color of one's skin, but in order to do that everything related to American society and capitalism must change-now.
Are you ready, America? God damn us if we fail.

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I can tell you that stading up to a powerful Pastor and his community of supporters can be dangerous to your financial, physical and mental/emotional health.
This happened in our family over 40 years ago.
The entire family (including wife and two little girls) was publicly humiliated and ex-communicated from the church.
In the end, the father of the family could not find work and the children were verbally and violently abused by their school mates.
The family moved away from the town altogether, yet the scars of that day and the subsequent violence remains in the heart and mind of one of the little girls.
To this day, the very notion of stepping into a so-called house of worship causes her night terrors, vomiting and other very real, uncontrolable physical, emotional and mental reactions.
The best defense is not to be there.

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It's really easy to downgrade someone for trying to do the right thing--for whatever reason. It's easy to sit and nitpick over what Barack Obama said or didn't say or how he said it or what he left out yadda yadda yadda.

But the big question I have for all of you is WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER? Not a one of you has ever talked honestly about race and most of you probably live in some lily-white suburb with your nose rings, tattoos, dreds and other symbols of cultural appropriation. I have come across way too many of you on liberal blogs who try to tell ME--a black woman--what racism is and what it isn't. Talk about the height of arrogance and contempt for my experiences. No wonder conservatives call us liberals "elitists" because many of you act like you're oh so much smarter than everyone else.

Most of you sit here complaining about how bad things are because you like seeing your words on a blog, and you do it because you are too chickensh*t to actually get out there and DO something. If you don't like things the way they are, then f*cking RUN FOR OFFICE!!! I'd probably vote for you if you spoke to my interests and my beliefs. I'm so sick of YOUR words! I want to see ACTION, DEEDS!

Obama isn't going to hold your f*cking hands people, get that straight. No politician worthy of the name is going to lead you to the promised land, and I get the feeling that's EXACTLY what a lot of you want. Obama's far from perfect, and he knows damn well that he cannot make change happen overnight and he sure as hell cannot do it alone. That's where we all come in. WE have to get involved and take our country back from this disaster we've allowed it to become. I'm tired of living in fear and I'm tired of hearing and seeing the coffins of people I don't know dying because of a lie.

I'm willing to give Barack Hussein Obama a chance because he is ASKING me to become involved again. He is ASKING for me to take responsibility as a citizen, the way Thomas Jefferson extolled us to be learned and to keep track of our leaders. I can live with that.

Bob Marley once said you can die on your feet or live on your knees. I've made my choice.

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Well, that about wraps it up. Obama turned the negative to a positive. It's as simple as that. One look at Hillary's face in the afternoon said it all. He has the numbers and the Super Dees lining the green saw the snaking 60 foot putt drop and now know they have Tiger Woods in a suit.

Doesn't it seem pretty clear that this speech opened the door to the Clinton vice presidency? Much of what was said yesterday could fit neatly into Clinton's pocket as well. It's the "race/gender" ticket. They'll be no re-vote. No more fretting about who will carry Florida or Michigan. No red telephones ringing in the night. That unbeatable coalition will trump the pundits speculation and as Barack said, we can move on to more important business.

The two campaigns should be ironing out the details as this is written. McCainosaurus. Robert Kennedy Jr. will be appointed by Gov. Patterson and dem coattails will win the senate. (Apologies to B'rer Rabbit). Oh, and by the way, after that speech, intellectually, do we have political permission to bring back "Uncle Remus"? Please!?

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That Obama's take on Rev. Wright's age and experiences shaping his world view, will probably be shaping the world view of many young Blacks. They will see how a Black candidate has to explain racism, defend his pastor, and pretend it isn't because he is Black. John McCain doesn't have to defend his "spiritual guide" Rob Parsley or the endorsement by John Hagee. And who is Hillary's pastor? How long did it take for Hillary to say sorry for Geraldine Ferraro, and how long did it take for that story to run it's course? Do you really believe that Hillary had no idea how Gerry really felt? Do you think that Blacks don't know that wasn't the first time Hillary heard how Gerry felt? How long have they been friends? Of course this is just something in my imagination, right? Why don't the White people who supposedly are liberal or progressive question this kind of coverage? Shit why don't you even acknowledge it is happening? Perhaps if you did, then the outrage Blacks feel about the insult and assault on our intelligence, would go away.

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Obama said:

"we've heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike. I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country... As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems..."

Wow - must be some terrible things Reverend Wright said? Right? Well let's ask Obama what Wright did wrong.

According to this candidate that everyone here seems to be raving about, Wright's terrible sin was to articulate "a view that sees white racism as endemic [and] that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam."

In other words, his pastor told the truth, but because of his electoral ambitions Obama has to do a little bending over for the Israel lobby.

How exactly is demonizing Islam going to lead to "racial reconciliation?" How exactly is yet more mendacious lipservice for the Israel-worshipping lobby "politics unusual?"

Obama marks the fifth anniversary of our disastrous and shameful occupation of Iraq by this insipid crap about how its all the fault of "the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam," and that's supposed to be a refreshing break from... what, exactly?

As Obama continues to blather about how he might have to attack Iran to prevent them from getting the same weapons that Israel routinely threatens to use against Iran, Americans had to look overseas for straightforward observance of this most nauseating of anniversaries. My favorite came from veteran Mideast journalist Robert Fisk, who wrote: "There is no connection between Islam and “terror”. But there is a connection between our occupation of Muslim lands and “terror”. It’s not too complicated an equation. And we don’t need a public inquiry to get it right."

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One of Barack's points was that there's not hatred, necessarily, but anger on both sides, and that anger is what you hear Rev. Wright expressing, not only for himself, because all clergy are men of God as well as ordinary men, but for his congregation. This anger goes unexpressed in the great maze of taboos that makes up racial tension, and when we, whether we are black or white, stumble upon its expression turned against us, it hurts us.

That is what is going on here. Barack Obama is a reasonable man who does not appear to hate or be angry with white folks (yet in his speech, he pretty much says that the anger is part of his own make-up) and we find out that he listens to a pastor who says angry things, and he won't dissociate from the man.

I'm not talking about the attack party the Republicans and the Clinton campaign are having about this for their own gain, I'm talking about how an ordinary person may feel--a bit mistrustful, and a bit sorry or hurt that the goodwill in his heart isn't enough. I know that I would be sad if it were made known that people in my old, predominantly black neighborhood, after twenty-five years of neighborliness and in many cases friendship, still felt alienated and angry simply because I'm white. (There were people who would not ever make friends with me, and wanted nothing to do with me--I'm not talking about them)

Although the black experience in this country and the white experience bear no comparison, I think on one level the feeling is the same for black and white alike.

One of the most basic principles of emotional healing is to "make things talkable"--to draw out those taboo subjects and begin to share our feelings in a gentle way, with a little help from a good moderator.

Barack has started us on the road.

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Racism and immorality is not a "one way street." You cannot excuse the racism and immoral lifestyles (high crime rate and number of abortions) by African Americans while condemning the racism and immorality of Caucasian Americans. To gain the respect they desire and the peace they seek, Black Americans must first look inward, rather than outward for answers, and renew their faith and trust in Almighty God.

Rather than attempting to place the blame on the current generation for things that happened in the past, Blacks must learn to accept personal responsibility for the negative attitudes others may have concerning their actions and lifestyles, and seek to continue to improve through education and expecially by a deepening of their faith.

Vincent Bemowski - Webmaster/Editor
Catholic Messages USA

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"Listen to full speech by clicking video, above right."

I would - if I could hear, or if SOMEBODY would do the right thing and get these frickin' videos captioned.

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I listened very carefully to Senator Obama's speech and then read the text twice. There can be no rationalization or excuses for the pastor's, church's or Senator Obama hateful agenda against White America. Insead of rising up and admitting wrong, he sank to a cesspool level of the Black community blame game. Most White Americans did not own slaves before the Civil War, yet those in the South had their lives and property destroyed. And it was their fellow Africians who rounded up people for the slave ships. ENOUGH SAID.

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All of the above comment are legitimate and have tons of merit.
The reality is, that at the end, before the general elections, neither Obama or Clinton will be nominated to be the next president of the USA.
The reason being, those that did not see Clinton to be the Democratic presidential Nominee, will vote for McCain and vise-versa.

I just can not believe that in our country, the leader of the world, with so many talented, over qualified individuals we can not select a couple of people from each party and let the people decide our future leader.

To me this is another indicator that our society is to busy, selfishly thinking about making money than to protect the future of our children. And as a consequence, we will become the USA of china-iran-corea-japan-venezuela too, and who knows what else.

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9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB!

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Hi - I think Obama is an empty vessel but a Trojan
horse as well. I found his speech insincere on many levels and sorely lacking.

If you want an open discussion about race, you'll need Jared Taylor of American Renaissance or its just not an open discussion.

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Maybe you'd like to Google typical white person, then talk about Race?

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*********This is also the top news at BlackWhiteKiss.com*********

Obama represents everything that was lacking with the Bush Administration. This is why America is screaming for change and that is why Obama used change as the key element to his campaign.

He is very persuasive, confident, and sincere. He has to establish credibility with the public in order to sustain trust in order to convince the nation that what he deem to be right is the right thing to do and instills a sense of support from his people.

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One of Obama's problems is that he doesn't admit that his BLACK grandmother -- had she been American -- would also have been afraid of black thugs on the street. Maybe more so, since she couldn't get out of the neighborhood. In a way, Obama has just injected more racism into the campaign because his "black" experience is not a "typical" American one.

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America needs this man. He needs to be the president.
I am white, my wife is creole and of course our children are mixed. Thats what news editors would say.
I believe in God but i also believe in evolution to a point.
I was involved with the civil rights movement in the 60s and early 70s.
I am real tired of hearing black and white and races.
Our ancestors came from one continent and that is Africa.
We are only one "race"
No one could change my mind on that.
The American media continues to keep us divided, so does our government.
Remember united we stand, divided we fall, we are continuing the fall.
If we were united we would have thrown the two dictators bush and cheney out of office in the first term.
I have noticed for a long time when the media reports an incident involving a white they say "he" or "she".
But on the other hand if it involves a black they say "a black".
Or "a hispanic", or a "native American and so on.
Why not say he or she?
The media contributes mightily to keeping us seperated.
Our government does not trust us and most certainly does not want us united.
As long as we are seperated and fighting each other, we cannot force our elected officials to be accountable.
Bush and cheney have bankrupted our once great country. America is looked down upon by most of the world today.
Since bush took office over 12 million middle class jobs have vanished, most overseas to a communist country.
They have been replaced by about 10 million minimum wage service jobs.
8.8 million people have lost or are loosing their homes.
There are over 4 million homeless,70% of whom are families with children. The non-profits figure not the official government figure.
33% of Americas children go to bed hungry each night. Yet bush continues to deny funding for programs for the poor.
31% of Americans skip one or more utility payments each month because of high energy and gas prices, with no help because bush vetoed the enery assistance bill for the poor and senior citizens.
Over 500,000 children have been taken from their homes by childrens services nationwide and made wards of the states, parental rights are disappearing.
100,000+ just in california.
The middle class is fast disappearing, we are rapidly becoming a third world nation of have and have nots.
I am worried not for myself but for my children and beyond.
The new world order is the united nations and the scrapping of our Constitution which is already in the making.
I trust Osama bin Laden more than Bush, cheney, the FBI, CIA, NSA, and others, at least i know what he wants.
Bush has scores of government agencies spying on all Americans
We need Mr. Obama and fresh faces in D.C.
My opinions.

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