Now it is Senator Barack Obama’s turn. He too gets a very loud applause… seems a lot longer in length.
Soledad starts it off with a question if God is on the side certain troops, namely American troops. Quotes Abe Lincoln “Are we on God’s side”, are we our brother and sister’s keeper. Good answer!
The senator believe there is evil in the world, through violence and cruelty.  We have a duty to act against that, sometimes it means taking up arms, Civil War was a just war. Sometimes we act unjustly even in a just cause, like Abu Gharaib and Guantanomo.
He is next asked about his support for Israel. Expect Israel to react to the bombs coming into their territories. Is there a way to resolve the conflict? There needs to be some soul searching. Palestinians need to renounce violence. Seek reconciliation. Faith needs to come in and say that regardless of what has happened things can change in the future.
Rev. Wallis up again… happy birthday to him. New ways of doing politics, what kind of moral and political obligations would you bring forward? Obama answers that we are all connected, if someone is being impoverished, it impoverishes him. We have mutual responsibilities. Starting point is to restore that we are all in it together. We need to fix our politics, get past the either or mentality and embrace a more inclusive mentality. Mentions early childhood education as a good start, he is where he is at because of his education.  Wants to expand it. It takes government action and individual responsibility. We must make a commitment to provide second chance for people coming out of prison, sees a biblical mandate to do so. Last thing he wants to point out is the issue of work and poverty: we haven’t lifted people out of poverty with the work that they have received… raising the minimum wage, gets applause.
Last question. Executive salaries raising 300%, the haves and the have nots. Bill out their right now saying stockholders should be able to vote on executives salary. Sees biblical mandate to address it as well. Times up.
He received a very loud round of applause. He took nearly his whole time to address Rev. Wallis’ question about poverty and policy. Smart move!
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This is partially because his campaign bought registrations for the conference that gave you a seat for this, did not attend any of the conference, but gave the forum tickets to local Obama supporters.
Were you there and witnessed all of this? Do work for Sojouner’s and saw this at work? If you don’t have any proof then please do not say it… if you do then please provide it!
Your rendition of Obama’s response with regard to Israel is faulty.
Soledad O’Brien asked Obama a great follow-up question to his statement that his faith was about
pursuing justice. She asked him (this is from memory but it’s pretty close) if he thought that Israel was
providing justice for the Palestinian people. Obama replied that bombs were falling on Israel, that Israelis were being killed and that Israel had a right to defend itself. He went on to say that if the Palestinians would acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and if they would renounce violence then Israel would gladly pursue peace. It was like he was reading from a script written by AIPAC! Obama completely ignored the myriad injustices that the Palestinians have endured under 40 years of Israeli military occupation. He made no mention of the home demolitions, the Wall, the illegal settlements, the daily humiliations at the over 500 checkpoints on the West Bank, the imprisonments without charges, the killings of Palestinian civilians and on and on.
If this is Obama’s concept of justice, heaven help us.
I was at the Sojourners’ conference and forum in DC earlier this week. In the crowd, the vast majority were Sojourners’ conference participants, from a wide range of church denominations and geographic locations. If anything, a lot of them were wearing Hillary campaign stickers. There were also GWUniversity students and the speakers and the Board of Directors for Sojourners. Didn’t see folks that looked like Obama campaign hacks to me…
However, and Obama has been my favorite this far, I must agree that I was appalled by his response to the Israel/Palestine question. Yes, it did make him sound ignorant of the human rights issues and far greater suffering of the Palestinians, and as though he was reading a script that even many Israeli (moderates and liberals) would find too one-sided. One woman next to me in the crowd thought perhaps he was trying to make a good showing against accusations earlier that he was Muslim, but this does seem still over the top. So disappointing also, after he had quality things to say about the Iraq war and Katrina. I don’t know that it changes who I’d vote for, but I was disappointed, and know that I’ll need to do some serious advocacy at his office. (I was a human rights worker with Palestinians, Israelis, and Iraqis for about four years altogether before seminary).
Meanwhile, Clinton was a pleasant surprise. She came across as more human and less scripted/fake as I’ve perceived her in the past.
I like what Obama has said regarding poverty and healthcare. This situation where if you’re uninsured you’re robbed blind to the detriment of your entire family, sometimes by a minor and quick hospital stay. Obama has said that hospitals are terrorizing the uninsured, and those in poverty are most likely to be uninsured. Despite what people are saying at websites like http://www.ObamaTruth.org (tearing him down for not doing more) I think Obama has great things to say about poverty and policy, and it’s true if someone else is poor it makes me poorer, too.
i just would like to say that unfortunately alot of black people i know didnt vote for barack simply because he was black and they didnt think a black could step up to the plate or because they thought his chances were low because of racism frankly we need a good president and bush obviously isnt that and not voting for someone simply because of their skin color is just ignorant. they were also concerned that voting for him was just splitting up the democratic vote. and come on people this aint 1960 the racism thing is getting kyna old dontcha think—black girl
Hello Obama supporters,
I started a new webpage to help promote Senator Obama in his presidential campaign.
The address to the page is:
http://www.ObamaLeadership.blogspot.com
A purpose of the site is to gather support for Barack Obama by publishing the many reasons why he should be the next president.
Please forward this website address to organizations in your areas of influence. Hopefully, many people will post to the site and show that the American people desire change.
Thank you for your help and support,
L. Robertson
Nice site, I was checking out some of the funny campaign shirts on the internet and made a video up on Youtube if you’re interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYH86eYxR4Y
They’re mostly Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama shirts
Does Reverend Wright WANT to hurt Barack’s bid for the Presidency? It turned out Gennifer Flowers worked for the Republican Party when she tried to end President Bill Clinton’s first campaign for the White House. Certainly the GOP are ruthless and clever enough to look for ways to damage such a strong candidate as Obama. Maybe even the Clintons are, although my money is on the GOP.
i admire Barack Obama because he is very charismatic and he is liberal minded…
Barack Obama for me is the most charismatic president to be ever elected. He also makes great decisions, for example in the ecomomic stimulus package to counter the effects of recession.
Barack Obama is not only a charismatic president but he is a very intelligent and smart person too. I congratulate him for winning a Nobel Peace Prize .
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This post has really caused me to think about several new issues in our world. Thanks for causing others to think.
i believe that Barack Obama is the president that the US needs in these hard times. I do not like the local and foreign policy of any Rebublican.