Welcome to Omgili,
Omgili ( Oh My God I Love It ;) is a search engine for discussions. With Omgili you can find answers and solutions, debates, discussions, personal experiences, opinions and more... To learn more about Omgili click here.
This is a complete preview of the discussion as it was indexed by Omgili crawlers. Use this preview if the original discussion is unavailable.
Click here to view the original discussion.
[http://forums.worldatwarmod.com/showthread.php?t=52...]
Click here to search for discussions with Omgili discussions search engine.
 |
Obama's Speech - World at War Mod
Who else saw it? Thoughts?
Impressive as hell.
I want to hear the OTF's thoughts before I post my own.
The Speech is available in text format and audio format at this link.
Full text of the speech is included below.
Spoiler:
To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin;
And to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest — a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours — Hillary Rodham Clinton.
To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it;
To Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service;
And to the next vice president of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you.
I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.
To the love of my life, our next first lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia — I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.
Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story — of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.
It is that promise that has always set this country apart — that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.
That's why I stand here tonight.
Because for 232 years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women — students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors — found the courage to keep it alive.
We meet at one of those defining moments — a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less.
More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet.
More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.
These challenges are not all of government's making.
But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W.
Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years.
We are a better country than this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.
This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for 20 years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.
We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty;
That sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.
Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land — enough!
This moment — this election — is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive.
Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third.
And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight.
On November 4, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."
Now let there be no doubt.
The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect.
And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.
But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time.
Sen. McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than 90 percent of the time?
I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.
The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives — on health care and education and the economy — Sen.
McCain has been anything but independent.
He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this president.
He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
And when one of his chief advisers — the man who wrote his economic plan — was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I Quote: , "a nation of whiners."
A nation of whiners?
Tell that to the proud autoworkers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made.
Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty.
These are not whiners.
They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint.
These are the Americans that I know.
Now, I don't believe that Sen.
McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans.
I just think he doesn't know.
Why else would he define middle class as someone making under 5 million dollars a year?
How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than 100 million Americans?
How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?
It's not because John McCain doesn't care.
It's because John McCain doesn't get it.
For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy — give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else.
In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is — you're on your own.
Out of work? Tough luck.
No health care? The market will fix it.
Born into poverty?
Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps — even if you don't have boots.
You're on your own.
Well, it's time for them to own their failure.
It's time for us to change America.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage;
Whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma.
We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was president — when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.
We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job — an economy that honors the dignity of work.
The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great — a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.
Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.
In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree;
Who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.
When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.
And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman.
She's the one who taught me about hard work.
She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life.
She poured everything she had into me.
And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.
I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine.
These are my heroes.
Theirs are the stories that shaped me.
And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as president of the United States.
What is that promise?
It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.
It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.
Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves — protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education;
Keep our water clean and our toys safe;
Invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us.
It should help us, not hurt us.
It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.
That's the promise of America — the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation;
The fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper;
I am my sister's keeper.
That's the promise we need to keep.
That's the change we need right now.
So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am president.
Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.
I will eliminate capital-gains taxes for the small businesses and the startups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes — cut taxes — for 95 percent of all working families.
Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last 30 years, and John McCain has been there for 26 of them.
In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels.
And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Sen.
McCain took office.
Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution.
Not even close.
As president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power.
I'll help our auto companies retool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America.
I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars.
And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy — wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels;
An investment that will lead to new industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.
America, now is not the time for small plans.
Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy.
Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education.
And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance.
I'll invest in early-childhood education.
I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support.
And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability.
And we will keep our promise to every young American — if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.
Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American.
If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums.
If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves.
And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.
Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.
Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses, and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.
And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.
Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime — by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow.
But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less — because we cannot meet 21st century challenges with a 20th century bureaucracy.
And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money.
It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F.
Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient.
Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair.
But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents;
That government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework;
That fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.
Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility — that's the essence of America's promise.
And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad.
If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.
For while Sen.
McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face.
When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11 and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights.
John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell — but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.
And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.
That's not the judgment we need.
That won't keep America safe.
We need a president who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.
You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq.
You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington.
You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances.
If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice — but it is not the change we need.
We are the party of Roosevelt.
We are the party of Kennedy.
So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country.
Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe.
The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans — Democrats and Republicans — have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.
As commander in chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.
I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts.
But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression.
I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation;
Poverty and genocide;
Climate change and disease.
And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.
These are the policies I will pursue.
And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.
But what I will not do is suggest that the senator takes his positions for political purposes.
Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook.
So let us agree that patriotism has no party.
I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain.
The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag.
They have not served a red America or a blue America – they have served the United States of America.
So I've got news for you, John McCain.
We all put our country first.
America, our work will not be easy.
The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past.
For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits.
What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose — our sense of higher purpose.
And that's what we have to restore.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.
The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.
I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.
Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers.
This too is part of America's promise — the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk.
They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values.
And that's to be expected.
Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters.
If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
And you know what — it's worked before.
Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government.
When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty.
If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.
I get it.
I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office.
I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring.
What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me.
It's been about you.
For 18 long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past.
You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result.
You have shown what history teaches us — that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington.
Change comes to Washington.
Change happens because the American people demand it — because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.
America, this is one of those moments.
I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming.
Because I've seen it.
Because I've lived it.
I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work.
I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.
And I've seen it in this campaign.
In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time.
In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did.
I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.
This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich.
We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong.
Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
Instead, it is that American spirit — that American promise — that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain;
That binds us together in spite of our differences;
That makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.
That promise is our greatest inheritance.
It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours — a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west;
A promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.
And it is that promise that 45 years ago today brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.
The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things.
They could've heard words of anger and discord.
They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.
But what the people heard instead — people of every creed and color, from every walk of life — is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked.
That together, our dreams can be one.
"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried.
"And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back."
America, we cannot turn back.
Not with so much work to be done.
Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for.
Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save.
Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend.
America, we cannot turn back.
We cannot walk alone.
At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future.
Let us keep that promise — that American promise — and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
|
|
Oh good lord, more Obamaness.
Did he actually say stuff this time?
How much of it was rhetoric?
Where can I finds me a transcript?
-edit-
was it THIS?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU
lemme watch it and attempt to pick it apart first :P
Quote: : No, he just gave a massive speech while accepting the party's nomination.
How did you miss the entire democratic national convention?
Also, I've not yet NEARLY made up my mind on any candidate, however i will say this: Obama is very good at public speaking/delivering speeches.
Because i'm voting against him, so why would I watch the democratic convention?
his gift at public speaking is going to be trouble.
Remember that GWB had a similar talent, albeit not nearly as well-crafted.
|
|
Quote: : oh good lord, more Obamaness.
Did he actually say stuff this time?
How much of it was rhetoric?
Where can I finds me a transcript?
-edit-
was it THIS?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU No, he just gave a massive speech while accepting the party's nomination.
How did you miss the entire democratic national convention?
Also, I've not yet NEARLY made up my mind on any candidate, however i will say this: Obama is very good at public speaking/delivering speeches.
|
|
Quote: : oh good lord, more Obamaness.
Did he actually say stuff this time?
How much of it was rhetoric?
Where can I finds me a transcript?
The speech was almost an hour.
Have fun reading through the transcript.
He laid out specifics for his plans in terms of energy responsibility, fiscal responsibility, economic stimulus, improving education, hunting down Bin-Laden, handling Iraq responsibly, improving veterans benefits, trimming government programs, opening Congress' health plan to the rest of America and lowering taxes for 95% of Americans.
He also finally called out McCain for a lot of the stuff that people were waiting for;
His temperment, his lock step with the Bush administration and his history in the Senate among other things.
There was a lot of intelligent commentary about the need to look beyond partisan lines and do whats best for the UNITED States of America, not Red America or Blue America;
About coming to the middle on issues like Gay Marriage and Abortion, and about finding an effective way of protect the 2nd Amendment while keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals, not law abiding citizens.
It was one of the best political speeches that I've ever heard.
-EDIT-
I've already pruned this thread once.
This thread is about a speech that was made on AUGUST 28th 2008.
Please, THINK before you post in this thread.
|
|
Pat Buchanan just had to be cut off from gushing over Barack Obama's speech.
Pat "Culture War" Buchanan, had nothing but praise for a BARACK OBAMA speech, he said I Quote: "it wasn't a liberal speech, it was a speech the went to the heart of America".
I think that in and of itself speaks volumes.
The line in particular
Quote: : Obama The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook.
So let us agree that patriotism has no party.
I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain.
The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag.
They have not served a red America or a blue America – they have served the United States of America.
|
|
|
Any links to transcripts or video?
|
|
Quote: :
because i'm voting against him, so why would I watch the democratic convention?
Oh yea, that's right.
It's not like it's a good thing to be informed, or anything.
Also, did he say at one point in the speech that he had plans to strengthen the military in some aspects?
If so, was not expecting that one from him.
|
|
Quote: : For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else.
In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is you're on your own.
Out of work? Tough luck.
No health care? The market will fix it.
Born into poverty?
Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps even if you don't have boots.
You're on your own.
Just world view, the cornerstone of american culture.
|
|
|
I edited the first post to include a link to both the text and audio of the speech.
|
|
|
Ahh cool-missed that-thanks.
|
|
|
His speech is being shown again on MSNBC, I suggest tuning in if you missed it the first time.
|
|
|
That's a hell of a speech.
|
|
That was a hell of a speech.
I'm not sure what can be said.
I'm interested to know what bureaucracies he's going to cut for not being efficient enough, and how he's going to help Detroit get back in shape - how to to stop other cities from turning into such places.
|
|
Quote: : That was a hell of a speech.
I'm not sure what can be said.
I'm interested to know what bureaucracies he's going to cut for not being efficient enough, and how he's going to help Detroit get back in shape - how to to stop other cities from turning into such places.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCEeAn6_QJo
|
|
|
Great speech once he got past the obligatory digs at McCain.
|
|
Quote: : Great speech once he got past the obligatory digs at McCain.
I would beg to differ:
his comment about the achievement gap between black and white students @ 17:17:
WHAT achievement gap?
There is a gap if you believe there is one.
I have three stories to relate that corroborate this:
1) a white friend of mine told me how he worked with extreme difficulty to get accepted into the school of his choice, but how the standards were lowered for several of his black counterparts - SUBSTANTIALLY lowered, like he needed a 1300 SAT score to get in and they squeaked by on a 1000 (not exaggerating) and got into the same school.
AND LAUGHED ABOUT IT.
2) two former black coworkers of mine (one quit, the other had to be let go on a technicality) both chose to work at a pizza shop as primary careers.
One was a manager, and the other was a delivery driver who had just gotten married.
The manager WAS actually working on a side project - he had gone to school and gotten his B.S.
In sound engineering so he could put together rap beats.
The two were still uniquely black, but one had chosen to get an education while he busted his butt while the other took it quite easy.
Needless to say, the latter was dumb as hell;
Not very quick at all, but that's beside the point.
3) Achievement gap?
Tell that to two of my black, fellow students at ITT.
One graduated a Valedictorian in Computer, Electronics & Engineering Technology and the other overcame a physical handicap (a lingering stress fracture in his foot) to graduate with a 3.9 GPA in the same degree program.
Both are incredibly bright.
And my school?
Predominately white, I *THINK*, but if so then only barely so because it's quite diverse racially.
A lot of white classmates, but also quite a few black & hispanic & asian classmates & classmates of other ethnicities.
My point in all of this?
There may have been some disparity among races in education - and certainly, unfortunately, in some isolated parts of this country there are;
Specifically, the racially segregated schools that BHO spoke of.
But largely there exists no such disparity unless it is believed to exist, and then it absolutely does and will continue to hinder racial sub-groups.
Case Study:
Jones High School
Years ago, the state recognized that Jones had a severe problem, and local community leaders were infuriated.
Their claim? That Jones was lagging behind because it was a predominately black school.
They had some right to the claim, though;
Jones was the first school in the country to receive an 'F' grade 4 years in a row.
That's unprecedented;
Unprecedentedly BAD, actually.
Take this Newsweek ranking poll:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?s=orlando
According to the wiki article for Jones, it was among the top schools in the nation.
But according to that list it's #1287.
Worth mentioning are two more schools on that list: Dr.
Phillips High School and University High School.
Take a guess as to what sorts of neighborhoods those two institutions are in, and what their ethnic mixes are like, and then click the spoiler below.
Spoiler:
Dr.
Phillips, iirc, is a predominately white school serving upper class families in a very upper class part of town.
University, by stark contrast, serves predominately middle-class and lower-class families in a lower-middle-class part of town.
It serves a very diverse mix of students from all ethnic groups, and is actually predominately hispanic (at least it was when I left in '01).
Hell, even Oak Ridge is a school in the ghetto - just as bad as Jones, and has received F letter grades many times before.
But Oak Ridge ranked 200 positions higher than Jones even though, like Jones, it was predominately a black school (a small white minority).
A school in an upper-class neighborhood, dominated by upper-class families and the income and lifestyle that goes with it, did not fare as well as a school that served mostly lower- and middle-class families that is dominated by minorities.
Eventually, though, Jones did get off of the list of failing schools when it earned a 'D' grade and missed a 'C' grade by 5 points.
How did they do it?
The biggest point you'll have a hard time finding is that initially, after the public outcry and the claim of racial divides, the state attempted to solve what those same community members claimed was Jones' biggest problem: that it lacked a lot of the funding that better, "white" schools had.
So the government eventually caved in and provided substantial funding to Jones High School (several million dollars' i don't recall exactly how much but at least $2-$3 million, a substantial sum for a relatively small school).
The result?
As I recall, about 2 years later there was absolutely no improvement WHATSOEVER.
The project was a failure;
You couldn't throw money at the problem.
The state's other idea - to shift better-quality instructors to the schools that need them most - is ambitious, but actually against the law (read the article for details).
I'm not saying it wouldn't work - in fact, this is probably one of the better solutions I've ever heard - but I'm not convinced the instructors that are AT inferior schools are themselves inferior.
What is the one solution needed, the one driving, inspiring force required in order for students to excel?
It's remarkably simple:
Quote: : Losing the "F" label has been hard work.
Students have taken practice tests, special night classes, even parents have helped out.
Students were ecstatic.
"I'm very proud of Jones and proud of our success," said student Jeff Walker.
"Hard work does pay off."
http://www.wftv.com/news/13585395/detail.html
(k66note: parents getting more involved is something BHO touches on at ~26:00) Hard work.
The same thing every other brilliant student does;
The same thing my african-american boss who got his B.S.
Did, the same thing my african-american classmate who graduated Valedictorian did, and the same thing my handicapped buddy Charles did.
Now HE has job offers coming in on a daily basis because of his degree.
Hard work...
That is the ONLY thing EVER holding any student back.
If they believe there is anything else, then it is either a physical barrier (mental or physical handicap, demented parents that prohibit a proper education, etc.) or an imposed, believed handicap (feeling of worthlessness, inferiority, injustice) that prevents them from achieving more.
The bottom line is this: the problem is not necessarily about schools of racial majorities, that elsewhere are minorities, that are left behind strictly because of this fact but rather because of failing schools in GENERAL.
This means it is not necessarily a failure of a lack of moral values in our society, but rather a flaw in our educational institutions.
Quote: : Oh yea, that's right.
It's not like it's a good thing to be informed, or anything.
Also, did he say at one point in the speech that he had plans to strengthen the military in some aspects?
If so, was not expecting that one from him.
Well that sounds contradictory from the man who said he would slow the development of new weapon systems.
Quote: : That was a hell of a speech.
I'm not sure what can be said.
I'm interested to know what bureaucracies he's going to cut for not being efficient enough, and how he's going to help Detroit get back in shape - how to to stop other cities from turning into such places.
Detroit has a lot of problems - the biggest of which is because the auto manufacturers closed one of their biggest shop and left a lot of people without work...
The two other, big problems?
Poverty and drug use.
Even the mayor was busted for drug use while in office.
At 21 minutes.
So far he's spoken almost entirely about how the black community has been left behind.
Funny
how he commented about politicians addressing racial lines to drum up votes, especially his brief address
of white counter-ignorance.
I like his point at 30:30 of the need to ignore race as an issue and how it tends to come as only a distraction to more pressing issues.
Paraphrased message: "We're not going to leave our children behind."
Well even Bush addressed this issue, with the No Child Left Behind Act
|
|
|
Did you listen to the same speech the rest of us did?
-e-
I'm going to load Obama's race speech that has NOTHING to do with what we're talking about and if it reflects your post, I'm going to ban you for trolling in the firebox.
|
|
Yes. this one, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrp-v2tHaDo
About the only real solution he suggested for the black community was this:
"Though [black children] may face racism and cynicism in every aspect of their lives, they must never succumb to it or despair."
And I applaud him for it.
For much of the speech he spoke largely of problems that were solved decades ago, and briefly hinted at modern problems.
As for the idea of jobs being shipped or health care being inadequate?
I can tell you this from experience: those are problems resulting from a lack of any sort of significant planning, the same issue that caused the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Nobody planned on keeping their homes for very long;
Well in the end, they sure didn't!
|
|
|
No. Not that one.
|
|
"...protect the 2nd Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals." (Or words to that effect)
When people say this, it's because they are trying to tip toe around what they really mean.
The Second Amendment is not about hunting.
Someone who has no grasp of this concept does not deserve to be President.
|
|
|
|