'A More Perfect Union' or Just More Words?

One person’s response to “Remarks of Senator Obama: A More Perfect Union”,
presented March 18, 2008

Obama says:
“And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States.”

....SO NOW Obama IS admitting that words are not enough; that it takes someone who is versed in action to really make a difference.

Obama says:
“What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.”

...AND TELL US again, what has Obama accomplished in the area of civil rights?…Oh right, his website says he worked as a civil rights lawyer and taught constitutional law.

Obama says:
“…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.”

....WOULD THAT BE WORDS from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, like….
• “Fact number two: Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run”?
• “Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary would never know that. Hillary ain’t never been called a nigger. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person.”
• “Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t!”

Obama says:
“Just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed”

...ACTUALLY, NO, if my pastor or priest used such racially degrading words, I wouldn’t be attending that house of worship any more.

Obama says:
“..a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America”

...KIND OF LIKE when Michelle Obama declared this was the first time in her adult life that she was proud to be an American?

Obama says:
“But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now.”

...WASN'T OBAMA ignoring the issue of race as a divider in the country when he sat through sermons in which Jeremiah Wright made racially divisive statements?
Silence gives consent…and he did nothing public to register his disapproval until the issue was brought forward in the press. He did not step forward to be a leader within his congregation and encourage them to work toward building feelings of racial unity.
• Yet, Obama says he wants to be the great uniter for our nation, seems like another case of "just words"...where's the action?
• Added to that, what does that silence say about how Obama would react as President if circumstances led to increased racial tensions?
• Would he remain silent then?
• Would he hesitate to say anything against someone from his community, someone who he holds dear…no matter what that person was saying?

Obama says: “It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.”

...AND FOR THOSE who may say, he’s the ONE who has been sent to save us all from this racial stalemate….including Obama, who seems to want us to infer that….think again.
Obama has lots of words, but no history of action.
The action Obama has shown in this campaign has been…
• to divide the country more, rather than bring it together,
• to tear down the legacies of those who came before, like the work of Bill Clinton for the African American community, rather than to honor those who have worked to bring forward the agenda of all Americans who are downtrodden, that’s all Americans, not just those from the Black community,
• to be involved in a campaign – that once it became apparent could win in no other manner – is bent of using divisiveness as a means to winning a nomination and of crippling the Democratic party in the process.

Obama says: “Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, ‘Not this time.’”

...FINALLY, WE AGREE. That’s right. People should be saying “not this time”.
“Not this time”, Obama – we won’t be fooled by your flowery rhetoric.
“Not this time”, Obama – we won’t be led by your words that ring more hollow with each deeper look into your life.
“Not this time”, Obama….

We were supposed to give you a pass on plagiarism because the paragraphs of a speech you presented as your own were “written by a friend.”
We were supposed to give you a pass on the NAFTA misstatements to Canada because those foreign government officials misunderstood or misreported what happened.
We were supposed to give you a pass on double-talk about your views on gun legislation, about a foreign policy advisor who admits what’s said on the campaign trail isn’t true, on connections to Rezko, and on and on.
Now, we’re supposed to give a pass on your silence because the person in question is “like a family member.”
“Not this time”, Obama.

There’s no doubt, we’re looking for “change we can believe in”…
but in order to believe..
we need EVIDENCE
of a day-to-day commitment (and that includes Sundays),
of a year by year recounting of results,
of a willingness to consider all walks of America as important, as equal, as in need…
“Not this time”, Obama - we won’t be fooled.