tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post8010127935429054058..comments2008-08-08T18:30:22.065-07:00raggedclownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11409198158282001526noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-59986006693799656532008-08-08T18:30:00.000-07:002008-08-08T18:30:00.000-07:00Anonymous wrote:<BR/><BR/>"Obama is a product of the Chicago Democratic machine that..."<BR/><BR/>I see you got the latest email from the Rove machine.raggedclownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11409198158282001526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-18844795049414954292008-08-08T08:16:00.000-07:002008-08-08T08:16:00.000-07:00How reassuring that Joan is monitoring "the ghettos" for us and that they are calmer now that Obama is running. It's great to read that the words, "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." are idiocies.<BR/><BR/>Obama is a product of the Chicago Democratic machine that has brought so much good to the world. She claims not to be naive. Joan, meet the new boss...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-79449171701656629962008-08-07T17:10:00.000-07:002008-08-07T17:10:00.000-07:00Thanks for the comments, everyone. I agree with Meg that the Messianic image of Obama is unhelpful. Garry Trudeau had some fun with this recently: http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/2008/db080730.gifraggedclownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11409198158282001526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-45707920723032995692008-08-06T12:54:00.000-07:002008-08-06T12:54:00.000-07:00anonymous:<BR/><BR/>The difference between Baez and Dylan being at the March on Washington is this: While he made a comment about his black friends not needing to wear suits (unlike the black men present)to get respect, he stopped singing "protest" songs right after that and she went on to sit in trees.Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08934165699497897957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-54388260682018909152008-08-05T19:11:00.000-07:002008-08-05T19:11:00.000-07:00I find these comments off-base. Joan Baez is an admirable person, has led an honest life pursuing an activist path that she feels strongly about. And she felt strongly about Bob, so what mentioning him? He was at that march; it was a defining moment for him too. <BR/><BR/>Obama is an admirable person who will bring intelligence and honesty to the position. He has inspired hope in many people; he inspires hope in me. I think he can both unite us and posture the US in a thoughtful leadership role that hte world is desperately crying for us to take on - intelligent leadership not afraid of the real challenges of the 21st century and not distracted by fundamentalist dogma about one region. <BR/><BR/>So she loved Bob and she is honest about that - so what. He has moved millions of people. That's his fate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-64670353859890671182008-08-05T08:05:00.000-07:002008-08-05T08:05:00.000-07:00Joan Baez is a bore and a fool. And if she would PLEASE STOP name checking Bob Dylan EVERY time she speaks, it would make her seem a little less fatuous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-83081773164750203882008-08-05T07:07:00.000-07:002008-08-05T07:07:00.000-07:00joan baez, you are an idiot..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-69927687786274331442008-08-05T06:27:00.000-07:002008-08-05T06:27:00.000-07:00Crime is down in certain neighborhoods because Obama is running for president? Is she serious? Crikey...she needs a reality check.<BR/><BR/>I can't stand her. I really can't. Did anyone else notice how this piece was all about her and her accomplishments?<BR/><BR/>The problem with how she is thinking is the problem with how millions of people are thinking about Obama: that a man running for president can unify a country. That is NOT the presidents job,nor can he do such a thing.<BR/><BR/>The US is divided on certain issues, and it always will be. There will always be issues that divide us: Civil Rights divided us, yet I do not hear anyone saying that Kennedy or Johnson were the cause of this division. The Viet Nam war divided us. Both of these presidents were instrumental in our involvement in the war, (as was Eisenhower) and yet it is Richard Nixon who takes the blame for "dividing us."<BR/><BR/>Feminism in the 60's-70's divided us. Which president can we blame for that? None. A president neither divides nor unifies us.<BR/><BR/>I'm not saying that I dislike Obama. I don't. But the hope in him, as in any presidential candidate, to unify us is gravely misplaced.Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08934165699497897957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613401639259628637.post-75968256109278768072008-07-30T06:08:00.000-07:002008-07-30T06:08:00.000-07:00The idea that Obama is a pacifist is not only absurd but something that I'm pretty sure he himself would refute. Pacifists don't get elected in the United States (or in most countries for that matter). <BR/><BR/>I do think that Obama symbolizes a certain amount of change, and in taking over from Bush he would no doubt actually bring about quite a bit of change, but I don't see how this messianic view of him is useful or accurate. There is no way he would have reached the heights he has in politics, particularly at such a young age, without being not only extraordinarily ambitious and driven but also a very clever politician. Wouldn't we be better off acknowledging that?<BR/><BR/>I don't know, I realize that Baez has a long history with the civil rights movement but generally speaking she doesn't strike me as a particularly astute political observer.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09694504731204384103noreply@blogger.com