Are we still drinking the Obama koolaid?

Do we really know him as a person? Have we grown up alongside him? How do we really know how he lived his day to day life. How can we really know him as a person.

 

The same as I think of every other politician.

He's certainly not someone who can be trusted.

 

See, that's the thing.

Obama appears to be a pretty chill and cool person. And Michelle? She's awesome.

I keep flipping back with Obama, because I think he is in fact, a good person with positive and meaningful intentions.

Arguably a gas chamber attendant or a slave owner could be terrific and great guys but the institutions that they participate in make their behaviour out to be monstrous. Not that I want to compare Obama to a Nazi in this case however, I just think maybe if you realized that Obama appears to be a very charismatic, articulate, intelligent, friendly, and approachable person with strong leadership skills you might be able to sympathize with the notion that some people voted for him.

 

But the thing is the media plays a large role in how Obama is portrayed. Politicians are supposed to appear likeable, it's part of their grooming as politicians. Otherwise, who would vote for them? That's what makes them so dangerous, because people get wrapped up in the image of the person and become entranced by the person's messianc persona, which is usually contrived.

Because someone can put on a convincing act does not mean they're a good person beneath their public facade.

 

Grooming? They're supposed to be likeable?

Heh. I don't think Obama is putting on an act all of the time. I mean, I know he's got strategists and PR personnel managing all that crap, but the man writes his own speeches, answers his own questions, and gives his own interviews with news people. He's got some integrity as a person and as a human being that is admirable for a politician.

 

False: Obama does not write his own speeches.

In fact I think he has the same speech writer as JFK.

 

What kind of coolaide have you been drinking? Kennedy waa killed 45 years ago. If the speach writer was 30 at that time - he would be 75 now. Do you really thing Obama would use someone 75 years old or older for his speeches? Jeez - I don't care if Obama kicks his dog, He's got to be more trustworthy than Bush!

 

Err, wrong.

What Carl said is correct. Kennedy's speechwriter from back in the early 60s, Theodore Chaikin "Ted" Sorenson, worked closely with Obama's speechwriters during the campaign to write several of his speeches.

http://www.kutv.com/content/news/to...-Words-Into-Obama/2WVikfDiXkiRT4DYX_gTnQ.cspx

For your information, Sorenson, as of May, is 80 years old. Try doing a little research next time instead of making yourself out to be an idiot by attacking other people.

No, Obama does not write his own speeches, and I cannot think of any president in recent history that has written their own speeches.

As far as answering questions and giving interviews, I am not sure what that means or how his interviews are somehow different than those of any other president. I mean, yeah, he speaks better than the current president, for what it's worth.

 

Looks like he spends an awful lot of time working on writing his own speeches:

Link

*shrugs*

Obama's a good writer for the speeches that he does write. Anyone ever read his books?

 

Most of you are arguing semantics and doing it poorly. Some people are so wrapped up in piecing together bits of conspiracy that they are not going to be satisfied with any form of government or at least one that is not of their own design. Ever.

Some days I think the world would be a much better place if we all split up and regrouped in our own nations based on ideology. But we'd eventually get bored with that and invade the wealthy and oppress the weak. Because it is the nature of man to conquer.

 

I don't think it's the nature of man to conquer. Just some men.

 

my desires and goals are to conquer
and i will

 

I'm sorry. Only about 4,000 of the last 50,000 years are documented and they prove you wrong. Even enlightened civilizations have been oppressed to the point that they revert to their savage roots.

 

Or men (and women) who seek positions of power.

 

The first 7 or so minutes of "The Return Of The King".

See.want.kill.take. Usually on a grander scale. We can deny it as individuals but as a species this is our lot.

 

We aren't the same animal we were 2k years ago. Our consciousness is changing.

Imagine a black president 50 years ago. Fact is, peaceful protesters have caused more positive change in this world than war ever has.

Imagine Malcom X without Luther King... Luther king brought more people together while Malcom X only served to create more intolerance.

 

Physically or ideologically?

If you know your history, you know that at about the time of the fall of Rome, most religions lived together in all inhabited places on earth in relative peace. Christian, Muslim, and Jew had their places of worship side by side. Some of these places still exist in Africa, the Middle east and all over Europe. Then the earth went through a natural cooling period which caused crop failures, famine, disease and suffering. What we call "The Dark Age". This was when we learned to blame people who were "different". Christians were expelled from the Holy lands and Africa, Jews and Muslims from Central Europe. Leadership played on these fears to further expand their empires. The Crusades and the Inquisitions grew out of this time. And this persecution along religious lines exists still today.

So you are correct, we are not the same "animal" we were 2,000 year ago. We are far worse.

 

Consciously, look up Spiral Dynamics.

Things were far different technologically. This is the information age thanks to the internet and other advancements in media and education. Once education is improved upon, where everyone has equal access to information and the ability to communicate with each other openly, then prepare to see a change. A new golden age is inevitable because science and technology is improving much more quickly than ever in the history of mankind. Eventually this prosperity is going to spread to the more closed off areas of the world.

But science isn't the only way in which we'll improve, faith is a very important aspect of the human condition. When I say faith, I don't mean religions (organized or otherwise), I mean faith as in a belief and hope for things to get better. I also mean a respect for the 'spiritual' nature of the human condition and that is currently being studied as a part of the transpersonal vision.

Mankind focuses on knowledge of the world and never focuses on the knowledge of the self, intrapersonal knowledge. You have children and adults walking around that have no idea where they belong in the world and how they fit in it. Schools have focused on science, math, and history (all very important) while neglecting the arts.

When people can be taught how to reach higher levels of self development, then this is when man can regain control and responsibility for himself instead of looking up to leaders for all of their solutions to all of the worlds problems - Socrates was right, we can design our own realities. I don't believe for a moment that human nature is fixed.

http://www.sorfoundation.org/

 

OK. Technology and education and communication have vastly improved and with them the ability to oppress, kill and take. Greed and the willingness to oppress, kill and take have not improved, they have worsened.

Go to North Korea, access Wikipedia and email me about what you find. You can't. North Koreans aren't allowed outside access.

Go to China and look at some porn on the web and email me a link. You can't. It's illegal.

Go to Saudi Arabia and order a bottle of Absinthe online. You can't. It's illegal.

Go to Venezuela and blog about the "alleged" oppression by the Chavez government. You can't. Well you can but you'll probably mysteriously disappear...

Go to Kabul and post an article on the Taliban beheading their opposition and then go for a drive in the Swat Valley. Nice knowing you.

Go to Jerusalem, stand in the street and shout "Allah Akhbar!" and see what happens.

We're still the same barbaric "animals" we always were. Technology does not equal humanity. You can be enlightened in your own mind but none of us are truly free as a species until all of us are.

 

Those are all moot points. America used to have slaves, so? The point is that things can change for the better. Enlightenment spreads. Just because things are bad now, doesn't mean things won't slowly improve. With new generations of people comes a fresh start and beginning.

When people slowly gain control of their own attitudes and their own consciousness, that is when things will improve.

Time has a way of improving things, as well as making things worse, but times are different.

Mankind has a consciousness problem. It's up to us to correct it.

Each of those countries you mentioned will have an internal revolution. They will eventually develop.

You also mentioned how things were in the past. How people got along and then they eventually fell back into chaos. But this partly happened because the individual lost their rights and power of communication because of certain oppressors in society. But if communication remained free and open, I don't see how that would have happened.