Another great sermon from Dr. King about principle - entitled "But If Not". (you can listen to the entire audio stream, or you can allow the audio to load and fast forward to the speech at the 32:08 mark ).
There is an extreme juxtaposition between the two men above.... one was principled, and the other goes with the direction of the wind....too often choosing whatever is politically expedient.
This is why I don't really have a sense of who Barack Obama is. He has no ideological or political center of gravity whatsoever. He has wavered so much in the last several months, that it is hard to find his core. Does he even have one? That might be a better question. After two years of campaigning, I still don't know what he stands for. And where's the authenticity? I am having a hard time finding that too. In what direction does his moral compass point? All of this goes hand-in-hand with "principle" and ideological center of gravity or core beliefs.
I don't want to be introduced and reintroduced to this man's family members at the DNC Dog and Pony show this week. That's not going to tell me anything about who Barack Obama is and what he stands for. It might provide a superficial glimpse of a man following a role... but it won't show me the true heart of the man. That's not going to tell me what he plans to do with the Country - in detail. That's not going to tell me what his position is (his real position) on peace/war, where he plans to take U.S. foreign policy, what he plans to do to help the poor, and how he plans to pay for his ambitious domestic platform....what he plans to do to improve urban America, what he plans to do to create more affordable housing, what he plans to do about opening access to higher education, exactly how he plans to reform government, and more.... Only Barack Obama can accomplish this.
I thought I had a sense of who Obama was.... but his constant shape-shifting to fit in and his waffling on so many issues (issues that should allow for clear decisions for a Progressive) has shown me otherwise. Obama has to show a little more substance if he wants to redeem himself with the growing number of Progressives who have become disenchanted.... The magic potion is wearing off. The grand (but often empty) speeches will no longer get the job done, at least not for me.
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Shelby Steele's Comments on Obama
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