Thousands Rally in St. Louis and Baghdad
On Saturday, 100,000 showed up to hear Barack Obama give a stump speech under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Mo.
As far as I can tell, there was no band playing, and no free beer. Just that many people in a Red State (Missouri went to Bush43 twice) wanted to come outside on a gorgeous autumn day and see and hear “that one.”
That one: you know, the one who says he’s going to give 95% of Americans a tax cut; not the erratic, out-of-touch one who tries to pass off Joe the Plumber — or any other contractor who clears a quarter million dollars profit per year — as middle-class.
After what may have been the largest ever political rally on American soil, Obama went across the state to address a rally of 75,000 people in Kansas City.
Meanwhile, there were other rallies going on Saturday…
In Iraq, an estimated 50,000 supporters of the Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr peacefully marched through the streets of Baghdad to protest a draft security pact that would extend the American military presence in Iraq.
OK, like, I really think they’re ready for us to leave. Any day. Take a hint.
Just in case the Pentagon is still confused if “leave” means “leave,” an aide read a statement from al Sadr:
“I am with every Sunni, Shiite or Christian who is opposed to the agreement … and I reject, condemn and renounce the presence of occupying forces and bases on our beloved land.”
And the crowd went wild.
Mind you, this protest was not held by a few radical insurgents. Look at that crowd, waving their own Iraqi flag, almost as if they were exercising the right of their people to peaceably assemble and to petition their government for a redress of grievances. They almost look like embittered patriots who want the troops of an occupying empire to leave their land. This almost begs the question: does anybody in Washington D.C. remember what happened in 1776?
Read More: Barack Obama, St. Louis, Muqtada al-Sadr, Baghdad, Election 2008, Iraq War
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Did you ever think of what is going to happen when all of these people get their bubble burst when all these promises by Obama are not fofilled. A great commentary which should be read by all voters by John Foreman in the News-Gazette.. I don’t know how to do links but he can be found at foreman@news-gazette.com.
It makes one think about both candidates and the promises they are making. I think to many people in these huge crowds believe that the day after his inaguration that the economy will suddenly boom again, everyone will have a high paying jobs, everyone will have free health care and that our kids will be able to attend college for free.
To many people are not looking at this election realistically. No matter who gets elected we will be mired down for shure in Afganistan and most likely in Iraq. The day of high paying factory jobs returning will never happen. Congress continues to increase the numbers of visas issued each year for skilled workers to ensure that wages are kept low.
To many hopes and dreams will be dashed as we both know that these promises can’t be kept. And once again we will settle back into politics as usual as another generation will loose faith in our governament.
I think Americans can handle getting their bubble burst, but they just can’t handle being talked down to and blatantly lied to. And for me, this Obama speech from October 2002 is still huge:
Yes, Obama may turn out to be more corrupt than Bush or Cheney (though I highly doubt it), but if he does turn out to be corrupt, at least he will be an intelligent corrupt politician instead of the blatantly ignorant dumb crap xenophobic war mongers who’ve occupied the Executive branch the past 8 years. :-)
I don’t believe Obama is a man behind a mask. Even so, nobody’s perfect. And our system is geared for rewarding corruption. If the election isn’t stolen by the KINGS OF ELECTION FRAUD, in their hypocritical and phony ACORN VOTER FRAUD ploy (what a red herring), Obama will be the first president ever to escape the ‘power corrupts’ rubric, if he does manage to rise above it. He’s HUMAN, thank God. After the years of the lizard people, that’s enough in itself.
Give him a chance. He’s a ray of light in ever-darkening days. Americans are a spoiled and whiny lot. They never seem to know what they’ve got till it’s gone. We’re lucky to have this potential political revolution in the works.
Reminds me of something I heard recently about how we are so oriented towards comfort. How it drives us and our values. Yet, the difficult times ahead might be shocking to the point of shattering our comfort paradigm, freeing us from its paradoxical cocoon, and ultimately growing us up to a place we’d never rise to otherwise.
One other ray of light I see from Obama is in the way he has managed his campaign…instead of putting a bunch of unqualified business buddies in charge, he’s put qualified people in charge and has run a tight ship. Hopefully some of this talent will translate to his presidency (i.e. no more unpunished “2.3 trillion gone missing at Pentagon…” type headlines).
Also, his habit seems to be to stay calm, don’t panic, access the situation without jumping to conclusions, make a plan, get to work. If he gets elected, I’m sooooo looking forward to a few years where every other day we aren’t being told to be afraid of imminent terrorist attacks just to bring up the poll numbers, and no stupid “Buy duct tape!” type announcements. Using a chess analogy, Bush and McCain seem to only be able to see one move ahead. Obama has shown in this campaign that he is capable of looking 3 and 4 steps ahead. For example, the day after McCain brought up Ayers, Obama had a 13-minute fully produced video about the Keating 5 online, obviously already created and just waiting in case McCain went all-out negative. I want that guy in charge of making the switch from military-industrial-complex to Green Energy-industrial-complex…
Obama has already let the activist left down…if you remember his promises about Iraq and FISA…and now his hawkishness on Afghanistan. Reality is, there is a wide spectrum any politician must try to please…enough to keep them on his side…and get anything done. Add to that, things beyond his control, like the economy and the other stuff that the Right has kept nicely hidden under the rug that he will have to deal with. In any case, Obama is able to convince me of his sincerity on a deeper level than anyone else. McCain’s opportunistic flip-flopping on a daily basis and his absurd VP pick removed him from any consideration quite some time ago. I do feel Obama will be a mature and thoughtful leader, something we have missed for 8 years and something America is hungry for.
Hear, hear, Xman. Obama isn’t God. But I believe he’s the best leader that’s come along in years. I get the sense that most presidents rise to their level of incompetence when they take the office. But, with Obama, I get the feeling he’s rising to meet up with his potential. At any other time, George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln, or JFK might not have been great, but they all seemed to be in the right time for their particular abilities. Likewise, I get the feeling Obama’s particular abilities are going to be great for America at this time. I’m ready to have hope again. Not unrealistic hope, but hope that he’s the somebody who can convince the country to pull the brake cable before this train runs off the cliff we’re heading for. (Some say it’s already too late, but I’m still free to worship or not, free to voice dissent, and my stomach is full, and so it’s not too late.)
Now, some people say Obama is only full of words, but so was Shakespeare, and words are some powerful stuff. And some say he’s not far enough to the left, so elect somebody like Nader instead, but I find Obama is walking the tightrope balanced right on the American divide…and we have been very divided for years now…but Obama seems to be walking just far enough left, and just far enough right to pull the most people possible together, instead of pushing nearly everybody to either side of the room. And that hits home for me…that’s what I think America should be about…the best for the majority of people at any given time. So far, from what I’ve seen, Obama has stayed true to that ideal since he crossed my radar.
Yes, I know the elite bankers of the world still pull the strings. But, guess what? That’s never going to change. But things have gotten far out of balance…we need balance…we need a smooth transition over some rapids to a great future…Obama seems like he’s got good balance to me. I realistically hope he’ll not make heaven out of America, but will restore some balance to the U.S.
Well said, Joe.
Yeah, I have had to check my maturity as Obama moved more to center. I was disappointed for a time and the bulldog in me still is, but the point is not to have a good battle, it is to get some good done.
On the other hand, I’m really happy to know that I am finally qualified to be an astronaut. All this time I thought I had to go to school, was past my prime and had missed my window. But, Mrs. Palin has helped me realize I can be anything as long as I can just see it from my porch. If that doesn’t work out for me, I can be a plumber. I see his van across the street from my house every morning.
Hahaha. And I’m qualified to play on Centre Court at Wimbledon because I’ve seen the Royal Box from my couch ;-)
It may be that Obama has moved toward center to actually make it to the Oval Office. Once there…. That’s my hope, anyway. I too have been impressed with his campaign staff picks (placing ads in XBox games—how cool is that?) and with his speeches. Given his life experience I do believe he is the man the country most needs. They have always come along in times of crisis: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt. This is one of those times and Obama is one of those men.
“Yes, I know the elite bankers of the world still pull the strings. But, guess what? That’s never going to change. But things have gotten far out of balance…we need balance…we need a smooth transition over some rapids to a great future…Obama seems like he’s got good balance to me. I realistically hope he’ll not make heaven out of America, but will restore some balance to the U.S. ”
That’s exactly it, Joe! Obama isn’t a savior — lord knows this country needs to get out of the whole salvation business, anyway. He is a balanced man who seems to have good judgement. He has the potential to help improve our international reputation. He has lived his life as someone who respects the Constitution, not as someone who wants to be “the decider”.
I don’t envy the next president of this country. Once W is out, his successor is going to have an unfathomable mess on his hands. I don’t expect Obama (or McCain — let’s not get cocky) is going to be able to fix it in 4 years. But as I said before, we don’t need a savior. We need a good, calm leader and each and everyone of us has to lend a hand in bailing the bilge out of the bottom of the boat.
And I’m very sorry about my alliteration problem.
You’re right, I think, Lynne. Most all successful presidential candidates move toward the center to get elected. And Sirena is right in that he’s no messiah, but we’re in for rougher times than most expect, I fear. It would surprise me if the corrupt money system, that’s turning the entire world upside-down, survives. Why return for seconds? “Please sir, may I have another.”
Good luck, folks, buckle up.
Two unrelated points:
1) Unless Congress acts, I don’t think the SOFA agreement is binding on the next president.
2) We should focus less on how much we trust Obama and more on what we are going to do to pressure Obama and the congress to do what needs to be done for our country.
I received a phone call from a young man representing healthcareunited.org. It was a nice conversation. The guy actually made “room” to listen to what I had to say. He didn’t ask for anything, no money, nothing. He asked if I wouldn’t mind if he called back in a couple of weeks to talk about healthcare again.
He said that he worked with Barack Obama several years ago. I checked healthcareunited.org and found it legit.
What I was getting at before I was interrupted, this call from healthcareunited.org was consistent with the Obama campaign’s grassroots organization style. It may be, win or lose on November 4, Obama may continue to use this kind of organization and fundraising from small donors to build support for reform programs.
In spite of my initial disappointment with Obama for moving to the center on several issues, what really glued me to him was when I talked to the Obama campain and told them I was mad about the move to center and wanted my donations back. They were polite, didn’t argue and asked for my info so they could send it back. I couldn’t believe it. I changed my mind and told them to keep it.