Obama on the MLK vision

I was hoping to hear some word from Obama since Clinton came out in vocal support for gay rights this week. This has been especially interesting to see, as early on he was silent as those around him were quite cruel and cold. Obama has now spoken out. And loudly, in church, taking the community to task for turning on those in need of people to stand with them. It is a fine speech and one needed in the black religious community. There have been many nasty comments from the pious black community against homosexuals and their striving for rights.

So it is impossible not to applaud him and his tough words. Now only if he would speak on shared coverage, etc. Plus some policy would be nice. But a positive and big step.

TPM:

Barack Obama spoke today at Atlanta's famous Ebenezer Baptist Church, the home church of Martin Luther King, Jr. In his speech, he discussed the need for unified action in solving the social problems of our time. "We have walls - barriers to justice and equality - that must come down," Obama said. "And to do this, we know that unity is the great need of this hour."

Obama also singled out the black community itself in his call for moral change: "We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity."

...

AMERICAblog:

...

For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.

The political power of a good orator should not be underestimated. Bill Clinton knew how to speak to the people, as did Reagan. And it didn't just help them get elected, it helped them rule.