Not really a messiah, but maybe Obama will lead the USA toward a new "promise land".
I always knew Church of Christers were good for something!
http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com
"A LIGHT WILL SHINE THROUGH THAT WINDOW, A BEAM OF LIGHT WILL COME DOWN UPON YOU, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE AN EPIPHANY ... AND YOU WILL SUDDENLY REALIZE THAT YOU MUST GO TO THE POLLS AND VOTE FOR OBAMA" - BARACK OBAMA LEBANON, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
JANUARY 7, 2008.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 04, 2008
Poster Credit: Ray Noland ("CRO")
Obama - The Transfiguration
Obama at fund-raiser at Steven and Judy Gluckstern's home, April 9, 2007. George Soros is seated to the "He empowers us with words ... People are rushing into the tent to drink that Magic Water"
... We finally have a candidate in Barack Obama who uses the word "We" while others use "I." He empowers us with words and the authentic emotion behind them and people are rushing into the tent to drink that magic water.
Candor, inclusiveness, poetry, and inspiration. We don't only deserve those things, we long for them. We want to be led and we want to be lifted and anyone who doesn't understand that simply doesn't understand us.
Michael Sietzman, Huffington Post February 14, 2008.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008
"An Agent of Transformation ... He is not operating on the same plane as ordinary politicans"
Through some miracle of timing, luck, and good fortune Barack Obama has seized the moment. His mantra of "change" has been largely co-opted by lesser figures. He is in fact an agent of transformation. He is not operating on the same plane as ordinary politicians, and this makes him seem elusive to the conventional press and the traditional politicians. His instinct for the moment and the times is orders of magnitude more powerful than the experience claimed by others. Experience in the old ways is irrelevant experience.
In an age of great transformation, experience of the past is worthless because it is a barrier to the breakthrough gesture, the instant response in crisis, the instinctive bold decision in the face of totally new circumstances.
Some see Barack Obama as the long awaited champion finally come to slay the awful dragon of race. And they are right. Some see him as a new start for the Democratic Party and national politics. And they are right. Some see him as the walking embodiment of internationalism, ready to restore an honorable and respected place for America in the world. And they are right.
I see Barack Obama as a leader for this transcendent moment, the agent of transformation in an age of revolution, as a figure uniquely qualified to open the door to the 21st century and to convert threat to great new opportunity.
Gary Hart, Huffington Post February 13, 2008
The Culmination of American History?
Nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened unless somebody, somewhere is willing to hope. Somebody is willing to stand up.
Somebody who is willing to stand up when they are told "No you can't" and instead they say, "Yes we can."
That's how this country was founded. A group of patriots declaring independence against a mighty British empire—nobody gave them a chance—but they said, "Yes we can." That's how slaves and abolitionists resisted that wicked system, and how a new president charted a course to ensure we would not remain half slave and half free.
That's how the greatest generation—my grandfather fighting in Patton's Army, my grandmother staying at home with a baby and still working on a Bomber assembly line—how that greatest generation overcame Hitler and fascism, and also lifted themselves up out of a Great Depression.
That's how pioneers went West when people told them it was dangerous, they said, "Yes we can."
That's how immigrants traveled from distant shores when people said their fates would be uncertain, "Yes we can."
That's how women won the right to vote, how workers won the right to organize, how young people like you traveled down South to march and sit in and go to jail, and some were beaten and some died for freedom's cause.
That's what hope is. That's what hope is.
That's what hope is, Madison.
That moment when we shed our fears and our doubts. When we don't settle for what the cynics tell us we have to accept. Because cynicism is a sorry sort of wisdom. When we instead join arm in arm and decide we are going to remake this country, block by block, precinct by precinct, county by county, state by state. That's what hope-> is the Labor Movement ->
the Greatest Generation ->
the Civil Rights Movement ->
Obama
(Via Jonathan Stein @ Mother Jones February 13, 2008).
"The New Hope"
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2008
"A Metaphysical Force"
"Barack Obama is a metaphysical force in American politics," Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, said on CNN Tuesday night. For Clinton, Brazile asked, "Where is the joy? Campaigns are supposed to be about joy." Brazile added it may now be difficult for Clinton to stop Obama's "wave of support."
Associated Press, February 12, 2008.
"I felt this thrill going up my leg . . ."
I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often. No, seriously. It's a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment.
Chris Matthews, MSNBC [MP3 Recording | Video February 12, 2008.
Women Scream for Obama!
College Park, Maryland - You can see it in their flushed-face smiles and hear it in their screams. They say the phenomenon is difficult to describe, but once they experience it they tell their friends, sisters, mothers and daughters, and they come back for more if they can.
"He's very charismatic. It was a 'you-had-to-be-there' kind of experience," said Lolita Breckenridge, 37, after hearing Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama address a packed rally at the University of Maryland on Monday.
A dedicated supporter, she brought two of her friends to hear the Illinois senator deliver one of his much-talked-about speeches.
"Not too much of the speech was new to me," she admitted. "But hearing him live..." she trailed off, shaking her head and grinning.
When Obama addressed the crowd of 16 000 on the eve of primaries which he is tipped to win in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, he carried himself with his habitual worldly confidence, interspersed talk of foreign policy with recollections of his childhood and even poked political fun at his Republican adversaries.
He did not flinch when women screamed as he was in mid-sentence, and even broke off once to answer a female's cry of "I love you Obama!" with a reassuring: "I love you back."
Women 'falling for Obama' News24.com February 12, 2008.
"That Feeling you get in His Presence . . ."
Supporters began lining up outside the Comcast Center in the frosty pre-dawn hours. Doors opened at 9:30 a.m., but Obama didn't take the stage until 1 p.m. In the interim, the giddy crowd, which including retirees, college students and families with babies in tow, danced to Motown tunes and hip-hop hits.
"He's electrifying," said Tamil Lloyd, 30, of Capital Heights, who stood in her front row seat for Obama's entire speech. "I heard him speak at Prince George's Community College last fall and afterward, I thought, 'How could anyone not vote for him?'"
Lloyd, who arrived with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law at the arena at 7:30 a.m. - five hours before Obama took the stage - said the family was still working on her converting her husband, a Clinton devotee.
"Oh, he's going to vote for him," she said. "His mother said so."
Linda Hollidge, 61, of Round Hill, Va., admitted she attended the rally to see if Obama would live up to his hype.
"I wanted to see if I got that feeling they say you get in his presence," she said. "Our country hasn't felt it in a hell of a long time." . . .!"
Obama gets rock-star welcome in Baltimore, at UM, Kelly Brewington and Tom Pelton. Baltimore Sun February 12, 2008.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2008
"Believe in Obama"
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks at a campaign rally at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland February 11, 2008. (Jim Young/Reuters)
"Change We Can Believe In"
CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN
It started moving in whispers,
spread across and spoken by our youth,
what many missed,
the spark of a movement.
He is the son of a Kenyan,
born in a country of immigrants,
Opportunity - he lives the American Dream
CHANGE - we can believe in,
WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR,
Not since the days of JFK and Martin Luther King
have we been inspired to hope and dream this way!
So you have to look at yourself,
Have the cynics thrown you astray?
We'll be the voice to determine our fate.
We've got a chance, We can make it,
With your support, We'll be patient,
GET OFF THE COUCH - JOIN ME IN HARMONY!
(sing it with me)
CHANGE! we can believe in,
It's time - don't get left behind,
CHANGE! we can believe in,
The Movement grows from home to home
CHANGE - we can believe in,
WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR,
Not since the days of JFK and Martin Luther King
have we been inspired to hope and dream this way!
CHANGE - WE CAN BELIEVE IN
Oh yeah, CHANGE!
Yes I can
Yes You Can
Yes We Can
"The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands"
Looking into the faces of a more than 16,000-strong crowd in a basketball stadium in Hartford, Connecticut this week, the Mandela magic I'd seen before was there too. Black and white, and the youth; they appeared in a state close to rapture watching Obama speak. Here and there one could see women crying and some men wiping away tears too. [...]
But Obama is part politician, part cult. Supporters wearing T-shirts with an Andy Warhol like pop-art image of his face testify to that. But then they - him - were once easy to dismiss until people realised Obama's charisma was being matched by one of the most sophisticated ground operations ever seen. It is one that is outsmarting the Clinton machine. He's marrying inspiration and cult with old-fashioned political grunt.
One would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Obama on the stump. It's not so much by what he says but it's the way the crowds respond to his words. When 16,000 people, without prompting, start shouting some of his keynote phrases as he delivers them, you know something special is going on.
The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands.
- Washington correspondent Geoff Elliott. The Australian February 9, 2008.
A big black vehicle came past, escorted front and back by mounted police to hold the crowds away. People rushed forward screaming hysterically. Police edged them back and the vehicle moved slowly forward.
I asked a woman, "Who was that?" She'd been one of those who pushed herself up toward the SUV. She turned to me as if I were out of my mind, "It was HIM!" she yelled. "But," I questioned, "how do you know? All the windows were darkened." She replied, "I felt it."
So we continued to wait. Then it was time for the doors to open. Suddenly the vast mob broke and raced pell-mell for the doors. No more pretense at lines. Well-dressed men and ladies in suits and fancy hats stampeded forward like animals, just like the young people in droopy pants, t-shirts, and do-rags. . . .
[...]
The crowd grew more than restless, restless to the umpteenth power, fed up with surrogates. It began to roar, "O-BAH-MA!" A chant that shook the building and vibrated the floor in its immensity.
An then, there he was. I had moved all the way to the back of the Convention Center, from which vantage, oddly, I could see him pretty well. He gave the same speech he gives everywhere. I paid no attention to him but watched the crowd.
Those faces. It was raw, naked, complete, worship, love, heart-whole passionate stunned and almost unbelieving but desperately wanting to believe him adoration.
The Obama Cult: Both Ugly And Beautiful (Eyewitness account of Obama Rally) February 11, 2008.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2008
"Obama is the 'New Wine'
But many women at the rally questioned whether other Americans share their passion and pride in someone they see as a model working mother. "We loved the Clintons, but I don't know how much everybody else loves her," said Pam Lockridge, a special education teacher at Washington-Lee. "Because of her, girls have hope. That's important. But there has been a change. People want something new. Obama is like the new wine."
The Bible, like American voters, is of two minds about new wine. Luke suggests that the old is good; after all, "No one after drinking old wine desires new wine." But in Matthew and Mark, the emphasis is on putting the new wine into new skins, for the old vessels simply cannot withstand the power of that which is still fermenting.
Marc Fisher, Washington Post Columnist February 10, 2008.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 09, 2008
"He is like a key. He's going to unlock a door . . ."
Jody Klein of Centralia, Wash., about two hours-drive south of Seattle, was near tears as she recounted her Obama experience. At age 20, she'll vote in a presidential election for the first time.
"There's just this amazing excitement that's here," she said. "When he was talking about hope, it actually almost made me cry. Like it really made sense, like, for the first, like, whoa … how important a time this is for us. It was really exciting."
[...]
Seattleite Wendy Malabuyo, a 31-year-old engineer, said she couldn't name any specific accomplishments that qualified Obama to be president but pointed to his career of "serving the underserved" in Chicago after graduation from Harvard.
"He inspires me. I can't even say. … He gives me so much hope," Malabuyo said. "It makes me feel like something will actually change. So I'm speechless. I love him. I love everything he stands for. I love everything that he can bring to this country. And we just need to get him there."
John Cruce, 64, who worked for 30 years at the State Department in Washington, D.C., managing records, said he hasn't seen a political leader like Obama come along since President Kennedy. [...]
Asked what the senator has accomplished that makes him fit to become president, Cruce said: "Well, I think the biggest thing is he is like a key. He's going to unlock a door that's going to allow us now to pass and finally be able to do some things we would like to do. There are not going to be as many barriers as there have in the past."
Obama Rocks Seattle World Net Daily November 9, 2008.
"I was 10 feet away from him, 10 feet away"
SEATTLE–The Key Arena doors opened just before 11 a.m. and Cynthia Keze was one of the thousands hoping to see Barack Obama.
When she did not get in, she was determined to wait out in the rain just in case she got a glimpse of the man she says has brought her new hope for the future of the United States.
"The rest of us, we were in this huge crowd outside in the rain and he came out in the rain and talked to us," said Keze, her voice still raw from cheering. "I was 10 feet away from him, 10 feet away," she repeated another two times in awe.
"The only time I felt like that was when I saw Pope John Paul II."
As reported by The Toronto Star February 9, 2008.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2008
"An overpowering sense of HOPE ..."
"Nothing is more fundamentally powerful than how I felt when I met him. I stood, my hand embraced in his, and ... I felt something ... something that I can only describe as an overpowering sense of Hope."
- Actor Eric Christian Olsen (Via Joel Stein) February 8, 2008
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2008
"... a hymn that will HEAL THIS NATION, REPAIR THIS WORLD ..."
We are the hope of the future; the answer to the cynics who tell us our house must stand divided; that we cannot come together; that we cannot remake this world as it should be.
Because we know what we have seen and what we believe - that what began as a whisper has now swelled to a chorus that cannot be ignored; that will not be deterred; that will ring out across this land as a hymn that will heal this nation, repair this world, and make this time different than all the rest - Yes. We. Can.
Barack Obama, Super Tuesday February 5, 2008
Christopher Matthews: "This is the New Testament"
"I've been following politics since I was about 5," said Mr. Matthews. "I've never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament. This is surprising."
- Christopher Matthews (As quoted in Primary Scream New York Observer February 5, 2008)
JFK . . . MLK . . . OBAMA.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2008
Masses Break Out in Hymn To Obama
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2008
"You Feel Things Coming From Him"
Jan Young, 56, of Maple Grove, said the size and diversity of the crowd was unlike anything she had seen in politics in her lifetime.
"It's almost like the Messiah, you know?" said Young, a woman who said she originally backed Clinton but was drawn to Obama over the last year. "People really, really want change, and you feel it. You don't just hear it -- you feel something coming from him."
Obama Draws Throngs To Target Center WCCO.com. February 2, 2008.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2008
Disciples Share "Obama Conversion Stories"
. . . But the clincher came on March 17, when she met the Democratic contender face to face. She describes how he lit up the room with his wide smile, shook her hand and thanked her for volunteering.
"He looked at me, and the look in his eyes was worth 1,000 words," said Mack, now a regional field organizer. Obama hugged her and whispered something in her ear – she was so thrilled she doesn't remember what it was. [...]
"Values are not just concepts, they're feelings," Ganz said. "That's what dropped out of Democratic politics sometime in the '70s or '80s." [...]
"Just follow Barack's lead and be honest with them," [Obama's] site advises. "You don't need to debate policy or discuss the day's headlines. You have a very personal reason for investing your time and energy in this campaign – that is the most compelling story you can tell."
Indeed, participants in the Saturday morning precinct-captain training were already adept at telling their Obama-conversion stories.
Libbie Coleman, a 61-year-old microbiology teacher at McClatchy High School, read Obama's books last spring.
"I've been a voter for 40 years," she said. "I feel like I've been needing to hear these things for 40 years."
- "Obama basic training", by John Hill. January 31, 2008.
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008
Kennedy passes "Treasured Covenant" to Obama
I am convinced we can reach our goals only if we are "not petty when our cause is so great"-- only if we find a way past the stale ideas and stalemate of our times - only if we replace the politics of fear with the politics of hope - and only if we have the courage to choose change.
Barack Obama is the one person running for President who can bring us that change.
Barack Obama is the one person running for President who can be that change.
I love this country. I believe in the bright light of hope and possibility. I always have, even in the darkest hours. I know what America can achieve. I've seen it. I've lived it--and with Barack Obama, we can do it again.
Excerpt: Ted Kennedy's Endorsement of Barack Obama January 28, 2008
"In the civic religion that is Democratic politics, the most treasured covenant was passed to the young Senator from Illinois."
From CBS' "Early Show" Harry Smith
"Creative Imagination coupled with Brilliance"
In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom.
Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.
When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?
Our future is ripe, outrageously rich in its possibilities. Yet unleashing the glory of that future will require a difficult labor, and some may be so frightened of its birth they will refuse to abandon their nostalgia for the womb.
There have been a few prescient leaders in our past, but you are the man for this time.
Toni Morrison to Obama The New York Observer January 28, 2008.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2008
Carolyn Kennedy on Obama: "I Believe!"
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible. . . .
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
A President Like My Father, by Carolyn Kennedy. New York Times January 27, 2008.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2008
"Believe in Obama"
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas January 18, 2008. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2008
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 09, 2008
Obama to Disciples: "You will experience an epiphany"
"My job is to be so persuasive that if there's anybody left out there who is still not sure whether they will vote, or is still not clear who they will vote for, that a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany ... and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Obama"
Lebanon Opera House, New Hampshire. January 7, 2008.
As reported in: Village Voice | CNet News.com | CNN.com
TUESDAY, JANUARY 08, 2008
Supporters of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-IL) pray in the front row as he delivers remarks during a campaign rally at Concord High School in New Hampshire January 7, 2008. Obama is campaigning on the eve of the January 8 New Hampshire Primary. SOURCE: REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES)
After Obama's speech on the night of his Iowa victory, pundits began to speak about his ascension to Democratic frontrunner in terms of a veritable movement. But witnessing his campaign stops here, this movement seems less like a political one than a religious one. Earlier in his campaign, Obama spoke quite openly about his belief in Jesus Christ, reaching out to Christian voters with tales of his conversion and the role faith has played in his life.
In New Hampshire, this week, he's talking to people about salvation as well. But this time it's our salvation, and the messiah's word he's spreading is his own. And it's this godly fervor, not a political one, which may well be galvanizing the grassroots youth effort not just in New Hampshire, but across the country.
Obama's sermons setting forth his own transcendent leadership are not accidentally Christian in nature. He's internalized this practice so deeply that he's already joking about it in his stump speech. Like a pastor who asks first-time church-goers to raise their hands at the beginning of the sermon, he requests a show of undecided voters and beams his kilowatt smile upon them, saying "A light will shine down from somewhere. You will experience an epiphany." In the chortles of the crowd, you can practically hear the angels sing.
It's not his own resurrection Obama preaches, but that of the country, and that of ourselves. His litany on hope has basically nothing to do with politics and everything to do with incandescent inspiration.
Obama Recast As MLK, Jesus, Leading Spiritual Youth Movement, by Lauren Sandler. Huffington Post January 8, 2008.
MONDAY, JANUARY 07, 2008
"The Hour is Almost Upon You"
"A Nation HEALED . . . A World REPAIRED . . .
"Believers Flock to see Obama in the Flesh"
Barack Obama is nearly two hours late when he takes the stage, flashes that smile, and says in that instantly recognisable baritone: "Good afternoon, believers."
And they do believe: teenage girls pressing against the crowd control barricades to take pictures with their mobile phones; middle-aged couples carrying copies of Obama's memoir for signing; fathers with children perched on their shoulders, getting an early lesson in politics.
Everybody wants to say they have seen Obama - up close . . .
Believers flock to see Obama in the flesh Suzanne Goldenberg in Derry, New Hampshire. The Guardian January 7, 2008.
HOPE!
SUNDAY, JANUARY 06, 2008
Germany: "Lincoln, Kennedy, Obama!!!"
... The Berliner Morgenpost over the weekend ran with the headline, "The New Kennedy." The tabloid Bild went with, "This Black American Has Become the New Kennedy!"
An editorial in the Frankfurter Rundschau went one historic president better with a headline that read simply: "Lincoln, Kennedy, Obama," adding that "hope and optimism" are "the source of the nation's strength." ...
Barack Obama's popularity soars - in Germany, by Nicholas Kulish. International Herald Tribune January 6, 2008
THURSDAY, JANUARY 03, 2008
"He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh"
. . . Obama's finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don't even really inspire. They elevate. They enmesh you in a grander moment, as if history has stopped flowing passively by, and, just for an instant, contracted around you, made you aware of its presence, and your role in it. He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair. The other great leaders I've heard guide us towards a better politics, but Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence. . . .
"Obama's Gift", by Ezra Klein. January 3, 2008.
PROGRESS!
TUESDAY, JANUARY 01, 2008
Obama the "Next Lincoln"?
"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present," that young "inexperienced" politician, another tall thin native of Illinois (who became our greatest president) once said. "As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we can save our country."
As Abraham Lincoln experienced in his time, this nation is again at a crossroads. We again need a president who is above all authentic, who points us confidently toward that future, a leader with real character, like Obama, who calls upon each and every one of us to heed what his predecessor from Illinois called "the better angels of our nature" and not our basest fears. I am confident that Obama will be that kind of president. It is time for real change.
Ken Burns (endorsing Barack Obama) Concord Monitor January 1, 2008.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2007
Obama "Radiates Truth and Goodness"
. . . For his part, Obama has the capacity to summon heroic forces from the spiritual depths of ordinary citizens and to unleash therefrom a symphonic chorus of unique creative acts whose common purpose is to tame the soul and alleviate the great challenges facing mankind.
For their part, each citizen has within the potential to respond to such a heroic calling. When they do, noble qualities are unleashed from the very depths of the human spirit. When they do not, a politics of fear ensues. In either event, the choice is ours to make.
Unlike other candidates, Obama is an inspired leader. He is authentic and truthful. He radiates truth and goodness. He possesses charisma and exercises sound judgment. For this reason, he serves as a catalyst to awaken the better part of ourselves. His campaign is about calling America to exercise the noblest human qualities on behalf of the common good.
-- "Obama: On Toughness and Success in Politics by Gerald Campbell. First Things Firth December 22, 2007.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2007
"We need politicians who can BE The Truth"
"I give all praise and honor to God," Obama began. "Look at the day the Lord has made."
Obama's wife, Michelle, opened the rally with a description of her husband that could, at moments, have been a description of Jesus Christ.
"We need a leader who's going to touch our souls. Who's going to make us feel differently about one another. Who's going to remind us that we are one another's keepers. That we are only as strong as the weakest among us," she said, echoing biblical passages.
Winfrey also touched on Christian themes that had not been highlighted in Iowa.
"It's amazing grace that brought me here," she began, adding that she was "stepping out of my pew" - television – to engage in politics.
It isn't enough to tell the truth, Winfrey said. "We need politicians who know how to be the truth."
"I do believe I do today we have the answer to Miss Pittman's question – it's a question that the entire nation is asking – is he the one?" Winfrey said. "South Carolina – I do believe he's the one."
"We're all here to come together – to appreciate our uniqueness and to treasure our diversity, and we're here to evolve to a higher plane," she said. "The reason I love Barack Obama is because he is an evolved leader who can bring evolved leadership to our country."
Source: Messianic Rhetoric infuses Obama Rallies, by Ben Smith and David Paul Kuhn. The Politico December 11, 2007.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2007
"A Tongue Dipped in Unvarnished Truth"
For the very first time in my life, I feel compelled to stand up and to speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision for America, . . . I am here to tell you, Iowa, he is the one. He is the one!"
"We're all here to come together – to appreciate our uniqueness and to treasure our diversity, and we're here to evolve to a higher plane . . . The reason I love Barack Obama is because he is an evolved leader who can bring evolved leadership to our country. . . .
. . . When you listen to Barack Obama, when you really hear him, you witness a very rare thing. You witness a politician who has an ear for eloquence and a tongue dipped in the unvarnished truth...
- Oprah Winfrey December 8, 2007.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2007
Obama: "I can be an Instrument of God"
During the nearly two hour service that featured a rock band and hip-hop dancers, Obama shared the floor with the church's pastor, Ron Carpenter. The senator from Illinois asked the multiracial crowd of nearly 4,000 people to keep him and his family in their prayers, and said he hoped to be "an instrument of God."
"Sometimes this is a difficult road being in politics," Obama said. "Sometimes you can become fearful, sometimes you can become vain, sometimes you can seek power just for power's sake instead of because you want to do service to God. I just want all of you to pray that I can be an instrument of God in the same way that Pastor Ron and all of you are instruments of God."
He finished his brief remarks by saying, "We're going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth."
-- Obama in South Carolina CNN Political Ticker. October 8, 2007.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 09, 2007
"His Election to the Senate was Divinely Ordered"
Mr. Rush has an explanation for Mr. Obama's emergence after the dark days of 2000 as a political star four years later. He vanquished a field of multimillionaires, some more experienced and better known, and benefited from fortuitous domestic scandals that sidelined two opponents and left him facing a Republican widely seen as unable to win.
"I would characterize the Senate race as being a race where Obama was, let's say, blessed and highly favored," Mr. Rush said, chuckling. "That's not routine. There's something else going on."
What was he suggesting?
"I think that Obama, his election to the Senate, was divinely ordered," Mr. Rush said, all other explanations failing. "I'm a preacher and a pastor; I know that that was God's plan. Obama has certain qualities that — I think he is being used for some purpose. I really believe that."
In 2000, a Streetwise Veteran Schooled a Bold Young Obama, By Janny Scott. New York Times September 9, 2007
SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2007
"This guy was God before I was"
When Morgan Freeman comes over to greet Obama, the senator begins bowing down both hands in worship. "This guy was president before I was," says Obama, referring to Freeman's turn in Deep Impact and, clearly, getting a little ahead of his own bio. Next, a nod to Bruce Almighty: "This guy was God before I was." (Okay, more than a little ahead.) But Freeman is eating it up. Leaning in, he tells the senator to win it. "I will," Obama replies. "That's why I'm running."
Men's Vogue April 2007.
Cult of Personality or The Second Coming?
Is this a messianic movement?
a cult of personality?
or just good ol' fashioned politics?
Widespread phenomenon
or isolated incidents,
of no immediate concern?
Discouraged,
tolerated,
accepted
or perhaps fostered
by Obama's campaign,
even Obama himself?
"We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."- Obama, Super Tuesday
