Jacksons Obama remarks

[vison]

*shrugs*

I never could abide Jesse Jackson. I will go further and say I never saw the appeal of Martin Luther King Jr., either. I will go even further and no doubt shock and horrify everyone here when I say I wasn't blown out of the water by King's famous speech. I don't like "preachiness", no matter who's preaching. I felt precisely the same way about Billy Graham. As for Pat Robertson, I know so little of him I have no opinion, but if even a tenth of what I've heard about him is true then I would form the opinion that he's a jerk.

The world is full of men like Jesse Jackson and they come in all colours. They are everywhere. I think he sees Barack Obama as the man of the future - and it is a future that doesn't include the kind of attitudes Mr. Jackson has preached and fostered for decades. I hope with all my heart that Mr. Obama can stimulate new attitudes and ideas in a lot of Americans, not just black Americans. It's time to move on.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Wow, vison. I'm going to have to educate you about Martin Luther King. With everything that I know about you, I can only conclude that your failure to be impressed by him is a result of not knowing enough about him. Dr. King is about so much more than that speech.

[vison]

Wow, vison. I'm going to have to educate you about Martin Luther King. With everything that I know about you, I can only conclude that your failure to be impressed by him is a result of not knowing enough about him. Dr. King is about so much more than that speech.

I know he is, Voronwë. But he is not a hero of mine. No doubt that is a failing on my part. I find there are places I can't go, and that's one of them.

While we Canadians are much like you Americans, we have significant cultural differences. I daresay you've never heard of Tommy Douglas or Nellie McClung. Dr. King was important in your country in a way that is relatively meaningless to this Canadian, that's all. I don't mean to be disrespectful of him, though.

On the other hand, Mr. Obama is important to Canadians now in a way that is hard to express or explain. Part of it is that he seems willing to engage the world. He represents much, much more than "the first black president"! It's only partly that. He does not "come across" as arrogant and provincial, but as urbane and articulate. He has immense personal charm, which never hurts, and he is attractive, which also never hurts. It isn't that I think he will not always advance the interests of the US first and foremost - but that he recognizes that other nations have legitimate interests of their own.

I hope I'm right, that's all.

And a further confession: I'm still cheezed off that Mr. Bush couldn't be bothered to thank Canada for our assistance on 9/11 and the days afterward. Yes, it still rankles. I should get over it, I guess. Maybe I will when I don't have to see his face or hear his voice any more.