Imagine this! President Obama has been praised by people on the Left and the Right for his Nobel Peace Prize speech!
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and columnist Cal Thomas all had a lot of good things to say about Obama’s speech.
But the liberal Nation magazine, certainly disappointed by much of what Obama has done or not done, also lauded the speech, as did columnist Joe Klein of Time Magazine.
It can be hoped that the moral level and realistic nature of his speech can transform the world in a better direction before Barack Obama leaves the Presidency!
Speeches don’t transform the world, Ron. He’s wrong about this war and we need to tell him that.
The Pen says it well:
“Those who think they are doing our new president a favor by not speaking out in protest have it exactly backwards. Unless we speak out in numbers greater than before, there is no pressure on him except from the right, and you can see exactly where that is taking us now. If you want to help Obama, if you believe he wants to do the progressive thing, you MUST understand that the only political reality is the one we create or not, by our action or by our inaction.
The only way we can save Obama from the disastrous path he is on is by being such a wind behind his back that he has no choice but to make good policy decisions. It does not matter whether he is a strong progressive or not, what matters is whether WE ARE.”
I fully understand what you are saying, but speeches can transform the world, as Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech in 1963, John F Kennedy’s speech on civil rights in the summer of 1963, FDR’s Four Freedoms Speech in 1942, and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in 1863.
I have already stated that I believe Obama is capable of seeing his policy fall short and of changing his mind. It is obvious with the Nation response that liberals are split, but I have hope that he will, down the road, admit his mistake and change course!