I don’t see the news agencies reporting on it, but the most striking comment that Obama made at Alfred E. Smith charity dinner in New York last night was the one where he said something to the effect that who would’ve thought there’d be a black man who is married and a father to his own two kids.  My hubby and I turned to each other like “whoa!” when Obama pulled that one out of his hat.  Humor indeed, but I know he was sending a message to white america and anyone holding on to the stereotype that black men don’t stand by their women and raise the children they helped bring into this world.

Did anyone else catch that?

UPDATE 10/17/08:  Thanks aw for the exact quote.

“Fox News accused me of having two African American children in wedlock.”

There were a lot of other comments I liked that they are talking about in the press.  Like whoever gave him his middle name never thought he’d be running for president.

Here’s a little snippet summary about the event from World News Australia, of all sources, but they had the nicest short blurb..

Twenty-four hours after their final debate before the November 4 election, the presidential hopefuls were the stars at the celebrity-studded event to raise money for poor children in honour of the late New York governor Al Smith.

Another more descriptive short blurb from NPR…

The two men spoke at the 63rd annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a charity event organized by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York for the benefit of needy children. An estimated $4 million was raised.

i am a pig who likes lipstick...and kermie! (Affrodite original quote for today)

LOL!!!

I feel like I’m at an NBA basketball game when the monitor starts flashing stuff like “Stand On Your Feet!”, “Make Some Noise!”, “Rise Up!”.

Or in Mystikal’s song “Bouncing Back (Bumping Me Against The Wall)”

You keep bumping me against the wall
Yeah I know I let you slide before
But until you seen me…trust me

You ain’t seen bouncin’ back!

Obama, don’t let them nail you with that “lipstick on a pig” comment.  I’m just waiting for your great comeback.  The one that will renew the faith of any Doubting Thomases (adding link because i am often reminded by my hubby that sometimes i use phrases that are unfamiliar to some) out there.

I ran across this post this morning that I thought was a good read.

from blog The Real Barack Obama , article BATCHELOR: “LIPSTICK” (UPDATED)

Damnit!  Obama, you betta…

enuff said. 

thanks aw for forwarding…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpniuotfpR8]

thanks vnf for forwarding this message to me…

REPRINT of email sent out to members of MoveOn.org about McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin.  It’s a good summation on Sarah for those of you still trying to get smart on her or are simply still scratching your head.

Dear MoveOn member,

Yesterday was John McCain‘s 72nd birthday. If elected, he’d be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for “inexperience,” here’s who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here’s some basic background:

• She was elected Alaska ‘s governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.¹
  
• Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.²
  
• She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. ³
  
• Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.⁴
  
• She’s doesn’t think humans are the cause of climate change.⁵
  
• She’s solidly in line with John McCain’s “Big Oil first” energy policy. She’s pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won’t be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.⁶
• How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.⁷

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here’s a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She’s a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She’s vehemently anti-choice and doesn’t care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she’s far too inexperienced to be in this position. I’m all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn’t done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain’s part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he’ll get our vote by putting “A Woman” in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She’s a global warming denier who shares John McCain’s commitment to Big Oil. And she’s dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he’s made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain’s vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Sarah Palin,” Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. “McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate,” NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-8420246-mrIfnZx&t=1

3. “Sarah Palin, Buchananite,” The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-8420246-mrIfnZx&t=2

4. “‘Creation science’ enters the race,” Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-8420246-mrIfnZx&t=3

5. “Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science,” Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-8420246-mrIfnZx&t=4

6. “McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy,” Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-8420246-mrIfnZx&t=5

“Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past,” League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-8420246-mrIfnZx&t=6

“Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor,” The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-8420246-mrIfnZx&t=7

7 “McCain met Palin once before yesterday,” MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-8420246-mrIfnZx&t=8

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 3.2 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

…

…and he has seen the glory of the coming of the Lord! Watch out folks! Obama’s still got it.

Go watch or read his speech given in Philadelphia. I’m still waking my brain up, but I promise to post my reaction. Thanks, Aisha, for keeping me in the know. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts of your own, please share.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGBbKG

UPDATE:

A. I had this brilliant post and then my computer just cut off and I lost it. I’m so mad because you can’t recreate creativity. It’s an oxymoron.
B. I still felt compelled to say something because I was so moved after hearing Obama’s speech.

Here we go…

This was another brilliant Obama moment. Everyone seems to share a particular speech of Obama’s that sealed the deal regarding their support or feelings about him. This speech did that for me today. Admittedly, I have kind of sat on the sidelines stunned but intrigued by this guy. I kept wanting to know “what’s the catch?” or as “Making the Band” legendary choreographer Laurie Ann Gibson would say…the “gotcha gotcha!” (Damn Diddy for kicking her to the curb, but I honestly don’t know exactly how all the drams went down other than what I saw on tv) Living in this country will do that to you. Don’t get me wrong, I was cheering for him, but from a distance. Today, he reeled me in, front and center, to his message, his purpose. Today was my Obaptism*.

Keep the comments coming. I want to know your reactions to Barack’s speech today on the subject of race. This very well could end up as the 21st century version of Martin Luther King’s I Have Been to the Mountaintop speech. I say that with with some reservation because that was MLK’s famous last words and I, no manner shape or form, want to insinuate that Obama is a martyr. Barack, rather, is walking us through history, shedding one of those ultraviolet lights to pick up the uglies of our present, and inviting us to shape our future.

The answer is not in party lines. It’s in doing what’s right for America, people.

For those of you who want to brush up on MLK’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech can click here:

http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm

or here: http://publicradio.org/tools/media/player/americanradioworks/features/sayitplain/mlking

The site American Rhetoric was an interesting find of mine today in general. Click below for the homepage. I think I’ll add it to my links as well since it’s a good reference.

http://americanrhetoric.com

*…btw…just remember, you heard me say Obaptism here first