John McCain was “proud” and “honored” to have received the endorsement of Rev. John Hagee who claimed that Hurricane Katrina was God’s judgment against homosexuality. THAT is spewing hatred to me. But the Senator doesn’t appear to be suffering from equal pressure on that matter.

I really do believe that Sen. Obama didn’t agree with everything Rev. Wright said, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to complain about each incident or leave the church. I don’t agree with the premise that he should have done so. It reflects this growing dispute of elements in this campaign from a two-dimensional viewpoint.

In terms of what Obama is doing after the speech, I don’t know for certain. I have faith that his administration will engage in initiatives on race that will involve the American people. Going to the moon was a cake walk compared to how we address race in this country.

The moon race was fueled by the hatred of the Communist Soviets. On the issue of race, we have only ourselves and our posterity to motivate us to do better.

Thank you Akrypti for helping try to point out to Mr. Kamisugi how his directed comment to me might be viewed by others. and for pointing out that I went too far in my comment.

A correction/retraction – I went too far in saying Obama is a man of words and not actions. He has done a lot of things. Just not as much as other candidates.

And in this instance regarding Rev. Wright, I question why Obama didn’t speak up earlier. (speaking up being the action). That he only spoke up after the presidential campaign presented this issue.

I guess my question is what action is Obama taking regarding this incident other than this speech. e. g. is he going to set up a presidential task force or something to improve race relations or open up dialogue regarding anti-white sentiment at black churches? I guess I want to work towards a solution and not just talk about the problem.

So let’s put action to words. Both of you can join me in a live debate on blogtalkradio.com. You can suggest a moderator and we’ll open it up for questions from callers in.

personal (def.) = done by one individual only; relating to a particular individual; referring offensively to a particular person; of the body

attack (def.) = criticize somebody or something

Strongly implying that Shy has no right to criticize Obama’s speech because one is skeptical of her own past contributions to “make the world a better place” and rebutting her criticism with the flat statement “have zero credibility with me” would definitely constitute a personal attack.

A criticism of Shy’s comment would be something like – If Obama were merely a man of words, and not a man of action, then today he would just be a pretty smart guy with a pretty popular blog. (Like countless folks we know.) The fact he is a presidential candidate who raised his campaign from the grassroots up, an extraordinary feat by any measure, is more than enough to suggest he is a man of action, and not just a man of words. Thus, you have not provided sufficient argument to convince me that Obama is merely a man of words and not a man of action.

Now, saying Shy has no right to make a comment at all about Obama’s politics simply because she herself hasn’t won a Nobel peace prize would be a “personal attack.”

Finally, what is all this talk of action and words as mutually exclusive? Whatever happened to the old proverb about a pen being mightier than the sword?

Ask my friends, family, co-workers – I am a woman of action. But regardless, one should be able to criticize the credentials of a presidential candidate without having presidential credentials herself.

Has it really created a discussion on race? In my circles, the speech has generated discussions about whether Obama was able to mollify white voters who were upset by his Reverend’s remarks. It hasn’t generated much talk at all about the problems of race in America in general.

checkout this follow up comment where Obama talks about “typical white woman”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H5jYeJmBLc

I don’t focus on whether or not it it was a “watershed” moment, or whether it compares to JFK, Lincoln or FDR. Evaluations like those can only truly be done in the context of history, and of course, whether he wins or not.

I consider the speech to be a runaway hit simply based on the fact that it has created a national discussion on race — especially a discussion that wasn’t related to a crime or disaster — and motivated hundreds of thousands of Americans to rethink about their notions of race and to consider the notion that solutions to our race problems in this country cannot be delivered by one person. It is up to us.

We also cannot demonize Rev. Wright based on the soundbites we get from the media. If you read the longer passages of words he spoke around the soundbites, you will get a much different understanding. Look at p. 41 of this week’s issue of TIME (sorry, it wasn’t on time.com) and read the longer passages.

I can tell you this much: if I was in that church hearing those words, I wouldn’t walk out. Because I would largely agree with them. Rev. Wright’s word challenges the culture of hypocrisy in this country … where wearing a flag pin automatically confers patriotic status … a country that pushes democracy around the world and doesn’t give the people of Washington DC (with more people than Wyoming) voting representation in Congress … and a nation that perpetuates the American dream for the many, but really just enables the dream for the few.

And, finally, to “Shy” — you criticize Barack Obama as a man of only words and not action, which makes me wonder what actions you’re taking to make the world a better place. People who criticize Obama for words not action have zero credibility with me if they’re not engaged in action of their own.

I think we need to work on getting Bo’s vote firmly for the democrats in Nov. The difference between Dems and Repubs? Civil Rights, Reproductive Rights, Public education, privacy (Schiavo), taking care of people (health care, social security) versus. Halliburton, mishandling of Katrina, war (defense contracts)

He likely still has my vote come November (and yes, I’m stating that I believe he will win the democratic nomination – now particularly after he got Bill Richardson’s support) but I’m just concerned that white people will feel like we’ve turned some corner on the race discussion b/c of this speech.

But then again…I actually really, really appreciate Al Sharpton.