ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

That's powerful.

I have not heard anyone speak so inspiring since I was a kid listening to Dr. Martin Luther King speeches on the radio.

Interesting that someone would give this post a drive-by star rating of 1 without any comment. Are you afraid to debate the merits of his speech? Are you fundamentally opposed to the candidate or his message? Or something else?

I've been noticing the same thing with ratings of 1 star for specific Authors here on the Post, which I attribute to a dislike of the Authors rather than a judgment on the content of their post.

Does everyone have an idealized version of what the Post "should" be, and any time it fails to live up to that ideal, the simplest way to express displeasure is to leave a low rating, or as a more interactive protest, leave an unkind anonymous comment?

Anyone see any parallels between Barack's observations of divisiveness and unity playing out here in Ojai, or more specifically, here on the Post?

Obama's obvious deep Christian belief system is the elephant in the room that no one is talking about! It sounds like he really believes his bible, like another Christian ..........Bush!

"I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story "
If he wins I just hope he doesn't start some kind of holy war in Black Christian Darfur !

Hi Tyler - Now you know you are one of my favorite people on this Ojai planet and I'm not exaggeratiang. Look, you set up an open star system (for whatever reasons) and then you're surprised that people vote or comment anyway they want? Doesn't that sound a bit silly?

The stars have never represented the thousands of people who read the post: only the ten people who seem to vote (that includes me) and the capricious voters who want to joke or like hitting stars. Yet you want authenticity and truth in "star clicking"? I think you better take away my star privileges, cause now you've given me ideas.

Raymond, according to a prior post, presumably wants to control comments; and you want to control the stars - gotta be God for that! Although Tyler, I must admit you're close...

that's 1 reason why i would never want to be a legit author on OP.
if anyone ever gave me just 1 star i would probably kill myself
I'm just too sensitive with extremely lo self-esteem

GREATINGS FROM AUSTIN, TX
THE LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

YEE-HAW!!

Get rid of those silly Stars!

Thanks for posting Obama's speech. I felt he was brave, noble, honest, courageous, and spoke from a deep, thoughtful, intelligent place. He may be too good for this world.

On a lighter note, I am remembering how our pastor, "Brother Mack" at the Full Gospel Light House church in Oak View, once broke a wooden chair during one of his raving Sunday morning sermons. He picked it up, held it high in the air, kept right on preaching and then smashed it into the ground to emphasize a point!

At least that's how I remember it.

All this talk about the star rating got my attention. I have previously totally ignored it and must admit that I didn't even know how it worked. So just now, I clicked on the row of stars (for the Obama thread) thinking it would "link" (?) me to a box or something where I could see more info on all the votes. I think I accidentally voted! And have no idea how many stars I clicked. So, veto the last vote!!! :)

Although I finally now know how the thing works, I will continue to ignore the rating. Sorry Tyler....

as far as those stars go, there are really only two choices -- one star or five. I've probably voted maybe twenty times, and those are the only choices i ever use.

still it's all pretty unsatisfying to the user because whether you hit one star or five, it gets averaged in and you don't really see much effect of your vote....

maybe if there were a tally of number of votes per star it would make more sense....

I friggin' hate the effing stars! Make them go away! There, I feel better already. And I just gave you a "5" on this one to conteract the jerk who gave you a "1," and when I clear out my cookies, I'll come back and give you another "5."

thanks all for your comments. (note to Dvorah - where did I say I was surprised? I called it interesting.) By the way, if you click the little "i" to the right of the stars, you'll see a bunch of interesting data on the top posts, hot posts, etc. Kinda fun.

A thoughtful quote for the day...

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world which yields most painfully to change.... I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world.
- Robert F. Kennedy, Capetown, South Africa

Capetown is one of the most beeyooteefull cities in the world!

It's unfortunate that "the thoughtful quote for the day" goes both ways. Hitler had his own brand of "moral courage" so did Chalie Manson, the Klans heads and other hate leaders. If Moral courage was truly a badge of honor, than Al Qaida should be revered and loved all over the world.

I think the word Kennedy was looking for is "Love, compassion, service, gratitude". Then perhaps "moral courage" would encompass the well being of the people instead of the so-called "righteous" ego of the individual.

This will be the first time I will have commented here for a couple of reasons.I'm not so eloquent so please forgive.No Tyler I can't say I agree with the post's ideals sorry I just don't.Mostly I just check in for a laugh or if someone refers me to an article.But this Obama speech is a very important hallmark in politics.up until now I have been an ardent Hillary supporter but am now waivering.The issue of race is something that really is not at the forefront in alot of peoples lives in Ojai,maybe I'm wrong but Im sure the only black people alot of the post people run into are the same small population that lives in town(No offense D!).But I think in this election it has been brought up not by the candidates noy by the media but the population itself,as the polls have shown.The madia then will point it out but it is the people that are voting along racial lines and I don't think this will change.I lived in Richmond Va. during the Farrakhan era and I know that there is a contigency that will be Voting for Obama just because he is black,just as there are people voting for Hill and Mccain because they are white.There are racial divides in this country some exist for a reason snd others do not.Just saying that it is wrong and that we need to turn the page isn't going to happen.The speech delivered yesterday was so inspiring to address the facts of life that he grew up with relates to us all and the leadership shown by this young senator is inspiring.I am not changing sides as of yet but now I am undecided yes the issue of his pastor is unnerving i myself have left a church because of their politics and his affiliation with his makes me scratch my head but i digress,The race issue is now on the table and I think he did a great job of adressing it.

Pretty amazing speech. And the fact that he remains loyal to his pastor is something we don't often see in politics. Usually when a tempest of this sort brews up in the media, the politicians look for the exits, but not Barack.

So much for pundits claiming he can't run a campaign. Strategically it was genius. Allow CNN and FOX to go ballistic, allow Sean Hannity to claim another swift-boat style victory against a Democrat and then come out and blow the whole race issue out of the water. The most candid and honest speech about race by a major candidate ever. Further, I believe he's inoculated himself against any further mention of the pastor issue. Sure the Repugs and their proxies will still try to attack, but I don't think the public will respond. Just imagine what Kerry would have done in this instance. He would have run for cover. Let's be honest. When was the last time you heard a candidate speak for that long and never once sound anything but sincere?

Could Clinton do that. Her ongoing narrative is that Obama only has a speech and that he has no action. Just what does she mean by that? Except for slight aberrations like the last eight years, the executive usually sets an agenda and uses persuasion and various other methods to form a groundswell behind his/hopefully her someday ideas and gets congress to pass legislation in that direction. That's how the framers intended for it to work. Speeches are a huge part of that. Oration that moves people and focuses effort is a major part of our history. What "can do" and action is Clinton talking about then? Is it her intention to ride roughshod in the same way that Bush has been; using signing statements, executive orders, strong-arm tactics and lies? So far I have seen no instance where Clinton has been even remotely persuasive. Could she take a situation like Barack was facing and not only give a speech that addresses the issue but give a speech that actually TRANSCENDS the issue and reminds people that they are part of a grater union that can seek perfection.

There's a huge difference there.

Welcome, Mario.

Mario, spk, thanks both for your thoughts.

Mario, one clarification, or nuance. I never said the Post had ideals. I offered that readers might have an idealized version of what the Post is, and if a certain Author or Entry didn't live up to what those ideals were for that particular person, then that person would express their dissatisfaction in some way.

OK, off to meetings, see y'all later. Don't forget to pre-heat the oven at 5:30.

Mario,

Eloquent? To the degree that it exists here on the post, it doesn't really matter. Welcome and please keep commenting.

By the way, my comment wasn't a reaction to yours. It took me about 12 minutes to write I guess and I didn't see your comment before I posted mine.

Mario, so great to have you here weighing in!

You're great, Lisa - thanks. Now watch, after all that no one will post a thing. :)

But good on ya all the same!

Oops, wrong thread. But you know what I mean...

This was a great speech. Obama gets it. He's a real person who just might make a difference.

It will be interesting to watch the right wing spin machine flummox their way to a response. What will they do? Ignore the speech? Keep on trucking with loops of the Reverend?

Or will they leave the Reverend behind and try something new?

If they try something new, the competition with Hillary should truly be over (if it isn't already). That would show that Obama indeed has what it takes to win, which at this point is the only thing remaining in Hillary's favor - the idea that she can beat the Republican attack machine, and Obama is untested.

I still wish we had some specifics on what Obama will do that could inspire confidence in the same way that his speeches inspire hope. We are in a crisis, the likes of which this country has never faced. Ten more months of Bush is likely to add ten more years to any recovery, and all the hope in the world won't change that. I'd like to see Obama leading in Congress to impeach these losers, or otherwise paralyze them, so that at least the bleeding can stop until he can get in office. Then I would truly be feeling better about our choices.

Also, at some level, it is disappointing that Obama is addressing the Repug attack machine at all. This has been the mistake of every Democrat. Stop trying to get Repugnicans to vote Democratic. Instead, keep on bringing out the new voters who want something new. They don't care about Repugnican attacks, those attacks do not resonate with them. In most cases - this particular speech being the exception - every word spent responding to Repugs is basically wasted.

The bottom line this election is pretty straightforward: Everyone but the extremely ignorant, stupid or corrupt is voting anything-but-Repugnican. Period. The corrupt cannot be reached, but they are a tiny percentage. The competition for votes is with the stupid and ignorant, which unfortunately in these United States is a very high percentage of the voting public. The goal should be to reduce the ranks of the ignorant, by getting facts out there (although with the collapsing economy, Iraq, $4 gas, etc. it is hard to see how anyone can be ignorant of the massive failures of this President), and confuse the stupid enough so that the Repugnican-leaning ones stay away from the polls.

Responding to Repugnican attacks in general is not going to help achieve either of those goals (again, this speech being the exception). Keeping control of the conversation is the key.