April 18, 2007

Transcript of Obama's remarks on Virginia Tech massacre

Here's an excerpt from the transcript of Obama's speech in Milwaukee on violence at Virginia Tech, via Powerline:


There's also another kind of violence though that we're gonna have to think about. It's not necessarily physical violence but that the violence that we perpetrate on each other in other ways. Last week, the big news, obviously, had to do with Imus and the verbal violence that was directed at young women who were role models for all of us, role models for my daughter. ...[T]hat's a form of violence - it may be quiet, it may not surface to the same level of the tragedy we read about today and we mourn, but it is violence nonethesame.

We [inaudible].... There's the violence of men and women who have worked all their lives and suddenly have the rug pulled out from under 'em because their job has moved to another country. They've lost their job, they've lost their pension benefits, and they've lost their health care and they're having to compete against their teenage children for jobs at the local fast food place paying $7 an hour.

There is the violence of children, whose voices are not heard, in communities that are ignored. Who don't have access to a decent education, who are surrounded by drugs and crime and a lack of hope.


Old fogeys like me will recognize this as a knockoff of Jesse Jackson's 1988 speech at the Democratic Convention:



"What's the fundamental challenge of our day? It is to end economic violence. Plant closings without notice -- economic violence. Even the greedy do not profit long from greed -- economic violence."



Despite all the state-of-the-art glitz of the Obama campaign, the evidence is mounting (see my much denounced article "Obama's Identity Crisis") that Obama is, in his heart, just Jesse Jackson All Over Again.


Of course, if you are running for President, or if you are yapping on the radio for hundreds of hours per year, some of your improvisations are going to fall terribly flat. One could reasonably expect a little forgiveness following an apology, but that is exactly what Sen. Obama did not extend to Imus.

Mickey Kaus writes:


Barack Obama's misguided attempt to connect the Virgina Tech murders with the Imus slur ("quiet violence") and, yes, loss of health care benefits due to layoffs and overseas competition, doesn't come off quite as obscene as you'd expect when you listen to it--because Obama's delivery is too fatigued and subdued, even depressive, to trigger the sense that he's manipulating anybody. Still, it's not exactly evidence of a fresh intelligence, or even basic common sense, at work--much less rising to the occasion. It suggests a mindset that tries to fit every event into a familiar, comforting framework he can spoon-feed his audience without disturbing them. ...


Mickey appears to be picking up on my point that Obama's autobiography has all the hallmarks of being a written by a literarily gifted depressive. Certainly, during Obama's Ross Perot-like rise to near the top of the Presidential candidate heap over the previous couple of years, he didn't show signs of depression. Perhaps, however, he goes through a mild manic-depressive cycle, although not as a blatant as Perot's in 1992. Lots of high achievers do -- you claw your way into power, money, or fame during an up phase and hang on during a down phase.

I don't follow politics enough to have a worthwhile opinion, but I've been picking up hints from the press in the last month that perhaps his depression, if such it is, might be back. Mild manic-depression shouldn't disqualify him for the White House, but it's the kind of thing we ought to know about a candidate -- unlike in 1992 when nobody in the media except Saturday Night Live mentioned that Perot was enormously manic-depressive.



My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

17 comments:

Steve Sailer said...

Which reminds me of the segment on the "In Living Color" variety show back around 1988 with one of the Wayon brothers as President Jesse Jackson at the end of his second term in office in 1996 giving the last speech of his Presidency:

"Sure, maybe we didn't do everything right, but one thing we did do, just as we promised: we kept Hope alive! Wheel him out here boys!"

And aides push out in a wheelchair Jim Carrey made up like a 93 year old Bob Hope, wearing golf pants and connected to a life support system.

Jackson: "See, we kept Hope alive!"

Hope: "Please, I beg you, let me die."

Anonymous said...

There is the violence of children, whose voices are not heard, in communities that are ignored. Who don't have access to a decent education, who are surrounded by drugs and crime and a lack of hope.

I hate meaningless, tired rhetoric like that. Beyond the whole "think of the children" aspect, who is supposed to be listening to those "voices?" Are the members of such communities even trying to be "heard?" How are communities not "ignored?" Who is supposed to be "paying attention" to these or any other communities? How do drugs "surround" a community? And are the people in the community responsible for anything that is actually happening there or are they merely "surrounded," "trapped," "caged" by the malevolent forces of neglect and drug-use beyond their control?

Let me rephrase this in more practical and less melodramatic terms:

Minorities are still sucking in school and still disproportionately involved in drugs and crime, and we don't want to suggest they are incapable of doing better or responsible for anything that is happening to them. We must operate on the same-old liberal assumption that they are all just dying to improve their collective existence and therefore we need to sink even more of the taxpayers' money into attempting to close the education gap. We need more money for youth centers and other such shit.

This is the extent of Obama's thoughtfulness on these sort of issues. Being less neglectful of communities requires neglecting reality at all costs.

Anonymous said...

Obama's motto: "Please, think of the children. Forget the truth."

Anonymous said...

Awaiting Obama's 'I have a dream...Some day, that all men should be judged by the contents of their autobiographies.'

Anonymous said...

Meh. I'm not sure what the big deal is here. It's pretty obviously Obama trying to sound like RFK in Indianapolis, and not quite hitting the mark.

Abe said...

"Despite all the state-of-the-art glitz of the Obama campaign, the evidence is mounting that Obama is, in his heart, just Jesse Jackson All Over Again."

Makes as much sense as your theory that the 'whiter' a black is culturally, the more likely they're black fundementalists. Which is to say, it doesn't really make sense at all.

Anonymous said...

Makes as much sense as your theory that the 'whiter' a black is culturally, the more likely they're black fundementalists. Which is to say, it doesn't really make sense at all.

That argument of yours, runeba, made no sense whatsoever. In fact, what was your argument? I didn't see any to speak of.

Anonymous said...

Obama's wrong; Kaine is right

Obama's Speech:
Totally crass and immoral. I can kind of understand knee jerk reactions, in the moments after, like: "If only there were no guns!" or "If only the students had been armed!". People are upset and emote. Not really classy or shows the best character, but understandable.
Obama's Speech?
This is utterly naked opportunism and as such is deeply immoral. I was extremely impressed with Gov. Kaine who got it exactly right when he said he had contempt for those who would use this for political grandstanding.

Anonymous said...

I dont think Obama can count on any contributions from Mr Sailer.


The little creep who shot up Va Tech was a hateful, rotten human being.

He was not crazy. This was an extremely pre-meditated act with alot of planning beforehand (ammo vest, guns, ammo, recorded a video of himself reading a long written manifesto against wealthy kids and Christians).

If the little creep believed in Hell, he wouldn't have done this for fear of eternal flames, but he didn't apparently. I just watched his video, and the "you made me do this, the blood is on your hands" garbage really pissed me off. I honestly think this guy was upset because of lack of adulation and attention from others, nothing more. I dont buy that he was crazy for a second. He was functioning in college, majoring in English, sane enough to write a manifesto and to read it, purchased a gun, and planned and reconned an attack.
He was also a very good shot under pressure, as his hit ratio was very high. He knew what he was doing was wrong as much as Lee Harvey Oswald did. Im sad he wont be spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Anonymous said...

Got to hand it to Steve...he mentioned the kid may have been influenced by Oldboy, the S. Korean movie and lo and behold it turns out he's reenacting theexact same scene from the movie in his psychotic photo shoot. I love reading his stuff and passing it off to my buddies as my own theories...I do it a lot. Thanks, Steve- where do I donate again?? Dredmond

agnostic said...

Obama forgot to include the following intolerable injustices:

- The violence of being turned down for a date

- The violence of the traffic light turning red just as you get to it

- The violence of having your college application rejected

- The violence of a co-worker recounting for 60 minutes a 30-minute TV episode

- Etc.

TabooTruth said...

Well, and then I've heard some other socialists complain about the violence against women and children in Iraq that we perpetuate.

I think in any tragedy, there's going to be people taking political advantage, ever since the Boston Massacre. After all, what about 9/11 and Bush's opportunism?

As the people, we just have to keep our heads straight and be able to see through the bs like what Obama is throwing at us.

Anonymous said...

How about the violence they do to the English language?

Anonymous said...

You're missing the worst aspect of Obama's speech:

"VERBAL VIOLENCE"

This meme is a torpedo aimed at free speech. Obama's ilk would love to abolish or eviscerate the First Amendment. They'd like the whole country to be under "speech codes" by law. Hurt the wrong feelings, go to jail. After all, you're guilty of VERBAL violence.

It's of a piece with "hate speech" and "hate crime."

According to Obama, the government ought to consider forcibly removing from discourse certain thoughts, words, and ideas. And he intend to be the government.

When peaceful criticism, no matter how "hurtful," is made illegal, there are ultimately no correctives against official error except violence.

You know, real violence.

Anonymous said...

This shocking new video shows Cho Seung Hui's deepest thoughts and criticisms of America and its society:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk_fYFBKqcY

Clearly, the thoughts of a deranged and twisted mind...

Anonymous said...

It goes back way further than Jesse Jackson. Indeed, Obama's speech quotes from Bobby Kennedy's speech following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Kennedy. That you're pointing to Jackson as the origin kind of indicates that you didn't actually read Obama's speech, you've just read some misleading quotes.

Anonymous said...

you guys bring teh lulz

the mind boggles