Obama on Katrina
My senator, Barack Obama, the junior Senator from Illinois, spoke on the floor of the Senate chamber yesterday about the Katrina relief efforts. A transcript of the address has been posted on his website. From the transcript:
I just got back from a trip to Houston with former Presidents Clinton and Bush. And as we wandered through the crowd, we heard in very intimate terms the heart-wrenching stories that all of us have witnessed from a distance over the past several days: mothers separated from babies, adults mourning the loss of elderly parents, descriptions of the heat and filth and fear of the Superdome and the Convention Center.
...[W]hat must be said is that whoever was in charge of planning and preparing for the worst case scenario appeared to assume that every American has the capacity to load up their family in an SUV, fill it up with $100 worth of gasoline, stick some bottled water in the trunk, and use a credit card to check in to a hotel on safe ground. I see no evidence of active malice, but I see a continuation of passive indifference on the part of our government towards the least of these.
I encourage you to go the website and read the whole thing. When Obama spoke, he made some slight deviations from the transcript, so if you want to get every word verbatim, watch the video.
posted by Mark M @ 9/07/2005 08:45:00 PM
3 Comments:
You wrote:
>The only things he does is give speeches.
Antonio, you make it way too easy for me. Readers of this site might think I've invented your persona to be a punching bag for me.
Let's see what else Obama does. I search thomas.loc.gov and find that he's voted on legislation, and he's introduced and cosponsored bills. Tracking spent nuclear fuel isn't important (S.1194)? Collusion among medical malpractice insurers isn't important (S.1525)? Safe drinking water isn't important (S.1426)? Minimum wage isn't important (S.1062)? He's also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and I'm pretty sure they do things "of note." Other committees on which he serves are the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
You also wrote:
>There is a pattern to his speeches - they are all ambiguous, benign, un-offending and wishy-washy.
Now you give me the opportunity to point out that you're being ambiguous as to what you find "wishy-washy" about his speeches. And yes, it would be so much better if our senator was prone to making offensive remarks!
Antonio...
If by "status" you mean Obama's celebrity status, then I would agree that the jury is still out as to whether it is deserved. Senator Obama is a freshman senator, he is only eight months into a six-year term, and it is way too early to claim success or failure. He is a gifted orator, but I don't see that as grounds for condemnation.
As for your criticism of former Senator Braun, what does that have to do with Obama? The issue you mention was one of mainly symbolic importance -- one that had little material impact on the people she served. This is not the case with the resolutions I mentioned in my previous comment.
I wasn't aware you were such a big fan of pork, but let me explain how at least one of Obama's resolutions serves his Illinois constituents. As you know, medical malpractice insurance premiums have gone way up over the last few years, and they have gone up more in Illinois than in surrounding states. There are two ways to address this problem, and they are not mutually exclusive. One, favored by Republicans, is to put limits on jury awards. The other way is to regulate the insurance industry to more strictly prohibit collusive and anticompetitive practices such as price fixing. You may disagree with Obama's approach on this issue, but it is a substantive issue for Illinois.
Tony...
Waffler, whiffler, wishy-washy... what, do you get these out of your GOP phrasebook?
We can go back and forth on this ad infinitum, but I believe your characterization of Obama is incorrect, as is your characterization of his comments on Stephanopoulos' show.
Even if the intent to discriminate based on race is not there, the government's policies have effectively resulted in unequal treatment. That is why Obama was right not to dismiss Mr. West's statement out of hand.
As for West's statement being directed at the President, consider that Bush has refused to meet with the NAACP and has had little to do with the Congressional Black Caucus. And when he finally did meet with the CBC this past January, he told them he couldn't comment on the 1965 Voting Rights Act because he didn't know anything about it! West's grain of truth is that the President has shown indifference to, if not disdain for, black people.
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