Measure of a man

Please join me on a tour of Barack Obama's life, the truest measure of a man.

Nearly 3 years to the day Barack was questioned about the nature of politics and how we develop a dialog with presidential candidates. In Chicago, a city with a sizable history with Obama, Barack was asked to explain his experience and discuss his record on political discourse.

Here is part of that record and more.

"I frequently hear the quote "With Malice toward none, with charity toward all." and all we have around here is malice toward all and charity toward none, it gets me frustrated. There are risks in including that kind of approach in a speech like that because it's a feel good event, but one of those things that I'm trying to be mindful of is not starting to get so comfortable or risk averse that I end up sounding like everyone else."
Chicago Tribune, June 05

"If you make political discourse sufficiently negative, more people will become cynical and stop paying attention, that leaves more space for special interests to pursue their agendas, and that's how we end up with drug companies making drug policy, energy companies making energy policy, and multinationals making trade policy."
Newyorker May 2004

"What we have now is a surplus amount of conflict that is manufactured. It is manufactured in television ads, it's manufactured in terms of how the parties potray each other. There doesn't seem to be any break from the perpetual campaign. And so we never sit down and actually govern."
Charlie Rose Show Oct 2006



In 2003 Charles Barkley, a -at times- racially controversial figure himself, began working on his book interviewing a young state senator from Illinois...

"I firmly believe the overwhelming majority of African Americans are just as hard working, just as intent to go about business. What is true, though, is sometimes we get into the mode of it's easier to blame white folks for things than us taking the responsibility."


A couple years ago Barack Obama discussed America further..

"Stay amazed. And remain in wonder, at this unlikely place, we call America. I think it's easy for some people to look at all the challenges we face; to look at our poverty and our war and inequality and racism or hatred, or helplessness, and to get down on this country as a result."

"To think that there is something wrong us, and there is little hope to make things better. If you ever feel like that yourselves, I ask you to remember, all the amazing and unlikely things that have happened in this country."

"This is America! A place where millions of restless adventurers, from all over the world, still weary of their lot in life -still hoping for something better- have longed to travel great distances and take great risks for a chance to arrive on our shores."
Boston commencement address University of Massachusetts June 2006



When Barack Obama fought for reform in Washington, he required the temperment of someone willing and able to work with all sides of the issue. Barack Obama has been described for years as a man who truly is concerned with bridging the conflicts and gaps in government.

"Real reform means making sure members of congress and the administration tell us when they're negotiating for jobs with industries they're responsible for regulating. That way we don't have people writing a drug bill during the day and meeting with pharmaceutical companies about their future salary at night."
Chicago Council November 2005

"Politics in Washington has become the intellectual equivalant of WWF wrestling: Smacking each other, throwing chairs, but nothing's really happening."
Houston Chronicle Oct 2006



Recently the question of Barack's experience have come into question. Is he too green? Even more recently Barack Obama's stance on the controversial "gas tax" initiative by both Mcain and Clinton gave opportunity for the young Barack to challenge the experienced candidates one on one.

Agree or not, here is what Obama said 2 years ago..

"The only thing as predictable as the rising gas prices, are the short term political solutions that usually come along with them. Every year you have the same headlines, "Pain at the Pump", and then Americans start emptying their wallets to fill up their tanks, and politicians go through the standard responses: Tax rebates and tax holidays, investigating price gouging by oil companies."
A real solution for high gas prices Podcast May 11, 2006


Critics like to point out that Barack Obama is a wonderful speaker as if this included the totality of the man, but with a bit of knowledge it is easy to see for how long and by what measure Barack Obama has stood on issues important to him.

Here are a few more...

.."Every parent I know, Liberal or Conservative, complains about the coarsening of our culture, the promotion of easy materialism and instant gratification, the severing of sexuality from intimacy"..

.."Our political culture fixates on where our values clash"..

..Not so far beneath the surface I believe we are becoming more, not less, alike..

.."After all a cynical electorate is a self-centered electorate"..

"No what's troubling is the gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics -the ease by which we are distracted by the petty and the trivial, our chronic avoidance of the tough decisions, our seeming inability to build a working consensus to tackle any big problem."

All the above quotes from book Audacity of Hope

In the end the purpose of this blog is to persuade Americans to ignore the talk radio, television pundits, and personal beliefs they hold about the candidate.

Ignore Reverend Wright, Sean Hannity, and even a pro-Obama blogger. Ignore everything that deviates from the only thing that matters in a man's life.

His life.

Study the actions that thunder louder than words and see how the words measure against the man's actions.

If you find the accord harmonizes with the measure of the man then you have truth my friends.

And we can all use a little of that these days..




How else are we all going to FINALLY come together?