Does anyone else have a hard time figuring out what Barack Obama’s catchy statements mean? Something that makes such translation particularly difficult is Obama’s frequent use of the royal “we,” that is, saying “we” when the context indicates “I” or “us” when the context indicates “me.” So I’m not sure in the first place what “We are the change we seek” means. It gets worse when I try to figure out what he means by “we.” “I am the change we seek,” maybe? Or “I am the change I seek?”
“Yes, we can!” Yes WHO can? And, yes who can WHAT? This stuff has good flow and, like an advertising jingle, it’s easy to remember, but does it mean anything?
Another one: “We are the people we’ve been waiting for.” We who? “I am the person you’ve been waiting for?” Well, why not . . . that makes just as much sense as anything else. Of course, if John McCain said something like “I’ve been waiting for me, and now here I am,” the Obamacrats would react with scathing “senile old man” criticism.
My curiosity got the better of me, so I called on my friend “Brainiac,” who lives a rather monkish existence with his bank of computers and is barely aware that there is such a thing as politics. “Bray,” I said, “what, if anything, does this Obama doublespeak mean?” He promised he would run several Obama speeches through his symbolic logic program and give me an answer real quick. Time passed and Bray wasn’t answering his phone or responding to his e-mail, so I went to his house and found it locked up tight, shades drawn on all the windows, and a “no trespassing” sign on the front door. I knocked on the door and heard a muffled voice saying, “Go away!”
Not to be deterred, I knocked again and shouted “It’s me! I just want to know what kind of answer you got on the Obama speeches! I really need to know what they mean!” For a minute, I heard footfalls and the rustling of paper, then the door opened a crack – - I could see heavy chains in the opening – - and a hand thrust out a folded piece of paper. “Now go away!” shouted the wraith formerly known as Brainiac as the door slammed shut. I heard heavy bolts slide into place.
The paper was a computer printout.
On the page were written two words: “Trust me.”
Well, I’m off to the hardware store for door chains and bolt locks. Have a nice day!
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‘The One’ Prefers Cheering Germans To American Military Wounded
July 27, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Could it possibly be a message of unity with the American people? A statement meant to uplift and empower people with the knowledge that We — people who join together– can bring about the ends we really desire?
No. A politician should only ever speak about himself and what he does, not about the possibility of being on the same team as the people he represents.
July 27, 2008 at 1:59 pm
My first reaction is that this is a hilarious post. My second is OMGosh, Braniac summitted the mountaintop and received the word – or light – or revelation. You know what I mean:-)
Thanks so much for the link.
Maggie
Maggie’s Notebook
July 27, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I don’t want to question your Zarathustra friend’s wisdom & insight but and still recommend much prudence in dealing with this chacacter (”dealing” implies adding one’s vote for him to reach the white House office) – and here are two additional reasons for this:
Reason A: Glibama’s naive/fraudulent vision of the world/ Berlin speech:
1) “the world stood as one,” Berlin wall – nope, the world didn’t stand by one as Kumbaya reminisces, allies & brass were against it, and actually even the CIA oppossed the airlift. It was only Truman’s fortitude (and of course, the bravery of the US servicemen) that materialized that great deed.
2) Glibama’s waxing about the Europeans’ yearning for unity – nope, after the Berlin Wall fell, France bitterly oppossed the German re-unification (and I am not that certain that now they rejoice it, either). How A six days international junket can fix Obama’s glaring incompetence and opportunism in foreign affairs is simply beyond me – how can media rate his act as convincing, if not brilliant is beyond beyond me. The junior senator from Illinois is utterly unqualified for the job of US president, no matter how pretty he looks when the light is right (not like in the Landstuhl hospital situation), and how well he
channels Oprah (in circumstances over which Stalin’s and Hitler’s ghosts still loom).
Reason B: a scoundrel by any other name is still a scoundrel (part “n”): the Jerusalem West Wall SCAM:
Sacrilegious or not, the Jerusalem Western note affair was/is a SCAM! That is, Obama’s campaign reached new heights (or depths?) of shamelessness and manipulativeness never
heard of before, like this “callibrated text” note wich was casually planted in the wall to be picked up by an “accidental” party who will deliver it to another “neutral” party (the paper in cause), for offering the deeply moved public a touching glimpse of this good man’s deeply felt feelings. Gross, slimy, effective and alpha to omega Obama
- incidentally, the man is not religios at all. His religious association is strictly
politically motivated – Christianism, voodoo, whatever gets him votes.
How many more things should go under Obama’s ambitions until people will realize what a cynical charlatan this man is? The Landstuhl hospital gross farce now gets some icing with this Western Wall note conceit – so revealing for the (inexistent) moral standards of this narcissistic, megalomaniac person.
Best regards to our friend Zarathustra – yours, Diogenes. Now I will retreat in my barrel.
July 27, 2008 at 6:43 pm
If at first you don’t succeed, assassinate everyone who knows you failed.AnonymousAnonymous
July 27, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Ahf Spring:
“Could it possibly be a message of unity with the American people? A statement meant to uplift and empower people with the knowledge that We — people who join together– can bring about the ends we really desire?”
Actually . . . no. Not even remotely possible.
July 28, 2008 at 12:35 pm
[...] Comments Obama Rex – - Lost I… on “The One” Prefers Cheering…groetzinger on Obama On Iraq: Two Wrongs [...]
July 28, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Hey Jay,
“we are the ones we have been waiting for”
I have to say with all I have read about Obama that line does worry me…
I don’t know about you but I have been here all along, I have known me since birth, I have never had to wait for me because I am always with me…
I could word it a bit different..
God has been here all along, God has known me since birth, God is always with me, I never have to wait for him.
I would like to know who the “we” is…
Is he trying to appeal to lost souls, his wife did say he would save our souls, or is it the people who are fed up with the way or country has been run..I think it sould read..
“I am the one you have been waiting for….but then that would make him sound godly now wouldn’t it….Oh wait, what was it Oprah said… “He Is The One”
You have read about Oprah’s church she runs online haven’t you? Who was she speaking to when she said that?…
http://www.wfial.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=artNewAge.article_1
http://www.oprah.com/community/message/280612
I wrote a little about it awhile back,
http://mccaindemocrats.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/sunday-morning-talkoprahs-gospel/
just goggle it for more..
I am not and have not been waiting for anyone..
McCain ‘08
July 31, 2008 at 8:22 am
“All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” —The Elders Oraibi
Is the end of an ancient Native American verse.
“Be the change you want to see in the world” -Mahatma Gandhi
August 4, 2008 at 10:26 pm
[...] been waiting for” – - I must admit, that one had me flummoxed until I posted a humorous item, Obama Rex – - Lost In Translation, and one of the readers left the following comment: “All that we do now must be done in a sacred [...]