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Barbara Jordan, We the People speech 40 years ago


The 12th Commandment

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It don't seem that long ago  :huh: , then again I probably have it on a Beta tape

 

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funny trivia the second place presidential nominee back then is considering yet another run at it  :lol:

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So is this thread about that speech or impeaching Obama?

As somebody who voted for Obama twice, once based on naive hope for American democracy and once based on the terrifying prospect the other guy offered, I'll readily admit I'm very disappointed by the guy. We didn't get anything like what we were sold. I should have known better.

But impeachment? I don't know. In a way I think the majority of Presidents deserved impeachment, Obama no less, but I cannot help but feel the GOP lacks credibility in these matters. This is the same group that impeached the last Democrat because he got a blow job in the Oval Office.

If we had impeached Bush (who is arguably the worst President we've ever had), I might feel differently, but as it is I see the GOP like the boy who cried wolf here.

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As with shutting the government down, the Tealiban seems unable to avoid doing things that hurt its and the GOP's agenda. They remind me of the story of the scorpion and the frog.

So yes, impeach away. You know you want to. C'monnnn DO IT! DO IT!!

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So is this thread about that speech or impeaching Obama?

As somebody who voted for Obama twice, once based on naive hope for American democracy and once based on the terrifying prospect the other guy offered, I'll readily admit I'm very disappointed by the guy. We didn't get anything like what we were sold. I should have known better.

But impeachment? I don't know. In a way I think the majority of Presidents deserved impeachment, Obama no less, but I cannot help but feel the GOP lacks credibility in these matters. This is the same group that impeached the last Democrat because he got a blow job in the Oval Office.

If we had impeached Bush (who is arguably the worst President we've ever had), I might feel differently, but as it is I see the GOP like the boy who cried wolf here.

Actually, after listening and thinking about what she says, it makes a real strong case to NOT impeach Obama.  Frankly though, the opening is the part that struck me the strongest and why I posted it.  What an amazingly articulate and well spoken lady Ms. Jordan was.  I voted for him twice too and I'm a little disappointed as well, but he  hasn't done anything remotely deserving impeachment IMO. 

 

This is the part I found particularly powerful.

 

 

Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, “We, the people.” It is a very eloquent beginning. But when the document was completed on the seventeenth of September 1787 I was not included in that “We, the people.”  I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake.  But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court decision I have finally been included in “We, the people.”

 

Today, I am an inquisitor; I believe hyperbole would not be fictional and would not overstate the solemnness that I feel right now.  My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total.  I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution

 

And this is the part that makes a case against impeachment for Obama.

 

 

The drawing of political lines goes to the motivation behind impeachment; but impeachment must proceed within the confines of the constitutional term, “high crime and misdemeanors.”

Of the impeachment process, it was Woodrow Wilson who said that “nothing short of the grossest offenses against the plain law of the land will suffice to give them speed and effectiveness.  Indignation so great as to overgrow party interest may secure a conviction; but nothing else can.”

Common sense would be revolted if we engaged upon this process for petty reasons.  Congress has a lot to do:  Appropriations, tax reform, health insurance, campaign finance reform, housing, environmental protection, energy sufficiency, mass transportation.  Pettiness cannot be allowed to stand in the face of such overwhelming problems.  So today we are not being petty.  We are trying to be big, because the task we have before us is a big one.

As with shutting the government down, the Tealiban seems unable to avoid doing things that hurt its and the GOP's agenda. They remind me of the story of the scorpion and the frog.

So yes, impeach away. You know you want to. C'monnnn DO IT! DO IT!!

Funny to me that just by posting a great speech for it's own sake with no real commentary (and the fact I share your political viewpoint) that I get this reaction.  I'll have to think about what to do different next time.

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Funny to me that just by posting a great speech for it's own sake with no real commentary (and the fact I share your political viewpoint) that I get this reaction.  I'll have to think about what to do different next time.

 

It is kinda funny, I was like WTF?  :rolleyes:

 

I think Obama is impeaching himself and his legacy fwiw

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I think Obama is impeaching himself and his legacy fwiw

Legacy maybe, but beyond that is low grade partisan bickering.  I was 7 forty years ago and I don't remember watching it, though I'm sure my folks did.  I was really impressed with the solemnity she expressed.  I wish our politicians today would be so sincere and dignified, no matter what side they're on.

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Half the people in the US today wouldn't understand the meaning of the language she was using.  Big words and all.

 

Her case for impeachment could be more readily applied to Bush et al (especially Cheney) than to Obama.

 

From here on out, the GOP and whoever belongs to it (tea party) will cry out Impeach! against any Democrat President.  Boy who cried wolf indeed.


BTW, I was very proud of Barbara Jordan and her speech.  She was a woman who made it, a black woman who had struggled against the odds from her childhood to attain her position from voters in Texas, and as I later found out, Ms. Jordan was a Lesbian.  I was 22 at the time of this speech and very interested in Nixon's impeachment trial and later resignation.

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Legacy maybe, but beyond that is low grade partisan bickering.  I was 7 forty years ago and I don't remember watching it, though I'm sure my folks did.  I was really impressed with the solemnity she expressed.  I wish our politicians today would be so sincere and dignified, no matter what side they're on.

 

she was something special ,and naturally I watched since she grew up in the hood

 

Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.

There is no obstacle in the path of young people who are poor or members of minority groups that hard work and preparation cannot cure.

One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/barbara_jordan.html#haz4ObRRPOCEX6Ts.99

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Actually, after listening and thinking about what she says, it makes a real strong case to NOT impeach Obama. Frankly though, the opening is the part that struck me the strongest and why I posted it. What an amazingly articulate and well spoken lady Ms. Jordan was. I voted for him twice too and I'm a little disappointed as well, but he hasn't done anything remotely deserving impeachment IMO.

. . .

Funny to me that just by posting a great speech for it's own sake with no real commentary (and the fact I share your political viewpoint) that I get this reaction. I'll have to think about what to do different next time.

It is a good speech.

Pardon my mistake in inferring that a speech about impeachment posted this week might have something to do with the present talk of impeachment.

I'm still having a hard time understanding what other purpose the thread might have. Are we simply paying tribute to a fine speech and nothing more?

Edit: I think you're right the speech makes as good a case against impeaching Obama as for it.

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It is a good speech.

Pardon my mistake in inferring that a speech about impeachment posted this week might have something to do with the present talk of impeachment.

I'm still having a hard time understanding what other purpose the thread might have. Are we simply paying tribute to a fine speech and nothing more?

Edit: I think you're right the speech makes as good a case against impeaching Obama as for it.

The speech was forty years ago today (a couple days ago), I saw an article about it and listened. I figured a lot of people, younger in particular, would have never heard it. It struck me as something they should hear.  So yes, I wanted to give tribute to a fine speech.  It also happens that it has a little relevance as to the goings on today.  I won't feign innocence in thinking that the discussion would wind up about Obama's possible impeachment. I think her speech frames the discussion in terms that are unique and in a way that people would gain from hearing.

 

I don't hear any part of her speech making a case for Impeachment today.  I think it demonstrates how any issue that politicos today have with Obama, pales in comparison to the issues that all Americans had with Nixon.  The issues the right has with Obama clearly don't surpass the standard mentioned by Wilson, "Indignation so great as to overgrow party interest may secure a conviction; but nothing else can.".

 

I didn't comment more about my thoughts in the OP because I was curious to see how other people took what she said in terms of the happenings today.  Admittedly, I didn't think by posting it without comment someone would think I was a righty using the speech as rationale FOR impeachment today.  It so clearly speaks against impeachment with the situation today, IMO, that that didn't occur to me.

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On the topic of impeachment, I liked a Jon Stewart line from a while back.

"If your decision on whether to impeach hinges on whether it will hurt or help your Party in the off year elections, . . . That ain't outrage."

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