The Author of this piece making its way through cyberspace is...<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-downing/catching-up-on-the-electi_b_126604.html"target="_blank"><b>Tim Downing</b></a> In case you missed it, here 'tis:
If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "token hire."If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America.White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic."Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential "American story."Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic."Name your kid Track because that is the sport in season, you're "colorful."If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless."A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an "arrogant celebrity".If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are "energizing the base".If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are "presumptuous".If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a "shoot from the hip" maverick.If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an elitist-out of touch" with the real America.If you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Anapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an "empty suit".If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an "experienced executive".If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are "extremist".If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are "strongly principled".If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're "risky."If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you "First Dog."If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and "courageous."If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.If you have an abortion your not a Christian, you're a murderer (forget about if it happened while being date raped.)If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.If you teach responsible age-appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are "eroding the fiber of society."
The latest celebrity fuss by gramps McSwain is already a backfire...It is great to have anyone representin' our country other than the narcissistic and just ignorant boob, Bush. "W" looked so embarrasingly foolish with The Pope, The Queen of England and among many more the whole shoulder rubbing the Prime Minister in Germany was WAY over the top in insanity.
We are blessed to have had Barack visiting Europe this past month...he should go visit even more places. Ah-nold is a celebrity...Repo Pubs don't have a problem with him being California's Governor.Ah, REAGAN was a celebrity...DOH!
Thank God for Barack Obama. May be A.O.K. to even LAY LOW a bit and let McSwainson shoot himself in the other foot as well.
Thank God the Colbert Report wrapped up their Pennsylvania Week show with an appearance by Barack...Tonight he is on the DAILY SHOW...'bout time!!
See the video of Barack on the Colbert Show.
We shall not cease from exploration.
And the end of our exploring,
Will be to arrive where we started.
And know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot in The Four Quartets
Movement Analysis of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton 2nd Lt. Fubar of Freshchaos.com has kindly edited down these movement analyses of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The first analysis is by Certified Movement Analysts Cheryl Clark, Karen Studd, and Karen Bradley, who claim impartiality before seeing Sen. Obama, but hint at a preference after this appearance. Barack Obama entered the arena at the University of Maryland without fanfare. He slid into the space and reached up to the waiting hands, shaping his hands, arms, and torso around each set, with clear eye contact. The two-handed grasp encompassed every single person, and he took his time moving along both sides of the crowded aisles. At one point, a woman handed him a baby, who looked to be about three or four months old. He held the baby out at face level. The baby and Senator Obama looked each other in the eyes for a good three seconds, as if they were communing on some deeper level. Then he slowly and gently kissed the baby's cheek and handed her back to her mother. The sense that he had all the time in the world to connect with each person there continued throughout his entrance and into his stump speech. The combination of taking time and taking in the entire audience drew folks to him, evidenced by the large numbers leaning forward to get closer in. Rarely have we observed such intimacy in such a huge arena. Gravitas is usually associated with age and experience and a charismatic presence is not often so understated. But Senator Obama's entrance style was authoritative without being patrician. He was humorous and casual without appearing silly and immature, serious but flexible. As he went onstage, his manner was easy, free-flowing and relaxed. He strolled around, taking in the crowd, soaking us in, in no particular rush, but with that smile. People stood and screamed, but he brought the crowd down, not the other way around. "Go ahead and sit," he said. We sat. As he spun his speech, the shifts of weight, the yielding to the flow of words and ideas, began. He went easily from turning and twisting around, indulging in the 360° view, to condensing into the flow and rhythm of his words, with punctuations of sudden emphasis at the end. Yes, the man has impact. As he got going, he shifted from one idea to the next with a flow supported by those ever-cycling hands, held close to his upper torso. Gestures flew off to the sides or cycled around in front. His voice: Deep, resonant, lyrical, now strong, now light, holding a note for just a tad, cracking a quick joke, speaking to a group of women basketball players who rushed in late and adoring, he rattled off teasing statements that made them laugh and flush. Those crescendos and decrescendos of voice were punctuated by pauses; a syncopated style of delivery. He flowed through vowels, shaping each one. But he is also a master of the consonants, caressing the "p" in "people" and "hope." Cheryl turned to us and we all began to comment at the same time: overlapping phrases, ongoingness, flow, strong voice, rhythm, mobility, passion, spell, and then Cheryl said it: "resilient." The man is resilient. He bounced back, shifted sideways, went under the bar, leapt over, delighting the audience. And yet he is not quite the trickster/star; he was serious and heart-felt. He has street cred and he uses it. Obama checked himself. He paused and took a spin around his head, searching inside while the audience responded. He had the speech paced out, and he knew where he could take those check-in moments. (He is not always able to do this in a debate situation). The resilient rhythms were colored by the small gestures that sometimes ended in an arm sweep, as if he is scooping everyone up, lifting hopes, bringing folks together. The small gestures of the hands were intimate and connected one moment to the next and the audience to him. The large sweeping gestures ended in quick bursts, emphasizing and punctuating the message. "Lifting the country up", he said, and his open palm did just that, with a flourish. Obama is a much more complicated read than Clinton. His mastery of the light touch compares to Clinton's frequent use of simple clear and integrated strong gestures. While both candidates attended to timing and emphasis, Obama drew out the moment more frequently and more effectively than Clinton does. Senator Clinton uses more haste; she will jump onto an issue and make a strong point. We find this difference revealing and not unrelated to the much remarked-upon nature of the success of these two individuals - a male of color and a female making it to the top in such a challenging climate. Obama has more mobility and Clinton more stability in their movement patterns. The public recognizes the difference: Obama owns the "change" meme, whereas Clinton owns the "experienced and tough" meme. What the people will choose to invest in is going to be the story of the next few months. Through movement analysis, not only are the differences clear, but for each of us, the investment in one or the other or in one of the candidates from other parties will be critically important. Movement reveals so much information. And we need to know what these potential leaders are made of.
And now for a different "read." The following analysis is by Ellen Goldman: Overall, Hillary has many more Integrated Movements, where her body fully supports her statements, merging Posture to Gesture with a consistent quality or shape. Barack has few. His body attitude is held back, with a head tilt that could be read as condescending. This supports the removed attitude he often projects. His posture improved in the last debate, but there were still only a very few Integrated Movements. Hillary shows Perspective and Assertiveness in her movements as well as in her words. She looks at an issue from many angles. Her vertical plane, descending movements, show a clarity and sense of priority of issues. She can respond quickly, and knowledgeable about any issue, clarifying what is needed and what she can do. She admits to past errors, and gives trustworthy information about what can be done to improve the past. Her ability to relate, and encourage communication is supported by her physical gestures of enclosing and spreading, and she can answer personal questions without defensiveness. She is comfortable in the debating situation, and can be disarming, a positive quality for negotiations that will be necessary. Her power is accessible to her, in her total body movement, and she is very grounded in her weight. [Obama's] sense of taking time, and pacing was not evident in the debates. He seemed more hesitating, and less grounded. His pointing gestures were mechanical, only occasionally support by a few advancing and retreating movements. His "grounding" comes more from lofty ideals which do not yet seems to have fully come to fruition. Perhaps Barack needs to be alone with the crowd to be his best self ... However, Hillary has managed to create intimacy, and responsiveness around herself. She is not given to oratory, but to practicality. I find her presence, and her ability to support her words trustworthy, and inspiring. She wants the country to know her thinking and she wants to hear from us.
There is a flap about this photograph that is flapping more loudly than Hillary's own three sheets in the wind. What gives? This international article on the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7263783.stm"target="_blank"><b>BBC website</b></a> helps to tell the story.
[Saw this first at-> <a href="http://www.freshchaos.com"><b>FRESHCHAOS.com</b></a>]
