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Kathleen & Mark (Berlin, MD)

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On Faith and Truth

By Kathleen & Mark - Aug 16th, 2008 at 10:41 pm EDT

Astonishing. That any reasonably intelligent, reasonably objective observer could view the entirety of the Pastor Rick event and conclude that McCain bested Obama gives me reason to doubt my own sanity, or fear for my country or both. McCain was scripted, formulaic, pandering and self-serving. Barack was thoughtful, honest, fully responsive to the questions and revealed a depth that I find both rare and refreshing. Will some pundit have the courage to say that Barack understood what Rick Warren was seeking and complied fully and, dare we say, faithfully to that challenge?

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Burma

By Kathleen & Mark - May 17th, 2008 at 10:18 pm EDT

Please say something about the horrible conditions in Burma. I know that there is not much we can do but I think YOU of all people can somehow use your people skills to maybe do something about the Junta and their appalling use of resources to deny their people the help they so deserve. Just try to say something that nobody else has said. (Hillary is ahead of us on this one.....) Kathleen

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Demeaning?

By Kathleen & Mark - Apr 12th, 2008 at 3:12 pm EDT

What is truly demeaning is not a cogent and sobering analysis of what has happened to people and why they feel the way they do about a government that seems either not to notice their plight or to be indifferent to it. No, what is demeaning is the assumption that people need to be told and coaxed to be offended. The implication is ominous: the other candidates suspect that the "working people" might not be perceptive enough to know that they were insulted. So in the ultimate act of condescension, the Clinton and McCain campaigns rush in to explain how Sen. Obama is "elitist" and "out of touch." Perhaps a working class person in Pennylvania or Indiana, or Illinois, or any other state really is offended about Sen. Obama's remarks. I would be willing to accept that judgment if that person him/herself voiced it. So would, I suspect, Sen. Obama. What I do not accept, and what is cynical in the extreme, is the gleeful, condescending rush to defend the honor of people whom the two other candidates and their operatives do not truly respect. It has all the genuine concern of a middle schooler breathlessly reporting "did you hear what he said about you?"

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Are we grown-ups?

By Kathleen & Mark - Mar 18th, 2008 at 9:39 pm EDT

Thank you, Sen. Obama. One of the boldest and most breathtaking aspects of today's remarkable speech is that you have taken the leap of faith to treat the American electorate as grown-ups. It is not at all clear that we deserve this honor but it is both astonishing and affirming for this voter that you have chosen - thoughtfully - to bestow it upon us. I fervently hope, against the preponderence of conventional political wisdom, that your injection of uncomfortable but essential substance into a process that is dominated by spin and atmospherics, will defy the odds and lead not only to your nomination but to your election as President. Sadly, we all too often get the elected leaders we truly deserve. Perhaps 2008 will be that rare moment that we will be wise enough or fortunate enough to get the President we need. Do we have the courage and the faith to look squarely at ourselves, our beliefs, and our biases, and to engage in the honest self-examination and soul-baring conversation that will help us to inch forward slowly as a community? I hope so.

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