MyDD :: We are the ones we have been waiting for ?

We are the ones we have been waiting for ?

by SevenStrings, Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:27:52 PM EST

According to BHO, "we are the ones we have been waiting for"

So why don't we examine who we really are:

From http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/books/ 14dumb.html?em&ex=1203397200&en= 38525b1af4915364&ei=5087%0A

Walking home to her Upper East Side apartment (on 9/11, right after the bombings in NYC), she (Susan Jacoby, author of "The Age of American Unreason,") said, overwhelmed and confused, she stopped at a bar. As she sipped her bloody mary, she quietly listened to two men, neatly dressed in suits. For a second she thought they were going to compare that day's horrifying attack to the Japanese bombing in 1941 that blew America into World War II:

"This is just like Pearl Harbor," one of the men said.

The other asked, "What is Pearl Harbor?"

"That was when the Vietnamese dropped bombs in a harbor, and it started the Vietnam War," the first man replied.

We are the ones we have been waiting for ?

If that is indeed the case, and our ignorance is indeed so profound, we are in big trouble.

Tags: Vietnam, Japan, Pearl Harbor, 9/11 (all tags)

Permalink :: 40 Comments :: Post a Comment

We are the ones we have been waiting for. (none / 0)

That's a cute anecdote, but I sure hope you aren't suggesting that all Americans are that ignorant.

As for the quote, "We are the ones we have been waiting for." that might be a little too profound for all those ignorant Americans you refer to, but for those of us with brains it makes perfect sense.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:40:00 PM EST

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for. (2.00 / 1)

The ignorance is not limited to 2 guys in a suit in a NYC bar...

For instance
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021502901_ 2.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

"The problem is not just the things we do not know (consider the one in five American adults who, according to the National Science Foundation, thinks the sun revolves around the Earth)"

The author goes on to point out that not only do we indulge in our ignorance, we are actually proud of it.

How else can you explain Bush getting over 50 million votes in 2000 after his ignorance was documented for all to see (i.e., who is the President of Pakistan). From that, I can conclude that at least 50 million Americans do not consider ignorance to be a big deal.

As to your generalization that the quote makes sense to "those of us with brains", I consider myself to be decently equipped with brains...and the quote sounds bogus to me. So your generalization is not true in my case.

I applaud you, however, if you think you have researched the issues, and agree with BHO's quote.!!!

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:50:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for. (2.00 / 0)

There are lots of idiots out there and I won't try to dispute that. I do question the 1 in 5 Americans think the sun revolves aroud the Earth--that seems quite high to me.

As for the quote, allow me to explain it to you. It's like when you're sitting around waiting for someone to come and save you, then you suddenly realize that 'someone' you've been waiting for has been there all along and that 'someone' is you.

If you were more aware of Obama's stump speeches you probably would have undertood that--it's perfectly consistent with the rest of his message. It's not just about him, it's about all of us.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:58:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Besides... (2.00 / 0)

...I'll bet you 100 to 1 that those guys in the anecdote you described?

100 to 1 that they voted for Hillary Clinton.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:06:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Besides... (2.00 / 2)

This would be a pointless bed...neither you or I would be able to verify who they voted for !!

So, I bet you 10000 to 1 that one of them voted for HRC, and the other one voted for BHO.

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:12:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Besides... (none / 0)

Odds are they both voted for HRC. She gets the lions share of the low-info lessor educated voters.

You know, exactly the people you seem to be all worried about.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 06:05:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Besides... (none / 0)

That's insulting to Democratic working class voters, many of whom have a lot more common sense learned from life's lessons than to take any of this seriously:

"A light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany ... and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Obama."

"He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh."

"Barack Obama is our collective representation of our purest hopes, our highest visions and our deepest knowings."

"He empowers us with words and the authentic emotion behind them and people are rushing into the tent to drink that magic water."

"One would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Obama on the stump. It's not so much by what he says but it's the way the crowds respond to his words."

"When he was talking about hope, it actually almost made me cry. Like it really made sense, like, for the first, like, whoa ..."

"It makes me feel like something will actually change. So I'm speechless. I love him."

"He is like a key. He's going to unlock a door."

"My hand embraced in his, and ... I felt something ... something that I can only describe as an overpowering sense of Hope."

"You'll hear something intangible, something we don't even have a language yet to describe... He's our product out of the all-knowing quantum field of intelligence."

"It's almost like the Messiah, you know? People really, really want change, and you feel it. You don't just hear it -- you feel something coming from him."

by Larissa on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:51:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Besides... (none / 0)

Chances are you are wrong...

notice that the two men were neatly dressed suits, that they were men, and that they were in NYC...

the demographics suggest that they are both BHO supporters. However, neither you or I can know..

And yes, it is insulting to HRC's supporters to paint them with such a broad brush. I have been careful in not insulting your thought process: you are making your judgments based on the incomplete set of facts that you have; I am making mine on another set of incomplete facts. I wish you could say the same about people you disagree with

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:57:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It sounds like something... (none / 0)

my high school football coach would say before a game at the pep rally. But the cheerleaders were the only ones who actually fell for it.

by JimR on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:22:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It sounds like something... (none / 0)

The pity is that it ALMOST sounds like something Gandhi would have said (if he had also been attacking ignorance at the same time, that is).

To me, it just ends up sounding like someone pretending to be Gandhi.

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:34:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It sounds like something... (none / 0)

And you sound like someone who is simply unwilling to listen to what the man has to say. All your comments are dismissive to the point of being ridiculous.

It "almost" sounds like something Gandhi would have said? Gandhi was never that eloquent. But the message IS something Gandhi might have promoted.

Too bad your terminally unwilling to open your ears to it.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 05:30:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It sounds like something... (none / 0)

Obama isn't that eloquent either. The statement was ripped off from Alice Walker, and without credit I might add. Obama did not write it, he stole it.

by americanincanada on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 06:36:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It sounds like something... (none / 0)

ummm..... Gandhi was one of the most eloquent speakers ever. He had about 100 million people hanging on to his every word.

What does Obama have by comparison ??

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:28:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It sounds like something... (none / 0)

You're lucky then. My high school football coach pretty much only yelled alot, and spit when he got excited.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 05:27:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (none / 0)

This is what passes for a diary these days?

by animated on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:48:17 PM EST

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (2.00 / 1)

This issue of ignorance is important to me. You are welcome to disagree with my priorities (that is your right, of course!)

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:51:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (none / 0)

I just don't see what your point is. Does the fact that there are some stupid people out there, negate the idea that it would be good if more people took an active role in government and civic life? I'd always rather have an engaged and alert citizenry, it's when they're not engaged that bad things happen.

by animated on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:54:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (2.00 / 1)

Being engaged and alert are lofty goals, but it is incomplete. If we are ignorant, then we will only be courting disaster.

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:05:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (2.00 / 1)

Are you suggesting that we need help because we are ignorant and so can't help ourselves?

by poserM on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:55:24 PM EST

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (none / 0)

I am suggesting that without getting rid of our ignorance (which is quite profound, in my opinion), our activism is pointless. Action without knowledge can only result in disastrous consequences.

I have read and heard some of BHO's speeches. He is a very impressive speaker (probably the best I have heard). But he does nothing to attack ignorance. Instead, he appears to be exploiting it (I say appears, I have no direct knowledge of this, of course).

Ross Perot, in my opinion, did a much better job of promoting knowledge than has BHO.

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:04:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sounds to me like.... (none / 0)

....you've got an ax to grind and are mad at Obama for not grinding your ax for you.

Everyone can't be all things to all people.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:11:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sounds to me like.... (2.00 / 1)

If by having an axe to grind, you are implying that I have an agenda in posting this diary... then you are right, of course. You could have said so directly.

And yes, I am mad at BHO for uttering those lines (which I believe is a cynical attempt to exploit people's emotions; although, again, that is just my impression).

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:14:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The line is one of his creepiest (none / 0)

I'm sure his followers think it is one of his best.

by lombard on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:23:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sounds to me like.... (none / 0)

I should refer you to your own diary...

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/8/27/1632 7/3185

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:22:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sounds to me like.... (none / 0)

Hillary could get elected the same way. It's well known she does better among the... shall we say?... less educated?

Obama challenges and Hillary panders. That's the biggest difference between them.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:28:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sounds to me like.... (none / 0)

What exactly has Obama challenged you to do ?

Other than supporting his candidacy, I mean !!

I don't disagree with your comments on HRC... I have issues with her as well.

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:31:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sounds to me like.... (none / 0)

I've never met him personally, but I have seen him talk about increasing fuel efficiency standards in front of a Detroit audience. I've seen him promote merit pay in front of the Teachers Union. I've seen him call for AA fathers to be more responsible in front of a mostly black audience. Etc etc.

Hillary would never do anything like any of that. At a time when 70% of Americans were in favor of the Iraq war and anyone who opposed it was a traitor and terrorist sympathizer, Hillary Clinton voted for it and Barack Obama had the guts to speak out against it.

It's like night and day.

by Mystylplx on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 05:25:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sounds to me like.... (none / 0)

I have also seen him act like a demagogue on NAFTA...care to explain that ?

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:19:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sounds to me like.... (none / 0)

Yes, Obama was so outraged over the votes on the resolution, he chose Joe Lieberman to be his mentor in 2005.

Joe Lieberman, the Iraq War's biggest cheerleader. Joe Lieberman, who was so far to the right of the Democratic party, he had to abandon them to stay in office.

by Larissa on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 08:00:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Great diary (none / 0)

Thank you for reading, and for your (back handed) complements...but mostly for caring enough to read !!

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:25:22 PM EST

They're some ignorant people out there. (none / 0)

If you're expecting Obama to change that with his stump speeches, you're smoking some strange stuff. This is about winning the election so we can bring the kind of change that may improve education so that these people won't be so ignorant.

by prince georges for obama on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:41:58 PM EST

Re: They're some ignorant people out there. (none / 0)

If you actually believe all that is going to happen, then you are the one who is smoking something strange.

A more charitable explanation is that you are projecting your noble hopes and dreams onto your candidate... has BHO even mentioned ignorance being a problem, for instance ?

Personally, I have never smoked anything stranger than a cigarette; but I quit many years back.

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:50:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: They're some ignorant people out there. (none / 0)

That's more realistic than expecting it to happen in a stump speech.

by prince georges for obama on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:52:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: They're some ignorant people out there. (none / 0)

I did not say I was expecting it (i.e., ignorance going away) to happen in a stump speech. I did say that without knowledge, the activism and engagement is pointless at best (and a clever campaign strategy, at worst).

I would have given BHO a pass if he had acknowledged it (i.e., eradication of ignorance) as a goal. But that would have pissed off his supporters, wouldnt it ?

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:56:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: They're some ignorant people out there. (none / 0)

Acknowledging the eradication of ignorance as a goal in stump speeches would be laughably ineffective.

by prince georges for obama on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 05:25:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: They're some ignorant people out there. (none / 0)

His current approach will also be just as ineffective (in effecting real, meaningful and positive changes), but it does make you feel better (and therefore, you support his candidacy...so I suppose it is quite effective, after all)

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:25:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (none / 0)

Most if not all Obama supporters are low information voters who are easily duped by disembodied images.

by truthteller2007 on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:52:49 PM EST

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (none / 0)

Hello truthteller

I know some very smart people who are for Obama. And so, I would respectfully disagree with your characterization of BHO's supporters. They have made their judgments based on the incomplete set of facts that they have. I too have made my judgment, and my set of facts are also incomplete.

(I acknowledge that you did not use a sweeping generalization, and so my response is a probably an overreaction)

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 05:00:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (none / 0)

The statement is a quotation taken from the 2000 Hopi Elders prophesy.

Here is the text should you want to read it:

Hopi Elders' Prophecy

Oraibi, Arizona, June 8, 2000
You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered. . . .

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?

Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the one wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary.

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 third eye does not weep. it knows.

by mijita on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 05:50:11 PM EST

Re: We are the ones we have been waiting for ? (none / 0)

Thank you for providing this context...my impression is that the lines are even older than that, but my memory is foggy with (middle) age now

If you follow history with a long enough arc, things always get better, and the truth always prevails...Gandhi

by SevenStrings on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:17:46 PM EST
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