Platt: If Harris opposes dogmatic belief and believes the enemy is uncritical loyalty to any set of beliefs, may I presume he would be against the adulation and religious fervor of followers of Barak Obama?
Steve replied: ...it concerns me that Obama is viewed as a prophet by many rather than as a politician. I don't know how people can get so excited about any politician but it's not like they believe that he literally walks on water. dmb says: Who thinks Obama is a prophet? I watch the news, read magazines and blogs but have never heard that one. And it is more than just a little over the top to characterize his supporters as dogmatic, uncritical and religiously fervent. (Smells like fear and jealousy to me.) If you listen to what the guy says in his speeches its not hard to see why people are inspired. I suppose most people like the hope thing, but I think he's only saying what every normal person already knows. Religion, ideology and money is killing us and its all a bunch of bullshit. He and his supports seem to be more interested in getting real, in a better future for actual people. That such simple things can inspire so much enthusiasm only shows what a sorry state we're in. I heard the speech he gave last tuesday night, after winning in Wisconsin. (Way to go, Matt!) There was no script or tele-prompter and it showed. He talked in detail about early voting and attending meeting and what he was asking of his assembled supporters. (Assembled in a stadium!) And he was almost philosophical as he talked about the nature of hope. There are a million things we might say about the content of his words, but I'm happy just to see a person who can think and speak at the same time. Its also interesting to notice how the general election, assuming it'll be McCain vs Obama, will end up being a contest between fear and hope. This would, more or less, prove the main thesis of "The Power of Nightmares". The McCain supporter said, "I hope you're afraid but I'm afraid you're hopeful", to which the Obama supporter replied, "Dude, you have issues. Get some help". _________________________________________________________________ Need to know the score, the latest news, or you need your Hotmail®-get your "fix". http://www.msnmobilefix.com/Default.aspx Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
