Sheila Nevins | 11/20/2008 4:00 am

Give Obama a Break

Give Obama a Break

Poor Obama
Canonized
St. Barack
Icon before the
Revelation
Revolution.
An oratorio played on
A piano without
Keys.
Beethoven before
Eroica.

Catapulted to
Legacy without
Law Now
Look —

Moe lost his job
After 30 years at GM.
Unemployment line around
The block in Omaha
With heavy unusual rain
Pellets.
The Smith’s moving in with
Cousins foreclosed.
The 80-story construction
Stopping at the 12th Floor
No workers found.

Poor Obama
Super-man
Yet not yet caped —
Stuck in a phone booth
Built to size by Bush
With no room
To morph
Or
To fly.

Read more about: Barack Obama, Foreclosure, GM, Poetry

113 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

I for one never put him on a pedestal. Yet those who hate Obama love to say we do. No, I voted issues—not some God-like personality. I voted intelligence over someone who said there was nothing wrong with the economy. I voted for my middle class tax cuts (okay I know that’s just a campaign promise, but it was nice to hear for a change). I voted for health care—not some $5,000 deduction that wouldn’t pay for 3 months of coverage. I voted for bringing the war to Afghanistan rather than a country who had nothing to do with 9-11. Now I see how Obama is handling the transition—picking people that know how to work with Congress and have the experience for the job they were selected to do. It’s amazing how people look back when we should be looking ahead.

By Brooklyn Gal on 11/20/2008 10:11 pm

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EXACTLY! That has been the tactic of all of Obama’s opponents… Hillary Clinton first, then McCain/Palin…. put down his supporters as though they are idiots who worship him as the Messiah or at the very least are naive enough to think Obama can fix this mess we’re in due to 8 years of Bush, in a matter of months. Obama’s supporters believe neither of these two charges. The only people who promote that crap, are anti-Obama people.

By DeBúrca obj on 11/21/2008 11:22 am

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It is so funny to see you all say that asking for a persons qualifications to be President of the US is: 1. malicious/counterproductive/negative! 2. I have smoke coming out of my ears! 3. I don’t “like” him! - I NEVER said I didn’t “like” him! I ASKED what qualifies him to be president!!!! It’s unbelievable the assumptions and accusations flying about these posts! I simply said I do not think he is qualified. Geez people. Relax and while you are try to think of something this man has accomplished politically that qualifies him for president of this country!

By J. Stephens on 11/20/2008 11:04 pm

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You DO understand that when someone says you “don’t like him” it doesn’t mean you don’t “like” him as a person… it is just a general, short way of saying you are against him without having to repeat your grocery list of reasons. Reasons btw that you seem to think are valid while dismissing others reasons for “liking” him (short for supporting him and believing he is the right person for the job, NOT “liking” him like he’s your boyfriend or something). YOU need to “relax” and let the guy get sworn in before you rip him apart.

By DeBúrca obj on 11/20/2008 11:25 pm

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I do hope, J.Stephens, that you have gone back over this thread and read what many of these women have written in light of your probing and incessant question regarding Obama’s qualifications. I guess what amazes me is why the question should be asked at all except, of course, if only to provoke. If you, yourself, really wanted to know you could have found that information with a click of your mouse.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 11/21/2008 8:16 am

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And J, You never will get an answer because there is no sound reason, there is only the :Hype of Hope” that these hinge their beliefs on. they are only beliefs of a nation that is so discusted with the bush regime, that they will take anything, regardless of qualifications. They swoon over this guy like he’s some sort of rock star. You can imagine them in a crowd crying and screaming like the idiots did at the Beatles first USA appearence. There is nothing more to this guy, he is not even in office yet and they have him fixing the world of all it’s ill’s. He did nothing of consequence prior to his election, this dude is nothing more than a junior senator out of a State that has so much political dysfunction, he makes Ozzie Osborne look like your everyday normal joe. There is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING this guy did to earn the title POTUS.

By HA BIBI on 11/22/2008 3:09 pm

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“There is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING this guy did to earn the title POTUS.” Except for that bit about winning the election. And earning the respect, trust, and support of most of America, unlike any Republican. Other than that, you could be describing Sarah Palin, Governor in the wilderness. …no sound reason…take anything, regardless of qualifications…crowd screaming like idiots…a State that has so much political dysfunction…

By Zera Lee on 11/23/2008 4:28 am

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Your comment, Elaine, baffles me. Throughout this thread many have spelled out Obama’s many qualifications. Also in subsequent threads we have discussed his experiences and life history. You say you will never get an answer because there is no sound reason… and yet we have given you just the opposite. I’m truly sorry you are so angry which seems to have colored your reasoning and I do hope––there’s that word again––––I hope you will be able to keep an open mind about a man that is to become our next president.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 11/23/2008 9:04 am

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Phyllis, Don’t be baffled, just understand that there are some of us that don’t buy it. I’m not mad, I’m actually laughing at the fact that no one, just as J Stephens posted, has answered the question. You all just keep repeating the same ole same ole. And none of which exceeds in abundance of what millions of other American’s have accomplished. Try reading J Stephens post’s again, they are loaded with common sense and that’s what I deal in not touted up pretentions. That he rose from the ranks of having no father, Awww, millions of other people grew up without a father, mother or both parents absent. Last time I checked “Normal” was just a setting on a washing machine. Big deal, most everyone has come from an dysfunctional family of sorts. Then you all go on to say he went to Harvard, millions have passed through the halls of Harvard. Anybody with the cost of tuition can go to Harvard, Yale or any other big name school. Then we all know that he was a community organizer, and ironicaly those he claimed to help are still sqawking about the rats and roach infestations that plague those same neighborhood buildings that he was supposed to have cleaned up. Even they have said “What did he do for us” Then there’s the speeches that drew crowds of screaming maniacs, Jonny Carson had speech writers as well and his were funny. My point Phyliss, is that everyone can say that the others are non qualified and yet your guy, is less qualified than countless others, to numerous to mention. That is not giving me anything, it’s just stating how great you all think he is. He did no more and is less qualified than most, pure and simple. My reasoning is not colored as you state, I’m just not buying the suedo goods that are being pawned. It’s not about keeping an open mind, it’s about holding this individual to account for all those promises he made to you, not me. I didn’t vote for him as I don’t believe he was the right man for the job, hence, I don’t bank where I’m uncertain of my investments or returns.

By HA BIBI on 11/23/2008 9:55 am

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Here’s a short video you might want to listen to: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/23/woodward-bush-homework/

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 11/23/2008 5:15 pm

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…….. I see the aggressiveness has not taken a vacation.

By Linda Clark on 11/20/2008 11:40 pm

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Couldn’t have said it better myself.

By B. Nyce on 11/23/2008 10:20 am

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Hello B. Nice!!! It’s good to see you around as it has been a while ……….

By Linda Clark on 11/23/2008 10:10 pm

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Hi Linda, Same to you. I haven’t seen your beautiful avatar in a while. It’s always nice to hear your calm voice in the middle of our storms.

By B. Nyce on 11/24/2008 7:51 am

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Well, Sheila, your poem has produced a torrent of controversy, proving as you say, that Obama is “Super-man Yet not yet caped —Stuck in a phone booth.” I have tried hard not to put him on a pedestal because it’s so dangerous -for us, for him. I expect him to do great things, I really do, but in a measured, intelligent, collaborative way and I know that I’ll be impatient or disappointed occasionally. But given all of that, Barack Obama is the right President for us. I know this viscerally. I know it intellectually. I don’t think he fears adversity or criticism because, by nature, he’s an analytical problem-solver. He’ll find his way away from mislabled sainthood and out of the phone booth and into the heart of all that matters. Wait and see.

By Maurine H on 11/21/2008 12:54 am