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00SL2
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From the NY Times:
Op-Ed Contributor
A President Like My Father
By CAROLINE KENNEDY
Published: January 27, 2008
OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.
My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.
We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.
Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.
Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.
I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.
Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
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Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin |
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Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:45 pm |
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i remember listening to JFK and watching the hope in other's eyes
as he spoke. in fact, i believe he spoke at city hall right??
thats quite a compliment.. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:50 am |
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FlintConservative
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"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." JFK 1/20/61
That's not the Democratic Party of today. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:34 am |
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twotap
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I believe old JFK was at atwood stadium back when it was safe to go there.  A old guy I used to work with (a died in the wool democrat) went to see him there and when he passed close to him hollared out GO JACK which caused Kennedy to stop and he actually walked up to my friend and shook his hand. Not many knew that Kennedy liked to be called Jack.  |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:36 am |
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twotap
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[quote
][b]A President Like My Father
Someone needs to inform Caroline that her dad was a fiscal conservative I see none of those traits in Barack.
Last edited by twotap on Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:32 am; edited 1 time in total |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:03 am |
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last time here
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ha ha ha ha. such misconceptions..my boy plays football for
southwestern. it's very safe. it's very clean. i sit with white kats
all the time talking about football and life. there nothing to be
afraid of. oh, there are also a contingent of police, great hot dogs
too!!! i don't know what you've heard but atwood is very very safe.  |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:31 am |
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twotap
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| See ya learn somthing new everyday on this forum. I didnt know they even used attwood for anything other that stumping for more dollars to upgrade it. Where do you park your ride while in attendance? |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:36 am |
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last time here
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either on the 3rd. ave. lot or drive around the back, down
the hill. theres a large lot down there with lots of lights and protection..
a completely safe environment.  |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:12 am |
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twotap
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| By the way thats "some bad hat LT." |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:15 am |
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last time here
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ha ha.. that ain't me. some street fightin dude named "kimbo"
i think.. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:58 am |
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twotap
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:28 pm |
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00SL2
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Last edited by 00SL2 on Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 2:49 pm |
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twotap
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Back on track
quote:
Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has
spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life,
Interesting that when a repub does the same he or she is labled some sort of bible thumping extremist. |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:07 pm |
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last time here
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thats because they usually follow it with a statement like "they hate our
freedom" while attacking them.. huckabee is also a little scary for that
reason to me. |
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Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:13 pm |
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