Does McCain Have a Different Take on Community Organizing?

Mr. Tapper writes: “If a community organizer isn’t someone ‘defend(ing) the rights of the oppressed,’ or getting involved to correct the mistakes of government, what is it?”
Think Lynne Thigpen’s character in the film “Lean on Me,” Mr. Tapper. That is the classic portrayal of a “community activist”–someone who exploits and rides grievances in order to enhance and build one’s own power.
For the record, I doubt Obama’s “activism” was sinister in the way that the late Ms. Thigpen’s character’s activism is portrayed as being–but it’s hard not to believe that it was every bit as self-interested and with a view to having a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
Big difference between that and what John McCain was speaking about.

A mayor has less responsibility than a community organizer (especially when most of their executive duties are actually done by a town administrator, like in Wasilla).
Community organizers are the epitome of responsibility.
My greatest heroes are community organizers – Cesar Chavez and Bayard Rustin, of course; but Sam Adams and Thomas Paine as well.

Jaz,
Its was ssaid with contempt and derision.
You can’t pretend otherwise.
The Foxnews chuckleheads loved it for being a put down. Even going further “what’s a community organizer do?” with the same snide derision.

I am a hard core republincan but, I must admit this speech by McCain was boring and more of the samething. We are going to loose. McCain is done.

Not the best speech by McCain. Palin was a bit better. As an independent I will now support the Obama/Biden ticket. I think what I saw today by the republicans will be more of the same.

The point is …OBAMA does not have even the EXECUTIVE experience of the GOP VP Candidate-Palen. That is a fact. You can spin. You can try to divert the subject but it does not change reality. You know it and I know it.
Denial is Dangerous

“That is not an attack. It is a comparison, and an accurate one at that. ”
Explain that to the crowd that went “ooooh!” and explain away her other crack against them at the end of her speech.

Funny, I had the same thought.
Which led me to another:
During the primaries, when Obama and Hillary where still fighting and McCain had secured the nomination, I remember thinking that regardless of who of the three won, America was moving towards a brighter future. Now, with Palin on the ticket, I don’t think that way anymore.
McCain is allright, but there is no way I could ever vote for a ticket with a right wing radical a heartbeat away from the presidency. We’ve had enough of that in the last 8 years.

Again, Sarah Palin does not have the education level to even teach a class, let along to be the vice president of this country.

In the end I ask myself how important is it that our president gives a good speech? I’m more concerned about getting the country back on track and feeling safe. McCain is the only one who gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. Not that I think Obama is a bad person but I just think there is to much rhetoric but it’s not enough for me.

This speech was boring and cannot make up for the slimefest that the RNC has been this year. I am disgusted and I want better for my country, as a young person. These people have nothing to offer and McCain is stealing Barack Obama’s message because he knows the voters like it. Barack Obama is authentic and Barack and Michelle Obama were both uplifting during the DNC. The same cannot be said of the RNC at all. Where was the diversity, the ideas, the policies, the optimism? What a sad joke.

What do you do when people believe our safety is the issue and they want McCain? Why do people believe the Reps will help us with threats of war if we don’t get what we want? There was a gathering of 59 adults and 57 believe McCain will keep us safe and they were sold on his energy ideas and tax cuts. They won’t listen to me. Not that I am voting Democrat either. Luckily, we’re not a swing state. I just worry how many more people feel like these people did….It’s eeerie.

Ned, This country is no safer than on 9/10. It is in fact less secure. We can’t have anymore shoot first and ask questions (and make up lies) later foreign policy. This is what John McBush is. He’s a war mongering angry old man. (and a POW if you haven’t heard)This country needs ANYONE but McFudd in the whitehouse.

Is he asking more people to join the government?
I thought that they were against bigger government.

I would bank on Obama’s speech drawing in double digit millions of more viewers by Nielsen.

I am a registered D and I see for the first time fear in the comments that are being said against the R party.
I have been asking one question concerning the staff that was sent to cover the Conventions. Why would ABC send people like George S and Diane S, and Chris to cover such an important event?? Charlie is the only one that does his job right. He does not show what his party is, as it should be.
The rest of them are all Demograts to the bone. Taking shots at the Republican party on every turn. When did ABC lose the great professionalism that at one time was so admired. Give the news, NOT personal opinion.
ABC’s rating’s will suffer I promise if this continues. Get back to just giving the news for both parties, that is what American’s need to hear. We can listen to all the debates and make our own decisions. Slander from the Newscasters is not needed. It is like we cannot see the errors for ourselves. Stop insulting the people who support ABC is all I ask!!!
This is sad to me.

Ned, I highly recommend you read “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Seriously, the sooner the better.

The 800 pound gorilla in the room, (it has to be said), is that MCcain is too old. He is past his time. He represents the past (Palin though young, is really more of the same, bluster, old ideas and no real vision). He’d have been a better president than Bush, but that’s all in the past now too. The country wants to move into the future, (the right will come kicking and screaming). The youth are well educated have the ideas, want to take over the mantle and move the country forward into a bright new direction. Having vision means seeing and getting on the right side of history.

so, forget about all the “community organizing” and all the frivolous things that have been said and LOOK at WHO the candidates are and what they stand for. BOTH see that its “time for a change” but what change is good for the ENTIRE COUNTRY. so far what I have head from the left has been mudslinging and propaganda… CHECK IT OUT PEOPLE! get FACTS on the issues that matter, dont just listen to ear tickling, throw in some DISCORD and see what rings true! as far as the right, there has been mudslinging and propaganda too, but think about who is being sliced to ribbons by the media… is it Mr community organizer or is it “are you REALLY that childs mother? can you balance a JOB and CHILDREN??” to ANY american woman that is an INSULT!

Jet,
I think that the bigger issue here is… Which candidate is taking money from who?
And I think that all of Bush’s big money oil supporters have gone over to the Democratic side.
And yet again they (the supporters) have hung McCain out to dry! ;-)
McCain-Palin 2008

Hey JAZ,
You really see no subtext in her tone and timing?
You might need a community organizer someday.

I thought McCain’s speech was heartfelt, sincere and I suspect he would actually take on special interest. This guy does not have anything to gain or lose, but to leave the country better off. He’s not in a phase of life where he cares about career building or status. This could work to our advantage as a country.

The entire Republican convention was mean. McCain’s speech was perhaps the least mean of the bunch, but even still, it was mean. I don’t remember *any* speech at the Democratic convention that prompted people to repeatedly “boo” at the opposing party or its candidates (as McCain’s did). The attacks lodged by the Democrats were attacks on policy, on ideas – NOT attacks on character. Everyone at the Democratic convention was very respectful of McCain’s character and accomplishments, and made their case for what they wanted to do differently without resorting to belittling what he had done.
The one thing that became increasingly clear to me this week was just how much John McCain has been pinned in by a party of ideologues and religious zealots. I used to believe that he was the “maverick” he presents himself as, but I think he’s really lost his way. The GOP isn’t the same party it was twenty years ago, and McCain’s not the same man he was even 8 years ago. Up until the last month or so, I thought that a choice between Obama and McCain would still be a win-win when compared to the last eight years. The selection of Palin has made me think that electing McCain would be like more Bush, only worse. And the rabid, ugly attacks of the last few nights have confirmed that what’s left of what used to be the Republican Party is a fringe element that needs to be stopped from attaining more power.
Someone needs to grow a spine and split that party in two. The real conservatives can go one way, and the fundamentalist culture warriors can go the other. They might say they want the same things, but the fault lines are showing, and it’s the rest of America who is paying the price for their party’s personality disorder.

Obama got into political organizing to build a base of support for a future political run. How much work did he actually do – as opposed to how much work he took credit for? Ask Hazel Johnson.
I’m a volunteer in my community and I’m not insulted by the jabs at Obama. He’s never done the heavy lifting on anything – see Emil Jones for reference on his IL State Senate record – yet he’s always front and center to bask in the limelight and take the credit.
Obama is a phony.

People misunderstand what Obama did as a “Community Organizer” in Chicago. He was not helping the poor or working at the soup kitchen.
He was a political operative working as an instructor for a group called ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). The ACORN mob is infamous for its bully tactics (which they dub “direct actions”); Obama supporters have recounted his role in organizing an ambush on a government planning meeting about a landfill project opposed by Chicago’s minority lobbies.
Obama organized the community to do the things ACORN wanted done.

Travers is absolutely right on this. A great Obama-Biden ad would take that comment by McCain and then follow it up with Guiliani’s and Palin’s attacks on community organizing, complete with the laughter from the GOP convention crowd.

a community organizer can mean lots of things. it can be people who perpetrate voter registration fraud, like ACORN. it can be the mob and union thugs intimidating workers. it can be people passing out street money to buy votes on election day. it can be rabble-rousers breaking and burning. it can be career protesters who can’t hold an honest job. it can be political hacks trying to brown-nose their way into the local machine. it can be a vietnam vet leading meetings where they vote on whether or not to murder a member of congress. in some cases, they actually do some good, probably more than anyone in the illinois state legislature has done in the last 20 years, but like source-checking articles written by law profs, it’s hardly relevant to the job being sought.

Karen Travers is a partisan sycophantic hack for obama. Let Brian Ross handle the obama related propaganda.How about some investigative reporting on ACORN and its role in the sub prime mortgage mess. ACORN extorted the mortgage business. Was obama complicit in that mortgage industry extortion? Tell Karen Travers and Tapper to get with Ross if they need guidance. GOP commercials are on the way. Get ready…

Neil
Community organizing can indeed mean many things. It can mean democracy; it can mean compassion; it can mean civilization. “Whosoever does it to the least of these my brethren, does it to me.”
Jesus was a community organizer;
Pontius Pilate was a governor.

In John McCain’s memoir, he declares that he makes decisions by gut instinct and then lives with the consequences. In these days, this is not the person I want leading the country. Living with consequences is fine when it affects only yourself and your immediate family; however, the entire country would have to live with the consequences, good or ill, of John McCain’s gut decisions. Despite his rhetoric of being against war, he has openly declared his intention of promoting war on an ongoing basis. He has not provided any comprehensive policies to correct the economic, politic, and social issues facing the nation. Rather, he spouts Republican talking points and support negative attacks on his opponents. We do not need a gambler as chief executive and commander in chief of the country.
As regards Sarah Palin, I don’t care how she manages her family. That is her concern and should remain private. I do care that she went after earmarks for her small town to the tune of $27m, but left the town $20m in debt. I do care that she raised taxes. I do care that she is now refusing to cooperate with the authorities investigating abuse of power allegations in her home state, and insisting that the case be reviewed by a board of her appointees. She tried to fire a librarian in her town for refusing to remove books that Palin found objectionable. She has no national military authority over the Alaska National Guard and there have been no natural disasters that would let us judge her ability to exercise effective judgment in an emergency. Sarah Palin is a unacceptable VP candidate and the reasons have nothing to do with her sex. What we know of her career does not demonstrate a substantial grasp of good management principles. Let her confront the press like any other candidate and answer the same tough questions they must face. If she is not available, she has no credibility.
For me, here is the key point about the Republicans versus the Democrats. The Republicans have embraced an anti-choice religion-based philosophy at the core of its values. It is not pro-life to mandate that the citizens do not have a choice about what they do with their bodies, minds and spirits; it is anti-choice. Sarah Palin and her ilk do not have the right or authority to sit in judgment on the choices I make in my personal life. Their determination to control my ability to make choices that affect only myself is all the reason I need to cast my vote elsewhere.
John McCain and the Republicans have tried to co opt the message of change. They have seduced the citizens of this country for years with promises of safety and the American dream. None of us are better off after 8 years of Republican control, except the corporations who are generating their wealth from your sweat or the sweat of laborers overseas. Now they want you to believe that their nominees will ‘change’ the policies that have lined the pockets of their primary supporters. Do not believe their hype!

WOW! I am amazed by the comments. Get off your butts and get out there and help someone ELSE today and then come back and criticize all those that help a neighbor. Amazing…

When you think about the very definition of what a “community organizer” is and does, then would it not be a valid argument that John McCain was a “community organizer” during his time as a POW?

“Obama is more concerned with helping poor people and the homeless, with making sure that there is NO torture even when people threaten America. Obama wants to read people their rights before arresting them.”
OMG, really?? Thanks for getting that terrifying information out there. I certainly don’t want someone in the highest office in the land who has compassion for the poor and homeless, or who opposes torture, or who believes in upholding the Miranda Law under the Supreme Court. Where would that lead? Why, we might even be a country that once again upholds the constitutional rights of its citizens, and has respect around the world. We must put a stop to this immediately.

Community organizers are people who see the problems, often caused or ignored by government, which face their neighbors on a daily basis and who stand up and say “We can fix this!”
I take this personally. For years I have spent almost all of my time as a community organizer, without one cent of pay.
I live in a small town, slightly larger than Weasel. Far too often in small towns the mayor or town council is the heart of the problem. Community organizers are the ones who say “Hold on Your Honor, you ain’t the boss of me.”
Community organizers are the ones whole stand up for the town librarian when the mayor tries to bully her into banning books. They speak up for the municipal employee fired for not backing the mayor’s re-election campaign.
If the McCain campaign wants to try to paint Obama as the entrenched power and themselves as the voice of the little guy, how dare they try do it by trashing community organizers?

“Tis” author Frank McCourt, noted, he gives back every April 15, 2008: He pays a lot in taxes.
Of course, he was a school teacher for many years.
He noted the snob community always noted
ya, Frank is “just a school teacher”, like maybe hardly in contributing society(if that).
When Rudy G was mocking and making fun of Obama as “just a community organizer”, it is the same mind–snob– set.
But, one thing is most curious, and hopefuly Jack Tapper can help us out:
Obama notes he was a “civil rights” attorney. His book “Audacity…” notes nothing on any big case he handled as a civil rights attorney, none, nada, there is nothing on any big jury trial he had for some lowly citizen, as to Obama standing up in court for some lowly citizen.NADA on that, too.
Why is that, why is it Jack Tapper, or NBC, others at ABC, or CNN, never looked into that, is it that the Networks(MSM—Main Stream Media) hire so many people in legal affairs matters who are totally ignorant about the U S justice system, and just fake it in their reporting. SAD,
The shoddy reporting in America, on so much is the real scandal