Obama to hold mass rally for acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium

[Torie]

I thought it was when the election was over. If he won or not. Good, those kids deserve something after having to be without their dads for long stretches at a time.

Actually, that is not psychologically healthy for children at all.   And I'm not sure how it works, but either way it was in exchange for something.  Giving children something as a replacement for a father's absence is, in and of itself, damaging to a child, as it teaches them any number of lessons, none of which are positive.  And the very fact that they thought they could make this demand is telling in and of itself.  That is my point, and by God its a valid one.  I don't care how crazy people think I am for bringing it up.

My Dad was absent a lot on business - a lot. However, when around, we loved him, and admired his personal qualities and character and his three sons wished to emulate him, and largely did. He gave us everything, but it didn't spoil us, because we didn't want to disappoint him. That would have been totally beyond the pale.

In short, it is a bit more complex than you might suggest. The point is, if you really admire a parent for who they are as a person, and know that when the going gets tough, they are there for you, the numbers of hours around becomes less significant. Just my two cents. I suspect Obama over time might be in that category for his kids, although obviously I don't know the interplay with his kids up close and personal.

[Torie]

SS, abusive parental authority, or unloving and uncaring authority, or lack thereof, is no doubt toxic.

[Torie]

Wow, that is quite a post, SS. You must be a psych major, or something. I am suspicious of reducing individuals however to the point that they fit into psych boxes based on what we think we know from the public square.

I trust my more prosaic metrics myself. They are more tangible.

[Torie]

Do you follow me around, are you a creeper or somethin'?

I can't believe you don't know how arrogant you are sounding right now. I lived in Saginaw for half my life, moving out when I was 9. I went to a Catholic elementary school that was half AA. Heck, we practically lived almost in the ghetto. (We moved when it got bad.) I've been there when racist cops arrested my friends for wearing their pants to low. I've been there when my neighbor was shot for trying to make the community better. I was there when my former Bishop got robbed in the middle of a parking lot when he was trying to better the lives of the poor. So don't tell me that I don't know what a black urban community is like.

I live in North Philadelphia, with a white population of three percent, and I know most of my neighbors, and attend their weddings and family funerals.  My priest is Black, as is 2/3 of my church.  My most recent girlfriend was Black and from the neighborhood (Sissy doesn't count).

Please don't think you understand understand the Black community anymore than Obama understands the those white small town people that he calls "bitter."

Do folks in your hood know your politics, and to the extent they do, do you get any reaction, and if so what?  Just curious.

[Torie]

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I agree and it sucks. It should have been a love fest between the two of them. Damn. When is the Rev Wright going to publish his book?  I want it!

[Torie]

I hate this effing thread! Kill it! Do it. Do it now!

Why do I hate it? Because I agree with the loyal opposition entirely. This bitching about the venue of Obama's treating us to his soaring rhetoric of a leap of faith to hope, is total crap. Kill, kill, kill this thread. It ain't helping my team.

[Torie]

This doesn't really make him "bad." It just annoys me. I also think this is a sign of his inflated ego. As I said earlier, these crowds don't really affect the viewers so I don't get why he doesn't just do this at the convention. Again, this isn't him being "bad," just irritating.

Right.  So it is more that this is circumstantial evidence of his inflated ego, than the act itself is bad?  That's a fair response.  It's what I've been trying to elicit.

Don't most politicians have "inflated egos?"

[Torie]

I just hope everyone's praying that it doesn't literally rain on the Obama parade that night. It sure would suck if Obama had to be humbled with a crowd of just 20,000 instead of 80,000-100,000!

If it is really inclement, it will just move back indoors. Gosh, I wish this thread would die. But nobody cares what I think.