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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Selma Open Thread

Selma Open Thread

by John Cole|  March 7, 20152:23 pm| 157 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Next Post: The President’s Speech At Selma »

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157Comments

  1. 1.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 2:26 pm

    I’m sure if won’t satisfy everyone, but I for one am looking forward to the wingnut tears if this is true!

    @WesleyLowery
    Follow
    Just read the prepared text of President Obama’s speech for #Selma50. His most robust public address on race in America since March 2008

  2. 2.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 7, 2015 at 2:27 pm

    Repeated from last thread: John Lewis is livetweeting the event: https://twitter.com/repjohnlewis

    ETA: I believe Lewis is going to introduce the president.

  3. 3.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 2:28 pm

    I was just reading bout Rev James Reeb (one of the white minister’s who answered Dr King’s call to come to Selma to march for voting rights and who’s attack and death was portrayed in the Selma film)…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RjuhDP5JMM

  4. 4.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 2:35 pm

    @lamh36: I look forward to the Brake Stop (?) people fantasizing all the more fervently. Lamenting loudly. Their sorrow and our — well, some kind folks may feel pity.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    Response to bemused re renaming the Pettus Bridge, previous thread:

    @bemused: Maybe they can use a few names.

    Much like Virginia’s wonderful Lee Jackson King Day. Celebrated from 1984-2000. There was a concept.

  6. 6.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    Again if you are NOT following Rep John Lewis on twitter you should. He’s livetweeting his recollections of Bloody Sunday. John Lewis will be speaking before the President.

    @repjohnlewis: I thought I saw death. I thought I was going to die. #Selma50 ” This was grace under pressure. #Selma

  7. 7.

    Xboxershorts

    March 7, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    Some douchenozzle posted a billboard next to the Edmund Pettus bridge celebrating KKK Founder and Confederate Army general Nathan Bedford Forrest with the words “keep em skeered” on it…

    Welcome to post racial America

    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/neo-confederate-klan-wizardess-erected-pro-kkk-billboard-near-historic-selma-bridge/

  8. 8.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    @Xboxershorts: If the news media shows that billboard, or the Obamas pass anywhere near it and are photographed, that could end up an own goal for the Klan.

  9. 9.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    The white house site is overloaded and I haven’t been able to see it. CSpan3 online requires you to show a TV provider to watch there so that leaves me out as well.

  10. 10.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    @markknoller 3m3 minutes ago
    WH says Obamas now meeting with foot soldiers from the 1965 Selma marches before proceeding to ceremony at 2pm/CT.

  11. 11.

    Xboxershorts

    March 7, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    True….

    I lived for a long time in Buffalo, we’re kinda used to those sort of bloopers….

  12. 12.

    bemused

    March 7, 2015 at 2:46 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Yes. So many choices for a rename than a white supremacist, people or the movement. I know it’s Alabama but it’s shameful that it’s 50 years later and that name is still on the bridge.

  13. 13.

    Mike in NC

    March 7, 2015 at 2:46 pm

    @Xboxershorts: Driving through Georgia the day before Thanksgiving we encountered a billboard featuring a rebel battle flag and the words “Never Forget!”

  14. 14.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 2:46 pm

    Lord help me, but CNN is actually doing really good segments in Selma. MSNBC not so much.

  15. 15.

    Yatsuno

    March 7, 2015 at 2:47 pm

    @Elizabelle: Any media outlet that points out that billboard will be the real racists. And possibly Islamocommunofascist.

  16. 16.

    Tommy Dee

    March 7, 2015 at 2:47 pm

    Also this month, on March 25, 1965, Viola Liuzzo, a 40-year-old housewife and voter registration worker from Detroit, was shot to death by the Ku Klux Klan on an Alabama highway. She was registering black voters in Selma with Martin Luther King and she driving a car with a black passenger. That was her offense.

    Besides the grief and loss to her family and to the Movement, there is the fact that because there was an FBI informant in the shooters’ car, the Bureau surreptitiously attacked Mrs. Liuzzo’s reputation and character, leaking to the press lies that she was a sex addict, commie, and mentally unbalanced.

    Her three daughters will be at the memorial events in Selma this weekend.

  17. 17.

    Montysan0

    March 7, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    We live in north Alabama and went to Selma in March of 2007, partly out of curiosity about newly-announced candidate Obama. It was a lovely, memorable day, an experience that I highly recommend to any American. We thought about going this year, decided not to when it became such a BFD, and are now regretting that decision.

  18. 18.

    Mike E

    March 7, 2015 at 2:54 pm

    @Montysan0: Your ’07 visit was a BFD, tho, Biden-ly speaking ;-)

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 2:56 pm

    I’m just tuning in – is CSPAN the best option for TV?

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    March 7, 2015 at 2:56 pm

    @lamh36:

    but CNN is actually doing really good segments in Selma. MSNBC not so much.

    What’s wrong with the MSNBC segments?

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 2:57 pm

    Am I the only one holding my breath, worried about security?

  22. 22.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    @Xboxershorts: Thinking more on that, I’d love to see a pic of the Obamas pointing and laughing at that billboard. Even if it’s photoshopped.

    They’re too elegant to do so, prob, but it’s fun to think of wingnut reaction ….

    I sure hope the Obama daughters are properly attired or we won’t hear anything else about the events of today. It will be like Obama llamas. Who remembers what else happened that day?

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    @WaterGirl: C-Span 3. I think it is. You see everything. Other news channels were all on commercials … Governor Bentley speaking now.

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    @Tommy Dee:
    An informant was not why they did that. They didn’t have to do anything and no one would have known. But they went the extra mile and destroyed a person’s reputation. Hoover was an asshole, along the lines of McCarthy.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    @Elizabelle: Thank you, tuning in right now.

  26. 26.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 7, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    I have it on the WH feed at Youtube.

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    March 7, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    Malia and Sasha will definitely be properly attired for this occasion, no matter how vehemently the haterz argue otherwise.

  28. 28.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:03 pm

    @Corner Stone: they don’t have any. Just reporters.

    CNN had prepared video interviews, George Wallace’s daughter, Selma 65 mayor daughter, a video interview at the main house where the march was organized, where MLK slept and even watched LBJ’s “we shall overcome” speech.

    MSNBC…nothing. but I suspect that’s the new rebranding of MSNBC coming through.

  29. 29.

    Corner Stone

    March 7, 2015 at 3:04 pm

    This Selma event is reminding me of the apocryphal story of something in Ireland a few years ago. Something about a 100 entered and 1 million exited.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    this feels like a marketing speech about selma from rep sewell

  31. 31.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    @WaterGirl: listening to it…it was great. She’s awesome

  32. 32.

    PaulW

    March 7, 2015 at 3:06 pm

    MSNBC is contractually obligated to show prison reality TV every weekend no matter what. It’s messy when a BREAKING NEWS event takes place.

  33. 33.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 7, 2015 at 3:06 pm

    @Ruckus:

    There is a longstanding rumor that Hoover was himself black, passing for white, which supposedly explains (a) why he was so obsessed with ferreting out everyone else’s secrets and (b) why he was so obsessed with trying to derail the Civil Rights Movement. But I think that can all be explained by Hoover being a garden-variety sociopath and racist. Sometimes an asshole is just an asshole.

  34. 34.

    PaulW

    March 7, 2015 at 3:06 pm

    Is it too early to start mentioning I’ll be at a Local Author’s Event selling wares in Wesley Chapel FL on May 30th?

  35. 35.

    Corner Stone

    March 7, 2015 at 3:07 pm

    @lamh36:

    MSNBC…nothing. but I suspect that’s the new rebranding of MSNBC coming through.

    Ok. I’ve been watching MHP and Joy Reid talk about things as well as Trymaine Lee (sp) interview people who have connections to the event. I think sometimes personal connections can give impact a canned segment may not. But, maybe it goes both ways sometimes.

    What’s the new rebranding of MSNBC going to be?

  36. 36.

    askew

    March 7, 2015 at 3:07 pm

    I’m liking MSNBC talking to people in the crowd many of whom who walked in 1965. The other pieces on Selma can wait until after the live event today IMO.

    This is a total random ? but seeing the large crowd of people for this event makes me wonder if it was open to anyone or if you had to know someone to get an invite.

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    @lamh36: maybe it was just a style thing at the beginning of her speech.

  38. 38.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    Thanks! Finally!

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 7, 2015 at 3:09 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I’m sure they will have scandalously exposed knees again, which will be the talk of the right-wing blogs. Because nothing makes you look rational and balanced like critiquing the fashion sense of a couple of teenage girls.

  40. 40.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:10 pm

    “He is a civil rights icon, and a lilttle girl from Selma stands in your shadow!”
    ‪#‎Selm50‬…Rep Sewell introducing Rep John Lewis!

  41. 41.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Am I the only one holding my breath, worried about security?

    No.

    And I wonder if, no I will bet, Secret Service really checked out local cops and state police. Especially since this is same week that Ferguson report came out. Thinking Alabama law enforcement may not be a hotbed of Obots.

  42. 42.

    Xboxershorts

    March 7, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Driving through Georgia the day before Thanksgiving we encountered a billboard featuring a rebel battle flag and the words “Never Forget!”

    Trust me, as I said above, being from Buffalo, those kind of humiliating losses aren’t easily forgotten

  43. 43.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    @Xboxershorts: I wish someone had the wit or courage to paint over “Never Forget!” with “Never Learn!”

  44. 44.

    askew

    March 7, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    What the hell George W Bush? He is the only one on stage not clapping. He is the most awkward public official I’ve ever seen.

  45. 45.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    Ok, gonna hush and listen to Rep John Lewis

  46. 46.

    Tree With Water

    March 7, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    The notables at today’s commemoration might have been cast in a surrealistic film in the mid-1960’s. Times change. My pinko uncle lived to see Barack Obama elected to the presidency, and I’m glad that he did. He was pushing 90 when he kicked, which meant his lifespan encompassed well over 1/3 of this nation’s history (1776- present). Regrettably, my father missed Obama’s election by a full decade. It naturally would surely have ranked among the greatest shocks of his life had he known of it. He would have voted for Obama, too. Or Hillary, or Charles Manson himself had he gained the democratic nomination, my New Dealer father being a firm believer in the ‘lesser of two evils’ school of political thought.

  47. 47.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 7, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    John Lewis is bringing me to tears. I am in awe of both his courage and his generous, hopeful spirit.

    ETA: OMG, Lewis says if you’d told him that day on the bridge that one day he’d be back introducing an AA president, he’d have said you were crazy.

    And the president answers that it’s a rare honor to follow one of your heroes.

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 7, 2015 at 3:18 pm

    This happened in Madison last night.

  49. 49.

    beth

    March 7, 2015 at 3:18 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: I’m bawling like a baby. John Lewis is a national treasure.

  50. 50.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:24 pm

    Pres. Obama: “It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills. A contest to determine the true meaning of America.” #Selma50

  51. 51.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:24 pm

    Pres. Obama: “We gather here to honor the courage of ordinary Americans willing to endure billy clubs and the chastening rod” #Selma50

  52. 52.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    Not special treatment. Equal treatment.

  53. 53.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:28 pm

    “They were called every name except the one their parents gave them.”

    So true. I remember a Meet the Press where the pressing question to MLK, Jr. was “are you a communist?” One forgets that part …

  54. 54.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 7, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    This is one hell of a speech.

  55. 55.

    raven

    March 7, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    Is that Shrub?

  56. 56.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 7, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    A lot of Black people joined the Communist Party in the 1930s, because it was the only political party willing to call for racial equality. So it’s one of those smears that was technically true (as in the case of Bayard Rustin) but functionally meaningless.

  57. 57.

    max

    March 7, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): There is a longstanding rumor that Hoover was himself black, passing for white, which supposedly explains (a) why he was so obsessed with ferreting out everyone else’s secrets and (b) why he was so obsessed with trying to derail the Civil Rights Movement. But I think that can all be explained by Hoover being a garden-variety sociopath and racist.

    He was a hyper-Red-hater. He saw Reds everywhere, including MLK.

    max
    [‘He would’ve liked the tea baggers.’]

  58. 58.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 7, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    @raven: Yes, and all credit to him. And to the Gov of Alabama too. His speech was scroogish, but he’s there.

    ETA: Ha! “Some people might say racism is over except for people who ‘play the race card.’ This is not true.” (paraphrased of course)

  59. 59.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    Thank you for bringing up Ferguson and the race card.

    Fox News, to its credit, is broadcasting this (and showed John Lewis’s intro as well.)

    Hope that one stung or made a few think. It’s possible. The Fox audience lived through the 1950s and 1960s. Many of them have changed their views, to some extent. Maybe they will think.

    (Of course, most Americans are watching sports or other TV now, Fox world included.)

  60. 60.

    David Koch

    March 7, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    Man, this Barack Obama is tearing it up.

    Mark my words, he’s going places.

  61. 61.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    Voting rights! Amen!

    ETA: And noting that George W. Bush signed it. Very good.

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 7, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    Nice call out of voter suppression.

    ETA: Also nice call out of those who don’t bother to vote.

  63. 63.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    “…citizens in Ferguson and New York and Cleveland just want the same thing young people here marched for – the protection of the law.”

  64. 64.

    raven

    March 7, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    This is what they call a “stemwinder”.

  65. 65.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 7, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    So apparently we don’t have CSPAN-3 and I can’t get it to live stream via YouTube. Hopefully it will be posted somewhere after it’s all done.

  66. 66.

    raven

    March 7, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): http://www.cnn.com/go/

    damn, says unavailable

  67. 67.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    WE give away our power.

  68. 68.

    Corner Stone

    March 7, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    I think he wanted to drop an F-bomb there but held off at the last second.

  69. 69.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Looked like the WaPost was streaming the speech. How well that works, I cannot say.

    But love the WaPost website right now, with the prominent photo of the Obama motorcade travelling the Edmund Pettus bridge.

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    March 7, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    Stop off the exceptional BS.

  71. 71.

    David Koch

    March 7, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): try this link

  72. 72.

    beth

    March 7, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    If he does nothing after his term but encourage people to vote, he will have spent his time well. This speech is wonderful.

  73. 73.

    Betty

    March 7, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    Happpy to hear the President call out Congress to address The Voting Rights Act.

  74. 74.

    Amir Khalid

    March 7, 2015 at 3:45 pm

    @beth:
    How soon does the transcript go up on the White House site?

  75. 75.

    Mike in NC

    March 7, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    Maybe someone classy like Newt Gingrich will be invited to appear on one of the Sunday yakfests tomorrow, where he can blather on about post-racial America and rail against the ‘food stamp president’.

  76. 76.

    mdblanche

    March 7, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    @raven: Either him or a dumber, smarmier Forrest Gump.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 7, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    @David Koch:

    That worked — thanks!

  78. 78.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Time magazine has the prepared transcript up.

    http://time.com/3736357/barack-obama-selma-speech-transcript/

  79. 79.

    raven

    March 7, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    “Feeble attempts to make some of us more American than others”.

  80. 80.

    raven

    March 7, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    Let’s wait for these assholes to talk about a teleprompter.

  81. 81.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    Glad to have witnessed that live. With all of you.

  82. 82.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    WOW!

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    And props to George W and Laura Bush for showing up.

  84. 84.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 7, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    @lamh36: My very word

  85. 85.

    Bystander

    March 7, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    Glad to see Jr up there. Didn’t know he had it in him. Also think it is very telling that George Wallace’s daughter is there today.

    Let me take a break from congratulating all these white people to mention that John Lewis is easily the greatest human being in Congress.

  86. 86.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 7, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    John Lewis is a towering figure, but he is not a tall man.

  87. 87.

    raven

    March 7, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    @Elizabelle: Is it ok if I watch the Illini-Purdue game now?

  88. 88.

    Hildebrand

    March 7, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    That was amazing! My daughter said, ‘My President is fired up today.’

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    @lamh36:
    There is a reason I’ve said before that he is the greatest president since this old white man was born. This speech is one of them. It didn’t overwhelm me with oratory but it sure did with inclusiveness and truth. This one seemed delivered by someone who got to be there by the grace of others and knows it full well.
    It was grand.

    ETA Not to say he doesn’t deserve it but that path had to be cleared and people like John Lewis did that. And he fully respects them for that.

  90. 90.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    @raven: But of course. Rooting for the non-Hoosiers?

  91. 91.

    raven

    March 7, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    @Elizabelle: I’m a die-hard Illini but we usually don’t play well at Mackey.

  92. 92.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    Read the full transcript of Obama’s emotional speech in Selma: http://bit.ly/1A1cwOc

  93. 93.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    That’s my president.

    Come January 20, 2017, I’m going to be really pissed at myself if I have spent the previous 22 months being beaten down and discouraged by the raging bullshit and not appreciating every single day that this man is my president.

  94. 94.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    @Bystander:
    Been that way for a long time.

  95. 95.

    moderateindy

    March 7, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    I’m more of a Patty fan……………..
    Has anyone seen the documentary on the Freedom Riders? Really amazing the balls those people had.

  96. 96.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 7, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    OT – @Elizabelle: Thanks for the link!! I thought it might have been that one, but I couldn’t find it. I’m grateful.

  97. 97.

    Baud

    March 7, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    Has anyone put up a video of the speech yet?

  98. 98.

    Hildebrand

    March 7, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    Was just thinking about this – my daughter is 12, President Obama is the only president she has ever really known. She mentioned after the speech that the next president has mighty big shoes to fill. Can you imagine, thinking that all presidents should be this thoughtful, eloquent, and measured?

  99. 99.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    The reverend who spoke after President Obama was really terrific. I think that’s the one time I’ve seen someone follow Barack Obama and hold their own.

  100. 100.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 7, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    @WaterGirl: And it may be the only time – that’s not easy feat.

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 4:04 pm

    I was reading the last 3 paragraphs of the prepared speech as PBO delivered, and the text alone cannot show the build at the end. Really good to hear this one.

  102. 102.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 7, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @WaterGirl: @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): It makes me think of this.

  103. 103.

    TooManyJens

    March 7, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    This would be a good time to contact your representatives to ask them to support the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2015. You can do it from your couch.

  104. 104.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    @Bystander:
    Not to be defending jr in any way but I don’t believe that among his many faults that he is racist. Certainly not overtly. And didn’t Wallace at least try to repent publicly about his life before he died? Even assholes can change and grow.

  105. 105.

    Smiling Mortician

    March 7, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    @Corner Stone: Ah, so I’m not the only one who caught that moment.

  106. 106.

    J R in WV

    March 7, 2015 at 4:07 pm

    I am so proud to have President Obama leading our country in my lifetime.

    We watched him deliver a speech at the Democratic Convention when he was a newly elected Senator, and it was a stemwinder. I looked at Mrs J and she looked back at me, and we agreed that “This guy is going places!”

    Just Wow! What a leader!

    I don’t know how the haters manage to keep their firey hate burning in the face of this President of the United States…

  107. 107.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    Ok, so is anyone showing the POTUS and First Family walk across the bridge…CSPAN is on historical footage and CNN is back in studio.

    MSNBC has gone back to “Caught on Camer”…smh

  108. 108.

    Baud

    March 7, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    Apparently, a video of the Obama’s speech isn’t available on the Internet.

    I blame Obama.

  109. 109.

    Elizabelle

    March 7, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    @lamh36: Rats. I really wanted to see that. I wonder why C-Span is not showing it … security? Technical probs?

    ETA: Is John Lewis tweeting that they’re crossing the bridge now?

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 4:14 pm

    @TooManyJens:
    Clicked on your link. Like (among others) that Imani ABL retweet of @elonjames, “Hold on I gotta call someone a douchebag on the internet.”

  111. 111.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 4:14 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: That was good for a laugh.

  112. 112.

    max

    March 7, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    @Baud: Has anyone put up a video of the speech yet?

    Video and transcript here.

    max
    [‘Excellent speech.’]

  113. 113.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 7, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    @Elizabelle: Not at the moment.

  114. 114.

    minachica

    March 7, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: He was a friend of our family, and I can’t help but picture him as the little boy he was just a few years ago. We are sick over this :(

  115. 115.

    WaterGirl

    March 7, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: What moment was that?

    I watched it live but I am also recording the repeat tonight on C-SPAN3 at 8pm ET and plan to watch it again.

    I’m also recording the event at the church on Sunday morning – can’t wait to hear this reverend again and Eric Holder and others. That starts at 11:45 ET

  116. 116.

    Baud

    March 7, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    @max:

    Thank you!

  117. 117.

    TooManyJens

    March 7, 2015 at 4:18 pm

    @Ruckus: Yeah, I’m definitely saving that one. :)

  118. 118.

    CarolDuhart2

    March 7, 2015 at 4:18 pm

    The Obama Diary

    For WaterGirl. We are diehard Obots, and we post all of the Obama Video we can find at the first time we can find them. Say hi to Chipsticks.

  119. 119.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    @TooManyJens:
    It’s making me rethink my not having a twitter account.

  120. 120.

    lamh36

    March 7, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    @dbernstein 6m6 minutes ago
    The speech President Barack Obama just gave at Selma is posted at C-SPAN: http://www.c-span.org/video/?324607-3/president-obama-representative-john-lewis-selma-50th-anniversary

  121. 121.

    Culture of Truth

    March 7, 2015 at 4:21 pm

    That was as an amazing speech

  122. 122.

    max

    March 7, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    @Baud: Thank you!

    No sweat! I was reading it after you asked but before I saw. Took a minute.

    max
    [‘The snow is melting. The temps will be above freezing all night next week! Woo!’]

  123. 123.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 7, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    @minachica: My condolences.

  124. 124.

    askew

    March 7, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    2nd best speech of Obama’s career after his race speech. It was an extraordinary celebration of America and spoke so emotionally about how much more we need to do. No one can say he doesn’t love America after this.

    What I think I loved the most was his inclusiveness. I’ve never heard another US President talk about Native Americans as much as this president has and for his to include Sacagawea and NAs in WWII was impressive. I also loved that he celebrated immigrants coming from not just Europe but crossing the Rio Grande.

    Best president of my lifetime by a mile and there is no one in either party who even comes close to filling his shoes.

  125. 125.

    Tommy

    March 7, 2015 at 4:28 pm

    Just watched John Lewis on Democracy Now from the Friday show. No matter how many times I hear him talk about Selma my eyes leak more than a little. Thank gosh our nation has and does have people like him. I am 99% sure I would not have been as brave as he was and many others to walk across that darn bridge. I like I think I would have, but not if I am really honest with myself.

  126. 126.

    Baud

    March 7, 2015 at 4:29 pm

    @askew:

    My lifetime also.

    No one can say he doesn’t love America after this.

    They couldn’t have said it before this, but they did and will continue to do so.

  127. 127.

    Amir Khalid

    March 7, 2015 at 4:31 pm

    @askew:

    No one can say he doesn’t love America after this.

    No one can honestly say it, true. But those who want to say it shall say it, won’t they?

    @Baud: Dang. You were quicker on the submit button.

  128. 128.

    askew

    March 7, 2015 at 4:31 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Yeah, really surprised Carter wasn’t there. HW’s health is bad so not surprised he wasn’t there and the Clintons are laying low right now so not surprised they weren’t there.

  129. 129.

    ruemara

    March 7, 2015 at 4:31 pm

    Watching President Obama and the First Family crossing the bridge right now. Very inspiring. Also, fuck Edmund Pettus.

  130. 130.

    askew

    March 7, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    @Baud:

    Yep, apparently Jeb said that Obama doesn’t understand America’s promise while stumping Iowa during Obama’s speech which is pretty ironic.

    But, there was a section of the speech that was a definite mocking of Rudy and other GOP who have questioned Obama’s love of America.

  131. 131.

    Hildebrand

    March 7, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    I really am going to miss having a President who knows how to give a speech.

  132. 132.

    Baud

    March 7, 2015 at 4:36 pm

    @Hildebrand:

    Me too. But it is a historical rarity.

  133. 133.

    Botsplainer

    March 7, 2015 at 4:36 pm

    @ruemara:

    Heritage, not hate! It was about states rights and tariffs, not slavery! The KKK wasn’t so bad, but they were all liberal democrats! It was so long ago, get over it but honor my treasured white forebears!! Confederate officers were men of honor and had great manners!!

  134. 134.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 7, 2015 at 4:36 pm

    @askew: Because American promised that if you were born rich, and your father was president, and your brother was president, you can be president too.

  135. 135.

    Hildebrand

    March 7, 2015 at 4:37 pm

    @Baud: Yep, my kids are spoiled. They think that this is normal for Presidents.

  136. 136.

    ruemara

    March 7, 2015 at 4:38 pm

    This is utterly nuts. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/christian-chaplain-fired-for-preaching-compassion-and-love-over-violence-of-american-sniper/ How in the fuck can you call yourself a Christian school and fire a preacher for a message warning about our preference for violent messages over compassionate ones.

  137. 137.

    Baud

    March 7, 2015 at 4:40 pm

    @ruemara:

    Jesus died for our sins guns.

  138. 138.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 7, 2015 at 4:41 pm

    I was watching Rachel Maddow last night or the night before, and she was talking about how, until the last minute, not one Republican Congressional leader was going to go to Selma. In the end, somebody, I think it was the House majority leader, said he’d go. She said that it was like the Republicans aren’t even trying to look like they give a shit about Black people any longer. I guess that’s about right.

  139. 139.

    ruemara

    March 7, 2015 at 4:41 pm

    @Botsplainer: You win KKK apologetics bingo

  140. 140.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    @ruemara:
    I’m taking a wild guess here, not actually being Christian? Of course neither am I and I still believe in the basic ideals of Jesus, which pretty much described the general tone of President Obama’s speech.

  141. 141.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 7, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    And this is off the subject, but I’d like to point out how happy it makes me that Newsmax is paying John Cole to run ads on his blog with pretty much no readers who would ever read anything on their shitty site.

  142. 142.

    David Koch

    March 7, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    @Baud: go here and fast forward to the 2:12 minute mark

  143. 143.

    ruemara

    March 7, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    @David Koch: More like the 29 minute mark. I’m surprised they don’t cut to just before he speaks in these postings, but there’s probably a rule.

  144. 144.

    Jacks mom

    March 7, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    Haven’t had a chance to read the comments but noticed open thread and really wanted to introduce my new puppy Jade ( that’s his name for now anyway). He is the bestest goggy ever.

    Unfortunately I am an old and not very tech savvy so you will have to wait for pics until I figure that part out.

    Now back to your regular scheduled etc.

  145. 145.

    Tommy

    March 7, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    @ruemara: Because folks are kind of crazy these days. I was raised a Methodist (atheist now), but many of my family (all other than my mom and dad) are Catholic. Spent a more than a little time in a Catholic church.

    The priest in that Catholic church was fired about 5-6 years ago.* It is said he was fired by the Bishop because he changed the Liturgy and members recorded him and forwarded it to said Bishop. He said he made VERY minor changes because he saw his congregation getting older and older (and frankly dying) and wanted to make it more accessible.

    The people in the know say this was just how they got him fired, they were more upset that he preached/advocated for the poor, the sick, those without a voice with a white hot passion. And he did, I’ve witnessed it and it seemed like a true passion.

    In the good news part of this post he got a ton of donations from local people, another job, and now using his Air Force pension to run a homeless shelter. Think he was one of the “good” guys. He wants to live what he preaches.

    *He worked for FREE BTW, since he lived off his Air Force pension.

  146. 146.

    Baud

    March 7, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    @Jacks mom:

    Awesome.

  147. 147.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 7, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    @ruemara:

    And yet the only reason anyone has ever heard Edmund Pettus’s name outside of that town is because of the march across that bridge. I hope Pettus is spinning in his grave (or on his spit in hell) right now seeing a Black president walk across “his” bridge.

  148. 148.

    Debbie

    March 7, 2015 at 4:59 pm

    @raven:

    I’m almost looking forward to hearing Glenn Beck’s reaction to the speech. He’s taken to comparing himself to Gandhi and MLK, so it should be priceless.

  149. 149.

    Chris

    March 7, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    But I think that can all be explained by Hoover being a garden-variety sociopath and racist. Sometimes an asshole is just an asshole.

    This is my interpretation as well.

    That, plus the fact that the powers that be were probably much more disturbed by the disruptive potential of the civil rights movement than by its enemies in the Ku Klux Klan. And you probably don’t get to climb the ladder to Number One Cop In America without sharing most of the “establishment”‘s prejudices and preconceptions about who is or isn’t a matter of grave concern.

  150. 150.

    Ruckus

    March 7, 2015 at 5:07 pm

    OT. I just ran into a video that is worth seeing.
    Called Craft in America

  151. 151.

    David Koch

    March 7, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    A photo of the crowd (as far as the eye can see)

  152. 152.

    J R in WV

    March 7, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    @David Koch:

    Thanks, I needed that!

    What a wonderful day for all of those folks who could go to Selma on this anniversary, I hope and expect they understand the meaning of this day. Keep on working for the prize!

  153. 153.

    Tree With Water

    March 7, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): “…it was like the Republicans aren’t even trying to look like they give a shit about Black people any longer”.

    Or anyone else, for that matter.

    “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”. The republican party’s worship of mammon is where its cankered heart is to be found, it’s what makes it tick. Mammon today, mammon tomorrow, and mammon forever….

  154. 154.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 7, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    @askew:

    President Carter had been committed for a long time to attending a Nobel Peace Prize forum on human rights. Too bad the organizers didn’t realize that the date would conflict with the Selma 50th anniversary, but I’m not going to fault him for participating in another important conference on human rights.

    And I agree, props to Dubya and Laura for being in Selma. Someone upthread noted that for all his faults — and FSM knows they are legion — he is probably no more racist than anyone in this country. I’m glad he was there.

  155. 155.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 7, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    I hope you realize you omitted any mention of Robert Byrd.

  156. 156.

    askew

    March 8, 2015 at 12:13 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Ah, he had a great excuse then. Was just surprised to not see him there.

  157. 157.

    Cervantes

    March 8, 2015 at 7:32 am

    @askew:

    It was open.

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