WWTBAM Bored

Obama attempted to put these principles into practice in South Chicago. Kellman and Kruglik's initial objective was to revive the region's manufacturing base--and preserve what remained of its steel industry--by working with unions and church groups to pressure companies and the city; but those hopes were quickly dashed. Indeed, during his three years in South Chicago, Obama was constantly having to scale back his objectives as one project after another faltered. First, he got community members to demand a job center that would provide job referrals, but there were few jobs to distribute. Then, he tried to create what he called a "second-level consumer economy" in Roseland consisting of shops, restaurants, and theaters. This, too, went nowhere. At that point, Kellman advised Obama to move elsewhere. "Stay here, and you are bound to fail," he told him.

But Obama remained. Next, he began to focus on providing social services for Altgeld Gardens. "We didn't yet have the power to change state welfare policy, or create local jobs, or bring substantially more money into the schools," he wrote. "But what we could do was begin to improve basic services at Altgeld--get the toilets fixed, the heaters working, the windows repaired." Obama helped the residents wage a successful campaign to get the Chicago Housing Authority to promise to remove asbestos from the units; but, after an initial burst of activity, the city failed to keep its promise. (As of last year, some residences still had not been cleared of asbestos.) In waging these campaigns, Obama's organization added staff, gained adherents, and won church support, including from the congregation of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. But it failed to stem the area's overall decline. "Ain't nothing gonna change, Mr. Obama," says one resident quoted in Dreams from My Father who grows disillusioned with the Developing Communities Project. "We just gonna concentrate on saving our money so we can move outta here as fast as we can."

silverscreenselect wrote:Here's the best article I have been able to find about Obama's community organizing efforts.

http://tinyurl.com/6j3psd

Obama attempted to put these principles into practice in South Chicago. Kellman and Kruglik's initial objective was to revive the region's manufacturing base--and preserve what remained of its steel industry--by working with unions and church groups to pressure companies and the city; but those hopes were quickly dashed. Indeed, during his three years in South Chicago, Obama was constantly having to scale back his objectives as one project after another faltered. First, he got community members to demand a job center that would provide job referrals, but there were few jobs to distribute. Then, he tried to create what he called a "second-level consumer economy" in Roseland consisting of shops, restaurants, and theaters. This, too, went nowhere. At that point, Kellman advised Obama to move elsewhere. "Stay here, and you are bound to fail," he told him.

But Obama remained. Next, he began to focus on providing social services for Altgeld Gardens. "We didn't yet have the power to change state welfare policy, or create local jobs, or bring substantially more money into the schools," he wrote. "But what we could do was begin to improve basic services at Altgeld--get the toilets fixed, the heaters working, the windows repaired." Obama helped the residents wage a successful campaign to get the Chicago Housing Authority to promise to remove asbestos from the units; but, after an initial burst of activity, the city failed to keep its promise. (As of last year, some residences still had not been cleared of asbestos.) In waging these campaigns, Obama's organization added staff, gained adherents, and won church support, including from the congregation of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. But it failed to stem the area's overall decline. "Ain't nothing gonna change, Mr. Obama," says one resident quoted in Dreams from My Father who grows disillusioned with the Developing Communities Project. "We just gonna concentrate on saving our money so we can move outta here as fast as we can."

Translation: Obama was a failure at community organizing who soon realized that he could be more successful in getting elected that in getting results.

earendel wrote: That's one way to read it. Another way to read it is to see the community as so disheartened that nothing and no one could possibly be successful. Sometimes, no matter how skillful one may be, some people can't be helped. I think it's interesting that despite being advised to go elsewhere because he was "bound to fail" he persisted. IOW he didn't take the easy way out but continued to make the effort.

BackInTex wrote:

earendel wrote: That's one way to read it. Another way to read it is to see the community as so disheartened that nothing and no one could possibly be successful. Sometimes, no matter how skillful one may be, some people can't be helped. I think it's interesting that despite being advised to go elsewhere because he was "bound to fail" he persisted. IOW he didn't take the easy way out but continued to make the effort.

Hmmm....this sounds familiar. Where have I heard/seen this recently?.....

Oh, yeah. Bush on Iraq.

So, if you want 4 more years of the same old stubborn not willing to admit mistakes, vote for Obama!

Perhaps the simplest way to describe community organizing is to say it is the practice of identifying a specific aggrieved population, say unemployed steelworkers, or itinerant fruit-pickers, or residents of a particularly bad neighborhood, and agitating them until they become so upset about their condition that they take collective action to put pressure on local, state, or federal officials to fix the problem, often by giving the affected group money. Organizers like to call that “direct action.”

Community organizing is most identified with the left-wing Chicago activist Saul Alinsky (1909-72), who pretty much defined the profession. In his classic book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky wrote that a successful organizer should be “an abrasive agent to rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; to fan latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expressions.” Once such hostilities were “whipped up to a fighting pitch,” Alinsky continued, the organizer steered his group toward confrontation, in the form of picketing, demonstrating, and general hell-raising.

silverscreenselect wrote:Here's the best article I have been able to find about Obama's community organizing efforts.

http://tinyurl.com/6j3psd



Translation: Obama was a failure at community organizing who soon realized that he could be more successful in getting elected that in getting results.

wbtravis007 wrote:This is from Wikipedia:


Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988 and at the end of his first year was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review based on his grades and a writing competition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

silvercamaro wrote:Here's a job description from Saul Alinsky, who IIRC was Hillary's mentor and former employer, via http://tinyurl.com/56ucue

Perhaps the simplest way to describe community organizing is to say it is the practice of identifying a specific aggrieved population, say unemployed steelworkers, or itinerant fruit-pickers, or residents of a particularly bad neighborhood, and agitating them until they become so upset about their condition that they take collective action to put pressure on local, state, or federal officials to fix the problem, often by giving the affected group money. Organizers like to call that “direct action.”

Community organizing is most identified with the left-wing Chicago activist Saul Alinsky (1909-72), who pretty much defined the profession. In his classic book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky wrote that a successful organizer should be “an abrasive agent to rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; to fan latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expressions.” Once such hostilities were “whipped up to a fighting pitch,” Alinsky continued, the organizer steered his group toward confrontation, in the form of picketing, demonstrating, and general hell-raising.

I know that some community organizers have achieved good things for their consitutents, such as helping to create neighborhood health clinics and job skills assistance. Some have done less. The idea of taking unhappy people and helping them toward outrage seems neither particularly helpful to society nor difficult, however. I would not consider most community organizers to have gained "executive experience," unless I confused manipulation with management.

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:

wbtravis007 wrote:This is from Wikipedia:


Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988 and at the end of his first year was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review based on his grades and a writing competition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

Oh he's released his Harvard transcripts now?

wbtravis007 wrote:

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:

wbtravis007 wrote:This is from Wikipedia:


Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988 and at the end of his first year was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review based on his grades and a writing competition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

Oh he's released his Harvard transcripts now?

I don't get this. I know I'm missing something.

wbtravis007 wrote:
I'm wondering what you have seen or heard from Obama along the lines of a claim that his work was either particularly difficult or provided executive experience.

wbtravis007 wrote:This is from Wikipedia:

After four years in New York City, Obama moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer for three years from June 1985 to May 1988 as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale) on Chicago's far South Side.[12][14] During his three years as the DCP's director, its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.[15] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.[16] ...

silverscreenselect wrote:

wbtravis007 wrote:This is from Wikipedia:

After four years in New York City, Obama moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer for three years from June 1985 to May 1988 as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale) on Chicago's far South Side.[12][14] During his three years as the DCP's director, its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.[15] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.[16] ...

As the article I quoted indicated, Obama's "accomplishments" didn't help improve the lives of the community very much, in ways such as finding jobs or getting rid of the asbestos in their apartments.

Contrast it to Sarah Palin's accomplishments as mayor of Wasilla in expanding the city's population and tax base, getting a sports complex built and essentially turning a stagnant bedroom community into a prominent, growing suburb of Anchorage.

Bob Juch wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:

wbtravis007 wrote:This is from Wikipedia:

After four years in New York City, Obama moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer for three years from June 1985 to May 1988 as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale) on Chicago's far South Side.[12][14] During his three years as the DCP's director, its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.[15] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.[16] ...

As the article I quoted indicated, Obama's "accomplishments" didn't help improve the lives of the community very much, in ways such as finding jobs or getting rid of the asbestos in their apartments.

Contrast it to Sarah Palin's accomplishments as mayor of Wasilla in expanding the city's population and tax base, getting a sports complex built and essentially turning a stagnant bedroom community into a prominent, growing suburb of Anchorage.

Who the hell wants to live in a growing suburb? It's a pain in the ass. Especially since they didn't improve the roads in Wasilla.

Wow! The Almighty Juch has even lived in Wasilla!

BackInTex wrote: Hmmm....this sounds familiar. Where have I heard/seen this recently?.....

Oh, yeah. Bush on Iraq.

Bob Juch wrote: Who the hell wants to live in a growing suburb? It's a pain in the ass. Especially since they didn't improve the roads in Wasilla.

gotribego26 wrote:

Bob Juch wrote: Who the hell wants to live in a growing suburb? It's a pain in the ass. Especially since they didn't improve the roads in Wasilla.

I've lived in non-growing suburbs on the Eastern side of Cleveland as well as growing Suburbs in Denver and Charlotte - for all the bad that comes with growing suburbs, I'll take them over the stagnant suburbs I lived near Cleveland - the roads there were in no better shape and every bit as crowded.

silverscreenselect wrote:Here's the best article I have been able to find about Obama's community organizing efforts.

http://tinyurl.com/6j3psd

Obama attempted to put these principles into practice in South Chicago. Kellman and Kruglik's initial objective was to revive the region's manufacturing base--and preserve what remained of its steel industry--by working with unions and church groups to pressure companies and the city; but those hopes were quickly dashed. Indeed, during his three years in South Chicago, Obama was constantly having to scale back his objectives as one project after another faltered. First, he got community members to demand a job center that would provide job referrals, but there were few jobs to distribute. Then, he tried to create what he called a "second-level consumer economy" in Roseland consisting of shops, restaurants, and theaters. This, too, went nowhere. At that point, Kellman advised Obama to move elsewhere. "Stay here, and you are bound to fail," he told him.

But Obama remained. Next, he began to focus on providing social services for Altgeld Gardens. "We didn't yet have the power to change state welfare policy, or create local jobs, or bring substantially more money into the schools," he wrote. "But what we could do was begin to improve basic services at Altgeld--get the toilets fixed, the heaters working, the windows repaired." Obama helped the residents wage a successful campaign to get the Chicago Housing Authority to promise to remove asbestos from the units; but, after an initial burst of activity, the city failed to keep its promise. (As of last year, some residences still had not been cleared of asbestos.) In waging these campaigns, Obama's organization added staff, gained adherents, and won church support, including from the congregation of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. But it failed to stem the area's overall decline. "Ain't nothing gonna change, Mr. Obama," says one resident quoted in Dreams from My Father who grows disillusioned with the Developing Communities Project. "We just gonna concentrate on saving our money so we can move outta here as fast as we can."

Spock wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:Here's the best article I have been able to find about Obama's community organizing efforts.

http://tinyurl.com/6j3psd

Obama attempted to put these principles into practice in South Chicago. Kellman and Kruglik's initial objective was to revive the region's manufacturing base--and preserve what remained of its steel industry--by working with unions and church groups to pressure companies and the city; but those hopes were quickly dashed. Indeed, during his three years in South Chicago, Obama was constantly having to scale back his objectives as one project after another faltered. First, he got community members to demand a job center that would provide job referrals, but there were few jobs to distribute. Then, he tried to create what he called a "second-level consumer economy" in Roseland consisting of shops, restaurants, and theaters. This, too, went nowhere. At that point, Kellman advised Obama to move elsewhere. "Stay here, and you are bound to fail," he told him.

But Obama remained. Next, he began to focus on providing social services for Altgeld Gardens. "We didn't yet have the power to change state welfare policy, or create local jobs, or bring substantially more money into the schools," he wrote. "But what we could do was begin to improve basic services at Altgeld--get the toilets fixed, the heaters working, the windows repaired." Obama helped the residents wage a successful campaign to get the Chicago Housing Authority to promise to remove asbestos from the units; but, after an initial burst of activity, the city failed to keep its promise. (As of last year, some residences still had not been cleared of asbestos.) In waging these campaigns, Obama's organization added staff, gained adherents, and won church support, including from the congregation of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. But it failed to stem the area's overall decline. "Ain't nothing gonna change, Mr. Obama," says one resident quoted in Dreams from My Father who grows disillusioned with the Developing Communities Project. "We just gonna concentrate on saving our money so we can move outta here as fast as we can."

Repeated for emphasis-"But what we could do was begin to improve basic services at Altgeld--get the toilets fixed, the heaters working, the windows repaired."

I would have a lot more respect for him if he had told the people-Fix your own toilet and don't depend on anybody else to do it.

It is revealing that Obama's mindset and worldviews are based on a set of people who can not or will not fix their own toilet.

Bob Juch wrote:

Spock wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:Here's the best article I have been able to find about Obama's community organizing efforts.

http://tinyurl.com/6j3psd


Repeated for emphasis-"But what we could do was begin to improve basic services at Altgeld--get the toilets fixed, the heaters working, the windows repaired."

I would have a lot more respect for him if he had told the people-Fix your own toilet and don't depend on anybody else to do it.

It is revealing that Obama's mindset and worldviews are based on a set of people who can not or will not fix their own toilet.

Do you want to send them all to plumbing school?

mrkelley23 wrote:I am thinking Spock thinks the toilets were merely clogged.

I am also thinking Spock has not visited the apartments in the South Side of Chicago.

Regardless of whether any of the residents deserve their squalor, I do not find it at all unbelievable that they (or I, for that matter) would not be able to fix their toilet problems without professional assistance.