Palin, Giuliani Mocked Obama's Organizing Work, But It Was Sponsored By The Catholic Church
| Thu Sep. 4, 2008 1:20 PM PDT
Last night at the Republican National Convention, both Rudy Giuliani and McCain veep choice Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama's work as a community organizer in Chicago two decades ago. Comparing her experience to Obama's, Palin said "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer—except that you have actual responsibilities." Despite the fact that organizers do have responsibilities, Palin's derision was echoed by the delegates in the hall, who roared with laughter at the idea that "community organizing" is real work.
But in guffawing at Obama's work, the GOP was mocking the efforts of an important group: the Catholic Church. Obama's community work was part of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, a project sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Campaign for Human Development has been the church's main anti-poverty and social justice program in America since 1969. Do Palin, Giuliani and all those GOP delegates really believe that bishops' effort to improve the lot of the poor and jobless is a laughing matter?
Mocking church-sponsored community organizing also undermines the right's case for faith-based initiatives and so-called compassionate conservativism. Under the conservative model, a caring citizen doesn't wait for the government to help; he raises himself and his community up—sometimes with the help of community (but non-governmental) groups. It's hypocritical for Republicans to make fun of people for doing what Republicans are always saying they should do—lifting themselves up by their bootstraps. If you want government to to do less, you ought to want community organizers to do more. And as Roland Martin pointed out yesterday on CNN (video below), community organizers are the people assisting Americans hit by the housing crisis and the sputtering economy:
Palin and Giuliani got a good laugh from a friendly crowd, but a lot of Americans won't be in on the joke.
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Comments
I agree that that particular line of Palin's speech may cause some negative fallout for the Republican Campaign outside of party membership. I think her objective was to unify and energize the people already within the ranks and -- with that audience -- the line was successful.
It was definitely meant to be more of an attack on Obama than on community organizers. In addition, it's not entirely false. I think one could argue that if the neighborhood where Obama worked still has a lot of poor and a lot of drug addicts, he is not "responsible" for this situation as a community organizer. Even as a senator in the Illinois State Senate or the national Senate, he would be held "responsible" because he is in neither case the EXECUTIVE. It's the governor of Illinois and the president of the United States who are responsible.
Palin WAS a mayor and IS a governor and therefore already HAS executive experience.
Here is a good essay regarding why some in the GOP think community organizing is worth mocking:
EDUCATION? Who will you hire
to work for you?
Obama: 8 years-Columbia University, Harvard Law School, Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude from Harvard
Biden: 8 years-Univerisity of Delaware, Syracuse University, J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law
McCain: 3 years-Naval Academy, Ranked 894 out of 899
Palin: 5 years at 5 different colleges, B.A. in Communications-Journalism from the University of Idaho.
OBAMAPHOBIA
Israel and the Diaspora, hysterically Obamaphobic, have been screaming for the bombing of Iran as she steadily grows in economic and military power. But now, since instigating the bombing of Iraq, no one hears these screams of the damned.
Why is it taking President Bush and Prime Minister Brown so long to again don their beanies and head for Israel, to renew their sacred vows of undying allegiance to Israel? Is it possible that these political prostitutes have betrayed the honor entrusted with them?
Why is it taking Supreme Mullah Khamenei so long to call for a fresh flood of Iranian blood, a great martyrdom that would lend credibility to Israel's Obamaphobia? It is possible that the Iranians and Arabs have finally grown wise to Israel's Neo-Marxist tactic of inciting mortal strife between Muslims and Christians?
Europeans, wildly Obamaphilic, have been cheering for peacemaker Obama and sneering at warmonger McCain. Is it possible that they condemn Israel's land robbery and war crimes against the Palestinian People and instigation of the Iraq War, enabled by their sustainable parasitism on the wealth and blood of the American People? Is Obama their hope for a friendlier and safer World?
Why do the Russians and Chinese have loaded nuclear weapons pointed at the head of Israel? Is it possible that Israel's arsenal of 150 nuclear weapons is a threat to some of their vital defenses?
Are Israel and the Diaspora inherently incapable of realizing that Nemesis eternally determines their special fate? What do these Judeofascist Land Robbers not see when they look in the mirror?
Re: Ms Palin and Mr. Giuliani 's comments and making fun of Mr. Obama being a Community Organizer.
One of the Saints Catholics remember today September 6, 2008 is Frederick Ozanam. Ms Palin and Mr. Giuliani and other Mr. McCain Christian supporters mocking Community Organizers in doing so are just are at the side of the soldiers who mocked and tortured the greatest Community Organizer of them all: Jesus Christ. I pray so that their hearts of stone become hearts of love.
Here is a short bio of Frederick Ozanam, for them and us to meditate:
A man convinced of the inestimable worth of each human being, Frederick served the poor of Paris well and drew others into serving the poor of the world. Through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, his work continues to the present day.
Frederick was the fifth of Jean and Marie Ozanam's 14 children, one of only three to reach adulthood. As a teenager he began having doubts about his religion. Reading and prayer did not seem to help, but long walking discussions with Father Noirot of the Lyons College clarified matters a great deal.
Frederick wanted to study literature, although his father, a doctor, wanted him to become a lawyer. Frederick yielded to his father's wishes and in 1831 arrived in Paris to study law at the University of the Sorbonne. When certain professors there mocked Catholic teachings in their lectures, Frederick defended the Church.
A discussion club which Frederick organized sparked the turning point in his life. In this club Catholics, atheists and agnostics debated the issues of the day. Once, after Frederick spoke on Christianity's role in civilization, a club member said: "Let us be frank, Mr. Ozanam; let us also be very particular. What do you do besides talk to prove the faith you claim is in you?"
Frederick was stung by the question. He soon decided that his words needed a grounding in action. He and a friend began visiting Paris tenements and offering assistance as best they could. Soon a group dedicated to helping individuals in need under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul formed around Frederick.
Feeling that the Catholic faith needed an excellent speaker to explain its teachings, Frederick convinced the Archbishop of Paris to appoint Father Lacordaire, the greatest preacher then in France, to preach a Lenten series in Notre Dame Cathedral. It was well attended and became an annual tradition in Paris.
After Frederick earned his law degree at the Sorbonne, he taught law at the University of Lyons. He also earned a doctorate in literature. Soon after marrying Amelie Soulacroix on June 23, 1841, he returned to the Sorbonne to teach literature. A well-respected lecturer, Frederick worked to bring out the best in each student. Meanwhile, the St. Vincent de Paul Society was growing throughout Europe. Paris alone counted 25 conferences.
In 1846, Frederick, Amelie and their daughter Marie went to Italy; there Frederick hoped to restore his poor health. They returned the next year. The revolution of 1848 left many Parisians in need of the services of the St. Vincent de Paul conferences. The unemployed numbered 275,000. The government asked Frederick and his co-workers to supervise the government aid to the poor. Vincentians throughout Europe came to the aid of Paris.
Frederick then started a newspaper, The New Era, dedicated to securing justice for the poor and the working classes. Fellow Catholics were often unhappy with what Frederick wrote. Referring to the poor man as "the nation's priest," Frederick said that the hunger and sweat of the poor formed a sacrifice that could redeem the people's humanity
In 1852 poor health again forced Frederick to return to Italy with his wife and daughter. He died on September 8, 1853. In his sermon at Frederick's funeral, Lacordaire described his friend as "one of those privileged creatures who came direct from the hand of God in whom God joins tenderness to genius in order to enkindle the world."
Frederick was beatified in 1997. Since Frederick wrote an excellent book entitled Franciscan Poets of the Thirteenth Century and since Frederick's sense of the dignity of each poor person was so close to the thinking of St. Francis, it seemed appropriate to include him among Franciscan "greats."
Comment:
"Those who mock the poor insult their Maker" (Proverbs 17:5). Frederick Ozanam never demeaned the poor in offering whatever service he could. Each man, woman and child was too precious for that. Serving the poor taught Frederick something about God that he could learn only there.
Quote:
Professor Bailly, the spiritual leader of the first St. Vincent de Paul conference, told Frederick and his first companions in charity, "Like St. Vincent, you, too, will find the poor will do more for you than you will do for them."
François-Xavier Lochet
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