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President Obama’s Eulogy at the Funeral of Rev Clementa Pinckney
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Giving all praise and honor to God.
(APPLAUSE)
The Bible calls us to hope, to persevere and have faith in things not seen. They were still living by faith when they died, the scripture tells us.
(APPLAUSE)
They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
We are here today to remember a man of God who lived by faith, a man who believed in things not seen, a man who believed there were better days ahead off in the distance, a man of service, who persevered knowing full-well he would not receive all those things he was promised, because he believed his efforts would deliver a better life for those who followed, to Jennifer, his beloved wife, Eliana and Malana, his beautiful, wonderful daughters, to the Mother Emanuel family and the people of Charleston, the people of South Carolina.
I cannot claim to have had the good fortune to know Reverend Pinckney well, but I did have the pleasure of knowing him and meeting him here in South Carolina back when we were both a little bit younger…
(LAUGHTER)
… back when I didn’t have visible gray hair.
(LAUGHTER)
The first thing I noticed was his graciousness, his smile, his reassuring baritone, his deceptive sense of humor, all qualities that helped him wear so effortlessly a heavy burden of expectation.
Friends of his remarked this week that when Clementa Pinckney entered a room, it was like the future arrived, that even from a young age, folks knew he was special, anointed. He was the progeny of a long line of the faithful, a family of preachers who spread God’s words, a family of protesters who so changed to expand voting rights and desegregate the South.
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Clem heard their instruction, and he did not forsake their teaching. He was in the pulpit by 13, pastor by 18, public servant by 23. He did not exhibit any of the cockiness of youth nor youth’s insecurities. Instead, he set an example worthy of his position, wise beyond his years in his speech, in his conduct, in his love, faith and purity.
As a senator, he represented a sprawling swathe of low country, a place that has long been one of the most neglected in America, a place still racked by poverty and inadequate schools, a place where children can still go hungry and the sick can go without treatment — a place that needed somebody like Clem.
(APPLAUSE)
His position in the minority party meant the odds of winning more resources for his constituents were often long. His calls for greater equity were too-often unheeded. The votes he cast were sometimes lonely.
But he never gave up. He stayed true to his convictions. He would not grow discouraged. After a full day at the Capitol, he’d climb into his car and head to the church to draw sustenance from his family, from his ministry, from the community that loved and needed him. There, he would fortify his faith and imagine what might be.
Reverend Pinckney embodied a politics that was neither mean nor small. He conducted himself quietly and kindly and diligently. He encouraged progress not by pushing his ideas alone but by seeking out your ideas, partnering with you to make things happen. He was full of empathy and fellow feeling, able to walk in somebody else’s shoes and see through their eyes.
No wonder one of his Senate colleagues remembered Senator Pinckney as “the most gentle of the 46 of us, the best of the 46 of us.”
Clem was often asked why he chose to be a pastor and a public servant. But the person who asked probably didn’t know the history of AME Church.
(APPLAUSE)
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(Malana Pinckney, daughter of Rev Clementa Pinckney, looks over at the President during the funeral for her father)
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As our brothers and sisters in the AME Church, we don’t make those distinctions. “Our calling,” Clem once said, “is not just within the walls of the congregation but the life and community in which our congregation resides.”
(APPLAUSE)
He embodied the idea that our Christian faith demands deeds and not just words, that the sweet hour of prayer actually lasts the whole week long, that to put our faith in action is more than just individual salvation, it’s about our collective salvation, that to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and house the homeless is not just a call for isolated charity but the imperative of a just society.
What a good man. Sometimes I think that’s the best thing to hope for when you’re eulogized, after all the words and recitations and resumes are read, to just say somebody was a good man.
(APPLAUSE)
You don’t have to be of high distinction to be a good man.
Preacher by 13, pastor by 18, public servant by 23. What a life Clementa Pinckney lived. What an example he set. What a model for his faith.
And then to lose him at 41, slain in his sanctuary with eight wonderful members of his flock, each at different stages in life but bound together by a common commitment to God — Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, DePayne Middleton Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel L. Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson.
Good people. Decent people. God-fearing people.
(APPLAUSE)
People so full of life and so full of kindness, people who ran the race, who persevered, people of great faith.
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To the families of the fallen, the nation shares in your grief. Our pain cuts that much deeper because it happened in a church.
The church is and always has been the center of African American life…
(APPLAUSE)
… a place to call our own in a too-often hostile world, a sanctuary from so many hardships.
Over the course of centuries, black churches served as hush harbors, where slaves could worship in safety, praise houses, where their free descendants could gather and shout “Hallelujah…”
(APPLAUSE)
… rest stops for the weary along the Underground Railroad, bunkers for the foot soldiers of the civil-rights movement.
They have been and continue to community centers, where we organize for jobs and justice, places of scholarship and network, places where children are loved and fed and kept out of harms way and told that they are beautiful and smart and taught that they matter.
(APPLAUSE)
That’s what happens in church. That’s what the black church means — our beating heart, the place where our dignity as a people in inviolate.
There’s no better example of this tradition than Mother Emanuel, a church…
(APPLAUSE)
… a church built by blacks seeking liberty, burned to the ground because its founders sought to end slavery only to rise up again, a phoenix from these ashes.
(APPLAUSE)
When there were laws banning all-black church gatherers, services happened here anyway in defiance of unjust laws. When there was a righteous movement to dismantle Jim Crow, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached from its pulpit, and marches began from its steps.
A sacred place, this church, not just for blacks, not just for Christians but for every American who cares about the steady expansion…
(APPLAUSE)
… of human rights and human dignity in this country, a foundation stone for liberty and justice for all.
That’s what the church meant.
(APPLAUSE)
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We do not know whether the killer of Reverend Pinckney and eight others knew all of this history, but he surely sensed the meaning of his violent act. It was an act that drew on a long history of bombs and arson and shots fired at churches, not random but as a means of control, a way to terrorize and oppress…
(APPLAUSE)
… an act that he imagined would incite fear and recrimination, violence and suspicion, an act that he presumed would deepen divisions that trace back to our nation’s original sin.
Oh, but God works in mysterious ways.
(APPLAUSE)
God has different ideas.
(APPLAUSE)
He didn’t know he was being used by God.
(APPLAUSE)
Blinded by hatred, the alleged killer would not see the grace surrounding Reverend Pinckney and that Bible study group, the light of love that shown as they opened the church doors and invited a stranger to join in their prayer circle.
The alleged killer could have never anticipated the way the families of the fallen would respond when they saw him in court in the midst of unspeakable grief, with words of forgiveness. He couldn’t imagine that.
(APPLAUSE)
The alleged killer could not imagine how the city of Charleston under the good and wise leadership of Mayor Riley, how the state of South Carolina, how the United States of America would respond not merely with revulsion at his evil acts, but with (inaudible) generosity. And more importantly, with a thoughtful introspection and self-examination that we so rarely see in public life.
Blinded by hatred, he failed to comprehend what Reverend Pinckney so well understood — the power of God’s grace.
(APPLAUSE)
This whole week, I’ve been reflecting on this idea of grace.
(APPLAUSE)
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The grace of the families who lost loved ones; the grace that Reverend Pinckney would preach about in his sermons; the grace described in one of my favorite hymnals, the one we all know — Amazing Grace.
(APPLAUSE)
How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
(APPLAUSE)
I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.
(APPLAUSE)
According to the Christian tradition, grace is not earned. Grace is not merited. It’s not something we deserve. Rather, grace is the free and benevolent favor of God.
(APPLAUSE)
As manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. Grace — as a nation out of this terrible tragedy, God has visited grace upon us for he has allowed us to see where we’ve been blind.
(APPLAUSE)
He’s given us the chance where we’ve been lost to find out best selves. We may not have earned this grace with our rancor and complacency and short-sightedness and fear of each other, but we got it all the same. He gave it to us anyway. He’s once more given us grace.
But it is up to us now to make the most of it, to receive it with gratitude and to prove ourselves worthy of this gift.
For too long, we were blind to the pain that the Confederate Flag stirred into many of our citizens.
(APPLAUSE)
It’s true a flag did not cause these murders. But as people from all walks of life, Republicans and Democrats, now acknowledge, including Governor Haley, whose recent eloquence on the subject is worthy of praise…
(APPLAUSE)
… as we all have to acknowledge, the flag has always represented more than just ancestral pride.
(APPLAUSE)
For many, black and white, that flag was a reminder of systemic oppression…
(APPLAUSE)
… and racial subjugation.
(APPLAUSE)
We see that now.
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Removing the flag from this state’s capital would not be an act of political correctness. It would not an insult to the valor of Confederate soldiers. It would simply be acknowledgement that the cause for which they fought, the cause of slavery, was wrong.
(APPLAUSE)
The imposition of Jim Crow after the Civil War, the resistance to civil rights for all people was wrong.
(APPLAUSE)
It would be one step in an honest accounting of America’s history, a modest but meaningful balm for so many unhealed wounds.
It would be an expression of the amazing changes that have transformed this state and this country for the better because of the work of so many people of goodwill, people of all races, striving to form a more perfect union.
By taking down that flag, we express adds grace God’s grace.
(APPLAUSE)
But I don’t think God wants us to stop there.
(APPLAUSE)
For too long, we’ve been blind to be way past injustices continue to shape the present.
(APPLAUSE)
Perhaps we see that now. Perhaps this tragedy causes us to ask some tough questions about how we can permit so many of our children to languish in poverty…
(APPLAUSE)
… or attend dilapidated schools or grow up without prospects for a job or for a career.
Perhaps it causes us to examine what we’re doing to cause some of our children to hate.
(APPLAUSE)
Perhaps it softens hearts towards those lost young men, tens and tens of thousands caught up in the criminal-justice system and lead us to make sure that that system’s not infected with bias.
(APPLAUSE)
… that we embrace changes in how we train and equip our police so that the bonds of trust between law enforcement…
(APPLAUSE)
… and the communities they serve make us all safer and more secure.
(APPLAUSE)
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Maybe we now realize the way a racial bias can infect us even when we don’t realize it so that we’re guarding against not just racial slurs but we’re also guarding against the subtle impulse to call Johnny back for a job interview but not Jamal…
(APPLAUSE)
… so that we search our hearts when we consider laws to make it harder for some of our fellow citizens to vote…
(APPLAUSE)
… by recognizing our common humanity, by treating every child as important, regardless of the color of their skin…
(APPLAUSE)
… or the station into which they were born and to do what’s necessary to make opportunity real for every American. By doing that, we express God’s grace.
(APPLAUSE)
For too long…
(APPLAUSE)
For too long, we’ve been blind to the unique mayhem that gun violence inflicts upon this nation.
(APPLAUSE)
Sporadically, our eyes are open when eight of our brothers and sisters are cut down in a church basement, 12 in a movie theater, 26 in an elementary school. But I hope we also see the 30 precious lives cut short by gun violence in this country every single day…
(APPLAUSE)
… the countless more whose lives are forever changed, the survivors crippled, the children traumatized and fearful every day as they walk to school, the husband who will never feel his wife’s warm touch, the entire communities whose grief overflows every time they have to watch what happened to them happening to some other place.
The vast majority of Americans, the majority of gun owners want to do something about this. We see that now.
(APPLAUSE)
And I’m convinced that by acknowledging the pain and loss of others, even as we respect the traditions, ways of life that make up this beloved country, by making the moral choice to change, we express God’s grace.
(APPLAUSE)
We don’t earn grace. We’re all sinners. We don’t deserve it.
(APPLAUSE)
But God gives it to us anyway.
(APPLAUSE)
And we choose how to receive it. It’s our decision how to honor it.
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None of us can or should expect a transformation in race relations overnight. Every time something like this happens, somebody says, “We have to have a conversation about race.” We talk a lot about race.
(APPLAUSE)
There’s no shortcut. We don’t need more talk.
(APPLAUSE)
None of us should believe that a handful of gun safety measures will prevent every tragedy.
It will not. People of good will will continue to debate the merits of various policies as our democracy requires — the big, raucous place, America is. And there are good people on both sides of these debates.
Whatever solutions we find will necessarily be incomplete. But it would be a betrayal of everything Reverend Pinckney stood for, I believe, if we allow ourselves to slip into a comfortable silence again.
(APPLAUSE)
Once the eulogies have been delivered, once the TV cameras move on, to go back to business as usual. That’s what we so often do to avoid uncomfortable truths about the prejudice that still infects our society.
(APPLAUSE)
To settle for symbolic gestures without following up with the hard work of more lasting change, that’s how we lose our way again. It would be a refutation of the forgiveness expressed by those families if we merely slipped into old habits whereby those who disagree with us are not merely wrong, but bad; where we shout instead of listen; where we barricade ourselves behind preconceived notions or well-practiced cynicism.
Reverend Pinckney once said, “Across the south, we have a deep appreciation of history. We haven’t always had a deep appreciation of each other’s history.”
(APPLAUSE)
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What is true in the south is true for America. Clem understood that justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other; that my liberty depends on you being free, too.
(APPLAUSE)
That — that history can’t be a sword to justify injustice or a shield against progress. It must be a manual for how to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, how to break the cycle, a roadway toward a better world. He knew that the path of grace involves an open mind. But more importantly, an open heart.
That’s what I felt this week — an open heart. That more than any particular policy or analysis is what’s called upon right now, I think. It’s what a friend of mine, the writer Marilyn Robinson, calls “that reservoir of goodness beyond and of another kind, that we are able to do each other in the ordinary cause of things.”
That reservoir of goodness. If we can find that grace, anything is possible.
(APPLAUSE)
If we can tap that grace, everything can change. Amazing grace, amazing grace.
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(Look at the reaction when he began to sing Amazing Grace……)
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Amazing grace…
(SINGING)
(APPLAUSE)
… how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now, I see.
(APPLAUSE)
Clementa Pinckney found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… Cynthia Hurd found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… Susie Jackson found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… Ethel Lance found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… DePayne Middleton Doctor found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… Tywanza Sanders found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… Daniel L. Simmons, Sr. found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… Sharonda Coleman-Singleton found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… Myra Thompson found that grace…
(APPLAUSE)
… through the example of their lives. They’ve now passed it onto us. May we find ourselves worthy of that precious and extraordinary gift as long as our lives endure.
May grace now lead them home. May God continue to shed His Grace on the United States of America.
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President Obama embraces Malana Pinckney after delivering the eulogy for her father
The Obama Diary 
Hello!
Hey Ralph!
You girl, are the BEST!
Congrats Ralph!!
{{{{{{{{{Chips}}}}}}}}} you are our ‘amazing grace’ …. thank you for creating this incredible place of hope & change & LOVE!!
^5 ^5
Thank you, Chips, so much, for this!
An absolute pleasure, thank you Jacqueline.
It was AMAZING to watch and listen to it – the entire celebration.
It was beautiful Jacqueline, and I rarely say that about funerals! It just struck me how joyous a celebration of a life it was, rather than the mourning of one ending. And then the President …. well, I’ll get my breath back eventually 🙂
I’m still breathless. Grandkids just came in and I forced them to listen to the President’s singing before I’d let them speak! ❤
😆 You are a GREAT Grandma!!
Your comments remind me of the first time (as a young adult) that I attended the funeral of a ‘real’ Christian. It was the very first ‘joyous celebration of a life’ that I had ever attended up to that point and it made quite an impression on me. I never realized before that you could really *celebrate* at a funeral. She was the wife of a deacon in our church and she was relatively young (leaving two young daughters now that I think of it), but she was a lovely spirit. Today, I was particularly touched by PBO’s singing, because it seemed like he was (as we would say) *moved* to sing – like that was what that particular moment needed!
Noooo question – We are blessed to be alive in the AGE of the Obama presidency!
My parents took me to funerals before I was in Kindergarten. It was just what farmers and Church members did.
This doesn’t surprise me; after all, funerals were/are a part of life.
Yes and I’m glad they did. They were sad funerals but I understood life and death as a young girl. Some young, middle age or elderly.
Some were natural or others accidental.
Have Charleston Channel 5 on in background; the anchors are just waxing poetically about PBO’s sermon. Listening to this older, gray-haired, white male anchor declaring that PBO took him to CHURCH, brings a smile to my soul!
I’m glad to hear that someone on TV is talking about PBO and this weeks astounding successes.
Cable and my local stations are fixed on escapee shot.
I went to church today and although not a very religious person I enjoyed every second of the presidents eulogy sermon – he took us to the proverbial land of milk and hanna and oh how sweet a treat it was!
Wow!
Wow!
Wow!
Chips, you are More Than A Woman……..Force……Unbelievably Fast, Efficient and might I add, Unbeatable.
This is Fantastic. Thank you.
Congrats RalphC on your Au ⭐
Thank you {{{Nena}}}!
Thank you, Chips for posting the entire thing.
No words can completely express the effect of seeing hearing and/or reading this.
Like many at TOD I am overwhelmed.
But happy. many dreams made real this week.
{{{{{{Vicki}}}}}}
Yes PBO took us to church and into that place where we all need to challenge ourselves to move forward.
Wow…..thank goodness for Pete Souza, he is just amazing .
Thank you, thank you, thank you Ms. Chips! I knew you would provide us with everything we need.
{{{{Sabreen}}}}
Oh Chips you are the absolute best. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this Eulogy…written and video.
{{{{Hope44}}} A beautiful day!
Thanks to Chips, I got to watch PBO’s entire sermon…..yes, it was a powerful sermon. I was crying, laughing, responding, loving every minute of it. He hit everything, and hit them beautifully and powerfully. He has given the country our marching orders…….”enough conversation” I loved that. I’ll need to watch it again,and then read it, so thank you for the text. Grace…..grace…….grace……..to everyone. I have found TOD a place of grace, and I think we are following the example of our beloved POTUS.
Thank you Chips 🙂 So much love for you and the entire TOD family
Loving ya right back, Idon! Thank you.
SO BEAUTIFUL…SO LOVING AND FROM DEEP WITHIN THE CORE OF HIS HEART…OUR PRESIDENT SPOKE WITH AMAZING GRACE. WE CANNOT TAKE ANY MORE EULOGIES…WE MUST BE THE UNITED STATES…I LOVE MY PRESIDENT SO…WE ARE VERY BLESSED IN THE WHITEHOUSE…AND JOE TODAY SHOWS THE MARKS OF HIS PAIN STILL WALKING WITH HIM IN HIS GREAT LOSS OF BEAU…BUT…THEY WERE THERE PRAYING AND GRIEVING FOR ANOTHER TODAY…THAT IS SELFLESS GIVING OF THE HEART!
I keep playing Amazing grace over and over again.
me too
Me, too, Don. Got my DVR set at that point and keep listening to it. Joyously.
“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Matthew 18:20
Chips, thank you for being here right along with us today. I know I need to be able to view this again in the privacy of my home and you have provided a way for me to do that – thank you ❤
Aaaaaaaaw, love ya Westie!
GGail, I see you were the first to call PBO Reverend President. Well done!
I am not an especially religious person but i have always seen first Senator and now President Obama as a holy messenger.
2004—
“We are not just Red states and Blue States, we are the UNITED States.”
I heard that as a message to our Higher selves, the good part of us.
(Apparently, even some of our silliest commentators knew something was happening here.
Chris Matthews described a thrill up his leg, and then predicted we had heard our first black president. Right!!!!!)
Last sentence today went again to his first message to us.
“God grant his grace to the UNITED states of America.” I may not have gotten that right . i will check it.
My point is that’s i what you are saying too. We were explicitly In a black church listening to our black President preaching from his heart. But in a larger sense we have always been with PBO in the church surrounding him when he speaks to the Nation.
Full circle today. Including an unforgettable rendition of Amazing Grace. Also, TY to Questlove for the e-flat note.
Vicki, I see you were touched by the gospel of grace. {{hug}}
Oh Chips, words can’t express how much this community means to me. Being in the back woods for 8 wonderful days, this is the only place I knew to come to to catch up. What you bring is what real journalism is. It’s bringing the truth and news to all of us. What a week, what a day and what an the Rev PBO’s 8 years will do to the future of this country. My heart is so full today. We have been thru so many ups and downs, but the Rev PBO has always looked to the future and seen things we have now thought of yet. This is why we love this man. I truly know he has angels all around him and someone higher quiding him. We are all blessed.
Ah, thank you {{{Marilyn}}}, it’s been a wonderful week!
“It was an act that drew on a long history of bombs and arson and shots fired at churches, not random but as a means of control, a way to TERRORIZE and oppress…” I was shouting, “Please say that again, Mr. President!”
OH. MY. GOODNESS.
meta, yes we do love our President and First Lady.
TY CHIPS!
OK, so right in the middle of this eulogy, I had to get downtown to an appt with my dental hygienist. GAH. But just got back and watched the remainder and all I can say is, I THANK THE UNIVERSE FOR THIS MAN AND HIS BELOVED WIFE. He has come at just the right moment and is giving us LIFE.
Well it helps to post on the current thread and not 3 behind! ☺️
INORITE
As I was saying…
Is My President brilliant or what?
I ❤️ My President!
Wow – incredibly moving eulogy and call to action. We so needed this, Thank you President Obama, from the very deepest part of our hearts.
I have just watched that eulogy and what can I say? Wow, just wow! What a man. Words can not describe how much I love admire and respect him. Is there no end to his compassion, love, intelligence and talent. We have been truly blessed to have President Barack Obama at this time in the White House.
Sam! Soooooooooo lovely to see ya!!
Hi it’s good to be back. Life has been crazy lately so just been lurking. What a week for PBO! His eulogy was so moving and uplifting and the SCOTUS decision is awesome.
Hellllloooooooooo, sam uk!!
Hi Meta, it’s great to ‘see’ you!
Airs on BB1 Special Program 10:30 PM Sunday…simulcast in the U.S. at 5:30 PM on BBCAmerica w/ extended version airing at 8:00PM
I love Deray, but this REALLY pissed me off today:
Sometimes he just feels the need to play to his ODS followers.
There are a lot of acronyms I’m not familiar with so I had to look up “GOAT”. According to internetslang.com:
GOAT means “Greatest Of All Time”.
Please explain it to me because I have no ideal what goat means, unless it’s the four leg animal.
Before I tear into deray I need to know what he is saying.
Oh I know swbluega, my point was that he was crediting the President’s speechwriters, not the President himself – when we heard today PBO was working on the eulogy when the SCOTUS news came through. I mean, why would Deray make the assumption that this was the work of speechwriters, instead of giving PBO credit? We’ve read before about PBO working with his writers on speeches, but if it’s a very personal one like this, he does most/all of the work himself.
PBO’s voice is loud and clear throughout. He is clearly wearing heart is on his sleeve. I mean, really. If Deray can’t see that, well…….
Exactly Meta, this has been one huge disappointment.
I’ve no doubt that PBO wrote this eulogy — at a minimum, most of it. I agree that something this personal would be his own thoughts. HE is the speechwriter-in-chief and is the Greatest Of All Time.
I’ve seen pictures where PBO has marked-up/edited speeches to the point he practically rewrites it. Obviously, he is not going to say something he doesn’t believe or is not comfortable with.
Thank you so much for explaining what GOAT means!
We learn together. 🙂
That is all CNN was talking about directly after the speech…speechwriter this/speech writer that/Cody Keenan…blah blah blah. It is like they don’t believe President can formulate a sentence on his own….let alone express HIS personal thoughts w/o assistance.
It’s all about Envy……when they have Nothing good to say……they invent bat poop.
They know this POTUS is a wordsmith in the most positive way, a prolific writer, has written 2 books and one Children’s book……not to mention, it is well known that Pres Obama has written many speeches on his own, written Op-Eds, articles, was Editor of the Law Review at the Harvard College of Law………
Another of their schemes, the MSM, to instantly deny any CREDIT to, for and by Pres Obama.
Haters are gonna Hate…….in the Era of Pres Obama.
That is all they have. And they are Failing.
Couldn’t have said it better, Neena!
Or did I misunderstand, Chipsticks?
Nope you have the correct meaning of GOAT. Chips and a ton of others replied to him that PBO wrote the speech and not a speechwriter.
This is all part of the endless plan to discredit and ignore the greatness that is PBO.
I doubt deRay was intentionally malicious, but egos do get in the way, don’t they?
I retract my prior statement. Malicious may be the right word.
He’s been a big disappointment today Donna, he really has. He gave PBO lots of credit for his words, then implied he didn’t write them, and then felt the need to throw a bone to his ODS followers.
Yuck. YUCK. YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STFU.
It is not about you and your expectations.
Oh he stepped in it for sure today. He got called out on it and has been trying to defend himself since. All he had to do was say I didn’t realize that PBO wrote the speech today and give the man his props but oh No. Sometimes these people get on my last nerve…
I’ve just had an exchange with him Donna, he is incredibly defensive, but I understand that, he gets so much abuse. I think at heart he really respects PBO, he often tweets high praise of him, but I do think he sometimes plays to his audience, many of them, it seems, deranged PBO haters.
He is very young, so i am inclined to cut him some slack on that basis.
Now, it would be good for him to consider incorporating respect into his thinking before he speaks and tweets.
As you mature, you realize you have to pick a side. Stand up for your true beliefs. Sometimes it feels like these guys are trying to cultivate their own fame by playing both sides. It’s a shame because it’s just not worth it.
I don’t know how any young self-aware person in our country can dog PBO right now. I really don’t. Do they think they’re going to see a more progressive POTUS. I’ve lived through plenty of bad RW ones and Clinton, too. It’s just not going to happen.
meta, i think they are living in the Now.
What comes next doesn’t occur to them. or matter.
Same as the Conservatives looting Mother Earth. Apres moi, le deluge. After me, the flood, Who cares? I am all that matters. Greed is like that.
I also think somewhere along the line celebrity has come to matter too much. All they want is to be famous, as if that is what will make them whole. It’s a really disgusting feature of our current culture.
Yes. perfect take.
You said it all, Meta. And that’s what took me aback today about Deray, it really felt like he was playing to an audience that is antagonistic towards PBO.
And he made no sense:
“Of all the things I said today re: Obama, this is the critique.”
All the things he said today about PBO’s eulogy? He made the assumption PBO didn’t write it – so his praise was directed towards a speechwriter.
Oh please.
You know, I love Keenan and Favreau as much as the next guy. But it couldn’t be more clear that PBO wrote this speech today, for this moment, from HIS POINT OF VIEW. I mean, COME ON!!!!
And I probably shouldn’t go there Meta, but there is not a chance in hell that a white man wrote that speech today. None.
ZZZEEEERRROOOO!!!!
Chips, Deray has a wiseass tweet up saying something like it has been said that PBO writes his own speeches. Oy vey.
Saw that Vicki, he’s been so hyper sensitive about this, and insulting – it’s been weird.
He has been very passive-aggressive by just invoking the idea of PBO’s speechwriters at a time like this. It’s almost as if he’s resentful that PBO (and not him) has been in the spotlight. Perhaps he would have felt better if the Pinckney family invited him to give the eulogy? But it begs the question – why should Deray who’s half PBO’s age and experience feel the need to “compete” with a man of PBO’s age, experience and status in life?
I totally agree with meta – about the “celebrity culture” that many of these young activists get caught up in before they’ve earned it. The celebrity culture that feeds into their grandiose ideas of unearned influence, power and prestige. It’s a sad thing to see. I hope it’s just a phase.
I don’t really need for him to place himself in the spotlight today. He clearly has no idea what he’s talking about w/r/t PBO’s speeches. Just step back for a day, Deray.
Okay I don’t know who the heck deray mckesson is, he won’t ran on my parade. I’m proud of my President.
Okay, I’ve heard of him, but his crap is not wanted today by me. By deray.
I was too focused meaning of GOAT before realizing the point Chipsticks was making. 😳
Thanks for helping to clarify.
yep, he’s not the only one either, I’ve read it a few times today & like you, it really pisses me off. It’s bs.
As soon as they could they eliminated today and are into 24 hour coverage of prisoners on the loose.
same as it ever was.
You know sherijr, they remind me of the RWNJs going on about PBO’s college transcripts because they can’t believe a black man could be that smart. Same again, only it’s mainly the emoprog types refusing to give him credit for today’s stunning eulogy. Gawd, I hate them.
Your info is correct. It is evidently intolerable and unbelievable to them that Our Black President is measurably smarter, wiser, better looking, cooler, more charismatic and lovable in Every way than they are.
True dat!! Jealousy is not pretty.
I guess the latest occurrence with the prisoners was their out in not talking about not only the excellence of the President’s eulogy, but the lessons that were included and the challenge to do the right thing. Not surprised that they are avoiding giving PBO the credit he is due, but it doesn’t frustrate me any less.
i know this throwing doubt on the speech is a way of trying to dull the impact of his eulogy..and the President
the thing is …so what if he did have help….whether the President wrote all the speech or he had help…does not take away from the integrity or the POWER of the eulogy…
Nuff Said
Continues the meme that the President is not all that…..
Not sure about “best” but def wayyyy up on the list (politically at least)
Thank you, TOD. Your coverage, as always has been wonderful.
Germany vs. France is going into penalty kicks….winner plays U.S./China winner which is at 7:30
Ah, thanks a mill LP, just turned it on!
I pulling for Germany because France dominated this game and would give the U.S. fits assuming they won!
Not sure if this one was posted earlier …
Ms. Chips, thank you for posting this.
It is more powerful when it’s read.
Thank you.
A pleasure LDS, thank you.
French shooter down 5-4 pulled a Baggio…
Germans move on.
I wonder what Knoller’s salary is? With my limited knowledge of American politics I could add more depth to his reporting, while vacationing out of the country, and it wouldn’t cost his boss as much as he’s paid!
Lol. I wondered the same thing. Evryfreakingtime he opens his mouth…..AIR*****
Did anybody tune in early, before POTUS, FLOTUS and The Bidens arrived? I thought I saw Hill and Bill in the front row.
Later, only HRC and she was in the second row.
yeah it was just HRC and I’m glad.
My question was—-Did Bill Clinton leave? Then HRC move back a row?
Anybody tune in early and see this??????????????
I didn’t see Bill Clinton. HRC was on the second row. PBO also acknowledged HRC with a cheek kiss.
I watched the start of the service – One of the preachers acknowledged many of the attendees including Mrs Clinton – the applause went off the meter when her name was mentioned.
wow! Just a wonderful wonderful momentous and emotional, healing eulogy given by PBO. Thank you so much for posting the entire eulogy Chips. 😀
What an incredible week this has been
MSNBC continuing unabated prisoner on the loose coverage and so happy that Gov. Cuomo will be announcing something soon.
America—home of the brainwashed
Chipsticks, I sent you a graphic which I cannot post. It is related to this article from yesterday’s SCOTUS ruling, and it is brilliant!!
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/a-historic-day-for-america-marriage-equality-is-the-law-of-the-land
Thanks, Chips, for posting this! This eulogy was a masterpiece. It was not a political speech. It transcends politics. It is a moral and spiritual statement that tells the story of the struggle of an entire people to have dignity and live fruitful and blessed lives despite enormous suffering and challenge. For me it is a sermon, that consoles, uplifts, inspires, and asks me to be a better person. I know in my life of nearly 67 years I have never experienced before, nor will I again, experience a leader of our nation, an American president, who rises to these heights to be a healer and a prophet of restorative justice. The example of the lives of these beautiful people who have encountered and overcome such evil is a moral force for our entire nation.
❤ BillR ❤
^5 Bill!!!!!!
Yes, thank you for saying this. Exactly my thoughts too.
Thanks you Chips and NW for so carefully chronicling this emotional week. Splendid!
Love those two.
POTUS and FLOTUS have arrived home to the White House.
I am pouring myself a glass of good wine.
Me too. And turning off the escapee coverage.
Proceeding out onto my balcony with the wine to quietly contemplate this amazing day.
SO glad to see you here again, Vicki!
Thank you, meta. Sometimes my overly strong emotions make me realize I need a break. I am always interested in what you have to say.
Already here with wine. Reflecting on the Grace of God and how I can do better.
We are having a glass of wine and delivered pizza. It’s a day to rejoice and be glad!!!!
AMEN!
I had to attend a meeting at work this afternoon which started the same time President Obama began his speech. I made the error of delaying my attendance to watch the first few minutes, and never made it to that meeting. I called my supervisor who was chairing and told him to fill me in with what transpired for it was not possible for me to join them.
I was riveted to the computer screen. What a life transforming speech from the president! And then he began to sing Amazing grace and I felt my body chilled right down to my toes. I felt an anointing emanating from PBO and understood then that he was not only one of the of the greatest political leader the world has ever known, but he was also a spiritual leader; that his gift to lead was shaped by his relationship with his and our God. May the God who blessed this earth with this wonderful gift of humanity continue to guide, protect and inspire him and his beautiful family.
May God continue to bless and inspire us all.
^THIS^ a Gazillion times. What you said Prayer Warrior!!!
this. one million times.
❤ PWFO ❤
We all got the chills right along with you Prayer Warrior. What an amazing eulogy. Time stood still.
Thanks for your lovely words.
In remembrance.
This is a powerful version….yard….
Gonna throw a few tweets in to a post, back in a while-ish.
Oh, my! This melts my heart.
Up late – thank you so much MS Chips – going to watch the video
White House live:
thanks Forus
“Amazing Grace” is Twitter trending.
Pierce’s masterful words. http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a36034/obama-amazing-grace/
I don’t know about you, but I thought the eulogy delivered by the president today at the funeral of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, carefully crafted in the tradition of the embattled church where the massacre took place, beautifully delivered, was about the very best way to end a week in which there occurred new births of freedom. Not the freedom of the tricorn Gadsden flag crowd, not the freedom that pounds its chest and bellows its importance. But the simple freedom to live your lives — to pursue happiness, as Mr. Jefferson put it. The freedom from the economic cataclysm that can accompany catastrophic illness. The freedom to find a house in which to live without the tricks and traps of racism-laden bureaucracy. The freedom to share your life in union with whomever you love.
And then he talks about ” the song”….
df, thank you, excellent piece by Pierce. I think you will like this too. I haven’t read him before but he beautifully writes of this transcendent week.
Nice piece, forus50, Thanks for posting it here…I think that people’s eyes are opening and seeing for the first time what we have known all along… 🙂
watched the eulogy a number of times now – simply precious!
beautifully said Bobfr oh Twitter warrior and I’m tearing up again… 🙂
{{{psla}}}}
The crickets in the media goes to prove PBO’s point…..They couldn’t find anything to criticize or parse so let’s follow a manhunt in the woods…..sheesh!
Yes yardarm756 that has been 24/7 coverage since this evening.
I see Chris Hayes is about to give PBO some sun.
Chris actually did a great job tonight … made some great heartfelt comments, and not just about the President’s singing!
AMEN Sister!
Hey, sjterrid
If you’re out there, did you get my email address from Chips? Hope to hear from you in the next few days!
Hi Meta! I tried to email you, but it came back. I’m back in my hotel room now. Could you call the hotel, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero. My name is Terri Diamantoukos. It will be under my husband’s, Christopher, name.
We went to the Wharf today. It was great.
Hey! So glad you saw my message.
Just left you a message at your room with my phone number. Hope to connect!
Meta, your call went to my daughter’s room. She didn’t get your number. I’m in room 704.
that sweet child with her pink sandals, just clutches my heart.
every day i love my president, i’m proud of my president, i’m grateful for my president. and now even more.
Yes Malanna looks so precious in pick sweater, white dress and pink sandals. Her expression and tininess just breaks my heart. Her Daddy is gone. I just cannot even express how much I hurt for her and her big sister and her mother.
I am with you. She has such a beautiful innocence.
Everything that could be said about PBO has been said – what a man among men. There will not be another in my lifetime
ooooohhh this is IT! 🙂
Lol, “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Barack Obama!”
How cool is this?!!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kyleblaine/watch-the-white-house-to-be-lit-with-pride-colors#.cu2yPvean
From the WH Chief Digital Officer:
One too many. I really hope this is his last one.
What a week it has been.
MUCH BETTER:)
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/06/26/a-truly-memorable-day/
john cole
He’s such a good person. We’re just so lucky he put up with all our bullshit for the last couple of years because we really don’t deserve a President like him. I doubt we ever have a leader like this again in my lifetime.
My only nitpick is with the last couple of years.
NYC sight to see.
World trade center spire lit up rainbow in the sky. Right out my kitchen window.
What a day.
The MSM seems to have missed the powerful words and truth-telling the President administered during the Eulogy. All they seemed to have heard is POTUS singing Amazing Grace – which absolutely floored me. I’m just saying did the MSM not hear the awesome words spoken?
I am so grateful that I have been granted grace tonight to go to bed knowing that our wonderful president wrote his own speech, spoke the words of his speech, and eulogies his friend with grace and compassion and then sang one of his favorites hymns, Amazing Grace. What an amazing man, husband, father, friend, and President. Trust me, the President wrote this speech. Next, the haters will say he did not sing Amazing Grace at the service. Lord, have mercy on these people. Good night, my TOD family.
Chips, have I told you lately how much I appreciate you and love you my dear one ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( This much))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))HZ