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March 23, 2009

Obama volunteers will be ready to fight "later, when we have an army"

I've done everything I can to read this quote in context, but every time it comes out looking sinister.

Buried within an otherwise mundane, routine article about Obama supporters working to gin up populist support for Obama's budget, Birmingham, Alabama event organizer Chris DeHaven informed the reporter:
"We're looking for supporters," said DeHaven of Hoover, one of the event's organizers. "We're not looking for a fight. That will come later, when we have an army."
If someone can give me a benign interpretation of this, I'm ready to see it.

To help you out, here's more of the context of the quote:
Volunteers fanned out across the Birmingham area and Alabama Saturday to pump up enthusiasm for President Barack Obama's budget proposal in much the same way they did to win over voters during the presidential campaign.

About 30 volunteers in Birmingham canvassed shopping areas and other high-traffic locations to talk about the need for health care reform, an education overhaul and environmentally friendly energy development.

"If we don't change these three things in the next 10 to 15 years, America is over as we know it," Chris DeHaven, told the group of volunteers before they went their separate ways.

Obama's plan faces criticism from Republicans and others who say it's too expensive. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report Friday saying Obama's agenda would cause huge budget deficits, forcing the country to borrow $9.3 trillion in the next decade.

Those who gathered at Kelly Ingram Park in downtown Birmingham were urged to enlist others who share Obama's vision and to stay away from trying to convert naysayers.

"We're looking for supporters," said DeHaven of Hoover, one of the event's organizers. "We're not looking for a fight. That will come later, when we have an army."

The volunteers are part of Organizing for America, the same grassroots, national network credited in large part with Obama's quick rise from obscurity to president. Birmingham and 11 other sites statewide were part of a national push this weekend by Organizing for America to trumpet Obama's spending proposal.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tim said...

To the one who posted Chris DeHaven's home address and phone number:

I tagged this post with the label "Rule Of The Mob" because I believe that mob-driven action is often harmful in the long run (mainly because mobs are more emotion-driven than rational). I really don't want to be party to the incitement of direct action against the guy.

Be careful; turnabout is fair play. By posting his info on my blog, you're opening me up to retaliation. I doubt that you meant to do that.