Yes We Can

1. Carl Huber
   February 3rd, 2008 at 8:53 am

   So, wait, what's even the "story?" The Black Eyed Peas liked his speech so they made a little music video about it? That's not such a big deal. And I mean it is a powerful speech full of inspirational rhetoric (completely leaving his actual platform of ideals aside, because this was a victory speech from a primary, not a campaign interview, so it's totally fluff. It's nice fluff, yes, but just fluff)....but it's just a music video that uses clips from a politician's speech, right? Did I miss something?

2. CheeseDuck
   February 3rd, 2008 at 9:57 am

   The "story" was "how it took off like a rocket."

3. andrew
   February 3rd, 2008 at 9:58 am

   no you didn't miss anything. "It was created by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and Jesse Dylan (son of Bob), inspired by Barak Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech."

   It simply says they were inspired by his speech, and that the video is wildly popular now. I don't know what you expected...

   I for one really enjoyed it.

4. Jerse
   February 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 am

   That was awesome. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up...

5. Adam Stanhope
   February 3rd, 2008 at 10:52 am

   Ha - I just double posted this. You've foiled me again, Miss C!

6. Adam Stanhope
   February 3rd, 2008 at 10:53 am

   The story is that it is a mash-up of a political speech and a song. The speech was just delivered last month.

7. NeuroGirl
   February 3rd, 2008 at 11:16 am

   I'm not sure that I buy the story. That video had a few too many of the celebrities currently campaigning for Obama to have just been casually thrown together by unaffiliated parties. I would have actually liked it better if they had used normal people off the streets instead of celebrities in studios.

8. dumb video
   February 3rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm

   Well that was annoying.

9. The Slapster
   February 3rd, 2008 at 12:31 pm

   Ahhhh, I love the unbridled optimism at this stage of the campaigns.

   We can do anything!
   We'll fix everything!

   Fast forward to the first year of the next Presidency...

10. Edie
    February 3rd, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    Thank you for sharing that.

    "In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope".

11. Anonymouse
    February 3rd, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    That was fantastic. Where can we get the mp3?

12. Mike626
    February 3rd, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    Barack's campaign clearly knows about the video... it's prominently displayed on the campaign homepage.

13. rdubs
    February 3rd, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    Wow. Barack Obama's supporters never cease to amaze me with their armchair politicism. I'm a high schooler in Iowa, and all of my friends support him, but when I ask why, they say "Change". When I ask How, they say I don't know. Ron Paul is th only candidate with an actual plan for change. I worked for him before the caucuses, and he really does know what he's talking about. No one gives him a fair chance though because he is automatically dismissed as "one of those crazies". Do your research first, then vote.

14. Walker
    February 3rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm

    @rdubs:

    Too bad Ron Paul is a libertarian dinosaur. Putting the economy on the gold-standard and eliminating the income tax sounds more concrete than 'change' but really the concepts are just as vacuous. Ron Paul is talking about putting a modern post-industrial service economy under the same rules and limitations of a pre-industrial revolution rural farm-economy. If that's not a disaster waiting to happen, his "states rights" rhetoric is the only thing that trumps it. The idea that the internet savvy-bunch can be sold on the idea that "states rights" doesn't mean giving backwards southern states the ability to oppress minorities is preposterous, but it's just happened.

15. Tim
    February 3rd, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    Any time a politician opens his mouth I close my ears...

16. rdubs
    February 3rd, 2008 at 3:13 pm

    I think you took that a little too far with the "oppression of minorities", but for the last 7 or so years, the executive branch has raped the checks and balances system into submission. We are caught in a war where 30% of Iraq's oil is currently owned and operated by the organization of oil exporting countries, and that number increasing fast. I hate to look at this dillema from a profiteering standpoint, but even if you went into Iraq for oil(yes), you still haven't made a profit, not counting the countless humanitarian crises caused by it.

17. Walker
    February 3rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    Which is exactly why an orderly withdrawal of troops from Iraq is necessary and exactly what Obama has promised to provide. Beyond that, Ron Paul's plan for keeping government revenue the same while at the same time eliminating the income tax consists of withdrawing ALL US troops from around the world. I am not an imperialist by any means, but if you want to look at it from a profiteering standpoint, if you remove our troops from Germany, Afghanistan, South Korea, Japan and southeast asia, you are creating a situation for the rapid expansion of Chinese and Russian influence, which directly translates into less oil and revenue for the united states. Ron Paul is a binary politician, which is what makes him so appealing. However if you want an uncompromising politician with the right morals and ideals, you should be supporting Kucinich, not Paul.

18. joe
    February 3rd, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    obama is just another status quo fascist. kucinich is the closest thing we have to a real politician in washington. everyone else just wants to keep the money flowing to the richest 1%.

    the world won't be free until the last politician is strangled with the entrails of the last priest

19. CheeseDuck
    February 3rd, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    Um... Kucinich dropped out?

20. avraamov
    February 3rd, 2008 at 7:19 pm

    this video is the attack of the beautiful people. a window display for the gap. or borders. or starbucks. everywhere i go these bastards follow me, and half of them i don't even recognise, but they're still unmistakable. it's like background radiation and it eats my soul with its perfect teeth, just-so 'messy' hair, distressed denim and climbing on the back of anything interesting that moves. the sight of scarlett johannson singing in a vocal booth in a political video really is the ourobouros incarnate.

    don't get me wrong, i don't have a problem with obama, but this thing is international (i write from london, u.k) and is seen differently elsewhere. its no exaggeration to say that there's far more noise here in the u.k regarding your primaries than there is over much of our own politics. there's a direct line of influence which extends from your executive, via your media, corporations and political structures, through ours, to me.

    this is not an anti-american thing (i've never visited), but i don't feel i have a choice in any of this. yes, i know, i clicked on the link. silly me. and no, i've never met (or read) naomi klein...;-)

21. rdubs
    February 3rd, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    Ummmmm.... last time I checked, Paul was kicking the shit out of Kucinich, even though they're different parties.

22. shelly
    February 3rd, 2008 at 8:24 pm

    I liked that. I hadn't heard that speech. Yes, it's fluff and yes, they are the beautiful people--but it's inspirational.
    Still I imagine what Hillary's response would be: "No, you can't." But I dunno...maybe Mos Def is right and the Clintons and Bushs are passing the Presidency around like a party joint? I mean, when Ann Coulter says Hillary is more conservative than McCain it makes you think maybe Obama does equal change. Even if it's just a small amount. Every bit counts these days!

23. Alex
    February 3rd, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    I strongly disagree with Obama's plan to tax those who make more than $100,000 (because that's just middle class in California), but I quite like him as a presidential candidate.

    Here's a story that crystallized my feeling about him: Obama could have just thrown me under the bus.

    Whoever wins, history will be made.

24. ann
    February 4th, 2008 at 2:41 am

    Well, it's a great speech- you've got to give him that. I'm a bit (a bit? a MAJOR) skeptic when it comes to politicians and promises and rhetoric in our day, though. It seems like the power of the spoken word is mostly being exploited these days...

    What I really wanted to say was, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the video was my small nephew's 'Bob the Builder' video- "Bob the Builder, YES WE CAN!!"... he could sing it for hours at a time while doing anything he chose and racing around the house. Really, it was very inspiring, too...

25. TheSquid
    February 4th, 2008 at 9:53 am

    an individual making $100000.00 is not middle class in california. A couple making that might still be considered middle class but not an individual.

    And the speech was better without the song

26. Angela
    February 4th, 2008 at 2:12 pm

    I first heard YES WE CAN from Bob the Builder as well. I think this video is beautifully put together and is very touching, even if you are not into politics or this candidate. He is the best option we have at this point.

    This link details why the video was put together:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william/why-i-recorded-yes-w_b_84655.htm l

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT