All eyes are likely to be on Barack Obama tonight as he addresses the American public during a half-hour block of time his campaign has purchased from the major networks. (Unless, of course, you’re a big fan of ABC’s Pushing Daisies. Then you’re in luck!)
Many people are wondering what tonight’s program will look like. Will we get a schmaltzy biographal treatment of Obama’s life history? Will Obama speak directly to the American people? (Whatever you do, don’t stage it like a Presidential address!).
Who knows what the campaign has in mind. But one thing is for sure, SNL’s vision for the “Obama Show” would probably be a whole heckuva lot more entertaining!
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Shane Bertou 
WARNING: WET BLANKET ALERT!!
i had sworn off talking about this anymore until after the election, but i can’t do it.
let me say first and foremost, i trust that christians voting for obama are doing so because they have done research, they feel convicted to, and they’ve prayed about it. so in that sense, i say fine, go ahead and so. i am in no way going to stand in your way.
what is bothersome to me, however, is that there is this mentality from Jim Wallace to Donald Miller to the ordinary christian blogger that somehow obama’s presidency is going to bring about an advancement of the kingdom of Jesus because of the push for the common good. there is this idea that by voting for obama we are voting for the love of Jesus.
i have two main concerns:
1) that christians will now be less likely to actually live out the love of Jesus because the president (Obama) and his congress (Pelosi) are doing it for them…hah!! It’s laughable in my opinion. Seriously, do we as the body of Christ really believe that this will happen? history proves again and again that power corrupts and no matter what the good intentions were originally, something is lost along the way.
2) that this man will eventually use my taxes to fund programs i completely abhor ( i know i know, he’s not going to tax me. well, talk to me in a few years) and that because of higher taxes all people will lack the funds to give to charities of their choice.
I don’t know man. Is that really much different than the past 30 years of the mentality in the Evangelical wing of the church that a vote for the Republican is a vote for the morality of Jesus? Because there’s certainly been no shortage of talk about advancing the “kingdom agenda” on a few key issues from those on the right.
Are you equally bothered by that? I see both messages being similar – and equally troubling.
What you’re really talking about is the frequently debated thin line between kingdoms once politics gets involved. And (as you of course know) there are several schools of thought on it. Some Christians think faith and politics should be like oil and water. Others see the “culture war” as another front for the battle of good and evil.
For others, their faith shapes their worldview and they see their vote merely as an extension of those values. I think the overwhelming majority of folks, on both sides of the aisle are in this group. They have issues that are important to them, to some degree directly because of their faith. They vote for the candidate who best speaks to those issues in their opinion. And then they go about living their lives as best they can, in accordance with their faith and values.
I don’t share your fear that the church is going to start outsourcing its “living out the kingdom” to the government – no matter who gets elected. Did they do so under Clinton? Under Carter? Reagan or the Bushes for that matter? Half the church despises Obama – as they did Clinton. I sincerely doubt they’ll be lured over to the dark side. Not while there’s still term limits. 😆
yes i am equally bothered by that.
hence my disgust with voting anymore.
Now can we please stop hijacking posts? 😆
First there was the nice story about the girl with down syndrome that was voted homecoming queen by her peers. For some reason that sent Jess on a rant about killing babies.
Then tilley saw a picture of a pumpkin throwing up and felt compelled to change the subject to child molestation.
Now a funny SNL skit – which makes fun of Obama – sends Jim veering off the road and into a field marked “The infinite abyss of the church’s role in politics.”
It’s bad enough just about everything I post turns into some kind of Shane vs. Jim + Jess + Pdog + JohnKeane + Stem + tilley political diatribe. Which is pretty freaking taxing. At least save those for times they’re relevant! 😆
my apologies, i’ll go back to my cave and allow this obama train to keep on rollin. i have some koolaid to make anyway.
speaking of SNL:
“harry bellafonte, keep this crazy train rolling!”
Choo choo.
Pokemon is a slave trader; Pikachu is a slave master!
The ironic thing about that sketch is the (not so) subtle dig on Clinton’s desire to stay top of mind when it comes to the party. Especially since tonight’s “Obama Show” is rumored to feature a live appearance by President Clinton himself.
that’s one of the funniest SNL bits in the last couple of years in my opinion. i can’t believe you pulled out the slave trader reference. you know your SNL!
Jim + Jess + Pdog + JohnKeane + Stem = people trying to talk some sense into their friend shane! 😉
pumpkins always make me think of molestation.
butrose, the beauty of this blog is that all these people come together from various backgrounds and ideologies with one common thing in mind – to make you feel like a total moron who requires assistance removing your soiled undies. and, honestly, i can’t think of a better way to spend a wednesday. vote nader!
seriously though, SNL reeeeeeeeally needs to get a skinny black dude with big ears (maybe will smith will consider?) on the cast, b/c this whole blackface thing just reminds me of eddie murphy playing the very geraldo looking white dude 25 years ago.
I’m with you Tim. And it’s taken Fred Armisen this long to work up an impression that even sounds REMOTELY close to Obama.
Heck, Maya Rudolph could have probably done better.
yeah he is definately not a good obama. i think maya could have done better! 😉
That whole clip is profoundly unfunny. The current version of SNL might as well be “All That.”
Did you just drop a Nickelodeon reference?
Represent.
p.s. “white devils be craaaaaaaaazy”
i netflixed a documentary on the weathermen, and maybe i’m a bit touched in the head, but ayers was poston-esque. watch it, maybe you’ll see it, too.
So back to that wet blanket thing, because I came into this convo late… I’ve been under the view that the Church has let the government overtake it’s benevolence a long time ago. People don’t look to the Church for assistance anymore. Doors are closed if it’s not Sunday morning, and most of the churches are skimped for cash anyway. Not to mention the cynicism of Christians to all those asking for a “hand out” not a “hand up”. I hear regularly from Christians that no one benefits from a “hand out”…. Good luck, I’ll pray for you. Yeah, that’s Christlike.
The Church dropped the ball generations ago as we let welfare and government aid replace helping people with BOTH practical needs and the love of Christ. Until the Church steps up to meet these needs again in a significant and consistent way then how relevant is the love of Christ that we claim to be sharing? Obama and McCain can’t fix this problem because it’s not theirs to fix, but at least they can help take care of those in need until the Church decides to do it’s job.
Which goes along with something Ron Sider says in The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. In the book he argues that if only American Evangelicals tithed 10% – we could put an end to global poverty.
But we all know we wouldn’t. If we had that much money at our disposal, we’d build bigger churches, with stadium seating and Jumbotrons and stage lights and fog machines to “enhance worship.”
The more I read Acts, the more the average church budget looks upside down to me. I’m not trying to be a cynical jerk. It’s just how I see it. The vast majority of the money stays in house. Especially in smaller churches where 80% goes to salary and building overhead. That’s a major reason why we stopped giving … and “going.”
Oops. I probably wasn’t supposed to let that be known publicly. 😆
i am so with you matty, but i also belong to a church that is totally doing it right i feel like.
a small example is a few years ago when three damns in our lake town busted in a bad rainstorm and literally flooded hundreds of homes. our church was so involved in the resuce/clean up efforts that they (the township) actually put our executive pastor in charge of all the efforts. now the township does turn to the church with needs, even rec. programs are held at our church building. awesome.
we see a lot of that in our church, actually a lot of it is totally unseen, but goes on all the time, helping people pay their mortgages, buy groceries, get meals when they are sick, on and on.
i wish it was more of a common thing, than a rarity. i wish there was more of a push in christian circles towards that than political action, cause this kind of stuff makes a much bigger difference, to people and to communities.
And don’t get me wrong. I’ve been around long enough to know that the stuff Jess is talking about happens all the time. Church folk are good folk!
But I also know that most of that stuff happens despite Sunday morning, and in lieu of an operating budget.
I still contend that a church – really, at the heart of what the church is and is supposed to do – doesn’t need an operating budget. In fact, they may very well be handcuffing the church and keeping it from being what God intended it to be?
I dunno. Maybe I’m just a dude with way too much baggage. 😆
Baggage – yes. Cynicism to the establishment – yes. Some accurate critiques – yes.
hey, i haven’t thrown too many wet blankets on non political threads….(have i?)
anyway, i always thought that my comments were from the ivory tower of reason.
in addition, for tim and nadar folks, i saw a truck here in the WV that would have you dry heaving in protest.
it had the most racist bumper stickers i’ve ever seen on on a vehicle this side of the 1940’s. the most tame among them had a picture of the white house with a rebel flag and the quote “i have a dream” above it.
but in the mix of these bigoted and racist proclamations was a Nadar 08′ sticker.
my stereotype meter broke, i can tell you that much.
if only they knew that nader is lebanese. yeah, an ARAB. oh noes!!! maybe it was ironical. like the kids who go to brown and RISD and walk around thayer st. with shirts that say mccain and then some witty other word. i love rich kids playing marxists 🙂
so he’s actually nadir? i bet he is. that is really funny, i never knew that. lebanese are known in the arab world, first to be the most christian, but also like the rich, clean, snobby ones. i am not explaining it well. but its funny that he’s lebanese.
from what i’ve read, lebanon was like the “party state” in the middle east prior to the fundamentalist rise to power. it was like pre-castro cuba 🙂 his parents, nathra & rose, were christian immigrants who moved to winsted, CT. apparently he’s fluent in arabic. i bet that can get rob to vote for him!
i hope every is convinced that who ever the vote for would best represent them as a follower of Jesus and would act how they would like….I hope it is not just a reaction because bush screwed up in certain areas..
as far as the church thing…i am beyond biased but i believe the only hope for the world is the local church through the power of Jesus… in the end the intellectual, business, political will ultimately not be able to meet the need that is needed….only Jesus (A.B would be proud of that statement)
as someone that receives income from the “overhead” I wouldn’t be as effective in my ministry without it and wouldn’t be as effective in reaching students for christ without the lights on, computers, paper…but before I go off on some of those comments that seem to be said with out a good understand i will shut my mouth….
BTW….jim can you tell me where that cave is so we can celebrate the phillies win together
I have a good understand(ing). I’ve grown up in the church, been a youth pastor and a pastor – voluntarily, part-time and full-time.. I don’t mean to call your career path into question, it’s just how I see things. I’m not looking to pick fights with professional pastors. Lord knows you’ve got enough on your hands.
ugghhh. it’s not even worth the argument anymore.
I’m glad we agree. I’m not interesting in “arguing” about anything.
did all you guys go to college together?
Nyack must have been a happening place back in the day.
Alot of us did. JohnKeane was my roommate. Jim E. and Tim were roommates. Other Nyack alumni that come by include JoshWay, Cricky, Ryan, Tilley, Jess, Binkelet — who else am I forgetting?
Yeah, all you crazy Nyacks dominate this board. Those of us who went to a credible bible college are the minority…
I kid. I kid.
but we all love each other…..well most of us do…jim and I are just angry south jersey boys…its what happens when you grow up on the tough rich streets of medford…
I found a shirt online that I want to buy that say” I am not angry I am from philly”
oh Yeah Go Phillies
i love all my nyack peoples 🙂 i even love stem & pdog! and i have no idea who they are! timmy loves everyone who takes the time out to give butrose (shane, for those who have no idea who i’m talking about all the times i say butrose) a hard time 🙂
but ryan brings up what i think should be a new topic on a new post…what’s the deal with philly fans?!?! is it as bad as everyone says?!?! and if so, why?!?! i mean, i’ve been to philly, it doesn’t seem like such a bad place to be.
shut up…
rob sanzone has a shirt that says:
” Welcome to New Jersey, now get the hell out ”
something about Philly/South Jersey has this attitude…I think it’s the strong Italian influence to be honest but that’s just me.
well i’m knee deep in italians (or i-talians as my father says) here in RI (the town i live in has a population of 28k…27,999 old italians and me!) and boston and nyc do, too, but you don’t hear as much talk about boston & ny fans – you do hear it b/c plenty on both sides are idiots – but for some reason philly fans are always talked about as being maniacs. i’d think cleveland fans would be the worst. i mean, they haven’t won anything in forever and they live in…well…cleveland. yeah. now that’s rough!
yeah i think it’s the mix of culture and loosing streak that really makes a wicked crowd!
Whenever you talk about RI I think about a line in The Departed, and then I think about this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-64CaD8GXw
i think about the departed, too, and how many times i’ve wanted to do what dicaprio does 🙂