Come on, feel the noise... (sic)

Quiet Riot, eh? I like it. If he's playing the demographics numbers, gotta hand it to him for courting the non-Boomers.

Seems like he's doing a lot of courting here, in fact. I wonder who this should worry more? Myself, I trust the religious left -- particularly non- "established Protestants" which is an open category -- far more than I do than what passes for the Religious Right.* Too hypocritical, too 'giving free passes to some' for my tastes.

But that's just me, my demographics...

"Those 'quiet riots' that take place every day are born from the same place as the fires and the destruction and the police decked out in riot gear and the deaths," Obama said. "They happen when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates. Despair takes hold and young people all across this country look at the way the world is and believe that things are never going to get any better."

He argued that once a hurricane hits or a jury renders a not guilty verdict, "the frustration is there for all to see."

Obama, who is bidding to become the first black president, took the stage after a succession of ministers repeatedly brought the crowd to its feet, singing, praying and swaying to music.

Repeatedly, with evangelical zeal, he raised issues that roused the crowd: increasing the minimum wage and teacher pay, funding for public schools and college financial aid for the poor, ending predatory lending and expediting the reconstruction of New Orleans and the Mississippi coast.

He introduced his own pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago's Trinity United as "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." He credited Wright with introducing him to Christ, and peppered his speech with Scriptural references, at one point invoking the opening lines of the Lord's Prayer.

Obama noted that during the riots, a bullet pierced the abdomen of a pregnant woman and lodged in the elbow of her fetus. The baby was delivered by caesarian section, the bullet was removed and the child, Jessica Glennis Evers-Jones, has only a small scar on her arm to show for it.

Using the incident as a metaphor, Obama said society's problems are worsening because "in too many places across the country, we have not even bothered to take the bullet out."

"When we have more black men in prison than in college, then it's time to take the bullet out," he said.

Gimme back... Gimme back... Gimme back my Bullets! ...
Yeah, he'll do fine.
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*Don't read too much into that.
Pick Your Poison, so to speak...