Can somebody explain this definition from Wikipedia to me?

"Community organizing is a process by which people are brought together to act in common self-interest. While organizing describes any activity involving people interacting with one another in a formal manner, much community organizing is in the pursuit of a common agenda. Many groups seek populist goals and the ideal of participatory democracy. Community organizers create social movements by building a base of concerned people, mobilizing these community members to act, and developing leadership from and relationships among the people involved."

9/6/2008 9:04:27 PM

it's someone who organizes various community groups and then uses the force to act on legislation or action

like local chapters of the nra, madd or the klu klux klan

9/6/2008 9:16:33 PM

ku*

9/6/2008 9:18:18 PM

oh, so groups like the "Orwellian program" or the blaque panthers?

btw both michelle obama and barack were president of this Orwellian program ->

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=305420655186700

9/6/2008 9:20:15 PM

read the rest of the very same Wikipedia article you copied from and you'll get some more clarification and examples.

i have a feeling you just made this thread just so you'd have an excuse to re-post a racist picture you're throwing around chit chat

9/6/2008 9:20:40 PM

before i shared that picture with our friends from chit chat, i was just doing a friendly little google search on "community organizer"

excuse me, but i think there's about 1000000000000000 gazillion images out there that are easily more witty than that one that poke fun at mccain and his military service, i was just surprised to see something anti obama ON THE INTERNET. OMGZORS

[Edited on September 6, 2008 at 9:25 PM. Reason : .]

9/6/2008 9:24:44 PM

George Orwell's work is marked by a profound consciousness of social injustice, an intense dislike of totalitarianism, and a passion for clarity in language. He wrote in many different forms, including memoirs, histories, critical essays, opinion columns and book reviews, but his most famous works are two novels, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell

9/6/2008 9:26:30 PM

Quote :

"i was just surprised to see something anti obama ON THE INTERNET. OMGZORS"

^^you've posted other anti-obama pics before, even earlier today in fact, you couldn't have been that surprised

9/6/2008 9:37:36 PM

Per info gleaned from Wikipedia:

Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago from June 1985 to May 1988.

Obama worked with Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale) on Chicago's far South Side.

Obama served as the DCP director, during which time:
- the DCP staff grew from 1 to 13
- its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000

DCP accomplishments
- set up a job training program
- college preparatory tutoring program
- tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens (see below)

Quote :

"Altgeld Gardens is a housing project located on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The residents are 97% African American according to the 2000 US Census.[1] Built in 1945 with 1,498 units, the development consists primarily of two-story row houses spread over 190 acres. It was built to satisfy the need for African American veterans returning from World War II and was originally owned by the federal government, but was granted to the Chicago Housing Authority in 1956. It is one of the densest concentrations of potentially hazardous pollution sources in North America. Many of the landfills that surround them are unregulated, and some of those are still being used. Since most of these landfills as well as many industrial plants are located along the waterways surrounding the area, of the 18 miles of rivers and lakes surrounding Altgeld Gardens, 11 miles of them are unfit for human consumption and recreation, though many residents still fish in them citing that “something’s going to kill them anyway.”"

Obama was also a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation:

Quote :

"The Gamaliel Foundation was founded in Chicago in 1968 to assist the Contract Buyers League, which worked to assist African-American home buyers in the city’s West Side, where banks and savings and loan companies had discriminated against black people. Gamaliel was reoriented to focus on community organizing when Gregory Galluzzo was hired as executive director in 1986.[1] Seeing its basic function as training and developing leaders in low-income communities, Gamaliel’s goal is “to assist local community leaders to create, maintain and expand independent, grassroots, and powerful faith-based community organizations”[2] that have the power to influence political and economic decisions that impact cities and regions. The name “Gamaliel” refers to the Biblical wise man who was a teacher to St. Paul (see Acts 5:38-39; and Acts 22:3), whom Saul Alinsky considered to be the first great congregation-based organizer."

9/7/2008 8:50:10 PM

If that's what he was up to during that time, most would say a school principle would outqualify him for president.

9/7/2008 9:01:13 PM

because he hasn't been a senator

basically his resume consists of him being a community organizer 20 years ago

9/7/2008 10:26:12 PM

Figured someone might say ^ and ^^... so here's the rest of his resume'

Late 1988 - entered Harvard Law School
end of his 1st year - selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review
2nd year - elected president of the Law Review (1st black president)

1991 - graduates magna cum laude from Harvard

April to October 1992
Directed Illinois Project Vote
- a voter registration drive with a staff of 10 and 700 volunteers
- achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state

Obama included in Crain's Chicago Business - 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be

Mid-1995 - traveled to Bali where he wrote for several months - Dreams from My Father

1995 - Mother dies of ovarian cancer

1992-2004 - Taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School
- Lecturer (1992–1996),
- Senior Lecturer (1996–2004).

1993 - 2004 - joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland,
- 12-attorney law firm
- specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development,
- associate 1993 to 1996
- of counsel from 1996 to 2004

1992 - Founding member of the board of directors of Public Allies in 1992, resigning before his wife, Michelle, became the founding executive director of Public Allies Chicago in early 1993.[12][26]

Obama also served on the board of directors of the
- Woods Fund of Chicago, 1993–2002,
- Joyce Foundation from 1994–2002
- Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995–2002,
* as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995–1999.
- Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- Center for Neighborhood Technology
- Lugenia Burns Hope Center.[12]

1997–2004 - State legislator

- sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers
- negotiated welfare reform
- promoted increased subsidies for childcare

2001 - co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules

2003 - sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations.

January 2003 - became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee

During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms.[36]

2005–present - U.S. Senator

Introduced two initiatives bearing his name:
"Lugar–Obama," which expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons,
"Coburn–Obama Transparency Act," which authorized the establishment of http://www.USAspending.gov, a web search engine

June 3, 2008, Senator Obama, along with Senators Carper, Coburn and McCain, introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.

Obama also sponsored legislation requiring nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks.

December 2006 - Sponsored AND Enacted - "Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act,"

January 2007, Obama co-sponsored the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, - signed into law in September 2007.
- strengthens public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity and funding,
- places more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff,
- provides for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills.

Other bills Introduced/Sponsored

- S. 453, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections.

Quote :

"- Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007. The legislation proposed by Obama is similar to the plan called for in the Iraq Study Group report issued in December, 2006. "Our troops have performed brilliantly in Iraq, but no amount of American soldiers can solve the political differences at the heart of somebody else's civil war," Important aspects of the plan 1) Binding legislation that would not be able to be bypassed without explicit Congressional approval. 2) Caps the number of U.S. troops at the January 10, 2007 level. 3) Does not affect the funding of the troops. 4) Initiates a phased redeployment beginning on May 1, 2007 with a goal of total redeployment of combat forces on March 31, 2008, consistent with the bipartisan Iraq Study Group's Report. 5) Enforces benchmarks for Iraq's government including Security, political reconciliation and economic reform. If the benchmarks are met, the redeployment could be temporarily suspended upon congressional approval. 6) Maintains a military presence in the region for force protection, training of Iraqi forces, and pursuing international terrorists. 7) Requires Congressional oversight with the President reporting a progress report on Iraq to Congress every 90 days. 8) Intensifies training of Iraqi security forces to enable Iraqi's to take over the security responsibilities for Iraq. 9) Puts conditions on economic assistance to the Government of Iraq based on progress towards benchmarks. 10) Attempts to create more regional diplomacy with key nations in the region to help achieve a political settlement among the Iraqi people, and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and regional conflict."

- sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act adding safeguards for personality disorder military discharges.

- "Iran Sanctions Enabling Act" supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry

- co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.

- Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.

[Edited on September 8, 2008 at 9:04 AM. Reason : s]

[Edited on September 8, 2008 at 9:05 AM. Reason : s]

9/8/2008 9:02:58 AM

A community organizer is an individual that inspires a grassroots movement to get people involved in making a difference in their community. MLK was a community organizer.

[Edited on September 8, 2008 at 10:38 AM. Reason : -]

9/8/2008 10:37:19 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SwwO00aWqM

9/8/2008 11:23:02 AM

community organizer

9/8/2008 12:30:42 PM

Quote :

"If that's what he was up to during that time, most would say a school principle would outqualify him for president."

If that's what your assessment of his record is, most would say a 6-year-old would outqualify you for posting in this thread.

Seriously, take a look at what he accomplished in just three years. Then try and convince us that it was on par with being a school president

9/8/2008 12:43:41 PM

Don't you hate when people try to make a difference in their community?

9/8/2008 12:53:27 PM

here's the kind of ideas our hot-debating-organizer comes up with

does anyone see the retardation in this?

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080907/D93228880.html

so obama says he wont raise the taxes of the rich if we are in a recession. so is he admitting that higher taxes hurt our economy?

9/8/2008 1:18:22 PM

fyi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bills_sponsored_by_Barack_Obama_in_the_United_States_Senate

9/8/2008 1:30:30 PM

Quote :

"so is he admitting that higher taxes hurt our economy?"

yes.

he's surrounded by University of Chicago economists - they won't let him be a commie.

9/8/2008 1:33:04 PM

Quote :

"here's the kind of ideas our hot-debating-organizer comes up with does anyone see the retardation in this?"

I see the hackery in this. Are you really this simple-minded, or do you just enjoy being a dipshit? Personally I like the fact that Obama's willing to break with his base if the circumstances dictate it. As opposed to McCain who seems to think we can make the Bush tax cuts permanent AND stay in Iraq AND somehow reduce the budget deficit all at once.

9/8/2008 5:51:12 PM

Quote :

"A community organizer is an individual that inspires a grassroots movement to get people involved in making a difference in their community. MLK was a community organizer."

And a governor is someone that takes vacations to Italy on the state's dime, then hooks their spouse up with a sweet job/raise. You're really doing your job if you can wreck a few NASCARs along the way.

9/8/2008 8:18:44 PM

community organizer

9/15/2008 1:42:10 AM