--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think people are dazzled by Obama's…" description: "\"I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president — which mea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/howard-zinn-576_dangerous_i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rh_2429371.jpg" --- # I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that… ![“I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president — which means, in our time, a dangerous president — unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction.” quote by Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/howard-zinn-576_dangerous_i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rh_2429371.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/howard-zinn-576_dangerous_i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rh_2429371.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/howard-zinn-576_dangerous_i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rh_2429371.jpg) > “I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president — which means, in our time, a dangerous president — unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction.” [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker warns that without collective action, a leader may become ineffective and dangerous. **In simple terms:** Collective effort needed to guide leaders. Key Takeaway Engage in civic activism. Themes politics leadership citizenship Mood concerned determined Type political activist When to use this quote - election cycles - policy debates - grassroots campaigns Key Concepts democracy social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What actions can you take to influence leadership? - How do you balance hope and realism? A Different Perspective Change may be slow and contested. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dangerous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous/) [Dangerous President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous-president-261406/) [Dazzled Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dazzled-obama-261407/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mediocre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocre/) [Mediocre President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocre-president-261403/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Obama Rhetoric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obama-rhetoric-261404/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) [Rhetoric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhetoric/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) [Understand Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-obama-261405/) ## Related quotes > [We voted for Obama on rhetoric of 'hope and change.' We voted for him because of some idea that he was beyond politics and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-rubin/we-voted-for-obama-on-rhetoric-of-hope-and-change-we-voted-for-him/) [Dave Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-rubin/) > [You've never heard me talk about politics all that much, and it's just - I can't think of anybody more dangerous as president than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-cuban/you-ve-never-heard-me-talk-about-politics-all-that-much-and-it-s-just/) [Mark Cuban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-cuban/) > [“This is a book unlike any other on Barack Obama. It is not the typical effusive book of apostolic praise, but neither is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/this-is-a-book-unlike-any-other-on-barack-obama-it-is-not-the-typical-2/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) > [Pen in Barack Obama hands is far more dangerous than any other president, at least in modern history, if not ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bolling/pen-in-barack-obama-hands-is-far-more-dangerous-than-any-other/) [Eric Bolling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bolling/) > [ “\[I consider Obama\] \[w\]orse than Bush. I have to say that. I actually voted for Obama. It's all rhetoric for me now. As Americans… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-harwood/i-consider-obama-w-orse-than-bush-i-have-to-say-that-i-actually-voted/) [Matthew Harwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-harwood/) > [“This is a book unlike any other on Barack Obama. 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It is in the darker regions of science that great men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/mediocre-men-often-have-the-most-acquired-knowledge-it-is-in-the/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Philadelphians are every whit as mediocre as their neighbors, but they seldom encourage each other in mediocrity by giving it a more agreeable name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/philadelphians-are-every-whit-as-mediocre-as-their-neighbors-but-they/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [I was haunted always by my other life-my drab room in the Bronx, my square foot of the subway, my fixation upon the day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-was-haunted-always-by-my-other-life-my-drab-room-in-the-bronx-my/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [To the distracting occupations belong especially my lecture courses which I am holding this winter for the first time, and which now cost much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/to-the-distracting-occupations-belong-especially-my-lecture-courses/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [To run with the majority during the race of life is to be mediocre all of the time and wrong most of the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/len-smith/to-run-with-the-majority-during-the-race-of-life-is-to-be-mediocre/) [Len Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/len-smith/) > [We create a standard for how we want to do things and everybody's got to buy into that standard or you really can't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-saban/we-create-a-standard-for-how-we-want-to-do-things-and-everybody-s-got/) [Nick Saban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-saban/) > [Preserve your energy - do not waste it on mediocre activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-wilde/preserve-your-energy-do-not-waste-it-on-mediocre-activity/) [Stuart Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-wilde/) > [Finding patterns is easy in any kind of data-rich environment; that's what mediocre gamblers do. The key is in determining whether the patterns represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-silver/finding-patterns-is-easy-in-any-kind-of-data-rich-environment-that-s/) [Nate Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-silver/) > [I want to be involved in things I can be really proud of. There's a lot of bad films being made and I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisling-loftus/i-want-to-be-involved-in-things-i-can-be-really-proud-of-there-s-a/) [Aisling Loftus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisling-loftus/) ## More by Howard Zinn > [“A black man, Benjamin Banneker, who taught himself mathematics and astronomy, predicted accurately a solar eclipse, and was appointed to plan the new city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-black-man-benjamin-banneker-who-taught-himself-mathematics-and/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/there-is-no-flag-large-enough-to-cover-the-shame-of-killing-innocent/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“a good education is a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, because each enrich the other. 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Not overwhelming evidence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-can-understand-pessimism-but-i-don-t-believe-in-it-it-s-not-simply/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. It is a corrective to the sluggishness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/protest-beyond-the-law-is-not-a-departure-from-democracy-it-is/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Now I have been studying very closely what happens every day in the courts in Boston, Massachusetts. You would be astounded--maybe you wouldn't, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/now-i-have-been-studying-very-closely-what-happens-every-day-in-the/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [They were not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, they were absent in the Constitution and they were invisible in the new political democracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/they-were-not-mentioned-in-the-declaration-of-independence-they-were/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Sexual purity was to be the special virtue of a woman. It was assumed that men, as a matter of biological nature, would sin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/sexual-purity-was-to-be-the-special-virtue-of-a-woman-it-was-assumed/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Middle-class Americans might be invited to join a new elite by attacks against the corruption of the established rich. The New Yorker Cadwallader Colden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/middle-class-americans-might-be-invited-to-join-a-new-elite-by/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/if-those-in-charge-of-our-society-politicians-corporate-executives/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/we-were-not-born-critical-of-existing-society-there-was-a-moment-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Behind the deceptive words designed to entice people into supporting violence -- words like democracy, freedom, self-defense, national security -- there is the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/behind-the-deceptive-words-designed-to-entice-people-into-supporting/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“George Washington had turned down the requests of blacks, seeking freedom, to fight in the Revolutionary army. So when the British military commander in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/george-washington-had-turned-down-the-requests-of-blacks-seeking/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) [Explore all 461 Howard Zinn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## More Dangerous quotes > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Every one knows that the exercise of military power is forever dangerous to civil rights; and we have had recent instances of violences that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/every-one-knows-that-the-exercise-of-military-power-is-forever/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. 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They feel that it makes their profession too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/the-proliferation-of-right-to-carry-laws-throughout-the-states-has/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) [Browse all 6,450 Dangerous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president — which means, in our time, a dangerous president — unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Howard Zinn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rhetoric-and-that-people-ought/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dangerous" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rhetoric-and-that-people-ought/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/howard-zinn-576_dangerous_i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rh_2429371.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/howard-zinn-576_dangerous_i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rh_2429371.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/howard-zinn-576_dangerous_i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rh_2429371.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is…” — Howard Zinn", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Howard Zinn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think people are dazzled by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rhetoric-and-that-people-ought/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-think-people-are-dazzled-by-obama-s-rhetoric-and-that-people-ought/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```