Mr. Obama, This Is What A Statesman Should Look Like In The Face of Ferguson

[GoLeft TV]

President Obama,
Please watch what a world class statesman did in the face of one of the greatest civil rights tragedies in this country. This was an extemporaneous speech delivered in the Indianapolis inner city the very day of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. Please watch and learn.

[bluestateguy]

1. What condescending tripe

Because Barack Obama doesn't care about black people.

Because he has no clue what it's like to be black in America.

[still_one]

5. The condescending tripe is from the OP, NOT the president. This is a stupid thread.

[bluestateguy]

12. I agree with you , that's what I meant

nt

[still_one]

18. I pretty much thought that, but just wanted to put a little emphasis on it. Thanks

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. Obama is not that man.

He avoids taking hard positions, he prefers compromise, and he hates the idea of facing those who disagree with him

[still_one]

6. bullshit.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. Ok.

Where was he when the whole death panel crap started up? Was he out there defending his plan, supporting Ds who literally begged him for support and some public guidance? Nope. He was the Real Nowhere Man.

There are many other examples, but one stands out. He "demanded" that we "force" him to do stuff by holding his feet to the fire and pushing him to act. We tried that, only to have Rahm tell us to piss off.

To make matters worse, Rahm now is fucking up my kind of town. Sigh.

No, you must be right. Obama has been the most effective president since slice bread was discovered by Vikings looking for new things to plunder. Not. Yes, the GOP has been hideous, but Obama shares some of the blame.

[still_one]

3. There is nothing the president has done wrong on this. He has the justice dept

and FBI involved. He has also been in touch with people in the state. He had a press conference and pretty much said what Bobby said

Have no idea where you are coming from, but I would suspect the president has done very little right in your eyes

Incidentally he has been working his ass off this week on a lot of issues and he is supposed to be on vacation

[upaloopa]

4. I remember those times so well. We wondered if

we would ever be able to have a peaceful country again.
We had the war, the assassinations, the cities burning, the killings down South it was easy to lose hope then.
Today I think we have not learned a damn thing and it is easy to lose hope today.
Don't blame the President. Sure he is in the White House, but blame anyone who cannot see that we are going in the wrong direction in this country. Like Bobby said we can be a great country.
On edit: it is easy to look to Obama and blame him it is harder to do the work that needs to be done by each of us.

[Jack Rabbit]

16. I was 16 when that speech was given

I remember the time. The bitterest thing about 1968 is that after Dr. King and Senator Kennedy were assassinated, Richard Nixon was elected president on the "Southern strategy." That was a bitter pill to swallow.

The divisions that plagued us in the sixties are still with us today. Through a generation of Republican misleadership of Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes, all willfully ignorant of the divisions between rich and poor that they exacerbated, we now see an alarming divide and a culture of entitlement by the rich who believe they should be able to steal everything we commoners have earned. Thoughout the time since 1968, we have seen more racism at home at abroad, where the racism takes the form of an imperialist war. What's worse, it doesn't even take a Republican to pave the getaway route for the thieves on Wall Street or bomb brown people into submission any more. Nowadays when I hear the usual Democratic platitudes from politicians trying to appeal to the masses, I can't help but hear cynical cackling from the cloakroom.

There are no worthy political leaders any more. The only way to get elected is to take tainted money, whether it comes from the fascist Koch brothers backing Republicans or crooked bankers backing Democrats.

This has left us on our own. We really are the knights in shining armor for whom we have been waiting all these years.

[still_one]

7. Mr. Obama? He is President Obama. You have a problem with that?

[heaven05]

11. yeah, he does

I suspect he's one of the kind with the mindset to be able to call the President a liar during a SOU address. No respect for the man or the office.

[truth2power]

13. Oh fercrissake...We went through this during GW's Reign of Terror...

People were either angry (R's) or LOL (D's) because news anchors and other media persons were referring to Dubya as Mr. Bush. Then it became known that it was perfectly acceptable to refer to the President as MR....

Same thing as someone, when posting on a blog, using just the last name of the President. Apparently that really chaps some people, when it's just a case of less typing. It's not a Ph.D dissertation.

Try not to pick a fight over trivia.

[heaven05]

15. yeah sure,

with bush, it was a matter of intelligence and competence, now, there is always, because of the race angle, a suspicion that disrespect emanates from that point in someones mind, ferchristsakes!!!!!!!!!!! This country is a cesspool of overt and covert racism dontchaknow. Plus even though people don't, won't agree with POTUS policies respect for the man and office is a given. I even saw on this site where people wanted respect for that man bush and the office. Naw, won't wash. Per your media reference, that man bush was always, 99% of the time, called President Bush by MSM.

[truth2power]

20. As to your last sentence...

And I don't know why I'm taking the time to do this. One of my many faults is that I'm always trying to clarify things....when I should just let it go.

Anyway, You are incorrect about the media calling Bush "President" 99% of the time. For purposes of brevity I wasn't entirely accurate. I distinctly remember all the hoohah about him being called Mr. Bush. Eventually someone came along who said according to journalistic protocol, the first time the President was mentioned in an article, it was 'President'... Subsequently, in the same article, it was Mr.... No one asked my opinion concerning what the protocol should be.

But to the real point:

That was a stunning speech and it brought me to tears, even now, these many years later. And I am old enough to remember that night and where I was and what I was doing. They (and I do mean 'they') killed all our heroes, including MLK.

I can't imagine that you think Pres. Obama couldn't learn anything from RFK, and it has nothing to do with race.

[heaven05]

23. right

..............

[negoldie]

24. Glad you took

the time. I recall this from English 101 or maybe History 101. When writing about the President it is perfectly fine to refer to him as Mr. Obama after it is established you are writing/speaking of President Obama. Think of Secretary of State Kerry. Imagine refering to him in each instance as SOS Kerry. Once he is established as SOS Kerrry, it's ok to refer to him as Mr. Kerry or just Kerry for that matter. Same with Obama.....or Bush.

[truth2power]

25. Thank you for corroborating that, negoldie...

I knew that was the case.

And BTW, it's a common disinformation tactic, when dealing with an uncomfortable truth, to latch on to one part of a statement, no matter how tangential, and beat it to death until the discussion gets derailed in a whole other direction. Just sayin'

[ColesCountyDem]

9. I wish we still had the 'unrec' option.

[still_one]

10. ++++++++

[freshwest]

17. We've got Trash Thread, but it'll still be bait on the Main Page for the RWers.

[heaven05]

14. Total BS with

a tinge of hate and great disrespect. You are full of it.

[EEO]

19. Jack Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy were great men.

Those assassinations changed the course of this country, and it was certainly not for the better.

[erpowers]

21. A Bobby Kennedy Moment

I too wanted a Bobby Kennedy moment from President Obama. For days I have been hoping the President would travel to Ferguson and give a speech asking for peace.

[840high]

22. We need some great men

in this country again.