Thank you, Mr. President

[lawrocket 3]

Thank you for using your leadership to speak words that heal and not further inflame.

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At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized--at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do--it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds. - President Obama, January 12, 2011

Thank you Mr. President for being the voice of reason at a time when it is needed.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[scruffy 0]

We'll see.

I buy that sentiment as genuine coming from him as much as I would if I heard it come out of Rush or Beck.

I agree that finding common ground and not being polarizing are the ideals and I try to do it in every conversation I have that unfortunately devolves into politics; however, I do not think Washington is capable today of being anything but polarizing, and this kind of rhetoric is either:

A) Straight bullshit for bullshits sake as it's expected of the President to talk that way, and he expects tomorrow to hold no changes.

B) Half bullshit and he wants to get the people calling him to stop, while he and his crew continue to be as polarizing as ever.

I really wish there was a C) but I don't see it.

Of course I could have misread your post entirely and you meant it as sarcasm, in which case well played sir.

Peace, love and hoppiness

[skinnay 0]

wooooooosssssshhhhhhhhh

[Coreece 190]

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Thank you Mr. President for being the voice of reason at a time when it is needed.

Oh....please.

I think I'm starting to choke....

What's needed is for us to be united and forget about these political assnuts.

Seriously...most of us are reasonable people.

Lets make this happen.

...oh wait...I forgot....there is a problem...it's called reality.

Edit:
but hell...since we all live in a world of delusion, lets make the best of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRmBChQjZPs

Your secrets are the true reflection of who you really are...

[jgoose71 0]

I have to agree with Scruffy.

This president has lead the polarization of the country. He stood up and said what needed to be said at the memorial, but tomorrow he goes back to Washington.

We'll see what he does next. Actions speak louder than words.

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

[Andy9o8 0]

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This president has lead the polarization of the country.

At least 50% (+ 1 hanging chad) of the American population disagrees with you. I'm over 50, and I can't remember a president's administration more polarizing than G W Bush's. More so even than Nixon or Reagan, and they were mighty polarizing.

[RonD1120 58]

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Thank you for using your leadership to speak words that heal and not further inflame.

Quote

At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized--at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do--it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds. - President Obama, January 12, 2011

Thank you Mr. President for being the voice of reason at a time when it is needed.

I watched and listened. I felt like it was a good college lecture. He made a couple of good points about healing. As the presidential messiah, his healing powers allowed Rep. Giffords to "open her eyes." Generally, it was a well written presentation. He almost got real at the end when he strategically mentioned Christine Taylor Green.

I wonder what would we think about our nation, our society and our faith if we stopped watching TV, listening to political commentary on the radio or reading the bloggers for about three months.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[rushmc 18]

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This president has lead the polarization of the country.

At least 50% (+ 1 hanging chad) of the American population disagrees with you. I'm over 50, and I can't remember a president's administration more polarizing than G W Bush's. More so even than Nixon or Reagan, and they were mighty polarizing.

I too am ovcer 50 and I gotta wonder what planet you are on

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[Remster 24]

Nice try Jerry.... Looks like your post lasted about 2 hours...

Remster

[rehmwa 2]

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This president has lead the polarization of the country.

At least 50% (+ 1 hanging chad) of the American population disagrees with you.

priceless

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[TankBuster 0]

One of the few times I disagree with you. This from the guy who asks his constituents to "punish our enemies" and who promised open and civil discourse on cspan for the health care debate and then denied it? etc etc

Nice words from his staff and speech writers, but from his mouth they mean nothing.

The forecast is mostly sunny with occasional beer.

[rehmwa 2]

I appreciate the sentiment of the comment also and hope it's sincere also and think it is this time.

But it's still an event that should be about an evil kid who shot a lot of people and that there should be support for those people and their families, and, instead of talking about that, he's talking about partisanship and shitty discourse.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[DanG 1]

He was talking about how to turn a negative into a positive. Some people are so set in the zero sum game mindset, that they simply can't break away.

Regardless of whether or not you thought Obama was being sincere, you have to at least agree with the sentiment.

- Dan G

[jclalor 12]

I thought Obama was great.

Was it just me or did it seem that many in attendance thought they were at a prep rally? When The Arizona Governor spoke of the young girl who was killed, many cheered and whistled like they were announcing the starting lineup, They did this through out the whole event. I would think university students would know how to behave at a memorial.

[rehmwa 2]

+1 on your comment about the people at the 'rally' - what's up with that? that's a bigger sign of the real problem - narcissism on the people to the point that they are blindly loyal to 'something' to the point that it disregards the actual situations in front of them. It's such a sign of the lazy ignorance of the populace as a whole

+1 on DanG's comments above too - though I don't think anyone is playing for zero sum - stalemate is nobody's goal

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[lawrocket 3]

Yeah. That's why I was glad about it. It's easy to get caught up in partisan fervor. I myself get caught up and it takes someone to say "cut it out." Heck, it happened a couple of weeks ago.

Here there was a large representative group of people who have more about blaming and attribution on their minds and the President reminded us that blame and divisiveness in the name of fighting against blame and diviseness is counterproductive.

There is a part of me that thinks he or his speech writers must read my posts on here. There's another part of me that thinks that he and his staff are privy to information about this shooter that the public doesn't know which would suggest that those engaging in blaming Palin and the Tea Party better knock it off because it isn't like that at all. The whole "hey fellas, It's going to come out that we're wrong in the next couple of weeks so let's retreat now before it blows up in our faces" thing.

But regardless, the President is not not attacking anyone with this. And he's trying to recenter it on civility and non-defensiveness. For that, I give him credit.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Guest]

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Yeah. That's why I was glad about it. It's easy to get caught up in partisan fervor. I myself get caught up and it takes someone to say "cut it out." Heck, it happened a couple of weeks ago.

Here there was a large representative group of people who have more about blaming and attribution on their minds and the President reminded us that blame and divisiveness in the name of fighting against blame and diviseness is counterproductive.

There is a part of me that thinks he or his speech writers must read my posts on here. There's another part of me that thinks that he and his staff are privy to information about this shooter that the public doesn't know which would suggest that those engaging in blaming Palin and the Tea Party better knock it off because it isn't like that at all. The whole "hey fellas, It's going to come out that we're wrong in the next couple of weeks so let's retreat now before it blows up in our faces" thing.

But regardless, the President is not not attacking anyone with this. And he's trying to recenter it on civility and non-defensiveness. For that, I give him credit.

I read a transcript of the speech, and the cynic in me sees him saving the stuff about that poor little girl til the end as a very clever act of manipulation.

On the other hand, I'm glad he didn't use the speech as a bully pulpit to bash conservatism. He's smart enough to know that it would have backfired.

There will be plenty of that from the liberal left in the weeks to come. And of course, gun control.

mh
.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[TankBuster 0]

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I thought Obama was great.

Was it just me or did it seem that many in attendance thought they were at a prep rally? When The Arizona Governor spoke of the young girl who was killed, many cheered and whistled like they were announcing the starting lineup, They did this through out the whole event. I would think university students would know how to behave at a memorial.

Wasnt just you. I was looking toward the back fro some frat boys and a keg.

The forecast is mostly sunny with occasional beer.

[lawrocket 3]

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I'm glad he didn't use the speech as a bully pulpit to bash conservatism. He's smart enough to know that it would have backfired.

I disagree that it would have backfired. The environment was so ripe for it that he would have merely been joining in with it and would have solidified a lot of support from those on the left who love anything that attacks the right. He would have gotten plenty of pats on the back for it, and would have further backed Palin, etc., into a corner.

But he didn't do that.

I disagree with Andy's earlier assertion that Dubya's presidency was the most polarizzing around. The first two years of Clinton's presidency was so intensely polarizing and so awful that the GOP took the House after two years. We saw it happen with Obama in this recent election.

This is the first time I have felt (yes, there's that word - "felt") that Obama was being "presidential." There were very few people with the message he delivered.

I think that the President has learned from his mistakes of the last couple of years. I think that he is understanding not only the limits of his previous style of doing things but also is respecting that there is a better way of doing things. Dubya never understood that. Clinton figured it out and became a damned good President. Reagan was the master of it.

I think that Obama is beginning a transformation and it is refreshing to see.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[TriGirl 276]

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This is the first time I have felt (yes, there's that word - "felt") that Obama was being "presidential."

I think that Obama is beginning a transformation and it is refreshing to see.

+1. I thought the same thing as I watched him present his remarks.

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

[Andy9o8 0]

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Some people are so set in the zero sum game mindset, that they simply can't break away.

Ding.

[rushmc 18]

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Some people are so set in the zero sum game mindset, that they simply can't break away.

Ding.

The was the sound of him nailing YOU

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[DanG 1]

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The was the sound of him nailing YOU

QED

- Dan G

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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Quote

This president has lead the polarization of the country.

At least 50% (+ 1 hanging chad) of the American population disagrees with you. I'm over 50, and I can't remember a president's administration more polarizing than G W Bush's. More so even than Nixon or Reagan, and they were mighty polarizing.

I disagree. I feel the Clinton adminstration was far more polarizing than anything in the last 40 years. Roughly half the country loved him, roughly half hated him. There was virtually no middle ground. A lot of it was his "I know best" and "Do as I say, not as i do" attitudes.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[rushmc 18]

Quote

Quote

The was the sound of him nailing YOU

QED

Oh

So it was you!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln