I often speculate,

[cilla4progress]

are we the country Obama saw? He was so good-natured about us, saw the best in us. He was not only smart and elegant and ethical but of good humor and good heart. He made me -us- feel good and proud to be American.

I don't know. I really just don't know.

[Freddie]

1. There were millions hiding their hatred

Having a black President was just too much for them.

[SoonerPride]

2. Hiding? They had racist signs and nooses.

I don't think they hid anything

[dalton99a]

3. Witness the lusty applause for Trump when he asked "What's the name of that building?"

meaning it's the WHITE House, not the Black House

Through most of the long recitation, the members of the partisan crowd seemed quiet, even listless. But there were rare sparks of enthusiasm, moments when Trump excited them. Near the end of the hour-long address, Trump intoned: “This November, we must turn the page forever on this failed political class. The fact is, I’m here”—and suddenly, he paused, turned theatrically to his left, and extended his hand toward the South Front of the White House. “What’s the name of that building?” he extemporized, and the crowd cheered, laughed, and whistled. He then extemporized some more. "But I’ll say it differently. The fact is, we’re here—and they’re not." Louder cheers, standing ovation.

To his admirers, one of the most attractive qualities of Donald Trump is his utter shamelessness.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/trump-secessionist-top/615847/

[Nevilledog]

9. With his mental decline he might have just forgotten the name of the building.

[RKP5637]

4. There are millions of really hateful people in the US.

I never realized there were so many hate-filled people about so many things, but the past decade or two has really brought them out.

[Funtatlaguy]

5. Yes. Trump is part of their revenge for Obama.

[cilla4progress]

7. I've seen this over and over...

the first to have the HUBRIS to challenge the status quo, always takes the biggest hit.

So brave of Barack to run and serve.

Michelle knew this, and that's part of why she hated it, but eventually got on board.

[Backseat Driver]

6. Ahhh...the conundrum of dichotomy rears its head

We hold these truths to be self-evident...

Clearly some don't hold what follows as high-weighted truths...

IMO, we tend to hold certain characteristics in others as a weighted positive or negative reflective perception of an ideal of self, without which our capacity to prioritize those characteristics of scale on the spectrum of learned characteristics and/or behaviors I fear we'd all succumb to an inability to perceive self-loathing and evil and the potential of its use for power and control of self/others when our own reflection considers that weighted scale of thoughts expressed and/or behaviors initiated and expanded.

Does that make any sense? Don't worry, I'm always shaking my head too!

[cilla4progress]

8. Translate, please,

for we dummies in the back?

I think I have a glimmer of where you are going..

[pwb]

10. I felt good then but

remember it is the entire Republican Party to blame for this environment we are now in. Not just Trump. They were with him.

[RKP5637]

12. Absolutely true! n/t

[betsuni]

11. He could be objective.

Mother was an anthropologist, spent some of his childhood abroad.