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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy do President Obama's words just now sound so hollow?
And I'm white, for God's sake!
LawDeeDah
(1,596 posts)I'm white too, but my skin color doesn't keep me from feeling empathy and compassion for those who are victims of social injustice, inequality and poverty. If the OP thinks the President sounds "hollow" for expressing solidarity for the plight of the people of Fergusson then maybe he should adjust the audio settings on his TV.
calimary
(80,699 posts)Felt as though he was trying to reach out, to be the Comforter-in-Chief. His repeated references to "your President" - "your President will work with you." "Your President will be there with you." I think that sends a subtle message. This guy has tried to reach out for six years. I'm amazed he still seems to get up in the morning with a spring in his step, with all the shit he has to step through. How despicably he's treated and disrespected. How people just love to pile on him all the time. NOTHING he does is good enough. They accuse him of everything from being weak and ineffective as a leader to being a Constitution-trampling tyrant, from spineless weasel to murderer of kittens and puppies. Just depends on what time of day it is with some of these assholes. And then you get events like these piling on, too. Too much heartbreak and turmoil and upset out there.
I was moved by his speech. And when Sharpton came on, I wanted the Rev. Al to shut up so I could keep watching the speech.
I think we need this. I think we all need to see a President who's out there, still at it. Leading. Defiant of the so-called epitaph the media wrote for him after the elections. Helping us try to make sense out of what's happened. Forward-thinking, not afraid to take a well-considered "bold" move when need be, playing the long game, and patient as a good dad when all these spoiled-brat adult-size five-year-olds throw tantrums and shit-wads but he still cares for them. I don't know how he does it every day. I was glad to hear him speaking and see him out there - a physical presence at a time when much of America is disillusioned and bereaved and bewildered. It feels almost as though he's trying to buck us up so we can all work to fix this.
But when your ship's run aground, and everyone's in a grim mood, maybe it's a good thing to have our President out there trying to offer encouragement, and a few practical things we can try doing - these civic and regional meetings and get-togethers he spoke of. Isn't that kinda what we need at the moment? Whenever there's a problem, my first reaction is - "well, what can we DO about it?" I always want to try to come up with something concrete to do or set up or build or some such. So it's encouraging to me when President Obama gets out there and tries to help lift us back up after we've been knocked on our collective ass.
Spazito
(49,765 posts)I listened to his comments and they were anything but hollow, imo.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Who deals with this frustration every day in a way that I do not, if they sound a little "off" to me.
Spazito
(49,765 posts)President's comments by race?
Should each one of us responding to your OP first identify ourselves by our skin color before continuing on to respond to whether the President's comments "sound so hollow" or not?
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Re-read what I wrote, if you like. OTher than that, . . .
Spazito
(49,765 posts)"so hollow" in his comments and what you would have preferred him to say rather than "And I'm white, for God's sake!"
Just a thought.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)A man who has given up.
I'd still have voted for him in 2008 and 2012, but that's what he sounded like.
Spazito
(49,765 posts)He sounded like a President who knows his words have meaning, to be used or misused by those who work very hard, each and every day, to discredit him.
He also sounded like a President very aware of the deepening racial divide in the country and was acknowledging the frustrations of those who are angry about the injustice while advocating for non-violence to advance their cause.
A man who has not, in any way, "given up".
Brigid
(17,621 posts)And that business last night, with the split screen showing him urging calm on one side and a burning car or building on the other, didn't help.
LawDeeDah
(1,596 posts)no funny business with the media. nope.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)But it does illustrate, perhaps unintentionally, the inadequacy of words, however proper and well-intended, at this time.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)I don't hate Obama. I don't even hate you.
Don't understand why you post in the tone you use, but I don't hate you.
If you believe the presidents speech was hollow maybe you didn't get it.
Man from Pickens
(1,713 posts)At least, not enough to act decisively.
How about an executive order to shut down the Pentagon program that's supplying all these local PDs with war-fighting gear? As Commander-in-Chief it could hardly fall more under his purview.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)We get cynical, pretty speeches and cheering propaganda voices, and nothing more.
Nothing gets better anymore. No one is ever serious about actual change for the better.
In fact, the corporate politicians making pretty speeches are relentlessly making things worse:
_______________________________________________________________________________
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025390424
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html
It's almost certain that if the police agencies cooperate, the ACLU will find that the militarization trend has accelerated since Kraska's studies more than a decade ago. All of the policies, incentives and funding mechanisms that were driving the trend then are still in effect now. And most of them have grown in size and scope.
The George W. Bush administration actually began scaling down the Byrne and COPS programs in the early 2000s, part of a general strategy of leaving law enforcement to states and localities. But the Obama administration has since resurrected both programs. The Byrne program got a $2 billion surge in funding as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, by far the largest budget in the program's 25-year history. Obama also gave the COPS program $1.55 billion that same year, a 250 percent increase over its 2008 budget, and again the largest budget in the program's history. Vice President Joe Biden had championed both programs during his time in the Senate.
The Pentagon's 1033 program has also exploded under Obama. In the program's monthly newsletter (Motto: "From Warfighter to Crimefighter" , its director announced in October 2011 that his office had given away a record $500 million in military gear in fiscal year 2011, which he noted, "passes the previous mark by several hundred million dollars." He added, "I believe we can exceed that in FY 12.
Then there are the Department of Homeland Security's anti-terrorism grants. The Center for Investigative Reporting found in a 2011 investigation that since 2001, DHS has given out more than $34 billion in grants to police departments across the country, many of which have been used to purchase military-grade guns, tanks, armor, and armored personnel carriers. The grants have gone to such unlikely terrorism targets as Fargo, N.D.; Canyon County, Idaho; and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Last edited Tue Nov 25, 2014, 09:18 PM - Edit history (1)
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
Quantess
(27,630 posts)I thought the tone was perfect.
arthritisR_US
(7,269 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)Not so much from President Obama, but from other officials every time something like this happens. People are fed up, and out of patience. I guess there just are no "right words."
Cha
(295,925 posts)arthritisR_US
(7,269 posts)ring hollow to me.
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)I'm predisposed to consider that his words do not resonate with the frequency you are tuned to.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)otohara
(24,135 posts)and police profiling than president ever.
Did you forget the beer summit and how much of an uproar it caused - wingnuts went nuts.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)As usual, we get pretty speeches and propaganda voices cheering the words, but never any real change for the better.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5870848
We get cynical, pretty speeches and cheering propaganda voices, and nothing more.
Nothing gets better anymore. No one is ever serious about actual change for the better.
In fact, the corporate politicians making pretty speeches are relentlessly making things worse:
_______________________________________________________________________________
The entire Democratic leadership opposed Grayson amendment to stop arming cops with DOD weapons
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025390424
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html
It's almost certain that if the police agencies cooperate, the ACLU will find that the militarization trend has accelerated since Kraska's studies more than a decade ago. All of the policies, incentives and funding mechanisms that were driving the trend then are still in effect now. And most of them have grown in size and scope.
The George W. Bush administration actually began scaling down the Byrne and COPS programs in the early 2000s, part of a general strategy of leaving law enforcement to states and localities. But the Obama administration has since resurrected both programs. The Byrne program got a $2 billion surge in funding as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, by far the largest budget in the program's 25-year history. Obama also gave the COPS program $1.55 billion that same year, a 250 percent increase over its 2008 budget, and again the largest budget in the program's history. Vice President Joe Biden had championed both programs during his time in the Senate.
The Pentagon's 1033 program has also exploded under Obama. In the program's monthly newsletter (Motto: "From Warfighter to Crimefighter" , its director announced in October 2011 that his office had given away a record $500 million in military gear in fiscal year 2011, which he noted, "passes the previous mark by several hundred million dollars." He added, "I believe we can exceed that in FY 12.
Then there are the Department of Homeland Security's anti-terrorism grants. The Center for Investigative Reporting found in a 2011 investigation that since 2001, DHS has given out more than $34 billion in grants to police departments across the country, many of which have been used to purchase military-grade guns, tanks, armor, and armored personnel carriers. The grants have gone to such unlikely terrorism targets as Fargo, N.D.; Canyon County, Idaho; and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)He is really. He can't fix racism. It's not a problem anybody can fix, let alone a black person. If he told the truth he would be shot.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Unfortunately.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)We are only a "nation of laws" if you are a member of the ruling Capitalist Class.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Steven Clemons from the Atlantic Monthly was on "All In" and described President Obama's words last night as a "schoolmaster's lecture." That's a bit too harsh, IMO; but that works fairly well.
MyUncle
(924 posts)He condemned the violence, supported the outrage and outlined a path to improvement, who could ask for more?