Notable Quotables (in their own words)

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Notable Quotables (in their own words) »

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

February 17, 2020 by tomaswell

“Perhaps Barack Obama’s biggest shortcoming as president is he failed to unite the country.”

—Donald Trump tweet, May 30, 2012.

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

9 Responses

on February 17, 2020 at 8:07 am | Reply Edith Herring

We know that Trump is the master of “projection!” He does this all of the time. If we watch him closely, we can understand what he really means instead of what he is saying. I guess this could be a good “parlor game” if he wasn’t president and expected to be truthful, wise and unselfish….
on February 17, 2020 at 8:15 am | Reply STEPHEN R WINHAM

That may actually be true, but I don’t know what he could have done in that regard that he did not do. He certainly did not aggressively attempt to divide our country and pit factions against one another as President Trump has done.

Trump revealed that the divide was greater than any of us might have previously thought and he has worked hard at making it bigger, encouraging his supporters to behave as he does and to specifically not seek common ground with people of different opinions and beliefs, but rather to attempt to bully them into submission.

President Obama was often criticized for not doing more to heal racial divisions. When I hear this, I always ask, “What would you have had him do?” The crickets can be heard chirping loudly at that point. I believe he led by example and should have been viewed as a role model for everybody. I also believe he realized uniting the country could not be achieved by more aggressive affirmative action which could have easily had the reverse effect.
on February 17, 2020 at 10:28 am | Reply tractorshedcommunication

Thanks Mr. Winham, well said ron thompson
on February 17, 2020 at 10:57 am | Reply zoe10870

https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/05/politics/obama-race-relations-poll/index.html

https://nypost.com/2016/01/17/how-obama-has-turned-back-the-clock-on-race-relations/

https://www.dailywire.com/news/complete-timeline-race-relations-under-obama-harry-khachatrian

https://www.heritage.org/political-process/commentary/obamas-legacy-weaker-and-more-divided-america

https://www.pewresearch.org/2017/01/10/how-america-changed-during-barack-obamas-presidency/

For starters.
- on February 17, 2020 at 9:38 pm | Reply Doremus Jessup
  
  Also, Zoe, I notice two of the links you provided are from ultra-right-wing publications (talk about fake news!) and the three reputable ones more or less backed up what I said earlier—that yes, relations have deteriorated but that was because of heightened racism because we had a black president. The fifth, the Pew Report, if you read it, noted that the economy had made great strides under Obama after the Great Recession at the end of W’s administration. Bet that smarted when you read that.
- on February 18, 2020 at 7:09 am | Reply STEPHEN R WINHAM
  
  I asked a simple question in my post that I would ask now of you, “What, specifically, would you have had him do?”
on February 17, 2020 at 3:56 pm | Reply CJG

Well how could he? When 40% (give or take) of the voters are Trump supporters there is no way the “unity” could ever have taken place. Meanwhile, Trump has not only NOT tried to unify, he has done just the opposite. Believe me, I live among Trump supporters and I know their views on race and immigration. It ain’t pretty folks.
on February 17, 2020 at 9:28 pm | Reply Doremus Jessup

For once, Zoe must be given credit for accuracy here.

Race relations did indeed deteriorate during Obama’s 8 years…because so damned many bigots in America just couldn’t stand having a black president. So racism, which had been simmering beneath the surface all along these many years, finally surfaced for all to see. Yes, it’s true that Obama didn’t handle race relations as well as Clinton or W. But it was pretty easy for a white president to champion equal rights for all but for a black to come along and do that, why that’s blatant reverse racism! Wow, what a double standard.

Funny, but I never heard Obama insult people, and he certainly didn’t encourage racism and violence like Le Grande Orange has. Given, he was not a strong president but at least he never went out of his way to belittle physically handicapped people, ridicule Gold Star parents, accuse an army Lt. Col. of treason, trash John McCain as he was dying and even after he died. I never heard Obama encourage a crowd at one of his rallies to beat up a protester. I have yet to hear Obama believe Putin or Kim over our intelligence community. Has anyone ever heard of Obama cheating students at some sham university he established or stiffing contractors who did work on his properties. Republicans held the majority in Congress all 8 years of his presidency but he never came close to being impeached nor did he have the incredible turnover of staff and cabinet officials that has infected the Trump presidency. Not once—never—did Obama insult our military leaders during his entire 8 years.

Zoe, you can cherry pick all the stories you want but I bet I can find three or four or five stories about Trump’s divisiveness for every one you can find about Obama. And it ain’t because of any fake news. That’s a Trump term his supporters regurgitate in some form of demented pack mentality.

One day about three years ago, I went to the post office to mail a letter on Columbus Day. The post office counter was closed because of the holiday and as I turned to leave, a woman walked in and attempted to go through the door to the counter only to find it locked. She read the sign that said the post office was closed because of Columbus Day and said in a loud, sarcastic voice, “Well thank you, Mr. Obama.”

I couldn’t help myself. I said, “Lady, Columbus Day has been a holiday since Moby Dick was a guppy. It was Eisenhower, not Obama, who made it a federal holiday.”

The laser glare I got from her could have melted stainless steel faster than a welder’s torch. Lucky for me, I ducked.

Pure racism.

Yep, Obama really brought division to the surface.

Just ask Zoe.
- on February 18, 2020 at 7:07 am | Reply STEPHEN R WINHAM
  
  Amen, great post.