Well Lily, this is where I have to get serious and consider there's a very ugly side to your personality. The video above is an excerpt of a speech senator Obama gave on a very specific topic. It was on the problem of using the Bible to guide our public policy. In that context, it is not bashing Christians, not dividing anyone, but making a point that in a nation that actually understands the separation of Church and State, should not even have to be made.
Obama successfully demonstrated that the Bible is too contradictory to use to guide public policy. The many Christian cults can attest to the fact that there is a very wide range of interpretations possible from the Bible, and something can generally be found in it to support a range of undesirable actions.
This is not divisive. It might hurt your feelings, but it actually shouldn't because a lucid Christian realizes this about the Bible and would not seek to argue for it to be used to guide public policy. The only question here is: do you think he is wrong? Do you think we should use the Bible to guide public policy. If so, prepare to defend that position. And if you prevail in that argument, you will not prove that Obama is a great divider, but only that he would be mistaken in declaring the Bible should not be used to guide public policy!
So I'd have to say that's a fail.
LOL? Pitting the races against each other? How so? All he said is that Republicans were counting on folks to not vote in big enough numbers in a region that would otherwise probably elect him. He gave examples of the sectors of society that he felt Republicans would rather not vote, and those examples included unions, young people and black people.
Pitting the races together? Really?
You're full of shit here Lilly. Making an appeal to the Latino community, asking them to recognize that he has been a friend to them, is not 'us against them' rhetoric. It doesn't fan the flames of racial discord unless the appeal he is making to them is to do something against another ethnic group. So is that what he was doing in your eyes? Inciting latinos to do something against, whites? Or blacks? Or First Nations?
Utter fail Lily.
Haha... You can make anyone contradict himself by selective editing. It is quite clear to me here that Obama is referring to the obnoxious behavior of someone letting you clean up after they've made a huge mess, and standing around in your way while you do it, criticizing how you're doing the job of cleaning up after them.

Its funny, and its a fair comment. There is no contradiction with him saying later on in the speech that he wants to stay open to other people's ideas. He is clarifying that he doesn't want the people who made the mess to do too much criticizing of his cleaning up their mess, BUT he is open to their ideas.
Who created the mess? Certain elected officials that came before him. Making a statement about them staying out of the way is not divisive towards the American people: it is preempting the obstructionist tactics that the GOP have used constantly during his first term.
Republicans and Democrats don't need pitting against each other, Lilly. They're already against each other in the run-up to an election. If you're going to portray as divisive, fair commentary in an attempt to show why your party is more deserving of election - then you lack the integrity to debate. I mean really? Because Obama has made efforts to unite both sides of the aisle over issues, it means he can't point fingers at the other side when he needs to win votes? So do you expect him to run a campaign saying: "Hey, vote for us, vote for the other guys... its all good, we're all one!" Seriously, Lily. I don't know what is more disturbing: the thought that you might have come up with this argument yourself, or the thought that you might have bought it from somewhere else, and ran with it, without some spark of critical thought intervening in the process.
Utter fail.
This last one is the only one I'll give some credit to. Besides being hilarious, its true that the humor was a little bit humiliating. However I don't accept the allegations that he's trying to discredit, marginalize and intimidate people into silence anymore than he is holding up a comic mirror to their actions.
After all, the birthers aren't just concerned citizens: their obsession with his birth certificate is a political attack campaign, I'm sure you will be honest enough to recognize. As such, one should hardly expect Obama to treat it with kid gloves.
Oh I'm 100% sure there are many more such 'examples'.
If perfectly normal campaign rhetoric are examples of being The Great Divider, there is a treasure trove of videos of Obama campaigning
He is renowned however for having taken the high road far more often than his rivals, in his campaigning, so your attack angle is particularly disingenuous.
M
Bookmarks