I very much appreciated President Obama's public statements on violence in Ferguson

[bigtree]

. . . I watched with respect and appreciation for his public comments.

While his public comments fall short of declaring what actions he might take, and while I agree with John Lewis that the President should federalize the MO. national guard, I intend to withhold comment or open judgment of his intentions or actions (for a reasonable interval, with a sincere hope and belief that he will act forcefully behind-the-scenes) and will be watching and listening for further moves from the Executive to address the police misconduct in the intimidation and arresting of journalists, and the intimidation and arrest of demonstrators, as well.

I will also be looking at his surrogate officials for even more public accounting of their actions in the near future. I thank everyone here for their thoughtful responses to concerns I've expressed and look forward to measuring the future responses from our government and public officials together, here on this forum.

[frazzled]

1. It was more muted than any of us feels we needed ...

but I am waiting to see the proof of the pudding in the next hours and tonight. If behind the scenes the WH read the riot act to governor Nixon (the governor looked that scared today), and if that communication leads to a stand down of the out-of-control local police forces ... then the crisis will have been averted without having to resort to the drama of federalizing the National Guard.

I truly hope that this is what is happening. If it does not, far stronger words will be needed.

[monmouth3]

2. If that's you bigtree, looking good. Funny how you picture people by their names..Bigtree made me

think of a very large man..Hahaha, so much fail from me..Good post btw..

[malthaussen]

4. He looks a lot like his dad...

... about whom he posted a very moving tribute a while back.

-- Mal

[bigtree]

5. lol!

. . . in my family, (Fullwood is our last name) I'm the biggest tree.

Thanks for the kind remark, monmouth3.

[conservaphobe]

3. I'm not sure the Natl. Guard is needed. The situation is not quite that dire.

But strong action certainly is needed and our leaders should be judged how they handle this situation going forward.

And demilitarizing our police should become a topic of conversation. We need action on that ASAP.

[2banon]

6. Withholding further comment for the moment..

[Autumn]

7. It was a good speech. I look forward to seeing what they do from here.

I think that the DOJ should be all over this, yesterday.

[bigtree]

8. kick

[Rex]

9. Here let me get the usual suspect talking point out of the way.

You never loved the POTUS. He ain't a king. My God man, we MUST worry about what the GOP will think! He has to worry about the WORLD first. Divide divide divide. This is the governors job. DU sucks now, because 5 people say so . I question your intentions, motives, what you REALLY think, etc..

Okay...now with that garbage out of the way, glad to see your reply and I thank you for being polite to the incredibly rude people that tried to snark you to death.

Maybe next time you start a thread, don't start it with, "I don't care what DUers think..." it seems to bring out the biggest ego posters to snark you relentlessly.

I appreciate everything the POTUS says and does...his words and time are valuable and much needed in this crisis. Glad the governor is finally on top of this...I see an entire police department resigning in disgrace.

[bigtree]

10. I was angry and defensive when I started that thread and I do apologize for that

. . . thought about taking that down, several times throughout, but knew it was unfair to misrepresent what I'd already written. I think that you are correct that it was an unnecessary and confrontational opening which invited much of the animus expressed toward me. I do regret those words dismissing the opinion of DUers and I'd like to say that they really don't reflect how I feel about responses and contributions to my own opinions expressed here. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to address those.

[Rex]

13. FWIW, you handled it 100 times better than I could have.

Negative thread titles really do bring out the worst in people imo. Thank you for staying polite in the face of a huge amount of rudeness.

[Tsiyu]

11. His words were reasoned and showed concern

I am glad he took the time to acknowledge the people of Ferguson and Michael Brown.

[BrotherIvan]

12. Glad he spoke out

This is an awful situation and I hope something can be done. But sadly, nothing has changed here in LA after the Rodney King riots. The police are a rogue military force.

[KitSileya]

14. He completely disappeared the fact that Michael Brown was murdered.

He said Michael Brown was "lost" - no, he wasn't, he was tossed away by a cop.

And he mentions race not once in the whole address.

[bigtree]

15. »

[bigtree]

16. kick for those who thoughtfully took their time to respond to my post last night

thanks to all for the discussion

[bigtree]

17. »