Class War and Violence Belie Obama's Tattered Unity Myths

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-becker/33771/class-war-and-violence-belie-obamas-tattered-unity-myths

America snubs "wealth, or status, or power, or fame" for goodness. Riiiiight.

Had the president politicized his Tucson memorial, say, by implicating reckless gun sellers, he'd have faced his own media crosshairs, even uncivil crossfire. Taking no chances, however, meant Mr. Bipartisanship missed a big teaching moment about the complex world of a very violent America. That omission offset what was done well.

Hello! What about crime, robberies, murders, drug wars, 2.4 million in prison (excluding secret ones), inequality of wealth, education and opportunity, and negligence towards the mentally unhinged? And more hostility: two endless, costly wars, permanent incarcerations, citizen assassination programs, and one trillion dollars spent annual on violent "defense" -- peace dividends, anyone?

How do I know this speech was safe to a fault, defying every glimmer of controversy? Because loopy John McCain loved it -- and rightwing pundits cheered. Millions of gun fetishists bought more Glocks, no doubt relieved to have dodged bullets from presidential scolding -- pardon the gun metaphor.

Yet Obama's avoidance of central issues hardly explains the puffery, nor invocations of American mythology that slight the slaughter in Tucson. Obama talked as if the last two decades never quite happened, as if one party didn't leverage the rhetoric of extremism to scare the bejesus out of vulnerable rightwing know-nothings (and drive gun sales).

More at the link --

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[MineralMan]

3. At the time of the speech, President Obama was being the

President of all US citizens. Trying to quiet the ugliness is not a fault.

[girl gone mad]

4. This is the kind of thing that will be back on the greatest page..

when unrec is gone.

Rightfully so.

[Donnachaidh]

5. totally agree. n/t

[bluestateguy]

6. As I said during the primaries

He is pretty naive about his ability to transcend deeply held beliefs and cultural values that people hold.

Ending the Iraq War, health reform, Wall Street reform, immigration, climate change, gays in the military. All that stuff is polarizing and if you want to do it, you are going to be dipping into a lot of people;s buckets and angering a lot of people. The Kumbaya bullshit is not going to bring Jim DeMint and Michelle Bachmann to the table or make them soften their rhetoric.