U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, staff, shot at event in Tuscon, Ariz.

[Sigaba]

Silentreader--

I think your well-written post might have longer legs had you gone with an apples to apples comparison of presidential speeches commemorating shocking and tragic events. If you're interested, a resource that you might use is the presidential documents archive of UCSB's the American Presidency Project.

Originally Posted by Dusty

[The forty fourth president] disparages finger-pointing whenever he's not the one doing it.

Agreed. IMO, that inconsistency adds to the ongoing polarization of today's political climate.

[silentreader]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

Silentreader--

I think your well-written post might have longer legs had you gone with an apples to apples comparison of presidential speeches commemorating shocking and tragic events. If you're interested, a resource that you might use is the presidential documents archive of UCSB's the American Presidency Project.

Sigaba,

Thank you for the input. It is actually not my intent to become a defender of President Obama (especially on this site!) but I have used the archive you link to in the past, and it is a very useful source.

I guess the point I was making gets back to the Rorschach test. People who don't trust Obama and view him as a political opportunist were almost guaranteed to find serious flaws with the way he approached the event. I used the Wellstone event as an example of this because it had already been mentioned, but one could say the same thing about president Bush; at some point, a group of liberals were going to be disgusted no matter what he said. He could have said, "the sun is bright today" and people would have found fault with it.

I guess I'm one of the rare few who liked both Bush and Obama. I certainly do not agree with everything either has said or done, but I think that both men have tried to do what they believe is the best for their country in an impossibly difficult job.

[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by silentreader

I guess the point I was making gets back to the Rorschach test. People who don't trust [the president] and view him as a political opportunist were almost guaranteed to find serious flaws with the way he approached the event.

While I agree that there is a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't component to criticisms of modern presidents, I don't think that component should over-ride the fact that this president is not living up to his own words.

Originally Posted by silentreader

I guess I'm one of the rare few who liked both Bush and [the current president]. I certainly do not agree with everything either has said or done, but I think that both men have tried to do what they believe is the best for their country in an impossibly difficult job.

I am of the growing belief that the current president is incapable even of doing what is in his own political self interest, much less the best interests of this country.

YMMV.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

I am of the growing belief that the current president is incapable even of doing what is in his own political self interest, much less the best interests of this country.

YMMV.

Roger that.

In his defense, he's not doing too bad for someone who has literally zero experience other than small-scale political agitation learned from two domestic terrorists.

[Peregrino]

Dusty - Pay up! Inappropriate use of the "sarcasm font".

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Peregrino

Dusty - Pay up! Inappropriate use of the "sarcasm font".

My bad.

[trvlr]

Originally Posted by silentreader

I guess the point I was making gets back to the Rorschach test. People who don't trust Obama and view him as a political opportunist were almost guaranteed to find serious flaws with the way he approached the event. I used the Wellstone event as an example of this because it had already been mentioned, but one could say the same thing about president Bush; at some point, a group of liberals were going to be disgusted no matter what he said. He could have said, "the sun is bright today" and people would have found fault with it.
.

Great point. It will be interesting to see which side America takes during this next election. I've talked to several 'ultra' conservatives that couldn't think of a single positive thing the current president has done. Not a single thing in 2 years. It doesn't get much more polarized than that.

Originally Posted by Peregrino

Dusty - Pay up! Inappropriate use of the "sarcasm font".

The radio station playing through my tin foil cap told me that the current President is a closet domestic terrorist, closet muslim, and closet socialist that couldn't care less about the victims of the Tucson shooting, and that he is regularly beaten by his wife, who happens to be a living breathing Vulcan from the star trek universe. Nope, no pink font here...

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by trvlr

The radio station playing through my tin foil cap told me that the current President is a closet domestic terrorist, closet muslim, and closet socialist that couldn't care less about the victims of the Tucson shooting, and that he is regularly beaten by his wife, who happens to be a living breathing Vulcan from the star trek universe. Nope, no pink font here...

I see you've been studying. Good work, trvlr.

Originally Posted by trvlr

....and that he is regularly beaten by his wife,...

you forgot to mention the 12 stitches after a ball game.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by wet dog

you forgot to mention the 12 stitches after a ball game.

Thank you, WD. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with something positive Obama has done in the last two years. I knew there had to be something.

[T-Rock]

you forgot to mention the 12 stitches after a ball game.

...one for each Tribe of Israel...

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by T-Rock

...one for each Tribe of Israel...

lol

Originally Posted by T-Rock

...one for each Tribe of Israel...

You mean the TEN lost tribes? "Joseph and Judua" clearing in the open, not much missing there. The ten tribes moved north, maybe Sweden, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Russia - sure like to learn the mystery, some day maybe. I think the Vikings came from outer space, landed, big helmets with horns, saying "What's Up?,... Word", (bling, bling - bang, bang!)".

[echoes]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/artic...0_BSOhah133189
Wow. What an incrediblr gesture on behalf of her parents......

[B]Young Arizona victim's dad: Boston girl received organs[/B

]By AP Wire Service
Published: 1/16/2011 8:45 AM
Last Modified: 1/16/2011 8:45 AM

BOSTON — The father of the youngest victim of the Arizona massacre says some of her organs have been donated to a young girl in the Boston area.
John Green tells The Boston Globe in Sunday's edition that he received a phone call about the transplant, but says he doesn't know any other details about the donation.

He says the call "really lifted" his spirit and says he and his wife are proud parents once again of their daughter, "who has done another amazing thing."
Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green was born Sept. 11, 2001.
She had just been elected to her Tucson school's

[echoes]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/artic...0_BSOhah133189

Wow. What an incredible gesture on behalf of her parents......

Young Arizona victim's dad: Boston girl received organs

By AP Wire Service
Published: 1/16/2011 8:45 AM
Last Modified: 1/16/2011 8:45 AM

BOSTON — The father of the youngest victim of the Arizona massacre says some of her organs have been donated to a young girl in the Boston area.
John Green tells The Boston Globe in Sunday's edition that he received a phone call about the transplant, but says he doesn't know any other details about the donation.

He says the call "really lifted" his spirit and says he and his wife are proud parents once again of their daughter, "who has done another amazing thing."
Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green was born Sept. 11, 2001.
She had just been elected to her Tucson school's