Glen Contrarian
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2013
- Messages
- 17,688
- Reaction score
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- Political Leaning
- Progressive
I just watched his speech at the memorial for the slain officers in Dallas...and he was right. Period. First, he described not only the goodness and humanity of each of the slain officers, but also described in glowing terms the real and concrete achievements of the Dallas PD. Then he rebuked the black community - carefully, almost gently, but it was a rebuke nonetheless. After that, he rebuked the police...but much more gently, almost softly, never straying from acknowledging their heroism and the burden they carry. He also included one sentence - and only one out of hundreds - about the flood of guns in our neighborhoods, how a teenager can get one "more easily than buying a computer or a book" (meaning, a book from a library). On its face that last comment sounds like exaggeration...but in a very real way, it's not. But again, that was only one sentence, and was not germane to his overall point.
And the point was, both sides - the black community and the law enforcement community - are right, and that instead of pointing fingers at each other, they need to find common ground and work together to solve the problems that face the black community. That, and he said in so many words that this is not something that any president can make happen - no president has that kind of power or influence - but the responsibility for making it happen lay upon the American citizenry in general and the black community and law enforcement community in particular. Again, bear in mind that the stronger rebuke was against the black community.
The speech was one of bridging gaps, of encouraging unity rather than division, of the courage to reach out with an open hand instead of simply pointing the finger of blame...that the solution lay not completely with the blacks' point of view or the cops' point of view, but somewhere in between.
And he's right. He was the adult in the room teaching those he leads to learn to understand and to work together, rather than simply blame, blame, blame.
I'm going to miss him when he's gone - if he could run for a third term, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, there's all too many people - several of whom are on DP - who would hear the same speech, and instead of hearing words of healing, heard only words of division; instead of hearing words of understanding, heard only words of racism, of hatred.
That, and that alone, is the real tragedy of his speech, that there are millions of Americans who did not hear what he actually said and actually meant, but instead heard only what they "just knew" he would say...and as a result, so few minds were changed.
And the point was, both sides - the black community and the law enforcement community - are right, and that instead of pointing fingers at each other, they need to find common ground and work together to solve the problems that face the black community. That, and he said in so many words that this is not something that any president can make happen - no president has that kind of power or influence - but the responsibility for making it happen lay upon the American citizenry in general and the black community and law enforcement community in particular. Again, bear in mind that the stronger rebuke was against the black community.
The speech was one of bridging gaps, of encouraging unity rather than division, of the courage to reach out with an open hand instead of simply pointing the finger of blame...that the solution lay not completely with the blacks' point of view or the cops' point of view, but somewhere in between.
And he's right. He was the adult in the room teaching those he leads to learn to understand and to work together, rather than simply blame, blame, blame.
I'm going to miss him when he's gone - if he could run for a third term, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, there's all too many people - several of whom are on DP - who would hear the same speech, and instead of hearing words of healing, heard only words of division; instead of hearing words of understanding, heard only words of racism, of hatred.
That, and that alone, is the real tragedy of his speech, that there are millions of Americans who did not hear what he actually said and actually meant, but instead heard only what they "just knew" he would say...and as a result, so few minds were changed.