# Obama and Divisiveness **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 8, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286 "2016-03-08T15:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/41 "2016-03-08T17:06:39Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Well, they’re both black men in positions of authority so not only are they naturally suspect, of course they must be very good friends. _And_ they’re both Muslims. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/42 "2016-03-08T17:07:24Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > Did Obama not know that his seeming lack of patriotism would hurt his image? Carson and Cain show much more love of America than he does, and while I can understand why whites may be more patriotic than blacks, given how blacks have been treated, there does come a point of needing to put it behind them Oh garbage. After you wake up black and your whole world instantly changes solely because of your race, not in the late 1800s but today, come to me and talk about how black people need to put things behind them. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/43 "2016-03-08T17:08:04Z")
Everything you are bitching about is a sideshow act for the gossip queens and rubes. Don’t look to the president for moral guidance. Good grief he has a kill list. The president isn’t supposed to be Daddy keeping the siblings from fighting. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/44 "2016-03-08T17:10:39Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Well, they’re both black men in positions of authority so not only are they naturally suspect, of course they must be very good friends. At least one of them regularly crosses the People’s Lawn, while black. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/45 "2016-03-08T18:49:21Z")
Obama is not divisive. Its the people who hate him who are divisive. It doesn’t take 2 sides to be divisive, it takes one incredibly selfish and hateful side. That’s what the GOP are. There is literally nothing he can do to reach out to the GOP anymore short of offering them 100% of what they want and resign, which is what they want. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/46 "2016-03-08T18:58:32Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > Did Obama not know that his seeming lack of patriotism would hurt his image? Carson and Cain show much more love of America than he does . . . :dubious: Like Hell they do. Espousing American-Exceptionalist nonsense is **not** showing love for America, and is unworthy of patriots. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/47 "2016-03-08T19:01:18Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > Obama is not divisive. Its the people who hate him who are divisive. It doesn’t take 2 sides to be divisive, it takes one incredibly selfish and hateful side. That’s what the GOP are. > > There is literally nothing he can do to reach out to the GOP anymore short of offering them 100% of what they want and resign, which is what they want. I honestly don’t think even that would be enough. That a black man was ever the President of the United States is something they can’t get over. I think the only thing that would satisfy them is a complete presidential annulment; make it so an Obama presidency never happened. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/48 "2016-03-08T19:08:27Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Screw that. Check out [these pictures.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/08/07/flag_pins_in_debate_some_republican_candidates_who_debated_thursday_lacked.html) Why aren’t you whining about their lack of lapel pins? “[Don’t say it, chum. The Poster is always right and I’m outta line. But THAT poster wasn’t right…](https://youtu.be/EySlMME2P1U?t=6198)” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/49 "2016-03-08T19:11:05Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Screw that. Check out [these pictures.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/08/07/flag_pins_in_debate_some_republican_candidates_who_debated_thursday_lacked.html) Why aren’t you whining about their lack of lapel pins? You know, it’s just not appropriate for candidates to wear American-flag lapel pins. They’re all Americans, and they’re each in the primary/election debate to distinguish themselves from the others. If they’re going to wear pins with symbolic significance, no two on the stage should be wearing the **same** pin. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/50 "2016-03-08T19:29:44Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > There is literally nothing he can do to reach out to the GOP anymore short of offering them 100% of what they want and resign, which is what they want. I don’t remember the details, but I recall that during the budget crisis that led to the shutdown of the government, a deal was hammered out that gave the Republicans _more_ than they originally asked for. The Republicans voted the plan down and essentially said, ‘OK, you’ve offered us more than 100% of what we asked for. That means that you can give us _more!_’ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/51 "2016-03-08T19:34:21Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I honestly don’t think even that would be enough. That a black man was ever the President of the United States is something they can’t get over. I think the only thing that would satisfy them is a complete presidential annulment; make it so an Obama presidency never happened. Hence the persistent existence of Birtherism. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/52 "2016-03-08T19:45:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Hence the persistent existence of Birtherism. ‘Obama is a Muslim because he says he _isn’t_ a Muslim and he goes to a Christian church! Islam says that Muslims must lie about being Muslim so they can destroy us infidels!’ When people say that to me, I tell them they have room to talk. _They’re_ Muslim, and are just lying as the Koran tells them to. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/53 "2016-03-08T19:46:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I don’t remember the details, but I recall that during the budget crisis that led to the shutdown of the government, a deal was hammered out that gave the Republicans _more_ than they originally asked for. The Republicans voted the plan down and essentially said, ‘OK, you’ve offered us more than 100% of what we asked for. That means that you can give us _more!_’ I also remember Mitch McConnell filibustering his\* own\* bill. Though I suspected it, it was around that time that I had actual hard proof the GOP weren’t being serious about this whole governing thing. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/54 "2016-03-08T19:53:11Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > I also remember Mitch McConnell filibustering his\* own\* bill. Though I suspected it, it was around that time that I had actual hard proof the GOP weren’t being serious about this whole governing thing. Something like that. ISTR that both sides set out their demands. They went round and round and round and round until Obama and the Democrats said, ‘OK. We’ll give you everything you asked for. We’ll accept those concessions you’ve agreed to.’ And then the Republicans rejected it. I don’t recall if this is the same thing McConnell filibustered. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/55 "2016-03-08T20:21:07Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I honestly don’t think even that would be enough. That a black man was ever the President of the United States is something they can’t get over. I think the only thing that would satisfy them is a complete presidential annulment; make it so an Obama presidency never happened. Hell, they’ve been trying to do an Undo on Watergate for forty years. This is nothing new. If history paints you in a bad light, don’t change your attitude toward life, rewrite history. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/56 "2016-03-08T20:35:49Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Hell, they’ve been trying to do an Undo on Watergate for forty years. This is nothing new. If history paints you in a bad light, don’t change your attitude toward life, rewrite history. Not to mention that it is now accepted fact among Fox conservatives that the New Deal actually _prolonged_ the Great Depression. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/57 "2016-03-08T20:40:21Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Hell, they’ve been trying to do an Undo on Watergate for forty years. In fact, Cheney appears to have set out to do so **consciously and intentionally.** As a Nixon aide he felt an actual **grudge** over it. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/58 "2016-03-08T22:02:40Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > This is why its a tragedy that Cosby is getting slimed; because if he weren’t, he might’ve called out some of the more heavy handed tactics of BLM like scrubbing names off buildings, safe-spaces, etc. Cosby? Rapist lives matter, right? > [@](#): > > I’m a white guy on the left of the center, a Bill Clinton type Democrat. I think if Bill Clinton knew that he’d disavow you in a New York minute. And Obama loves radical Islam so much that he sends them drones as presents. And sent the Welcome Wagon to bin Laden’s house. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/59 "2016-03-08T22:37:26Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > I’m a white guy on the left of the center, a Bill Clinton type Democrat. Bill was no more left of center than Hillary or Obama is. The DLC/Third-Way/neoliberal/Wall-Street-owned wing of the Democrats is **not** left of center. ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286/60 "2016-03-08T23:43:55Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I think…Bill Clinton [would] disavow you in a New York minute. I doubt it; he’d understand that indeed the Democratic party has moved very much to the left in the [past 10 years](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/democrats-too-liberal-for-bill-clinton-118555), and I was one of those people it runs the risk of moving left past. He supported and promoted the welfare reform today’s progressives dislike, ditto the death penalty. I supported both. He’d also not disavow [the majority of Democrats, who like me, and like Republicans and Indies, support Israel](http://www.gallup.com/poll/189626/americans-views-toward-israel-remain-firmly-positive.aspx?g_source=Politics&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles)and think we’re both [at war with Radical Islam.](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/israel_the_middle_east/voters_to_obama_yes_we_are_at_war_with_radical_islam) If the Clintons didn’t have to deal with Obama’s popularity of the liberal base, they wouldn’t be giving him leeway on those issues. > [@](#): > > Bill was no more left of center than Hillary or Obama is. The DLC/Third-Way/neoliberal/Wall-Street-owned wing of the Democrats is not left of center. He was to the right of where Obama is, but like me, is to the left of the GOP. I’m pro-abortion rights, pro-gay marriage, and against tax-cuts for the rich and support the environment (I recycle religiously). I’m rather anti-religion; I may criticize Islam, tho I don’t save criticism of Christianity. I take the Bill Maher view. The Bill Clinton 1990’s era was the big tent era in Democratic politics. Obama letting (and in some cases, aiding) the party to move further left runs the risk of former Democrats leaving the party. I guess I’m the equivalent of a Rockefeller Republican; a dying breed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-and-divisiveness/748286.md?page=4)