The President Named Everyone — Media Only Mentioned Slaves

As MSNBC's Alex Witt went to break, Friday, October 1, 2010, she announced that the President called upon people to be patient, and that he "invok(ed) the plight of the slaves."  I would have been puzzled if I'd not seen the Drudge Report headline the day before, "Pump Up The Base: It Took Time To Free The Slaves."

I did a Google search, "Obama, it took time to free the slaves, which resulted in many similar headlines, but all of the "stories" omitted, what used to be a reporting staple, namely, the when, the where, and the why . . .

But who needs facts, that might promote understanding, when the purpose is to inflame racial passions, which is exactly what "it took time to free the slaves," did . . .

Reacting to the phrase, out of context, heightened by deceptive words like the "plight,"  inferring that it's the special concerns, of a special group, that the President cares about; and  "pumps up the base," which infers that the President's base is not the average American, led to an eruption of negatives.

The reaction was as follows: 

President Obama is having delusions of competence; It's going to take time to socialize this enchilada; More proof of his mental illness; Idiot trying to play the race card; Wow. the great divider; This is utterly unacceptable language coming from the POTUS unless he is the POTUS of Democrat America or African America. So if you are a Conservative and you don't believe in Obama's big govt programs then you are the same as those that delayed freeing the slaves; The post racial black president speaks out.... now obama, dont mince your words, c’mon tell us what you really mean; I think he really wants to start another (war); Scary times ahead for America thats for sure; Dear Barry Soetero:It cost 600,000 lives to free the slaves and left the South scorched and scarred; Your speech is dangerous and borders on insighment; He and Michelle are “haters; If the RNC had half a clue, they would jump on this and run ads in every single Congressional district with a significant black population, saying exactly that; What's that make the great-great grandson of a Muslim African Slaver so different from us. Other than he is a Marxist; I'll keep my money, my guns, and my freedom; There are no words to describe my hatred for him; Apparently we should have sent them all to Liberia . . .

Demonstrating the power and use of trigger language:

Trigger Language, is "spoken" by antics, gestures, stereotypes, images, omissions, admissions, confusion,    misstatements, rumors, wrong ideas and inappropriate behavior, all of which are designed to trigger unconscious beliefs, that devalue, sabotage and undermine the target-subject.

What President Obama actually said:

People are frustrated and anxious, they're scared about the future, and they have a right to be impatient about the pace of change - I'm impatient, but I know this - now is not the time to quit, now is not the time to give up. We've been through worse as a nation. We've come out stronger from war, to depression, to the great struggles for equal right and civil rights. It took time to free the slaves, it took time for women to get the vote, it took time for workers to get the right to organize . . .

The reaction to the President's speech, by someone who actually heard it:

I knew it wouldn’t be long before he was back.

Obama’s speech to Gen44 tonight knocked my socks off. It’s streaming on CSPAN here. If you’ve forgotten why many of you worked your ass off for this guy, and felt hope for the first time in many years, watch it. He deserves criticism when necessary as this blogazine has not shied from at times. But he remains in my judgment the best option this country still has left – and it’s far too easy for the left and far too dangerous for serious conservatives and independents to abandon him now.

I do not believe for a second that the GOP of Palin and Boehner and Beck and DeMint represents anything but more debt, more war, more social division and more denial about the deeply serious problems this country faces and the profound dangers that are metastasizing in the world. I have no love for the Democrats but I do fervently believe that this president’s record is far better than many now fashionably claim, that his inheritance was beyond awful, and I am not giving up on this president’s immense task now, and neither, in my judgment, should any of those who voted for him in 2008.Know hope; and fight the cynicism and nihilism that is increasingly the
alternative.

The reaction to the President's speech, by someone who heard it, and recorded it:

What a rip roaring speech.  Yea, I'll follow that guy anywhere.  President Obama reminded us that the election of 2008 wasn't about getting one man into the White House, but about beginning a movement that would really change how things are done in this country.  He reminded us that during his presidential campaign, he told us change would not come easy, but would be difficult, because there are a lot of forces out there that don't want things to change.  They want the status quo.  Thanks for reminding me of that, President Obama.

While watching the president speak, I was reminded of everything this president and Democratic Congress have accomplished in 20 short months.  Too much to list here.  Yes, much of it is weaker than I would have liked, but a weak health care bill, for instance, is a lot stronger than no health care bill.  And we have President Obama to thank for a fundamental change in the way people will view health care from here on out - as a right, not a privilege.  And, as President Obama reminded us tonight, if the GOP gets their way on November 2, they will begin trying to dismantle our new health care rights.

President Obama made me very proud, yet again, tonight.  I am proud to be a Democrat.  I am proud to have voted for this man.  And I am proud to be an American.  As others have said about tonight's speech, the president had fire in his belly.  And because of his passion and drive, I too regained the fire in my belly for my party - the Democratic Party.  If the president can retain the passion he showed tonight, I see no way we lose as much power in Washington as all the pundits say we will

Thank you President Obama for reminding me why I voted for you and why I am a Democrat.

When media "reporting," makes you hate what, if you observed it yourself, you would love, then it's not reporting, it's propaganda, and lies  . . .