Unsurprisingly, Obama used the memorial for a murdered Dallas police officer to get all sorts of political. He yammered on about racism, blaming Other People. He yammered on about gun control, even saying it was easier to get a Glock than a book. He took shots at the police. As Charles Cooke noted
This, remember, was a funeral — a funeral for one of the police officers who was murdered last Thursday. It wasn’t a rally. It wasn’t a White House press conference. It wasn’t a public statement, hastily arranged on the airport tarmac. It was a funeral. Presumably, those attending had all sorts of political opinions. Presumably, some of the cops were Republicans. Presumably, there was some serious disagreement in that room as to how the country should move forward. Wouldn’t it have been better to wait until the proceedings were over to call for change? Wouldn’t it have been more politically effective for the president to have made his push somewhere else?
Yes, it would
(Daily Caller) President Obama referred to himself 45 times over the course of the speech he delivered Tuesday at the memorial service for the five police officers killed in Dallas last week.
Obama would refer to himself 43 more times throughout the speech — most of which he personally wrote, according to the LA Times — including one instance where he referred to himself in the third-person: “the president.â€
You can read the whole thing at Time. Then we have this
https://twitter.com/WilliamTeach/status/753030812975656961
It’s a tale of two speeches. Say what you will about George W. Bush, the man has a sense of propriety, understanding the situation he’s in, and while Obama was preachy and looked down his nose at people, yammering about himself, Bush was gracious, offering empathy, sympathy, and talked about people coming together. He mentioned the slain police officers almost immediately
At times, it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates too quickly into dehumanization. Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions. (Applause.) And this has strained our bonds of understanding and common purpose.
But Americans, I think, have a great advantage. To renew our unity, we only need to remember our values. We have never been held together by blood or background. We are bound by things of the spirit – by shared commitments to common ideals.
At our best, we practice empathy, imagining ourselves in the lives and circumstances of others. This is the bridge across our nation’s deepest divisions. And it is not merely a matter of tolerance, but of learning from the struggles and stories of our fellow citizens, and finding our better selves in the process.
At our best, we honor the image of God we see in one another. We recognize that we are brothers and sisters, sharing the same brief moment on earth, and owing each other the loyalty of our shared humanity.
President Bush continued on in that vein for a bit longer, before ending with
Today, all of us feel a sense of loss – but not equally. I’d like to conclude with a word to the families, the spouses, and especially the children of the fallen. Your loved one’s time with you was too short, and they did not get the chance to properly say goodbye. But they went where duty called. They defended us, even to the end. They finished well. We will not forget what they did for us.
Your loss is unfair. We cannot explain it. We can stand beside you and share your grief. And we can pray that God will comfort you with a hope deeper than sorrow and stronger than death.
May God bless you.
He understood that this was a memorial, not a political rally, and he talked to and with the people in attendance, not at them like someone else.
Read: Obama Uses Speech At Dallas Memorial To Talk About Himself »
