Former President Barack Obama says that the United States is at “an inflection point” following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and that President Donald Trump has further divided the country rather than work to bring people together.
“There are no ifs, ands or buts about it: The central premise of our democratic system is that we have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really contentious debates without resorting to violence,” Obama said Tuesday night during an event in Erie, Pennsylvania, hosted by the Jefferson Education Society, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press.
“And when it happens to some, but even if you think they’re, quote, unquote, on the other side of the argument, that’s a threat to all of us,” he said. “And we have to be clear and forthright in condemning them.”
Obama has kept somewhat of a low profile in his post-presidency. Responding to a moderator’s questions Tuesday, he addressed Trump’s rhetoric after Kirk’s assassination, as well as other administrative actions.
The Democrat spoke about his own leadership following the 2015 slaying of nine Black parishioners at a Charleston, South Carolina, church, as well as Republican then-President George W. Bush’s actions following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He said he sees the role of a president in a crisis “to constantly remind us of the ties that bind us together.”
The sentiment among Trump and his aides following Kirk’s killing of calling political opponents “vermin, enemies … speaks to a broader problem,” Obama said.
Could we like, just replace Trump with a panel of the living presidents?
He could hang out too if he wants. What’s his one vote with Clinton, W, Obama, and Biden?
The inflection point was during his presidency. Now is the race to the bottom.
Yeah, having a black president broke the racists.
Obama was a great president, but has a stain on his legacy as he did nothing to stop the GOP/Trump. He had the intel that Russia was meddling in US politics and did not publicly sound the alarm.
Did nothing to curb the entertainment show, Fox News, from spreading mis/disinformation.
Did nothing to address the dark money the NRA was receiving.
Obama played it too safely for fear of Republicans uniting even more, despite being stonewalled for nearly all judicial appointments/laws.
Yes, a black man being elected woke up the racists in this country and Republicans, with the help of Russia, capitalized on their fear. But in reality, Corporate Democrats are owned by the same masters as Republicans.
There’s another stain unfortunately. He watched Putin roll quietly into Crimea and did nothing about it. We are where we are because of the weak assed response that both he and Europe collectively gave to that annexation.
If the topics of discussion are:
- Nonwhites should be subject to warrantless search, arrest, detainment, and deportation, and we are actively carrying it out.
- LGBT+ should be considered a mental illness and be imprisoned in “psychiatric facilities” and we are actively building the framework to do so.
- MAGA is the party of real Americans, everyone else is a perfidious traitor and should be targeted, and we are openly entertaining this idea.
There isn’t anything to discuss, really. Fascist “discussion” is a distraction, a charade, an amusement, while they work to undermine norms and institutions and do real harm.
You want to see what MAGATs mean by “open discussion”, look at Patel’s and Hegseth’s Senate hearings. Repeating blatant lies, hollow rhetoric, and when pressed even a little, they angrily accuse everything and everyone in the room of being a fraud and a traitor. Nothing but contempt for the institutions they are forced to abide by, for now. I guarantee they were both thinking “I can’t wait to give the order to throw all these fucking communist worms in a hole” the entire time.
There is nothing to discuss with a fascist. There’s only what you can do to neutralize their influence.
There isn’t anything to discuss, really.
What if we talked about only doing the fascism in the red and purple states? Maybe create some kind of Vichy Republic for the liberals, off to the side aways, once the reactionaries have come through and purged them of anyone too threatening.
Surely you can just let Barack Obama continue his #blessed influencer lifestyle out in Martha’s Vineyard, at least? He’s a mega-millionaire! He’s in the club now, you guys! They can look the other way while you do your pogroms. You can look the other way while they do their Netflix autobiographies and Burning Man festivals. Comme ci, comme ça.
There is nothing to discuss with a fascist.
There’s always room for discussion. We just need a strategically managed surrender. Let the poors go into the meat grinder while the elites can install the AI chips that do all the prole work for us. Then we just segregate ourselves into partisan enclaves and rule as miniature local despots together.
Just so long as the fascists don’t become greedy and try to take further ground, things should be fine. And if we’re rhetorically clever enough and sensible enough and rational enough, they won’t do that.
I know this is satire but it really does need to be pointed out that the second section is basically what everyone in power at the DNC is saying about just letting them win.
Also cough cough newsom cough. As much as people on Lemmy seem to think he’s a paragon of what a Democrat should be.
I was gonna yell, but this has to be satire.
Nevertheless, I must tap the sign, just in case anybody really believes that fascists’ minds can be changed by debate:
“Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”
Quote is from Jean-Paul Sartre
History is depressingly prescient these days. Great quote though in fairness.
Sartre was no fool.
Down with Nazi America
Wait, what happened to Charlie Kirk???
Lol I’m jk
he lost the gun debate by a long shot
Innocent brown kids: drone strike
Fascists: debate and disagree
Thanks, Obama.
Inflection point? Is that the point where everything has already gone to shit, and everyone is standing around in the smoldering remains of what used to be something manageable? Because I don’t think where we are now is called that.
Obama saying that while Snowden has become a naturalized Russian citizen is fucking wild. Sit the fuck back down and shut the fuck up.
Just put it next to all the other inflection points from the past 20 years.
More like a turning point, amirite
Or maybe a hollow point
Thanks, Obama.
Fuck off Obama, don’t you have some more weddings to bomb? War criminal cretin.
Centrist fuck sitting there saying “you must all peacefully listen to and debate Nazis as they plan how to kill you”.
Lemmy.ml is leaking.
Oh you’re that weird right wing guy.
Centrist? He was kissing Putin-Medvedev ass with “perezagruzka”.
Yeah that sounds like pretty typical centrist behaviour to me.
