(07-13-2016, 09:13 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: It was 40 minutes long, so there was no way I'd listen to him talk that much. I saw a few blurbs that weren't political, they just praised those who died.

However, the comment section of ABC News on facebook was just "I can't believe he made this political". Were there overly political remarks?

Quote:That so much of the tensions between police departments and minority communities that they serve is because we ask the police to do too much and we ask too little of ourselves. (Applause.) As a society, we choose to under invest in decent schools. We allow poverty to fester so that entire neighborhoods offer no prospect for gainful employment. (Applause.) We refuse to fund drug treatment and mental health programs. (Applause.) We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book -- (applause) -- and then we tell the police “you’re a social worker, you’re the parent, you’re the teacher, you’re the drug counselor.” We tell them to keep those neighborhoods in check at all costs, and do so without causing any political blowback or inconvenience. Don’t make a mistake that might disturb our own peace of mind. And then we feign surprise when, periodically, the tensions boil over.

Quote:With an open heart, police departments will acknowledge that, just like the rest of us, they are not perfect; that insisting we do better to root out racial bias is not an attack on cops, but an effort to live up to our highest ideals. (Applause.) And I understand these protests -- I see them, they can be messy. Sometimes they can be hijacked by an irresponsible few. Police can get hurt. Protestors can get hurt. They can be frustrating.

But even those who dislike the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” surely we should be able to hear the pain of Alton Sterling’s family. (Applause.) We should -- when we hear a friend describe him by saying that “Whatever he cooked, he cooked enough for everybody,” that should sound familiar to us, that maybe he wasn’t so different than us, so that we can, yes, insist that his life matters. Just as we should hear the students and coworkers describe their affection for Philando Castile as a gentle soul -- “Mr. Rogers with dreadlocks,” they called him -- and know that his life mattered to a whole lot of people of all races, of all ages, and that we have to do what we can, without putting officers' lives at risk, but do better to prevent another life like his from being lost.

Quote:We also know that centuries of racial discrimination -- of slavery, and subjugation, and Jim Crow -- they didn’t simply vanish with the end of lawful segregation. They didn’t just stop when Dr. King made a speech, or the VotingRights Act and the Civil Rights Act were signed. Race relations have improved dramatically in my lifetime. Those who deny it are dishonoring the struggles that helped us achieve that progress. (Applause.)

But we know -- but, America, we know that bias remains. We know it. Whether you are black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or of Middle Eastern descent, we have all seen this bigotry in our own lives at some point. We’ve heard it at times in our own homes. If we’re honest, perhaps we’ve heard prejudice in our own heads and felt it in our own hearts. We know that. And while some suffer far more under racism’s burden, some feel to a far greater extent discrimination’s sting. Although most of us do our best to guard against it and teach our children better, none of us is entirely innocent. No institution is entirely immune. And that includes our police departments. We know this

(07-13-2016, 09:29 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: What he said was correct. They're statements that no one should take issue with if delivered stand alone from the funeral. It's all bipartisan recognition of issues in this country.

However, I can see why someone wouldn't find this appropriate at a memorial service. Talk about the people, what they believed it, who they were, and what they wanted.

(07-13-2016, 09:36 AM)GMDino Wrote: He did that.

In fact even with these topics he brought to the police and the reason they were there.  I just quoted the parts where he spoke about the topic.

My response to him was that every time the POTUS speaks it is political no matter what he says.  He's damned if does, damned if he doesn't.  My friend would have flooded FB with posts about how the POTUS didn't care if he had NOT gone or had NOT said something too.

(07-13-2016, 09:36 AM)GMDino Wrote: He did that.

In fact even with these topics he brought to the police and the reason they were there.  I just quoted the parts where he spoke about the topic.

My response to him was that every time the POTUS speaks it is political no matter what he says.  He's damned if does, damned if he doesn't.  My friend would have flooded FB with posts about how the POTUS didn't care if he had NOT gone or had NOT said something too.

Quote:As a society, we choose to under invest in decent schools. We allow poverty to fester so that entire neighborhoods offer no prospect for gainful employment.

Quote:We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book

(07-13-2016, 04:22 PM)Aquapod770 Wrote: I think he's getting a lot of undeserved hate for it. He did say some really really stupid things though ("easier for a kid to get a gun than a book" comes to mind) but overall it wasn't as bad as people are saying.


Now Bush on the other hand, he knocked it out of the park. I know his was much shorter, but it was incredible and included one of the most important and relevant lines I've heard in a long time. “Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.” - President George W. Bush.

(07-13-2016, 04:28 PM)GMDino Wrote: Plus he seemed to be having a good time.

(07-13-2016, 07:21 PM)Aquapod770 Wrote: Wait...that's what people on Occupy Democrats are freaking out about? Omg...how pathetic. Maybe that's his favorite worship song? Who knows. Of all the things to hate someone for this has got to be up there with the dumbest.

(07-13-2016, 04:22 PM)Aquapod770 Wrote: I think he's getting a lot of undeserved hate for it. He did say some really really stupid things though ("easier for a kid to get a gun than a book" comes to mind) but overall it wasn't as bad as people are saying.


Now Bush on the other hand, he knocked it out of the park. I know his was much shorter, but it was incredible and included one of the most important and relevant lines I've heard in a long time. “Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.” - President George W. Bush.

(07-13-2016, 09:44 PM)GMDino Wrote: I wouldn't know about that site, but I did find his behavior...odd.

(07-13-2016, 09:51 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: more of that awesome quote from W:

"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 into dehumanization. Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions."

(07-14-2016, 12:45 AM)Aquapod770 Wrote: Don't lie...you definitely "like" Occupy Democrats on facebook 

(07-14-2016, 12:45 AM)Aquapod770 Wrote: I don't think more relevant words have been spoken about the current state of this country (and the world). 

(07-13-2016, 09:11 AM)GMDino Wrote: Did anyone have a problem with them?

(07-14-2016, 11:06 AM)PhilHos Wrote: Yes. 

Imagine going to the funeral of your sister or mother who was raped and murdered and hearing some governmental official bemoan how some women wear slutty outfits.

As others have already said, outside of this memorial, his comments are not really controversial and probably don't even get mentioned anywhere. But, you're at a memorial for POLICE OFFICERS KILLED WHILE PROTECTING BLACK PEOPLE. It takes a heartless kind of bastard to bring up racist cops. It's almost as if he wants to equate all cops with the bad ones.

Let me put it this way: when you get out-"speeched" by George W. Bush, you're doing something wrong.

(07-14-2016, 11:15 AM)GMDino Wrote: I can understand that point of view.  I guess I came at it from the perspective of he's the POTUS and he has to kind of cover all the bases when he speaks.

I would have been fine without those references, I am OK with them in the context of his speech.

When I started the thread it was because my friends was SO upset with it that I was taken aback.