Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee summed it up best today when he said the President “missed another opportunity to bring the issue of race into context”.
Not long after Barack Obama’s first election I wrote about how I didn’t vote for him but how I hoped he’d recognize the significance of his achievement, and not squander an extraordinary opportunity to unite all Americans in a way that would have made Dr. King proud. Yesterday he confirmed my belief that he will instead, continue to use race as a means to divide “We the People” along ideological lines. With all due respect to the office, Barack Obama the man has proved incapable of reconciling our past with our progress, and has yet to fully understand the power and influence of his station. He has on many occasions now, chosen to interject the vastness of the American Presidency into the minutia of local government with potentially catastrophic consequences. Regardless of Mr. Obama’s life experience, he is no longer an “average American” and must understand people don’ t see him in that way. The President of the United States may certainly consider the things he’s learned in his life to help formulate the manner in which he will govern, but must also use extreme caution when inserting himself (personally) into any political debate, especially one so explosive as race. Moreover, he must recognize his responsibility to be “President of all the people” and not allow his personal bias to show through as he did in the White House Press Briefing Room yesterday.
In just over 17 minutes, President Barack Obama took a state level murder trial which even the prosecution in the case repeatedly reminded the jury was “not about race”, and made it exclusively about race by affixing the Presidential Seal to it. He offered concerns for the Martin family but none for the Zimmerman’s. He spoke of process and then questioned that process almost in the same breath. And as he has done so often in such matters, the President selectively introduced inflammatory suggestions for the medias veracious consumption with no explanation and without answering a single question regarding his motives.
I believe with absolute certainty that the blood which runs in my veins is of the same color, consistency and basic chemical make-up of any human being on planet earth, and that the second paragraph in our Declaration of Independence is a reiteration of what we all know to be true in our hearts. Regrettably, I also believe that the twice elected 44th President of the United States either does not understand or chooses to ignore the aforementioned truths for the sake of personal and professional ideology. These are not good times for America…
http://www.gallup.com/poll/160097/obama-fourth-year-office-ties-polarized-ever.aspx