The country was never more divided than during the Civil War. After four years of fighting and an estimated 750,000 deaths, the country was finally on the verge of peace in March, 1865, when President Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address.
In his brief speech—just 703 words—Lincoln struck a remarkably conciliatory tone. “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.”
President Obama cites Lincoln as one of his heroes, and when he took his second Oath of Office Monday, he placed his left hand on the Bible that Lincoln used for his first inauguration in 1861 (the second Bible belonged to Martin Luther King,Jr.).
But any similarity of Obama’s speech to Lincoln’s stops there, since the President sounded more confrontational than accommodating.
“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate,” the President said. The choice of words was not an accident, though it was rather ironic.
Just a week earlier the President, during a news conference, accused some of his opponents of being absolutists who are trying to hold the economy ransom.
“They (Congressional Republicans) can act responsibly, and pay America’s bills, or they can act irresponsibly and put America through another economic crisis. But they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy,” the President said.
That’s not the language of someone trying to negotiate a deal in the best interest of the country; those are fighting words.
As Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “No one has good faith but him. No one is sincere but him. Doesn’t this get boring, even to him?”
Obama’s first election victory was about hope and change, supposedly a defining shift in that body politic to a new post-partisan era. The result, however, has been even more partisanship.
The second election victory has emboldened the President. He doesn’t have to compromise, or even negotiate in good faith with the other side about getting a deal on big issues like spending.
In one part of his inaugural speech Obama rejected steep cuts in entitlement programs, but in the very next paragraph he promised to take on climate change because “failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.”
If the President is a believer in the science of global warming why isn’t he also a believer in the simple math of debt?
Barack Obama is being true to his progressive ideology, and that inspires the faithful who were kept under foot during the Bush years, but there’s no joy in his fight. It makes one long for the days of the Happy Warrior Hubert Humphrey, the sunny optimism of Ronald Reagan or the profound likability of Bill Clinton.
In the very first sentence of his inaugural address, President John Kennedy said, “we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom.” Kennedy understood that after the narrowest of victories, it was inappropriate to spike the ball.
The President didn’t gloat yesterday, but he did signal that he’s primed for bloody political fights ahead. Sadly, there will be no binding up the nation’s wounds over the next four years.
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Comments
Medman
You have already said it. Obama's idea of cooperation is for the Rs to agree to more debt, more government, fewer basic rights and more handouts for the takers. He will continue to divide this country and after four more years will leave a humongous mess for the next President. The larger problem is that the Country is becoming more socialistic with every new handout and government program that makes the citizens more dependent on the government. Electing someone who will tell the voters the truth about the debt will be nearly impossible. A representative democracy will be a lost dream for the next generation of US citizens.
January 22, 2013 at 6:32 am | Report comment
wirerowe
Well stated Medman I agree.As far as I can tell he did not mention deficits, the debt or economic growth. He did acknowledge name calling which he has perfected to the point that it got him re elected. Also if he wants to do something about global warming and the carbon footprint he should have ran for premier of China instead of Presdient of the U Our CO2 goes down steadily, theirs increases exponentially. Slowly but surely I am getting over the President winning reelection.
January 22, 2013 at 7:42 am | Report comment
Barney
Think about it, Hop. Think about it.
January 22, 2013 at 6:57 am | Report comment
Red Dwarf
Barney, he's obviously thought about it. We've all thought about it, as painful as it is. Have you?
January 22, 2013 at 12:45 pm | Report comment
Sampeer
If you look at who elected Obama you will find the vast majority of his votes came from major population centers. This is where you find folks who have no clue where their food, electricity, and gasoline comes from. It is also where you find a majority of those on public assistance.
Yes, the nation is divided. On one side we have those who work and produce. On the other we have those who are little more than parasites. They live off the efforts of others. Obama like the vast majority of politicians know as long as they cater to those who take they are assured office.
January 22, 2013 at 8:17 am | Report comment
TD
Frontline just did a story on Obama's first term, the very night of his first inauguration all of the powerful Republicans in Congress were meeting across town to detrmine their strategy. What emerged from that meeting was a plan to confront Obama on EVERYTHING, that they would filibuster and block more legislation than EVER BEFORE!
Even to the point that when Republicans sponsored their own legislation and Obama said he could support it, they then walked away from it. Think of that, seven Republicans co-sponsored a bill that Obama said he supported then they voted against it, why? because their plan was to destroy him and make him a one term President, the country be damned.
What I see is a man who has tried to meet in the middle and many times on the right side of the middle but who has been rejected every time. I see a man who finally has decided he's been elected twice, he's in charge and he's going to make very plain to the people what's been going on.
With the right wing media machine caomflauging the whole thing with stories from Hoppy like this one or Fox News teaser, "will Obama be willing to cooperate with Republicans in the 2nd term?", it's hard to get to the truth but it appears Obama is not going to be quite so diplomatic this time when the other side act like spoiled children.
January 22, 2013 at 8:53 am | Report comment
Wowbagger
TD,
Quoting the words of another charismatic utopian socialist, Jim Jones:
Just drink the Koolade and everything will turn out OK!
January 22, 2013 at 9:44 am | Report comment
TD
WOW, you right wingers have drank so much Koolade you no longer know up from down. Obama is a good man and while I don't agree with everything he has done, compared to McCain/Palin or Romney/Ryan, thank GOD ALMIGHTY we got Obama!
January 22, 2013 at 10:18 am | Report comment
Bill
I hate to say it but there are way too many that think like you do. It's hard for me to believe you really thank God for Obama! I hate to think what this country is going to look like after he is done screwing it up. The really bad part is my kids and grandkids will be paying the price for all his mess. Yours will be screwed too but then who cares.
January 22, 2013 at 3:41 pm | Report comment
DWM
Because 7 liberal epublicans propose legislation, all Republicans have to vote for it? Since when? Name one piece of legislation that Obama has even hinted he would meet in the middle on?
How did he compromise on taxes? How has he proposed compromise on the debt ceiling?
As he said after the first election, I won, get in the back of the bus.
Nice fairy tale TD, not close to reality.
January 22, 2013 at 10:41 am | Report comment
TD
read again DWM, the point is the same 7 who proposed the legislation turned against it when Obama said it sounded like good legislation to him, that's how insane they are, that's how insane they have been the past 4 years
January 22, 2013 at 2:21 pm | Report comment
Don Jr.
Obama "tried to meet in the middle", come on now. Phil Mickleson has figured that his new tax rate is at around 63 percent, we're subsidizing wind energy in the billions, virtually nothing has been cut in the government's budget. But, he has tried to meet in the middle? Middle of an orchestrated mess mabey. By the way, a 63 percent tax rate is un-American. It's completely unfair and unjustified. I don't care how rich anybody is, they do not deserve to be taxed at 63 percent while our government continues to waste billions and billions of dollars.
January 22, 2013 at 5:37 pm | Report comment
Don Jr.
Sorry, "waste" was not the correct word. I should have said "steal".
January 22, 2013 at 5:48 pm | Report comment
HMAALLTHEWAY
On March 26th 2012 President Obama said this to Dmitry Medvedev, "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility."
Flexibility abroad but inflexible here in America, I think that says it all.
While curtailing to everyone around the world he has been inflexible here where we Americans need joint decisions made not mandates from the throne. We know by his speech yesterday that this will only get worse in the next 4 years.
How come we as average Americans are held to a different standard than our elected officals? If you or I ran our household like the fereral government we would be in the same financial place as that our country as a whole is now. It is basic math, you can not spend more than you are generating in income. Can you or I go to our employer and say "I have lived beyond my means so I need a raise." No we cannot ! So, why do we allow our representatives to do it to us? Just like the decisions we average Americans make everyday, sometimes you just have to say no! No to the new car, no to the vacation or an improvement to our home. These are tough decisions but we make them everyday.
When the phase "Bully Pulpit" was coined by Teddy Roosevelt, it meant "wondeful or superb" but now I feel it truly means our modern definition, which is "harasser of the weak" Our President sees the Congress as weak and the Ameican people as incapible of helping themselves.
My prayer is that somehow those we have entrusted with leading this country will turn this thing around but I am not holding my breath. So, hold on for the next 4 years because I feel "its going to get even worse."
January 22, 2013 at 9:02 am | Report comment
TD
you should be kicking yourself in the butt for not voting for Al Gore if you believe what you just wrote. We would not have these deficits if it weren't for George W's big tax cuts, unpaid for wars and drug plans, de-regulation of Wall Street that collapsed the whole economy!
Look in the mirror when you want someone to blame because my guess is you voted for "W"
January 22, 2013 at 10:21 am | Report comment
wirerowe
TD The repeal of the Glass Segal Act which provided for a firewall separating investment and banking activities is the one regulatory change that some economist believe that led to the financial meltdown.That law was repealed in 1999 when Bill Clinton was President and Algore was vice president. The other regulatory bodies that many believe contributed to the meltdown were Fannie and Freddie which your favorite George Bush tried to reign in but was stymied by liberals. Monetary policy of easy credit by the Fed contributed to the meltdown. The fiscal policies of the Bush administrations were not fiscally responsible but were expansive from the perspective of Keynesian economics and had nothing to do with the financial meltdown. Obama's deficits have been $800 billion annually higher on average than Bush's with all of the Bush policies you mentioned. In fact Obama has had one year that he was not in Iraq and Afghanistan is closing down and we still see no deficit reduction.
January 22, 2013 at 1:22 pm | Report comment
Jethro
Hoppy has doubled down on the rightwing nitwittery and apparently is somewhat nastier towards Obama since the election. Sad.
January 22, 2013 at 9:06 am | Report comment
jethro
why cant we all just get along!!
January 22, 2013 at 10:25 am | Report comment
CaptainQ
Hoppy, everyone, what did you expect from his speech yesterday?
Obama won a second term in office, and of course he's going to outline his agenda. Why not? It's HIS moment in the limelight.
Of course he's going to be confrontational. Give Obama credit for understanding his current situation. In the first two years of his first term, the Dems controlled both the House and Senate and he could do almost anything he wanted (until he introduced ObamaCare and he had to 'wheel and deal' with members of his OWN party to pass it). Now, there is a GOP controlled House to contend with.
Why was his speech such a 'surprise' to some in this nation and this MB? To the victors go the spoils and Obama was victorious last November. In the long run, we'll see if he gets everything he wants in these next four years. I'm no Obama fan, but I cannot knock him for stating his goals in the speech he made yesterday. I don't agree with some of them, but he is the President. He has every right to say what's on his mind. I know it's hard for folks like Rush, Hannity, Beck and the 'not yet ready for sanity Right Wing players' to just allow Obama his right to free speech, but that's just the way it is in America today. We ARE a nation divided, God help us all.
January 22, 2013 at 10:41 am | Report comment
Barney
Captian seems to be living in reality. Many of you on here aren't. God job, Captain.
January 22, 2013 at 12:34 pm | Report comment
GregG
You hit the nail on the head Captain, we are a nation divided. The problem is, most do not want to answer the question of WHO divided us and by what means they did it.
January 22, 2013 at 3:37 pm | Report comment
HMAALLTHEWAY
Al Gore? Really ? I don't see how anyone in their right mind could vote for someone their own state couldn't support!
And TD I'm not saying we are here because of Bush or Obama.
How many people on here would ever say that Clinton enjoyed the tax hikes from Bush 1 and that is why things went so well for him early in his administration? Clinton could sell it though, he got together with the leadership and got things done!
What are we getting done ?
I am saying enough of the infighting and work to get this thing fixed.
Maybe Obama should have passed whatever he wanted in the first 2 years, then maybe we would be standing here singing his praises.
Now to pass anything seems impossible.
January 22, 2013 at 11:17 am | Report comment
Uncle Fester
TD and his dilusional insights are here today. Where's GregG and hopship?? The Three Stooges of dilusion.
Al Gore? Really? A retard retread. C'mon man, you can do better than that.
January 22, 2013 at 11:37 am | Report comment
GregG
I'm here Fungo, just sitting on the sidelines laughing at you and your like minded compadres. Just watching you people squirm is rather amusing. But when President Obama breaks it off in you-all maybe then your eyes will open wide enough to see that your own party is the root cause of the economic mess this country is in today. Trickle down Fungo, trickle down.
January 22, 2013 at 2:08 pm | Report comment
mntnman
It never ceases to amaze me that when republicans obfuscate, filibuster, refuse to take votes and reject everything Obama proposes, that they are being true to their principles, but when Obama does it, somehow its being uncompromising and difficult. The problems Obama has had since elected to office began with the Bush administration. The economy was collapsing -- we were on the edge of a fiscal cliff, ready to fall over. Obama worked with Congress to get us out of the mess. Disaster was avoided.
Then came the idea that anything else Obama wanted was not going to happen. Senate Republicans time and again prevented Obama from putting forth his agenda, which, by the way, had won the election. (If I recall, when Bush won, and pushed his agenda, to the chagrin of Democrats, he said, I won, get over it. Rove said Elections have consequences.) Yet as soon as republicans lost the White House, different story.
Hoppy, you are smarter than this, so I am going to assume your point is purely partisan. Republicans and Democrats are to blame for the current mess we find ourselves in. Republicans and Democrats have failed to lead. Republicans and Democrats engage in partisan politics to the detriment of our country.
As for the article, Obama is president. He won the election, which was about big ideas. His ideas won. Elections have consequences. Get over it already. (To quote Bush and Rove.) Gheez.
January 22, 2013 at 12:48 pm | Report comment
hillboy
well put. Hoppy's essay and some of the responses here kind of remind me of the selective perceptions of sports fans. It's so easy to spot and hate the dirty player when he's on the opposition's team. When he plays for your team though he's just a good 'ol hardnosed player who's doing what he can to win one for the team.
January 22, 2013 at 3:24 pm | Report comment
jethro
put the blame on both parties still doesnt solve anything. we all are still screwed
January 22, 2013 at 4:19 pm | Report comment
mntnman
Grow a backbone. We have had such worse times in our country. The Civil War, the Great Depression, two world wars, the upheaval of the Civil Rights era, the Dust Bowl, the time of the Revolution and many other times have tried our country. Every time, we have reached down deep and pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps.
One of the problems I see in our country is the whining and the hand ringing. Because we don't like our current government, we're doomed. Doomed I tell you. You think people felt doomed when there were bombs flying around their house. How about when no one had jobs, their homes were gone, and they stood in food lines along with millions of others. The idea that somehow we cannot go on; that our country is lost and will never be found-- well that's part of our problem. We've gotten soft. Instead of tackling problems, we whine. Instead of advocating for our position and using the political process, we simply complain about it and do little.
If things are so bad, I suggest that you move. Perhaps to, where? Where is better? Where are you freer? Where can you do anything you want in the world. No where but here. Yeah we have a lot of problems. Yeah our government is dysfunctional. But we still seem to be open for business. We appear to be shopping and living and dying. I would rather live here, now, than any where and any time in history. We have it made compared to most of the world and most of history. Yet, we have become so spoiled that we whine when things get a little tough. Grow a spine.
Chose to engage in the political process. Run for office. Support a candidate (not just vote -- get out and work for them.) Start a movement. Be a voice. Don't just complain to your friends. Write to your politicians. Encourage friends to do the same. Be active. Do all you can. That is how we right our country.
Or just whine and complain. Call names and feel self-satisfied. Sit at home and fret about the end of America. That is not how America became great -- and it will not be how we stay great.
January 22, 2013 at 4:54 pm | Report comment
Shadow
Good reasoned article. Unfortunately, the only recourse we have short of Civil War to stop this Marxist idelogue from destroying this Country is to impeach him. The Courts have proven themselves incapable of handling Constitutional Requirements. Impeachment would be difficult with the wimps/idiots we have there but there is always hope. Otherwise, we will be bankrupt in five years.
January 22, 2013 at 4:19 pm | Report comment
ShinnstonGuy
Personally, I thought he was referring to politicians from both sides. They are all playing a game. Perhaps it wasn't that way to others, including you Hoppy, who seem to live out the "West Virginians are the most pessimistic peope in America" editorial from last year. If it was indeed pointed at Republicans, then I can only point to the facts: the Senate R's have filibustered almost every piece of legislation, and even some basic appointee nominations. Why not call them out on it?
I enjoyed the speech, and as someone else pointed out here, it was meant to appeal to his core group. Most of the blue states have suffered from erratic weather, so he talked about climate change. He got major support from African Americans, women, and gays, so he mentioned civil rights. In regards to Lincoln, like it or not but there was some similarity we he repeatedly mentioned how we have to provide equal rights to ALL of these groups, something that has been tested (last year's women's issues) and blocked (basically any gay right) repeatedly through our nation's history.
January 22, 2013 at 6:25 pm | Report comment
Jethro
The apparently unprovoked antagonistic tone towards Mr Fryson was deplorable in light of the undeserved adulation Hoppy gives his mostly right-wing guests.
January 23, 2013 at 12:47 am | Report comment