2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumJonathan Capehart: How much grief can we and Obama take?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/04/18/how-much-grief-can-we-and-obama-take/How much grief can we and Obama take?
Posted by Jonathan Capehart on April 18, 2013 at 5:40 pm
President Obama in Boston. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press)
How many times has President Obama had to do this? How many times has he had to console a grieving community and a shocked nation? How many times has he had to use his way with words to make sense of tragedy? How many times have we watched a man who keeps his emotions firmly in check be unable to hold back his anger and sadness over the loss of life and injury with each incident? And how many times has his raw expression of empathy or outrage or both tapped into the nations mood and spirit?
snip//
April. 15, 2013. Boston. Three were killed and 183 were wounded when two pressure-cooker bombs explode seconds apart near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
In the words of Dick Hoyt, whos pushed his disabled son, Rick, in 31 Boston Marathons We cant let something like this stop us. And thats what the perpetrators of such senseless violence these small, stunted individuals who would destroy instead of build, and think somehow that makes them important thats what they dont understand. Our faith in each other, our love for each other, our love for country, our common creed that cuts across whatever superficial differences there may be that is our power. Thats our strength. Thats why a bomb cant beat us. Obama in Boston on April 18, 2013
Of course, it is the presidents job to be consoler in chief during times of crisis. But for Obama and the nation the searing crises never seem to stop.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)The list at the link is a good reminder. I'm glad Obama is the one to be the "consoler".
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Thanks for posting it, babylonsister as these were my thoughts as well.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)Can only imagine if Mittens or McSneer had been in the office.
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)at him is unprecedented. No president has ever had to deal with all of this.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,353 posts)how much more grief can Republicans and their NRA masters take before they finally decide that they care about something more than their next election and that something sensible has to be done? But no, all we get are excuses ("it wouldn't have prevented what's already happened anyway" and defeatism ("criminals are just going to break the law anyway" from them when pressed to act. Talk about pathetic.
Cha
(295,899 posts)Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)Non-publicised deaths are no less tragic than ones that make the headlines.
Obama regularly display emotion on camera. I don't know if that emotion is genuine or not. But my guess, I'm afraid, is that at the least it is often deliberate, even if it's not altogether feigned.