Israel Matzav

America's most divisive President ever calls for 'national unity'

In an inaugural address in front of 700,000 people - less than half the number that showed up four years ago - the man who has been the most divisive President in American history called for 'national unity.'

With second-term expectations tempered by lingering economic weakness and the political realities of a divided Washington, Obama acknowledged the difficult road ahead even as he sought to build momentum from his decisive November re-election victory.

"We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said as he stood in the wintry cold atop a giant makeshift platform on the Capitol steps overlooking the National Mall.

What a joke coming from a man who ran roughshod over Congress to pass Obamacare, a man who has degraded and denigrated American exceptionalism at every opportunity, and a man who has brought the Muslim Brotherhood into the White House.

Looking out on a sea of flags, he spoke to a crowd of up to 700,000 people, less than half the record 1.8 million who assembled four years ago.

Obama arrived at his second inauguration on solid footing, with his poll numbers up, Republicans on the defensive and his first-term record boasting accomplishments such as a US healthcare overhaul, ending the war in Iraq and the killing of Osama bin Laden.

But battles are looming over budgets, gun control and immigration, with Republicans ready to oppose him at almost every turn and Obama still seemingly at a loss over how to engage them in deal-making.

How to engage them in deal-making? He could learn how to compromise instead of being an absolutist....

What could go wrong?

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:52 PM