Former President Barack Obama says that the United States is at “an inflection point” following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and that President Donald Trump has further divided the country rather than work to bring people together.
“There are no ifs, ands or buts about it: The central premise of our democratic system is that we have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really contentious debates without resorting to violence,” Obama said Tuesday night during an event in Erie, Pennsylvania, hosted by the Jefferson Education Society, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press.
“And when it happens to some, but even if you think they’re, quote, unquote, on the other side of the argument, that’s a threat to all of us,” he said. “And we have to be clear and forthright in condemning them.”
Obama has kept somewhat of a low profile in his post-presidency. Responding to a moderator’s questions Tuesday, he addressed Trump’s rhetoric after Kirk’s assassination, as well as other administrative actions.
The Democrat spoke about his own leadership following the 2015 slaying of nine Black parishioners at a Charleston, South Carolina, church, as well as Republican then-President George W. Bush’s actions following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He said he sees the role of a president in a crisis “to constantly remind us of the ties that bind us together.”
The sentiment among Trump and his aides following Kirk’s killing of calling political opponents “vermin, enemies … speaks to a broader problem,” Obama said.
If the topics of discussion are:
There isn’t anything to discuss, really. Fascist “discussion” is a distraction, a charade, an amusement, while they work to undermine norms and institutions and do real harm.
You want to see what MAGATs mean by “open discussion”, look at Patel’s and Hegseth’s Senate hearings. Repeating blatant lies, hollow rhetoric, and when pressed even a little, they angrily accuse everything and everyone in the room of being a fraud and a traitor. Nothing but contempt for the institutions they are forced to abide by, for now. I guarantee they were both thinking “I can’t wait to give the order to throw all these fucking communist worms in a hole” the entire time.
There is nothing to discuss with a fascist. There’s only what you can do to neutralize their influence.
What if we talked about only doing the fascism in the red and purple states? Maybe create some kind of Vichy Republic for the liberals, off to the side aways, once the reactionaries have come through and purged them of anyone too threatening.
Surely you can just let Barack Obama continue his #blessed influencer lifestyle out in Martha’s Vineyard, at least? He’s a mega-millionaire! He’s in the club now, you guys! They can look the other way while you do your pogroms. You can look the other way while they do their Netflix autobiographies and Burning Man festivals. Comme ci, comme ça.
There’s always room for discussion. We just need a strategically managed surrender. Let the poors go into the meat grinder while the elites can install the AI chips that do all the prole work for us. Then we just segregate ourselves into partisan enclaves and rule as miniature local despots together.
Just so long as the fascists don’t become greedy and try to take further ground, things should be fine. And if we’re rhetorically clever enough and sensible enough and rational enough, they won’t do that.
I was gonna yell, but this has to be satire.
Nevertheless, I must tap the sign, just in case anybody really believes that fascists’ minds can be changed by debate:
Quote is from Jean-Paul Sartre
History is depressingly prescient these days. Great quote though in fairness.
Sartre was no fool.
I know this is satire but it really does need to be pointed out that the second section is basically what everyone in power at the DNC is saying about just letting them win.
Also cough cough newsom cough. As much as people on Lemmy seem to think he’s a paragon of what a Democrat should be.