November 16, 2015

"Being a good citizen, being an activist, involves hearing the other side and making sure that you are engaging in a dialogue because that’s also how change happens."

"The civil rights movement happened because there was civil disobedience, because people were willing to go to jail, because there were events like Bloody Sunday, but it was also because the leadership of the movement consistently stayed open to the possibility of reconciliation and sought to understand the views, even views that were appalling to them, of the other side.... I tell [my daughters], I want you also to be able to listen. I don’t want you to think that a display of your strength is simply shutting other people up, and that part of your ability to bring about change is going to be by engagement and understanding the viewpoints and the arguments of the other side... And so when I hear, for example, folks on college campuses saying, ‘We’re not going to allow somebody to speak on our campus because we disagree with their ideas or we feel threatened by their ideas,’ I think that’s a recipe for dogmatism and I think you’re not going to be as effective.... [We] have these values of free speech. And it’s not free speech in the abstract. The purpose of that kind of free speech is to make sure that we are forced to use argument and reason and words in making our democracy work. And, you know, you don’t have to be fearful of somebody spouting bad ideas. Just out-argue them. Beat ’em. Make the case as to why they’re wrong. Win over adherents. That’s how things work in a democracy"

Said President Barack Obama.

47 comments:

mccullough said...

Bullshit.

jr565 said...

'I won"

mccullough said...

Colleges are run by left wing dogmatists.

walter said...

"President Obama showed a flash of anger Monday with Republican critics of his anti-terrorism strategy, saying he is “too busy” to engage in a rhetorical debate with them.

“What I’m not interested in doing is posing or pursuing some notion of American leadership, or American winning or whatever other slogans they come up with, that has no relationship to what actually is going to work to protect the American people” and America’s allies, Mr. Obama said at a news conference in Turkey. “I’m too busy for that.”

pm317 said...

That is all he has to show for.. speeches, lecturing others. Sick of this mfer.

pm317 said...

Just saw a video on O'Reilly of those BLM fuckers in a library on Darthmouth College. Why don't these fuckers go on Chicago or Baltimore streets and yell and scream?

Mark said...

That's a nice speech you got there Mr. Obama. Now could you maybe walk the walk?

Tank said...

Con man.

Gonna con

Scott said...

The myth of dialogue.

mccullough said...

It's fun to watch left wing agitators go after left wing administrators and faculty. Conservatives long ago figured out universities are not places of free inquiry and dialogue.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Yeah, as he flips off his opponent during the debate while scratching his cheek.

But I guess that kind of oratorical skill is how he convinced so many people to vote for him.

Anonymous said...

We need a leader, not a community organizer.

pm317 said...

I could scream when lefties like Obama say "notion of" or "nuanced" or..

Bay Area Guy said...

Yeah, right. That explains why elected officials in Chicago are 99.9% Democrat - the art of persuasion.

pm317 said...

Apparently all these BLM fuckers think they are community organizing, a gift from their master. They can't do a quiet honest day's work in their studies and their jobs and excel but they will do this.

Sebastian said...

"Just out-argue them. Beat ’em. Make the case as to why they’re wrong. Win over adherents. That’s how things work in a democracy"

Oh, so that's what he did in '08. "Out-argue" them, Chicago-style.

And sure, he has set a fine example for his daughters in dealing with the GOP, trying to "win over adherents" and all.

Look, I'd like to believe him, really I would. But I can't. Progs want power. When they have it, they'll use it to the max; when they don't have it, they'll use any means necessary to get it.

Student protesters think administrators can be pressured into concessions, and they are right. Why argue when you can just take what you want?

J. Farmer said...

Reasoned, respectful debate has never really been the hallmark modern electoral politics. Regardless of political party or ideology, the figure is inevitably turned into a caricature by the opposition and attacked on that basis. I disagree with about 80-90% of Obama's agenda, but I have never felt compelled to vilify him in the absurd, over-the-top way that people do. I thought the same thing about Bush.

Michael K said...

My opinion of these crybabies is here. Just give them all As and they will quiet down.

Carnifex said...

Saw a new term...not crybabies, crybullies.

Birkel said...

...said the man who used procedural maneuvers to force Obama-Insurance on a country that did not want it and lied at every turn about the consequences and design of the scheme.

Arguments are easy when you lie.

Gahrie said...

Even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut.....

Big Mike said...

In seven years he's shown me absolutely nothing that suggests he believes a word of what said. Nothing. At. All.

n.n said...

He really is a pro-choice doctrinaire. Echos of "I won. Sit down and shut up."

David said...

"We won."

Birches said...

Broken clock and all that. I just wish he'd take his own advice.

Unknown said...

Oh. The irony.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

“What I’m not interested in doing is posing or pursuing some notion of American leadership, or American winning or whatever other slogans they come up with, that has no relationship to what actually is going to work to protect the American people” and America’s allies, Mr. Obama said at a news conference in Turkey. “I’m too busy for that.”

It's a good statement. Unless of course you prefer bluster to effectiveness. Bush blustered endlessly. Got a few thousand Americans killed. I think I'm trusting Obama more.

Of course, if you want to feel righteous indignation before getting blown up, then Bush is your man.

Real American said...

riiiight

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/08/28/obama-campaign-tries-shut-down-chicago-radio-show

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/16/obamas-character-assassins-target-another-national-review-journalist/

http://www.politico.com/blogs/ben-smith/2008/09/obama-seeks-to-take-down-nra-ad-012334

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121996889132881757

http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/8699/missouri-prosecutors-sheriffs-target-anyone-who-lies-about-barack-obama-jim

Sam L. said...

Words he mouthed; words and thoughts he does not practice or accept.

Achilles said...

He is such a shitty human being. So are the people that support him.

Bob Boyd said...

Louis Lerner

avwh said...

Every time they say "engage in a dialogue" what I actually hear is, "shut the fuck up" and "I won".

That's the only dialogue they actually have.

His idea of democracy is nothing but executive orders to skirt Congress b/c he can't actually win a single damn argument.

averagejoe said...

"Get in their faces."

Saint Croix said...

It's a good speech if you are 16. It's one of the annoying things about Obama. He's always talking down to people. "Let me explain to you the concept of free speech." Thanks big brother! You're awesome!

Since Yale is apparently filled with children who crave daddy's authority, maybe this will work.

campy said...

What I hear: "You've got to get the wingnutz talking so we can ID them and expel/fire them."

Joe Veenstra said...

The anti-Obama echo chamber in the commentary here is so predictable and frankly boring. He has tried to dialogue with Republicans and others on many occasions and has "walked the walk." You may recall he had public round table discussions with Republicans about health care reform. When Professor Gates was arrested he had the officer and Prof Gates to the White House for a beer. I could go on. He may pass legislation using raw political power but that doesn't mean he hasn't engaged with those with whom he disagrees. I actually think he likes it. Anyway, I agree with almost everything he said in the quote Prof Althouse highlighted. It is kind of sad people have to always be disagreeable.

Nichevo said...

Joe, I would have troubled to look up your, well, cites is too strong, your claims. But memory serves to indict you.

The beer summit? Obama came out the jackanapes that he is, but even if he knew how to treat people, he still started it with his "the police acted stupidly." Obama likes to create disorder, trouble, pain, then exploit it, as in this parable of Stalin:




Josef Stalin (1879-1953)
How To Be a Good Dictator
"... and he is even thankful for the human warmth
coming out of my palm."
STALIN
When Josef Stalin was on his deathbed he called in two likely successors, to test which one of the two had a better knack for ruling the country.
He ordered two birds to be brought in and presented one bird to each of the two candidates.
The first one grabbed the bird, but was so afraid that the bird could free himself from his grip and fly away that he squeezed his hand very hard, and when he opened his palm, the bird was dead.
Seeing the disapproving look on Stalin's face and being afraid to repeat his rival's mistake, the second candidate loosened his grip so much that the bird freed himself and flew away.
Stalin looked at both of them scornfully. "Bring me a bird!" he ordered.
They did.
Stalin took the bird by its legs and slowly, one by one, he plucked all the feathers from the bird's little body.
Then he opened his palm. The bird was laying there naked, shivering, helpless.
Stalin looked at him, smiled gently and said, "You see... and he is even thankful for the human warmth coming out of my palm."

hawkeyedjb said...

President Obama says things he doesn't believe, but in this I think he's both right and sincere.

But a bit of caution is understandable. "If you like your free speech, you can keep your free speech. Period."

Joe Veenstra said...

Yeah. He is pretty much Josef Stalin. Enjoy your delusion.

Rick said...

And, you know, you don’t have to be fearful of somebody spouting bad ideas. Just out-argue them. Beat ’em. Make the case as to why they’re wrong. Win over adherents. That’s how things work in a democracy"

Or if we're to do as he does instead of as he says we can just other them by calling them racist. Or we can get their divorce decrees opened to journalists and our opponents driven from public life. Or we can challenge some signatures and get our opponents thrown off the ballot.

Obama has internalized the left's practice of saying whatever sounds good even though it is completely contradicted by reality.

mikee said...

"Punch back twice as hard." President Obama.

Which policy has our President used against his political opponents more often, that of dialogue with listening, or punching back twice as hard?

OK, then. We know what HE believes.

Marty Keller said...

Joe Veenstra illustrates the current condition of our politics. He appears to actually believe, much like Mr. Obama, the words he utters. Oh, indeed, Mr. Obama has assiduously and relentlessly pursued open and fraternal dialogue with the evil Republicans (aided and abetted by the "predictable and frankly boring anti-Obama echo chamber" here at Althouse), only to be cruelly and disdainfully turned back each and every time. How do we know this? Mssrs. Veenstra and Obama say so!

Those who disagree are, per Mr. V., dismissed as cranks and worse. Evidence cited by the cranks is sneered at, thus relieving Mssrs. V. and O. of the actual responsibilities of citizenship. It's very comforting, I suppose, to stand upon one's pedestal and castigate the world for its failure to conform to one's superior insights and commands.

What is the source of this arrogance?

Unknown said...

dog·mat·ic -- /dĂ´É¡Ëˆmadik/ adjective: inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true.

example:
“What I’m not interested in doing is posing or pursuing some notion of American leadership, or American winning or whatever other slogans they come up with...”

Larry J said...

avwh said...
Every time they say "engage in a dialogue" what I actually hear is, "shut the fuck up" and "I won".

That's the only dialogue they actually have.


The Leftist definition of dialog is, "We talk, you listen." They're turning colleges into reeducation camps.

Sometimes, I think it would be nice for the other students at these universities to get back into the faces of the SJWs. Shout them down for a change. Maybe even walk towards them, arms linked, shouting "Fuck you!" with every step.

Nichevo said...

Joe Veenstra said...
Yeah. He is pretty much Josef Stalin. Enjoy your delusion.

11/17/15, 8:35 AM


I prefer him as a latter-day Yezhov. Separated at birth.

Nichevo said...

Tell me this ain't Obama to the life.

amielalune said...

Too bad he's such a great liar. Althouse still believes what he says instead of what he does.