Obama called for greater tolerance in a "poisonous political climate." He criticized both ends of the political spectrum for using words such as "socialist," "fascist" and "Soviet-style takeover" and lamented that such thinking has begun "to creep into the center of our discourse."
The White House has watched, despairingly at times, as tea party activists and top Republicans have stirred a pot of anti-tax, anti-government anger. They have labeled Obama a spendthrift
| He's not a spendthrift. Spendthrifts are incapable of controlling the outgo. His spending is deliberate and targetted to reward supporters and punish non-supporters, both individuals and groups... and to change the shape of the American economy. |
How dare they! Sedition!
Hours before he was to speak at the annual White House correspondents' dinner, Obama chastised the media for a tendency "to play up every hint of conflict, because it makes for a sexier story." The result, he said, is that aspiring newsmakers "make their arguments as outrageous and as incendiary as possible."
Obama made clear that he was talking about verbal bomb throwers on the left as well as the right. He said politicians are "calling each other all sorts of unflattering names" and "pundits and talking heads shout at each other."
He said invective is nothing new, quoting a newspaper's prediction more than 200 years ago that a presidential victory by Thomas Jefferson would lead to the practice and teaching of "murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest."
Izzat so, Zero? Ya got a source for that?
Obama spoke up for government, saying that there are some things that "we can only do together, as one nation." He pointed to the creation of the national parks, the interstate highway system and Medicare - and to his pursuit of a financial regulatory overhaul.
"Government is what ensures that mines adhere to safety standards and that oil spills are cleaned up by the companies that cause them," Obama said to applause. Obama said the country has witnessed the danger of too little government, "like when a lack of accountability on Wall Street nearly leads to the collapse of our entire economy."
Uh, what about the start of it? Increasing home sales to people who couldn't afford it? Wasn't that the government?
Along the way, the president gave a brief nod to an argument most often launched by Republicans. "Too much government," he said, "can stifle competition and deprive us of choice and burden us with debt."