Obama telling the people to keep protesting. WTF?

"I suspect that there’s not a president in our history that hasn’t been subject to these protests," he answered. "So, I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldn’t advise them to be silent."

He added: “Voting matters, organizing matters and being informed on the issues matter.”

Protests have broken out in cities across the country since Trump's upset victory last Tuesday. Some have been peaceful, but there have been incidents of violence -- and a demonstration last Thursday in Portland escalated into a destructive riot.

Source

What the hell Obama? He doesn't even address the violence involved in these protests and says that they are normal in every election cycle? I can't recall one where we had this much craziness going on.

It is unbelievable to me that our current POTUS would encourage this behavior instead of trying to bring our country together.

I guess I am just happy his days are numbered and we can get things back to normal again soon. The fighting and feelings involved in such erratic behavior from protesters that have nothing to actually protest other than Trump becoming President is ridiculous. Trump can't even change anything yet. They may as well be protesting 2020 election already.

So over these Hillary supporters being the biggest hypocrites in the world right now. While the US may be getting laughed at because Trump was elected, seeing the behavior from those that wanted Hillary, who all preached peace and complained of violent protests, is just the epitome of what I can't stand about our current atmosphere here.

Obama is a sad excuse for a POTUS.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

The worst leader I have ever seen.

The Tea Party protested Obama for years. They even marched on Washington. Don't remember you crying about it then...

a reply to: Vasa Croe

I was just about to post this... it is absolutely unconscionable and literally deplorable in every sense of the word.

As you said, Obama knows damn well the issue is not peaceful protests; the problem is the violence and destruction and chaos. And he refused to even address that. He tacitly encouraged it.

Absolutely shameful.

Then he even goes on to say this:

Obama also argued social media can erode a democracy, after a campaign in which the candidates' Twitter accounts -- especially Trump's -- acted as their own broadcasting outlets.

“If we are not serious about facts and what is true and what is not. Particularly in an age of social media when people are getting their information in soundbites and snippets ... if we cannot discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems,” he said.

So he wants us to stop listening to social media, which has proven during this election to be more reliable for real truth than any other media source. Even with all the proven connections with major MSM outlets, Thrush, Brazile, etc....

This is just insane to me....

a reply to: Vasa Croe

we can get things back to normal again soon.

When was normal? When was America great?

I mean that genuinely. What specific timeframe are we speaking of?

a reply to: Vasa Croe

What the hell Obama? He doesn't even address the violence involved in these protests and says that they are normal in every election cycle?

He is an ass.
There are groups planning to disrupt the inauguration ceremonies on January 20th.

I guess I missed the disruption of his inauguration?

Perhaps President- Elect Trump should get out there and address people's concerns.

a reply to: Vdogg
I don't remember the Tea Party beating people, destroying property and shutting down roads either.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

So he wants us to stop listening to social media

I didn't interpret it that way.

To my eyes he's addressing the concern that the prevalence of misinformation on social media, and the frequency it's accepted without fact-checking, is a real concern. Which I completely agree with. This has less to do with social media, and more to do with the critical thinking of our voters.

Here is the full quote:

"If we are not serious about the facts and what's true and what's not, particularly in the social media era when so many get information from sound bites and snippets off their phone, if we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems," he said.

It's about denying ignorance.

originally posted by: Vdogg
Perhaps President- Elect Trump should get out there and address people's concerns.

maybe if the people that hate him would listen to him, it would have an effect.
I doubt that it would.

originally posted by: Vdogg
The Tea Party protested Obama for years. They even marched on Washington. Don't remember you crying about it then...

Show me some widespread violence and any deaths in those protests. And please cite examples of previous administrations encouraging the people to keep going.

And don't worry....I am sure we will see a large March on Washington on inauguration day...the ANSWER organization is currently taking donations to bus protesters in for it.

ANSWER

Progressive people from all over the country will be descending on Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2017 to stage a massive demonstration against Trump along Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day.

Please donate to help us print materials, charter buses and make this event as huge as we know it can be.

Thank you! It is critically important that we keep building a larger grassroots movement against war, militarism, racism, and anti-immigrant scapegoating.

This was a conference before the foreign press where his primary concern was being an advocate of the free speech rights of his constituents. He mentioned several times that freedom of speech and freedom of the press were important values that the U.S. would honor.

It was not a platform for him to reprimand the protesters.

I'm glad there's no shortage of stuff to get you guys all worked up though.

a reply to: Vdogg

It's not his job yet. Besides it could make things worse.
Obama should be promoting a peaceful transition.
Not inciting more protests, which inevitably lead to more violence.

The problem is, he is a sore loser like the rest of them.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

and now 8 years on he is faced with a change he doesn't really want to believe in, oh the irony.

a reply to: Greggers

Very interesting. Thanks for the context Reinforces my last post too ^_^

a reply to: Vdogg

Please enlighten me on when the tea party protest blocked vehicles,, beat up people, and destroyed property.

Let alone tell me when the tea party protested without permit or hid their faces and actions with the cover of night and mask.

Most times a tea party protest grounds is cleaner. than when they got there.

Not even part of the tea party but the tea party protest were the model of how to protest.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Before it becomes a big pile of he did/didn't say things. I'm just going to attach the link from the White House page on the remarks. Just in case anyone wants to go over them in detail.

Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel of Germany in a Joint Press Conference 11/17/2016

The full remark in question....ya it's long.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: One of the great things about our democracy is it expresses itself in all sorts of ways, and that includes people protesting. I've been the subject of protests during the course of my eight years, and I suspect that there's not a President in our history that, at some point, hasn't been subject to these protests. So I would not advise people who feel strongly or are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign -- I wouldn't advise them to be silent. What I would advise -- what I advised before the election and what I will continue to advise after the election -- is that elections matter, voting matters, organizing matters, being informed on the issues matter. And what I consistently say to young people -- I say it in the United States, but I'll say it here in Germany and across Europe -- do not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life. I think there is a tendency -- because we have lived in an era that has been largely stable and peaceful, at least in advanced countries, where living standards have generally gone up -- there is a tendency I think to assume that that's always the case. And it's not. Democracy is hard work. In the United States, if 43 percent of eligible voters do not vote, then democracy is weakened. If we are not serious about facts and what's true and what's not -- and particularly in an age of social media where so many people are getting their information in soundbites and snippets off their phones -- if we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems. If people, whether they are conservative or liberal, left or right, are unwilling to compromise and engage in the democratic process, and are taking absolutist views and demonizing opponents, then democracy will break down. And so I think my most important advice is to understand what are the foundations of a healthy democracy, and how we have to engage in citizenship continuously, not just when something upsets us, not just when there’s an election, or when an issue pops up for a few weeks. It’s hard work. And the good news is I think there are a lot of young people, certainly, who were involved in my campaigns and I think continue to be involved in work, not just politically but through nonprofits and other organizations, that can carry this hard work of democracy forward. But I do think sometimes there’s complacency. Here in Europe, I think that there are a lot of young people who forget the issues that were at stake during the Cold War, who forget what it meant to have a wall. And I’ll be honest, there have been times when I listened to the rhetoric in Europe where and easily equivalence somehow between the United States and Russia, and between how our governments operate versus other governments operate -- where those distinctions aren’t made. I’ve said many times around the world that, like any government, like any country, like any set of human institutions, we have our flaws, we’ve operated imperfectly. There are times when we’ve made mistakes. There are times where I’ve made mistakes, or our administration hasn’t always aligned ourselves with the values that we need to align ourselves with. It’s a work of constant improvement. But I can say to the German people that the United States has been good for Germany, has looked out for Germany, has provided security for Germany, has helped to rebuild Germany and unify Germany. And I can say, across Europe, that many principles that have been taken for granted here around free speech and around civil liberties, and an independent judiciary, and fighting corruption -- those are principles that, not perfectly, but generally, we have tried to apply not just in our own country but also with respect to our foreign policy. And that should be remembered. Because in an age where there’s so much active misinformation -- and it’s packaged very well and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television -- where some overzealousness on the part of a U.S. official is equated with constant and severe repression elsewhere -- if everything seems to be the same and no distinctions are made, then we won’t know what to protect. We won’t know what to fight for. And we can lose so much of what we’ve gained in terms of the kind of democratic freedoms and market-based economies and prosperity that we’ve come to take for granted. That was a long answer, wasn’t it? I don’t remember if there was a second part to it. I got all caught up in that one.

Obama was never in behave of the best interest of the American hard worker tax payer people he wanted divisions, he wanted racial discrimination and he didn't gave two rat arses which side got the blame for it.

He made America a mess due to his pandering to certain groups in order to create social discontent.

He is the worst president that will go into history for been nothing but a divider, history will never forget.

a reply to: Vdogg

Right. Because the people protesting against him are certainly going to listen to him. How about Clinton? It's her followers who are doing this. Where is she in all this? Oh, that's right. Giving more speeches and making more money. Too busy to be bothered with the little people, now that they're not useful to her.