Poe's Corner 3 August 2011

In the Poe's Corner from last night's recording, I decided to see if my compatriots could tell the difference between a fictional democratic president and an elected democratic president.

In one corner we have quotes from President Barack Obama made during this administration. In the opposite corner we have quotes from two term President Josiah "Jed" Bartlett from the television drama "The West Wing".



1) We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history;

2) There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.

3) Here's evil in the world, there'll always be, and we can't do anything about that. But there's violence in our schools, too much mayhem in our culture, and we can do something about that.

4) More than any time in recent history, America's destiny is not of our own choosing. We did not seek nor did we provoke an assault on our freedom and our way of life. We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil.

5) As a nuclear power - as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon - the United States has a moral responsibility to act.

6) There are times when we're fifty states and there are times when we're one country, and have national needs.

7) But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people, and do our best to help them find their own grace. That's what I strive to do, that's what I pray to do every day.

8) We're for freedom of speech everywhere. We're for freedom to worship everywhere. We're for freedom to learn... for everybody. And because in our time, you can build a bomb in your country and bring it to my country, what goes on in your country is very much my business.

9) In all the talk about democracy, we forget it's not a democracy. It's a republic. People don't make the decisions. They *choose* the people who make the decisions

10) Terrorism has long been a tactic, but modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale. In today's wars, many more civilians are killed than soldiers; the seeds of future conflict are sown, economies are wrecked, civil societies torn






1)Inauguration Speech
2)Election winning speech 2008
3)BARTLETT: College Kids, episode 4.2
4)BARTLETT: 20 hours in America 4.1
5)Prague speech, May 5, 2009
6)BARTLETT: Game On: 4.5
7)In response to a question in NM, 9/2010
8)BARTLETT: Privateers 4.17
9)BARTLETT: Lame Duck Congress: 2.7
10) Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, December 2009