Obama pleads for unity at National Prayer Breakfast

Continuing a tradition started by Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, President Obama attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. today, delivering a plea for unity and humility and rebuking the often-fractious tone of American politics.

Mr. Obama recalled placing his hand on Abraham Lincoln's bible during his second inauguration two weeks ago and noted, "Today, the divisions in this country are thankfully not as deep and destructive as when Lincoln led - but they are real."

Praising Lincoln's capacity to "see God in those who vehemently opposed him," the president counseled his audience to follow Lincoln's example. "In a democracy as big and as diverse as ours, we will encounter every opinion. And our task as citizens, whether we are leaders in government or business or spreading the word, is to spend our days with open hearts and open minds, to seek out the truth that exists in an opposing view, to find the common ground that allows for us as a nation and as a people to take real and meaningful action."

"And we have to do it every day, not just at a prayer breakfast," Mr. Obama cautioned. "I have to say, this is now our fifth prayer breakfast, and it is always just a wonderful event."

"But I do worry sometimes that as soon as we leave the prayer breakfast, everything that we've been talking about the whole time at the prayer breakfast seems to be forgotten - on the same day of the prayer breakfast."

"You'd like to think that the shelf life wasn't so short," he said. "I go back to the Oval Office, and I start watching the cable news networks, and it's like we didn't pray."

"My hope is that humility - that that carries over every day, every moment," he said, suggesting "that those of us with the most power and influence need to be the most humble."

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The president was joined at the head table by several lawmakers, including Reps. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., and Louie Gohmert, R-Tex., and Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Olympic gold medal gymnast Gabrielle Douglas were also seated with Mr. Obama.

[dionysus42]

It's now over four years of divisive rhetoric from the White House.
One wonders if the concept of leadership is understood. It certainly is not practiced. Humilty? Give me a break. Who do these people think they can convince?

[cashills]

Oh my gosh....Obama speaking about humility as he looks down his nose and lectures the audience. It could be a SNL skit.

[cashills]

Search CBS news and you won't find anything about the speech of the day given that same morning at the same prayer breakfast. Truly incredible this is not found. It is big news all over the net...but not with the MSM. Dr Benjamin Carson gave a truly common sense unifying speech that same morning moments before Obama. Please take the time to watch....it is truly inspiring. But not so much in line with Obama's policies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PFb6NU1giRA

[Leslie640]

Under Obama, our government has gotten larger and larger, and our freedoms have gotten smaller and smaller. Government jobs have grown by 25% under Obama, and the private sector's ability to do business has gotten much harder, with all of Obama's taxes, new rules and government regulations. Obama is strangling private enterprise. There are over 24 million people out of work in this country, and all Obama can do is create more government jobs in Washington, D.C., more government bureaucrats telling telling the rest of the country how to live our lives, even to the kind of light bulb we must have in our house, and what foods we must eat and cars we must drive. Obama's only "solution" to our enormous problems is to TAX us more. Obamacare is a complete disaster, and everybody's health care costs have gone UP under it, NOT DOWN, as Obama promised. Thousands of businesses are now paying the fine and deciding not to give their employees health care AT ALL anymore, because it is now TOO EXPENSIVE under Obamacare. Obamacare is a complete and total disaster.

Socialism never did a damn thing for any country's citizens, and that system ALWAYS FAILS, as soon as the government taxes the people dry. Name one damn country that has succeeded economically under socialism. YOU SIMPLY CAN'T. You know nothing about what you are talking about.

[Type_Z]

No story on the minister's message?? Obama was probably not too pleased.

[GulfFrit]

You didn't mention the comments from Dr. Benjamin Carson, head of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. He totally dissed Obamacare and the whole Obama attitude of class warfare.
Media bias? Duh!!!!

[Christopher-72]

Is it surprising that the amazing speech filled with honesty and lacking flowery useless language was ignored by the media? Dr Carson is a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and he is an excellent speaker and individual with an inspirational life story. Take the time to watch his speech... 26 minutes flies by: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4353213

[SuziSaul]

Obama's idea of unity - do what I want, or I'll have my operatives keep calling you racist, do-nothing, elitist, trailer trash, etc etc etc

[revsiegel]

Perhaps the president could start by demonstrating some humility of his own.

[peter_out]

I pray our President will at least try to create a job for somebody today.

I don't believe Obama created, or even tried to create, a single job yesterday.

[hypnotoad72]

Since you're of the "free market" type where government involvement is bad*, you'll blame him and government regardless, even when it's corporations that do the hiring and at the lowest price possible.

And if Obama created jobs, you'd blame him as being "socialist" since it's up to private industry and not government to do things...

In short, it's the usual cant...


* well, bad except for when they get their taxpayer-funded subsidy, handouts, bailouts, tax cuts, tax breaks, near-0% loans whose benefits don't trickle down to us, etc, etc, and despite all the obvious you lot still don't see how much a ponzi scheme from us to them that it truly is.