2/5/10: Obama Hijacks National Prayer Breakfast

Ego-Terrorism: The act of hijacking a situation or event to make it all about you
Photo: HotAir

The president hijacked the National Prayer Breakfast, focusing his remarks on himself and how difficult his job is:

Civility also requires relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable; understanding, as President [Kennedy] said, that "civility is not a sign of weakness." Now, I am the first to confess I am not always right. Michelle will testify to that. But surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith, or, for that matter, my citizenship.

Challenging each other's ideas can renew our democracy. But when we challenge each other's motives, it becomes harder to see what we hold in common. We forget that we share at some deep level the same dreams -- even when we don't share the same plans on how to fulfill them.

...

It is this spirit of civility that we are called to take up when we leave here today. That's what I'm praying for. I know in difficult times like these -- when people are frustrated, when pundits start shouting and politicians start calling each other names -- it can seem like a return to civility is not possible, like the very idea is a relic of some bygone era. The word itself seems quaint -- civility.

Source: Washington Post

So he's praying that his critics will be civil, in order to make HIS job easier. Isn't that a bit self-serving?

Obama doesn't want us to question his motives or policies, so he accuses us of not acting civilly, and of not having compassion for our brothers and sisters. David Axelrod may not be Obama's main speechwriter, but the text smacks of his claptrap.

Source: American Thinker

For those of you keeping score at home, here is a tidy breakdown of Obama's speech:

Number of times each word was mentioned:

"God" - 15
---
"I" - 11
"my" - 12
"me" - 2

Final score - God: 15, Barry 25

Of course, if you include the words "our," "us" and "we," it's a blowout.

Rush Limbaugh sums it up nicely:

This is a prayer breakfast speech. And he does think of himself as a deity, so I guess it makes sense he'd be talking about himself, praying that people get along, more civility in the public square. More room to negotiate. This is the guy that doesn't invite Republicans to negotiate. You know the drill. I'm getting bored repeating all the truths about Obama. Here's the next bite. This is really, really, really curious. He tells his opponents not to question his faith, even though he hasn't found a church, and not to question his citizenship.

Source: RushLimbaugh.com