President Obama delivered a high school commencement address in Joplin, Mo., one year after a horrific tornado destroyed the city, and he couldn’t resist the opportunity to gain some political advantage from the event.
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The president’s speech began well. “We can define our lives not by what happens to us, but by how we respond,” Obama said, encouraging the students and tornado survivors. “We can choose to make a difference in the world. And in doing so, we can make true what’s written in Scripture -– that ‘tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope.'”
At that point, Obama seemed to remember he was in a swing-state during an election year. “[I]t’s safe to say you will encounter greed and selfishness, and ignorance and cruelty, sometimes just bad luck,” he told the students. You’ll meet people who try to build themselves up by tearing others down. You’ll meet people who believe that looking after others is only for suckers. But you’re from Joplin. So you will remember, you will know, just how many people there are who see life differently; those who are guided by kindness and generosity and quiet service.”
Obama’s warning echoes the themes of his attack on Mitt Romney over Bain Capital, which he defended today.
“If your main argument for how to grow the economy is I knew how to make a lot of money for investors, then you’re missing what this job is about,” Obama said while discussing Romney’s history at Bain Capital today. “It doesn’t mean you weren’t good at private equity, but that’s not what my job is as President. My job is to take into account everybody, not just some.”
Obama even used the Joplin story to ding Congress. “At the very first meeting, the first town meeting, every citizen was handed a Post-It note and asked to write down their goals and their hopes for Joplin’s future,” he said, recalling an anecdote about Joplin’s response to the tornado. And more than a thousand notes covered an entire wall and became the blueprint that architects are following to this day. I’m thinking about trying this with Congress, give them some Post-It notes.”
The president unveiled a five-point “to-do list” for Congress (aimed especially at House Republicans) that he commented could fit on a post-it note.
