Presidential Address

When President Obama addressed the nation of Tuesday Night, he only spoke for fifteen minutes. One point I took away from the short, but necessary speech, was the issue of morality. President Obama spoke specifically about why we, as a nation, are morally obligated to intervene in Syria. Although it was stated by Mr. President that the United States’ job is not to take on the roll of “world policemen,” we, as human being, are obligated to take a stand when innocent people fall victim. President Obama’s point reiterated the statement that being a bystander and allowing evil to act can be just as morally unjust as committing the evil.

            In response to the speech one Washington Post writer, Chris Cillizza, highlighted a similar “takeaway.” Cillizza described President Obama’s message as, “a moral appeal.” Cillizza agreed that President Obama was arguing for morality and specifically cited President Obama when he said, “when dictators commit atrocities, they depend on the world to look the other way.” Cillizza continued to analyze President Obama’s moral appeal as one aimed at prevention. Cillizza explained that President Obama was insinuating that if we turn a blind eye to the Syrian injustice now, world dictators and terrorist will continue to push farther with what they are able to get away with.

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/09/10/4-takeaways-from-president-obamas-syria-speech/