Maxine Waters: Obama's Speech To Congressional Black Caucus Was 'A Bit Curious'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Maxine Waters says she's not sure who President Barack Obama was talking to when he told black Americans to quit complaining and follow him into the battle for jobs and opportunity.

The California Democrat, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, says she found the president's language "a bit curious." She says Obama didn't address Hispanics in such a blunt manner and would never use that language in a speech to a gathering of gays or Jews.

Interviewed Monday on CBS' "Early Show," Waters said black Americans fully support Obama and are working to promote his agenda. She says African-Americans want voters to be enthusiastic about Obama in 2012.

In Saturday's fiery speech to the caucus, Obama told blacks to "put on your marching shoes" and "stop grumbling.'"

WATCH A portion of President Obama's remarks:

Comments

[Indy Pendant]

01:18 AM on 09/29/2011

Maxine just wanting to powerful and in the news, and succeeding at only one of those as far as I can see.

[Richard beef]

11:33 PM on 09/28/2011

Bottomline: The man is not and never was qualified to be president

[LeftWingLift]

08:33 AM on 10/11/2011

Fanned!

[Richard beef]

11:26 PM on 09/28/2011

I kept watching the news about this and reading commentary because I knew I had heard this BS before. Now I finally figured it out. Obama's message to the CBC was a modified version of Reagan's Boot-strap Theory. Remember that? It's the same message Reagan gave under similar circumstances (faltering economy). It's official, Obama has gone Republican. Maye his speech weriter should have told him that the straps are quite uneven on the boots of black folk. He gone in 2012

[silvertongue]

09:16 PM on 09/28/2011

Maxine is trying to deflect attention away from the ethics investigation regarding her and her husband.......something to do with his connections with a (failed?) bank.

[Rita Foster]

12:29 PM on 09/28/2011

No Ms. Waters you are a bit curious. After you and the rest of your kind started complaining about what the president hasn't done, you all have been in office for about 30 years some for 40 ie charlie rangel....anyway..with all that time under your belt what do you have to show for your time in office! NOTHING. I am sooooo sick and tired of these old stale colored leaders that I could just throw up. Always claiming to be fighting for blacks and just helping yourselves.

[marshel1969]

08:10 PM on 09/28/2011

Sister had to give you a high five via the internet! He is not just a Black President and the others can take a hike! This admin needs more that 4 yrs to get us out of this mess that has taken decades to make. I support my President and people should see if they would take the time and see how he has corrected a lot of wrong laws that has been on the books for awhile. Obama 2012!

[Ram Air 350]

09:23 PM on 09/28/2011

I will join you in giving Rita a high five as well. These caucus "lifers" have had all of these years to do something positive for the black communities. They wait until a black president is elected, then they start complaining. A lot of them are upset because President Obama is being a President "to all Americans," not a selected few. This is how the Republicans should look at everyone, but they don't. The Black Caucus and everyone else should get behind and support the President, not talk negative and be lazy!!!

[silvertongue]

09:04 PM on 09/28/2011

You're right, Rita. Most equal rights changes came about as a result of people like me marching. I started with the '63 March on Washington. I marched on the 20th, 25th and 30th anniversaries of that march. Peaceful protests work! Obama was right when he urged them to stop complaining and help him by going back to what worked for my generation....take positive action.

[Quitcherbichin]

07:18 PM on 09/27/2011

I think that we ought to raise taxes on all the rich, and remove all exemptions and subsidies for companies and corporations....then when the amount of money collected does not come close to solving our debt problem, the Democrats won't have any arguments left.

[Christian Howell]

11:41 AM on 09/28/2011

No one says that's the only possible idea. It's one that has worked well before though.

[Quitcherbichin]

07:15 PM on 09/27/2011

Maxine ought to know about curious...she is the most curious member of the House...with the exception of Shelia Jackson Lee.

[marshel1969]

08:11 PM on 09/28/2011

LOL!! But so right. These two has been with Charle Rangel in Congress and their voters are crying the same as 20 yrs old.

[pleasantlyny]

05:47 PM on 09/27/2011

And most wealthy Americans would agree with that. But you know the Republicans are already dusting off their old talking points. That's class warfare, they say. In fact, in the next breath, they'll complain that people living in poverty -- people who suffered the most over the past decade -- don't pay enough in taxes. That's bad crazy. (Laughter and applause.) When you start saying, at a time when the top one-tenth of 1 percent has seen their incomes go up four or five times over the last 20 years, and folks at the bottom have seen their incomes decline -- and your response is that you want poor folks to pay more? Give me a break. If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor. I have no problem with that. (Applause.) It's about time.

[pleasantlyny]

05:46 PM on 09/27/2011

And I know at times that gets folks discouraged. I know. I listen to some of you all. (Laughter.) I understand that. And nobody feels that burden more than I do. Because I know how much we have invested in making sure that we're able to move this country forward. But you know, more than a lot of other folks in this country, we know about hard. The people in this room know about hard. (Applause.) And we don't give in to discouragement.

Throughout our history, change has often come slowly. Progress often takes time. We take a step forward, sometimes we take two steps back. Sometimes we get two steps forward and one step back. But it's never a straight line. It's never easy. And I never promised easy. Easy has never been promised to us. But we've had faith. We have had faith. We've had that good kind of crazy that says, you can't stop marching. (Applause.)

Even when folks are hitting you over the head, you can't stop marching. Even when they're turning the hoses on you, you can't stop. (Applause.) Even when somebody fires you for speaking out, you can't stop. (Applause.) Even when it looks like there's no way, you find a way -- you can't stop. (Applause.)

[pleasantlyny]

05:45 PM on 09/27/2011

So in the face of troopers and teargas, folks stood unafraid. Led somebody like John Lewis to wake up after getting beaten within an inch of his life on Sunday -- he wakes up on Monday: We're going to go march. (Applause.)

Dr. King once said: "Before we reach the majestic shores of the Promised Land, there is a frustrating and bewildering wilderness ahead. We must still face prodigious hilltops of opposition and gigantic mountains of resistance. But with patient and firm determination we will press on." (Applause.)

So I don't know about you, CBC, but the future rewards those who press on. (Applause.) With patient and firm determination, I am going to press on for jobs. (Applause.) I'm going to press on for equality. (Applause.) I'm going to press on for the sake of our children. (Applause.) I'm going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I am going to press on. (Applause.)

I expect all of you to march with me and press on. (Applause.) Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. (Applause.) Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We've got work to do, CBC. (Applause.)

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

[BillForObama]

11:54 AM on 10/01/2011

"God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.­)"

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.­) President Obama SLAPS side of podium (BAM).

[pleasantlyny]

05:42 PM on 09/27/2011

Thje really sad thing about this snippet of a speech that is being played.. It was a great speech and by the time he finished the crowd were on their feet (most of them).

the speech led into those final comments. It was not about a group of people he said I NEED HELP.... he said ... I cant complain, I cant gripe,

unreal the way this has been spun

[jerseygma]

05:02 PM on 09/27/2011

WAKE UP, America. Isn't it obvious that the libs have always manipulated the minorities of America by pitting them against the "wealthy" and "white"? It's time to realize that conservative ideals are BEST FOR ALL! True freedom is true freedom FOR ALL. Individual autonomy and achievement are possible FOR ALL. Smaller government is the path to a better life FOR ALL. PRIVATE BUSINESS, not the government, creates lasting, quality jobs. CAPITAL INVESTMENT by the WEALTHY drives economic growth. MOST TAXES in the country are ALREADY paid by the wealthy, in both amount and rate. (Check out the recent AP stories using data from the IRS that have been broadcast by the main stream media.) Why would you support anyone who wants to take more investable dollars from the private sector and use them to fund MORE FAILED GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS??

I recently watched a portion of a fictional TV show about a dictator. He said to one of his aides, "If I imprison and oppress my adversaries, the people will always resist me. But if I throw a few crumbs and handouts to the people, I will own them." The screen writer knows this. Libs, "progressives" and union thugs know this. WAKE UP AND STOP BEING OWNED, AMERICA.

[pleasantlyny]

05:31 PM on 09/27/2011

Conservative ideals, ideas and what they stood for...

1. Fighting the abolishion of slavery
2. Fighting the rights of women to vote
3. Fighting integration in the military
4. Fighting the creation os social security
5. Fighting to keep inter racial marriage illegal
6. Fighting to maintain Jim Crow laws
7. Fighting to ensure Lynching was not considered a federal crime
8. Fighting the creation of medicare
9. Fighting integration in public education
10. Fighting to enforce the RIGHT to dicriminate in private accomodations

I could go on and on and on... But this is the conservative legacy. Embrace it... Be proud.... what has changed?

[jerseygma]

06:40 PM on 09/27/2011

The Republican Party was founded by ANTI-slavery expansion activists in 1854.

George Wallace, a DEMOCRAT, was elected governor of Alabama in 1962. In his inaugural speech, he stated,"In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say SEGREGATION NOW, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."To stop desegregation by the enrollment of black students, he stood in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. This became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door"

In 1922, Democrats in the Senate filibustered a REPUBLICAN ATTEMPT TO MAKE LYNCHING A FEDERAL CRIME.

82% of Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 versus only 64% of Democrats

On February 12, 1909, African-American Republicans and women’s suffragists Ida Wells and Mary Terrell co-found the NAACP

On May 21, 1919,the Republican House passed the constitutional amendment granting women the vote with 85% of Republicans in favor, but only 54% of Democrats; in Senate, 80% of Republicans would vote yes, but almost half of Democrats no

On August 18, 1920,the Republican-authored 19th Amendment, giving women the vote, became part of Constitution; 26 of the 36 states to ratify had Republican-controlled legislatures

I COULD GO ON AND ON. The point is, ya been drinkin the kool-aid.

[amd02148]

06:47 PM on 09/27/2011

Faved and so so fanned pleanstlyny.

[julescator]

11:20 PM on 09/27/2011

You have to be kidding. The poor people of the South have been so munipulated by the GOP they are now the newest minority in the country. Poor Rural Whites. FACT. The GOP has convinced these poor folks that the GOP is for them as they get poorer and pooer but they keep on voting for the GOP.

Story out today, 6 of the 10 states that have the highest unemployment are the Southern Solid red GOP states. I think your message i

[Ram Air 350]

10:01 PM on 09/28/2011

Hello julescator, it is hard for me to understand the state of mind of these citizens. Why do they vote for these GOP and Tea Party folks, when they know what they "stand for" and what they will do to them. You know somke people will "go down" just to take others down as well.

[TJC]

03:38 PM on 09/27/2011

He talks to his people in the same way any group of people talk to their own. These are lessons in life that gays give to gays and jews give to jews and most important is that we listen. The democrats and center were very absent at the polls in 2010 and look what we have now. It is a mess and blame is being thrown in every direction except the mirror. If we don't get the sane elected in 2012 this country is in bigger trouble.

[Greg Thrasher]

03:35 PM on 09/27/2011

Black Agenda=American Agenda....Right on Target Maxine..Thanks!!!!

[YBLogical]

02:53 PM on 09/27/2011

In all the years Rep. Waters has been in office, I've rarely heard a peep out of her regarding previous administrations. Now all of a sudden she's flaming mad. She needs to sit down and shut up now. I understand where the President was saying. Black Americans don't show up to the polls like they should. If they had shown up for the 2010 elections the way that had in 2008 perhaps things would have turned out differently. Turn out was low in minority communities. So if you don't vote you can't complain. If you want change, get your butt out there and do something.

[Charles Burnes]

03:46 PM on 09/27/2011

They did not turn out because Obama ignored Blacks for 2 years, now berates Blacks in public, offering no real solutions to black issues. So expect the same in 2012
Reparations NOW

[pleasantlyny]

05:33 PM on 09/27/2011

If yo usaw the whole speech he did not berate ANYONE.... he built up to that moment its a shame the media is flaming the fire.

He gave shout outs to the long and esteemed heritage of blacks in this country for not sitting back and complaining, john lewis, MLK, he named others and it was more of h..... THIS IS WHAT WE DO....

He said... "i cant complain, i cant grumble, I cant give it, im gonna fight, will yo ufight with me? will you march with me?

Not sure what yo umean by ignored blacks for two years... I missed the part where he should have passed a BLACK bill to help black people.

[YBLogical]

05:37 PM on 09/27/2011

Low turnout in the Black community has nothing to do with President Obama supposedly ignoring them. Too many times they don't turn out because they don't feel like it will benefit them. Then they want to complain about how nothing is getting done to help the community.

Did you expect previous presidents (Reagan, Clinton, or either Bush) to do anything specifically for the Black community? More than likely not, so why do you expect President Obama to single out Blacks for specific help. It doesn't work that way.

I would hope the Black community would pull themselves together not only to help themselves but to help the President by exercising their right to vote in all elections, whether it is a local issue or national election. That is the only real way to bring about change within the community.

What do reparations have to do with anything? Get over that one. It serves no purpose.