Divided States of America

I found this documentary compelling in the way in which it expressed narratives of certain news events from different interpretations, with both influential liberal and conservative speakers weighing in on issues. For example, the documentary discusses the rise to prominence of the black empowerment movement during Obama’s presidency which in turn is viewed by those on the right to be symbolic of racial violence and “grievance politics.” I found the conversations Michael Kirk had with figures such as Newt Gingrich, Kellyanne Conway, Tim Geithner, and etc. to be especially interesting in terms of the willingness of these people to open up to reporters. Never would have I imagined that Newt Gingrich would openly admit to a reporter that he decided with other Republican lawmakers to obstruct President Obama’s agenda from day one. It is truly astounding the level of candor within the interviews and the way in which key Republican and Democratic speakers share opposing yet understandable viewpoints. I fully agree with Baker when he claims that Obama believed in “rational people of good will” finding common ground, yet this was clearly not the case during his presidency as shown by the vile nature of people from both parties and increasing polarization throughout the country. A key example of this can be seen in the rise of the Tea Party and the birther movement which is detailed in the documentary, in which crucial Republican leaders were condemned as establishment shills and xenophobia began to seep into the Republican base as Republicans been declaring that they didn’t trust Obama because he was Arab or Muslim, leading to the rise of a national birther movement. I was also impressed by how the documentary was able to set the groundwork in terms of the events which lead to the present day increasingly polarized country, specifically the issues surrounding Obama’s presidency. I agree with Michael Kirk that there were certainly suppressed feelings of resentment leading into and during Obama’s presidency which at the time seemed insignificant but in hindsight are glaringly obvious. Issues such as anger over the Wall Street bailout in 2008, racial prejudice towards the first black president, grievances of Republicans towards Obama as demonstrated by men such as Gingrich, and black protestors in the streets all certainly sparked a significant division throughout the country which in turn led to increased partisan conflict. As the documentary points out, while Obama’s explicit mission was to unify the nation, during his presidency the exact opposite occurred in which the country became increasingly polarized. A few questions I have about this shift are whether or not such increased polarization stemmed from Obama’s legacy as the first black president. Did his race actually cause the country to become more divided by bringing out repressed racial prejudice from citizens across the country, or were Republicans simply upset his policies? To what extent was Obama’s goal to unify the country actually effective in what it set out to do, and how much of this is due to his own failure to understand the seeds of division throughout the country? In this regard, was Obama a successful president? To what extent did Obama’s failure to unify the country and decreasing division during and after his presidency contribute to Trump’s campaign successes?