Obama calls for understanding in Notre Dame speech - why doesn't HE "understand" opposing viewpoints?

If it were my graduation or my kid's graduation, I could not have gone and watched him make a mockery of the catholic faith and that educational institution. If I did go due to guilt about not attending my own kid's graduation, I could never have stood during his speech and would never have applauded for him. I was sickened to see people applauding and smiling there. I cannot understand what is wrong with our country?

American has gone down the tubes morally and ethically, as evidenced by him speaking there.

I am glad that I am not Catholic as I would be so ashamed.

I can never understand killing a baby, not in today's world when so many people want to adopt and cannot have children of their own. The stigma that used to be associated with an unmarried woman having a child is no longer life ruining.

I find it ironic, I mean at the big meetings everybody gets arrested, but when the NRA guy was at the Ivy school they rioted and no one was arrested. Oh well. With 1.2 million abortions last years and almost 50% of them done on women that had had abortions before, maybe someone should teach them about sex and catching stds. I mean how much money is that costing the government for them to have multiple abortions, that's insane. If you take away the ones that were getting another one then 600,000, but stats show 40 million world wide and why, they all couldn't have been raped. how sad.

This and guns seem to be the only difference between the two party system right now and it will not change as one person disagrees, so that's that. Well don't expect much change from congress as the lobbyist pay them over $4 billion a yer and also employ their family as lobbyists. Go figure. Have a great 2009!

Your quote is from the headline of the article. It was a terrible headline. If you bothered to read the article, you would have seen that Obama stated the views of the opposing sides are irreconcilable. He called for an end to "demonizing" the other side. He did not say anything about understanding, at least not that was quoted in that article. He also said "So let's work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term." This sounds like a good first step to me.

I think he does understand. He understands that those who think abortion means killing a baby are free to choose not to do it. He also understands that not everyone sees a fetus that can't live outside the mother as a baby. That's a scientific view more than a religious view, but I think you're stretching it to call a 1st trimester fetus a "baby". He also understands it would be wrong for some religious fanatics to impose their non-scientific views onto someone who doesn't believe that way. I think abortion is really stupid. Just like I think getting pregnant when you don't want to be is stupid, but the people who scream all the time about abortion being the killing of babies don't seem to be screaming about making sure that poor babies can get health care, or that their mothers who didn't abort can feed them. That's "baby killing" to me. And how about clean air and water. Obama will care a lot more about that than some Republican who preaches against abortion but allows a factory to dump chemicals into our rivers that could be deadly to us all.

When some one as intolerant as 0bama calls for understanding that is an insult

You want it all.

He compromises all the time. Compromise means both sides, even you, give in.

He's not the one waving around picket signs is he?

He does understand. That doesn't mean he or anyone else HAS TO AGREE, does it? I don't have to adopt your view to comprehend what you believe and why.

Until you realize that abortion will never be outlawed again, you fail to understand what this is all about. You can do better than this, Auntie.

He understands all viewpoints. That's what he said. If you taped it, watch it again instead of some right wing psycho blog.