LET ME BE CLEAR

Obama Speaks His Mind

By knocking the GOP.

During a speech Friday in Minneapolis, President Obama appeared to ditch being presidential in favor of being frank. “Sometimes I’m supposed to be politic about how I say things, but I’m finding lately I just want to say what’s on my mind,” he said. Obama expressed exasperation at the House GOP’s plans to sue him for using executive power. “I might once have said, ‘I want to raise the minimum wage so sue me if I do.’ I just didn’t think they would take me literally,” he joked. Obama decried cynicism in Washington, too. “The critics, the cynics in Washington, they’ve written me off more times that I can count. Don’t think we’re not making progress. So yeah, it’s easy to be cynical. In fact, it’s kind of trendy. Cynicism passes for wisdom.” He then added that “cynicism doesn’t invent the Internet. Cynicism doesn’t give women the right to vote. Cynicism is a choice—hope is a better choice.”