At another point, he told Democrats upset at a perceived lack of progress to think of the patience of onetime slaves. "You know, the slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs, they weren't sure when slavery would end, but they understood it was going to end," he said.
Confirmed: The president has himself a new talking point. CBS' Mark Knoller tweets that he said it again:
Obama says people are impatient but "now's not the time to quit...it took time to free the slaves...ultimately we'll make progress."
I sincerely would like to know how the president landed on this particular historical analogy, and why he thinks it's prudent or applicable in any way. I can understand if he's concluded that his car/ditch/slurpee shtick wasn't working, but slavery?