Pajamas Media

54 Comments

1. Robert Hurley:

“As Barack Obama tries to persuade American voters that converting the U.S. military into an extension of the Peace Corps…” I don’t now if you deliberately make things up like this or are just plain stupid

Oct 31, 2008 - 9:32 am 2. Kevin:

Where is the pacifist rhetoric?

Oct 31, 2008 - 9:46 am 3. mk:

““As Barack Obama tries to persuade American voters that converting the U.S. military into an extension of the Peace Corps…” I don’t now if you deliberately make things up like this or are just plain stupid.”

Evidence to suggest Obama’s not trying to sell this? Or just childish name calling?

Oct 31, 2008 - 9:48 am 4. The Historian:

LAST GASP OF THE DYING BIASED MEDIA

This will be election that lives in big biased media infamy, as noted here:

http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/last-gasp-of-dying-biased-media.html

Oct 31, 2008 - 10:07 am 5. Jim Baker:

Okay for a bunch of inconsequential Spaniards to profess pacifism. Much different story if the only remaining defender of Western civilization decides on pacifism. I hope Obama doesn’t lean this far toward stupidity. Result would be renewed interest in self-defense by these hapless Europeans.

Oct 31, 2008 - 10:35 am 6. Robert Hurley:

MK – Should the person making an accusation cite a sources or are they just allowed to make it up? And you will just believe anything negative.

Oct 31, 2008 - 10:39 am 7. george in minneapolis:

Robert Hurley uses the desperate name calling tactics employed by Socialists everywhere: Unable to refute the substance of the message, he attacks the messenger in a lame attempt to discredit the message and change the subject.

Hurley has spewed his angry insults all over the Pajamas website, lashing out at any author who doesn’t parrot his Obama/Socialist worldview.

Come to think of it, could Hurley be on the Obama payroll?

Oct 31, 2008 - 10:47 am 8. FLMom:

“MK – Should the person making an accusation cite a sources or are they just allowed to make it up? And you will just believe anything negative.”

Apparently the Obama campaign has removed the video from UTube. But I suspect most of us have heard it played on various programs. You see, it is not quite so easy to rewrite history in the digital age.

Still, it is a great comfort to know that even Obama supporters agree that his agenda is negative.

Oct 31, 2008 - 11:16 am 9. daniel goldman:

It seems to me like Robert Hurley is the one who is “just plain stupid” for his inability to see that the line about turning the American military into the Peace Corps is tongue-in-cheek, a literary device mocking Obama’s promise to 1) sit down with America’s enemies with no preconditions; 2)pull US troops out of Iraq at a time when America is gaining the upper hand; 3)make dramatic cuts in the American defense budget. All this looks like pacifistic defeatism to me, and in the Arab world, it will surely be viewed as a sign of American weakness and lack of resolve.

Oct 31, 2008 - 11:42 am 10. Per Andreas:

Care to elaborate on Obamas pacifist sentiments?

“Spanish (and by extension European) pacifism has little to do with a genuine desire for world peace. Instead, it is the populist ideology of weak leaders who lack firm convictions and are interested only in staying in power.

This explanation is very simplistic. The main backdrop for European pacifism is history. While the USA largely have been spared from war on its own territory, the European continent has been savaged by war so many times. Violence used to be the predominant way of solving problems in Europe.

Then, after WW2 and the cold war lethal enemies have come together in the European Union – solely trough peaceful means. In Europe this is seen largely as the triumph of pacifism over realism. And on the European continent – it surely is remarkable! The error many European leaders make, is to believe that the European way can be transfered to the rest of the world. They tend to forget that what made the stunning unification of Europe possible, was American force. This is also the reason why European countires doesn´t need big defence budgets.

Furthermore, the European focus on international regimes and diplomacy is quite rational – given its militay weakness. As Robert Kagan argues, the US had the same preferences when it was similarly weak and Europe the stronger of the two.

Oct 31, 2008 - 11:44 am 11. dgforbes:

#10 there was indeed a joint realisation between france and germany after ww2 of the need to renounce their self-destructive rivalry over disputed territory. the bureaucratic eu is only one aspect of the subsequent peaceful history of western europe. the key is that no large western european country has territorial designs on a neighbour and therefore no casus belli exists any longer. this worked in central europe too after the fall of communism when germany recognised poland’s post-ww2 borders and hungary renounced post-versailles claims against romania or slovakia. in post-tito yugoslavia where terrorial claims did exist between the squabbling republics, war did break out and there have been similar examples in parts of the former soviet union, including one quite recently. peace in western europe is not entirely the result of eu virtue but is largely due to the absence of claims to other people’s land. an excellent thing, of course, whatever way.

Oct 31, 2008 - 12:25 pm 12. Ryan:

Robert H:

Here’s the only article referencing Obama’s pledge to “converting the U.S. Military into an extension of the Peace Corps”.

http://bulletin.aarp.org/states/il/articles/obama_outlines_plan_for_national_service.html

Most of the article is Obama’s call for people to volunteer in organization such as AmeriCorps, etc.

The only part of the article that hints at what the author says is near the bottom:

“‘We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set,” he said Wednesday. “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded.’”

The author here is linked to an almost totally irrelevant page about George McGovern gutting the military and Obama flip-flopping on Israel and other issues.

Obama’s pledge is still creepy if you take not his philosophy – because it is somewhat vague how radical he’s willing to go – but those of people that he learned from and compare them to the change he wants today. It paints a picture to a conservative that is bleak if not uncertain.

Oct 31, 2008 - 12:28 pm 13. yababymamma:

It is a sad day when people who stole a country from the Native Americans/ Indians; put them on a “reservation”; brought Africans to this “new country”; made them work as slaves; can ever claim to have a right to anything or be righteous. There are so many of you who are dying because the thought of your “slave” now being your master. What you have always knows is an educated Black man is a dangerous thing. What Barack Obama has done for this election and America has never been and will never be done again. He has brought together people who were hungry for love. He has promised them hope when so many others have promised them death. Barack Obama did not just being to campaign for presidency. From day one, years ago, many years ago, he surrounded himself with other eduated Black men who advised him about the path he should take to the White House. He has done well. He was not fourth from the bottow of his class, he was at the top. He did not have illigetimate children, he married and has two wonderful children with his Black wife. He is not married to an ex-addict, he is married to an educated Harvard lawyer. He did not commit adultery on his wife while she was ill. He as always been there for her and his family.

The rule was: Go to school, get an education and be somebody. Barack Obama did that. Now the rules have changed.

The rule now is: Becuase your father and grandfather are Admirals in the military you do no need to succeed academically. It is not necessary that you conduct yourself accordingly in your marriage and leave yourself only for your wife. It is good enough now that you just go to war, hide out in a war camp because you are afraid to fight.

Wow, I like the rules now.

Oct 31, 2008 - 12:46 pm 14. Per Andreas:

# 11 “peace in western europe is not entirely the result of eu virtue but is largely due to the absence of claims to other people’s land.”

Sure, I don´t dispute that. But even though the EU shouldn´t be credited with causing peace in Europe – the symbolism can hardly be overstated. Not just the rapprochment between France and Germany, but as you point out between western and central/estern Europe. That countries like Poland and Romania are a part of the European Union and subject to supranational rule – it´s just startling. Croatia will soon join too, and other parts of Titos old domain will follow suit. This all happening withouth the use of force on a voluntary basis. It should be obvious to everyone that this experience plays a part in European foreign policy.

I´m not into the business of defending that foreign policy. I´m simply saying that author of this article was wrong on one crucial account.

Oct 31, 2008 - 12:57 pm 15. Duh:

“Zapatero dictated strict rules of engagement that forbid Spanish troops in Afghanistan from using lethal force”

Then why the hell are they there? To die? Might as well stay home…

Oct 31, 2008 - 2:28 pm 16. Duh:

Spain is a joke, but a pacifist USA… Well, I can’t blame islamists, russians et al for salivating right now.

Tough times are a-coming.

When a candidate says that he “will bring change and hope not only to America, but to the world”, you can bet there will be a world economic crisis and war like you never saw before.

Oct 31, 2008 - 2:37 pm 17. tim maguire:

Jim Baker called it–if we want a less pacifistic Europe, then we need to stop doing the hevay lifting of guaranteeing European peace and prosperity.

Oct 31, 2008 - 2:42 pm 18. misanthropicus:

To dba R. Hurley RE: “Should the person making an accusation cite a sources or are they just allowed to make it up? [...]”

Hurley, unfortunately the “As Barack Obama tries to persuade American voters that converting the U.S. military into an extension of the Peace Corps [...]” is the softest criticism one can bring against Hussein Soetero in foreign affairs matters.
Hussein Soetero’s moral nature (eel) and his unshakeable, anti-American views would make him in case of an eventual election as US president a much more dangerous person than a regular Johan Galtung follower, and here I’d go for the “willing treachery” term – didn’t he try while in Iraq to sway the politics there in a his own/against America’s interests? Want more evidence?

Oct 31, 2008 - 3:17 pm 19. newguy40:

For those who appear to be stating how Germany and France came together after WW2.

Rather a bit more like France reproachment with England leading up to WW1, isn’t it? Making a virtue of necessity, eh? Remind you of any other more recent period? Post WW2 with massive Soviet and Warsaw Pact armor merely a Fulda Gap away?

Let’s not forget how this opportunity for France and Germany came about shall we? US heavy armor and infantry plus a dab of Pershing missles. I suspect those made more of a difference than some vague French and German “enlightenment”.

Oct 31, 2008 - 3:33 pm 20. Per Andreas:

#19: “Those of us” (meaning me) who brought up the French/German rapprochment did certainly not forget how this opportunity came about. Infact, “those of us” wrote:

“They (the Europeans) tend to forget that what made the stunning unification of Europe possible, was American force. This is also the reason why European countires doesn´t need big defence budgets.”

The Europeans leaders do forget that US force was a precondition for the European “peace paradise”, but I certainly did not.

Oct 31, 2008 - 3:45 pm 21. robotech master:

“Robert Hurley:

“As Barack Obama tries to persuade American voters that converting the U.S. military into an extension of the Peace Corps…” I don’t now if you deliberately make things up like this or are just plain stupid”

I would wager stupid since the quote is “‘We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set,” he said Wednesday. “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded.’”

Translated basically it means he wants to create something along the lines of hitler’s brownshirts/gestapo or chavez’s redshirts.

Oct 31, 2008 - 4:50 pm 22. Friday:

It all depends on what your definition of “peace” is…

Obama’s proponents certainly don’t have a problem with his policies:

http://www.thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=2518

(TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE…)

Oct 31, 2008 - 5:37 pm 23. fred:

It’s too bad that now PJM is being infested by Obamabots and overseas socialists, spewing their ineffective arguments and anti-American venom. I’m tired of it. This topic isn’t being discussed in a manner that it truly deserves because those malfeasants are crapping all over the thread.

Word is getting around about why this is happening. A few people inside the Obama campaign who were working at lower levels report that cadres of workers are detailed to work the conservative blogs by spamming them with messages and arguments worked at at headquarters. All manner of power plays are being executed to discourage people and to convince people of the inevitability of McCain’s defeat. I do not doubt that even foreigners overseas are participating in the execution of this plan. And why wouldn’t they, when a lot of their campaign money has been seeping in from overseas?

I do not think the ideology of pacifism has a wide or deep foothold in the U.S. as it does in Europe. Also, I do not think Barack Obama is a pacifist. If he appeals to pacifists, it is only because most of them already agree with his “progressivism” (a.k.a., socialism). The pacifists are a part of the coalition, not the drivers of it.

Europeans are against war because they’ve experienced many very horrific ones, and most of them were not for noble purposes. So, rather than arrive at the proper understanding of the true tragedy they just evolved a psychological and ideological strategy for coping with this overwhelming history of bloodshed: just reject WAR ITSELF as the ultimate evil, not the fact of an a priori evil that precipitates it. Instead of honing moral and ethical reasoning to condemn the use of force to impose totalitarian rule on human beings and even fighting to stop it, they would rather not “make judgments” about the merits of the respective cause. In the light of post modernist thought, national socialism, socialism/Marxism/Communism, materialist atheist (physicalist reductionism) – all the desperate attempts to get rid of the rich tradition of Graeco-Roman, Judaeo-Christian civilization – Europeans lost their way. War is not always the answer, but sometimes it is the only answer when evil comes knocking at the door.

When you stop believing in God, you will believe anything. And so now modern Spaniards believe in a fiction called the Myth of al Andalus. It’s too late for them; the Trojan Horse is already inside the Iberian Peninsula. They’re partying and celebrating. Come darkness, the warriors of Allah will slip out of the Horse, disable the guards, and let the other jihadis inside.

Oct 31, 2008 - 6:04 pm 24. Ex-fetus:

If I may be so bold, Spain IS NOT the USA. Comparing them in any way is like comparing a Yugo to the USS Nimitz (CVN 68).
AFAIK, Spain would not even be in the top 5 if it was a state.

The sheer size of America means we have different problems and different opportunities then a tiny nation like Spain. The Bi-Coastals forget that there are places in America where the closest store is 50+ miles away. Where going out for a 6 pack and smokes means a half hour drive at 120 MPH. I guess it is hard to imagine that when you look out your window at the Apartment complex next door. I use to live in a county in Nevada that has about the land area of New York and a population of 160.
These differences create different thought patterns. It is a BIG part of the Red/Blue ( Urban/rural) divide in America.
Nothing new here, the Romans had the same social divide 2000 years ago.

Oct 31, 2008 - 8:30 pm 25. Robert Hurley:

Wow – What a bunch of delusional parrots we have here. Does anyone know what socialism is? Probably not.

Oct 31, 2008 - 10:26 pm 26. Indigo119:

Zapatero’s stupid “pacifism” reached a climax when he attempted unsuccessfully to establish a dialog with ETA, a terrorist group that seeks secession of the Basque region to create a marxist state. He even called “men of peace” to several members of the terrorist organization who had been involved in terrorist activities. The dialog endeavors ended abruptly when ETA set bombs that blew part of Terminal 4 of Madrid airport, where 2 people died and several were injured. The day before, Zapatero had proudly announced that “Spain had never been safer”.

Oct 31, 2008 - 11:10 pm 27. USAF Captain:

You gotta love the possible post-election scenario where they trot that skinny little doofus over to the Pentagon and give him his first real Presidential world threat briefing.

I can see him now, emerging from that session, shuffling out like he did during the Georgia-Russia dust-up with that deer-in-the-headlights stare, and mumbling something like that there were things that he did not realize and the “timetable” and strategy for Iraq would remain as orginally planned..

..much to the chagrin of his euphoric believers. I guess this fits nicely into the modus operandi that started two days ago.

Nov 1, 2008 - 2:07 am 28. Ex-fetus:

“Wow – What a bunch of delusional parrots we have here. Does anyone know what socialism is? Probably not.”

Socialists don’t even agree. Hitler considered himself a Socialist, although today’s Socialists deny that. Stalin thought he was a socialist. Now that he is dead, todays Socialists can deny him, although doing that while he was alive would have gotten them a bullet in the nape of the neck.

The guys that coined the phrase “Socialism” considered it the step before Communisn. It was control of everything by the Party. ALL means of Production and Distribution. It was assumed that would require there being only one party.
Hitler described socialism perfectly;

“Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer”
That means ‘one people, one state, one leader.
This whole concept of government is in compatable with the Constitution, which is based on the theory of ‘checks and balances’.
That is why an Obama bin Biden win on November 04 will produce a Civil War next summer. A McCain/Palin win will produce riots this November.
Either way, there will be violence. That is because the Left ( Socialists, Comminists, Liberals, Progressives, whatever they call themselves today) has pulled out all the stops this cycle. They have practiced illegal fund raising, fraudulent voting, Intimidation of the media, as well as running an ineligible candidate. You would think that somebody on the left WANTS a civil war.
Makes me wonder who would stand to gain the most from a civil war in America.

Nov 1, 2008 - 5:16 am 29. Eric R.:

Given Zapatero’s (and indeed all of Spain’s) extremely, virulent and fanatical anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hatred, we know that Zapatero and his “pacifist” government certainly see one instance where force is good:

When Islamonazis use it to kill Jews.

Nov 1, 2008 - 6:46 am 30. misanthropicus:

to dba RRobert Hurley who defends Hussein Soetero and his wealth re-distribution plan: “Wow – What a bunch of delusional parrots we have here. Does anyone know what socialism is? Probably not.”

Hery Kissinger to Michel Jobert (French foreign minister, remininding him about the dangers of sliding to the left, politically – a French speciality): “The entire Europe, indeed the entire world is dotted by the tombs of the socialists who dealt with communists.”

Hurley, unfortunately very many people know how socialism invariably morphs in a form or other of brutal and destructive dictatorship – from Lenin’s NEP to Hitler’s post Weimer Germany, the formal ideology of Russia and Germany was socialist. Their further evolution, and of all Eastern European countries are known and there is nothing to regret or admire in socialism – socialism invariably transforms in dictatorship because “it’s the economy, stupid!”, i.e. socialism always fails, yet the ruling groups are not willing to relinquish political power, which leads from economic distress to strife then to civil war. Invariably.
For an ignoramus Obamaton like you, in charge to disrupt the PJM proceedings, this does not matter. You never worked, you never created, you never will, you never generated anything, you’ve always been on welfare, you’ll ever be, and left-wing dictatorships like the one America is quite possible to become have always use for abject types like you – now at the keyboard somewhere in an ACORN office, or, if necessary with the crowbar smashing the windows of the oppressors, i.e., of those who you envy and from whose tax payments you and your offspring live.

Here, educationally disenfranchised Hurley, to understand better yourself and your liberal and left activists friends:
1) “Proles” (see proletarian): poor, stupid, lazy, ignorant man/pleb (see plebeian), depending for handouts in ancient Rome (general status);
2) “client” (now acception has changed), a more specialized plebs: poor stupid, ignorant man, depending on handouts in ancient Rome, who belonged to a rich/ political person’s entourage, followed him, and performed solo or in crowds political services, like loudly approving/disapproving, yelling, intimidating, battery, etc.

In contemporary American English, the term of “Hurley” is used instead of “plebs” and “client” to denote a stupid, lazy, noizy, prone to violence man who sells his services to cynical characters for a pittance – Hurley, how many Hurleys are with you in your ACORN office at the keyboasds now yelling “Hussein Soetoro wil re-distribute the wealth! Hussein Soetero will give bread to people! Hussein Soetero will bring Justice! Hussein Soetero will take the property from oppressors!”?

Nov 1, 2008 - 7:41 am 31. Jose Luis:

This last comment is completely absurd and baseless, the kind a hatemonger uses. The same way racism and anti-semitism use crude caracterizations against and entire race or ethnic/religous group, you use the same things against an entire country. It has nothing to do with anti-semitism being against certain policies the state of Israel is pursuing. If that were the case, half of Israelis would, at different points, be anti-semitic as well. It is very convenient to try to mix things up.

Nov 1, 2008 - 9:57 am 32. Brooke:

With the election so close, and the stars finally clearing out of their eyes, Europe might want to take second look at Obama. Will Obama really care if our allies are attacked, or will he be too busy looking in the mirror,singing “hail to the chief” and spreading our wealth into his bank account.

Nov 1, 2008 - 10:57 am 33. Tina:

THOSE,WHO BELIEVE IN GOD PRAY & PRAY FERVENTLY BECAUSE THE GREAT AMERICA & OUR AMERICAN VALUES ARE ABOUT TO TAKE AN EVIL TURN IF OBAMA IS ELECTED PRESIDENT.

Nov 1, 2008 - 12:05 pm 34. OSweet:

Proclaiming that war is not an option is the surest way to make war inevitable, and ultimately far more extensive and destructive.

Nov 1, 2008 - 12:34 pm 35. Eric R.:

Jose Luis:

“It has nothing to do with anti-semitism being against certain policies the state of Israel is pursuing. ”

Spain — the government AND the people — objects to the Israeli policy alright — it policy of survival.

I bring this up not to sidetrack the discussion, but to point up Mr. Zapatero’s obvious hypocrisy when it comes to pacifism, and how their bigotry plays into it.

He is a pacifist when it means crippling Israel and for that matter, America. He is NOT a pacifist when it comes to those who would destroy Western Civilization.

Nov 1, 2008 - 12:34 pm 36. Cassandra Troy:

I fear the shoe is on the other foot. The ridiculous Postmodern fallacy is simply cover to arm the enemy. When all is said and done it’s usually good old Marxist dialectic. Indeed, this is where O’s US will go as well – what a spectacle!

Nov 1, 2008 - 2:57 pm 37. Gilligan:

7. george in minneapolis: Come to think of it, could Hurley be on the Obama payroll?

That has been my assumption. Is there any other credible explanation?

Nov 1, 2008 - 3:09 pm 38. Mark Dunn:

Here you go for all the nonbelievers…The Obama Gestapo for America speech…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s

Nov 1, 2008 - 4:57 pm 39. Matt:

It’s true. We need to remember what Barney Frank said:
http://jumpinginpools.blogspot.com/2008/10/dem-envisages-25-drop-in-defense.html

Nov 1, 2008 - 6:17 pm 40. Javelin:

So tell me more about this Zapatero Doctrine, which seems to be a construct of some paranoid militarist than official policy? Basically, he and Spain see no real national policy to get involved with those places. If the people are not convinced that the war is necessary, eventually they will opt out.
BTW: is not the fall back spiel of the militarists here that we liberated all those poor Muslims and are helping them rebuild their crummy countries, as if Iraq and Afghanistan were acts of love and concern?

Nov 1, 2008 - 9:25 pm 41. Claudia:

I agree with the article. There are a lot of things which suggest a common tendency between the two of them.
They appear to like peace and equality but then Obama insists much on his race and Zapatero in Spanish Civil War, something which was forgotten and now it isn’t.
They also appear to be moderate BUT really they don’t believe in moderation… both are extremists with an appearance of moderation.
They both have a greed for power and huge marketing machine, which explodes their charm to the core.
The differences between them are, in my opinion, that Zapatero is not a cultivated fellow (he is no University Professor, he only took care of the pupils during exams…) and he doesn’t have the oratory skills Obama has.
About Spanish Anti-semitism: well, I think it’s more an official position (media and some politicians) than an actual anti-semitism of the population. That antisemitism is just maintained because there is nearly NO MSM which defends Israel and its policies. So people just differ between terrorisms and consider that ETA terrorists should be awarded the death penalty, while Palestinian terrorists, well, you know, Israel is powerful, can’t come to another solution?
Pacifism: not ALL Spanish people are pacifists… but the MSM critisize truly hard people who just consider that defending from Islamists is something necessary.
The problem in Spain is not the people, but the MSM: as they are hard restrictions to create a new TV or radio and newspapers are truly expensive to maintain, this is not going to change in the near future. The exception is Internet, but Zapatero has already tried to use several things (author’s property rights) to reduce freedom.
There is other problem: ideological. Conservatives do not have a truly ideological basis there, neither for internal policy nor for foreign policy. And the PP (center-right) policies haven’t been very accurate these last months. Its leaders are more interested in being in the party than actually to fight for their convictions.

Nov 2, 2008 - 12:37 am 42. vivo:

According to the article, Zapatero’s ideas are very interesting and promising. Unfortunately, his actions are confusing. Obama should be smarter than that. Converting military power to help people sounds like a winner.

This wouldn’t eliminate military force, but the use of pacifist means would create an example to follow by many nations, because the results could be stunning.

LISTEN UP POLICYMAKERS!!

Nov 2, 2008 - 4:02 am 43. nixganush:

As a Spaniard, I fully agree with the author.

This man Zapatero, or ZP as his supporters call him, has been a disgrace for the country right from the start of his mandate.

He, his socialist government and his crowd of national budget-fed supporters have been living on the surplus and the economic bonanza left behind by the previous conservative government.

They are 5 years now, and counting, of spreading-the-wealth-around from the common hard working man to their endless buddies no matter the consequences, and these are now the highest rate of unemployment of the UE, and growing fast (now over the 9%), a recession (-0,2% in the last quarter, and this is only the beginning), the contempt from the neighbouring democracies due to his strong commitment to all the tyrants one can think of in Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, etc.

Looking to the words, background and deeds of Obama is like seeing ZP redux, I can not believe the USA is falling into such a mess, is like seeing one’s worst nightmare taking form in flesh and blood. Is the peacenick ZP, never ashamed for being the first weapons supplier to the world dictators, taking charge of the White House. It is, simply put, terrible, and I do not see how a majority of the American people can be so easily tricked.
As another poster said, do not let the economic crisis by itself blind your thought in such a way. There was another guy in the thirties in a country by name Germany that took advantage of that…

This Obama will be as president a disgrace for the USA as ZP has been, and will continue to be, for Spain. And this is told by a on-the-ground “connaiseur”.

God bless America, and good luck from Madrid to McCain-Palin on November 4th for the sake of the still-free world.

Nov 2, 2008 - 11:17 am 44. readchomsky:

The US predicament is due to it’s own excesses and tactics used by bullies. Check it out, war mongers: Decimating American Indian tribes so that we could move in; Iran (installed our puppet there); Korea-I don’t see how that helped a whole hell of a lot; Killed millions of innocent people needlessly in Viet Nam based on a lie in the Gulf of Tonkin; Bay of Pigs in Cuba becasue we didn’t agree with Castro’s revolution, Installed military bases in Saudi Arabia, enraging Bin Laden and his friends (15 of 19 9-11 hijackers from Saudi Arabia); Killed thousands in Nicaraugua becasue we didn’t like how the people voted there; Helped Indonesia kill thousands in East Timor; Interfered once again in the middle east by stopping Hussein from invading Kuwait when we previously gave him the green light to do it. Invaded Iraq based on lies and used fascist methodology by calling dissenters in this country “traitors”. We have meddled in so many small countries for the sake of greed, noone knows how many, thereby assuring these counries retain a simmering resentment of the US, and that number of countries is high and growing. None of these incursions was vital to our interests. Not one. We are now in debt to a communist country, China, and we trade with them because it is good for greed, but we can’t trade with Cuba, punishing them for standing up to us. Selective Communist bashing. Now, China holds the debt created by this last president. Talk about ironic. We spend 10 billion a month in Iraq and if we pull out, chaos will reign again, until they sort out their new leader the time-tested way, the strongest and meanest will rule, but it will be up to them, not us. All of you who think invading Iraq was vital for our well-being have to join up and go over and keep the invasion going, send your children to do it, or shut up about it as to do otherwise marks you as chickenhawks. Sure is easy to talk about it though, isn’t it?

Nov 2, 2008 - 12:09 pm 45. Robert Mayer:

Wow, way to get an article with an ax to grind about Spanish politics published just because Obama is mentioned once at the beginning and once at the end. Does this article really have anything to do with Obama? I’m not voting for him, but in his defense the context presented in the article is barely relevant.

Some comments were really strange, too. The one about the Carme Chacon’s non-belief in a united and indivisible Spain doesn’t have anything to do with anything, really. And if you want to talk about federalism, autonomy, and the benefits/disadvantages thereof, that’s an entirely different article (or book, for that matter) altogether. Geez, what’s wrong with greater Catalan autonomy? The whole world would be better off if countries devolved into more federated countries instead of the current statist approach.

Nov 2, 2008 - 3:42 pm 46. Juan from Seville:

Robert Mayer: “Geez, what’s wrong with greater Catalan autonomy?”

Mayer obviously has no clue that Catalan separatism threatens the end of Spain as a country. Instead of spouting off about things he has no idea about, Mayer should consider that Obama and Zapatero have more things in common than he is willing to admit. If Obama becomes US president, Americans will learn the hard way, just like us in Spain.

Nov 3, 2008 - 9:26 am 47. Pat J:

It seems to me like the author is talking out of his ass.

Nov 3, 2008 - 10:43 am 48. jonesy55:

But if the people of Catalonia want that, they should have it. We have a similar situation here in the UK with Northern ireland and Scoland, just let the people vote on it. There is no point trying to force a region to be part of your country, better to have a friendly neighbour than a resentful houseguest.

Nov 3, 2008 - 10:52 am 49. robert Craig III:

Take a step back and tune in to Ezra Taft Benson on You-Tube.
You have to hear this one if you’re under 70.

Nov 3, 2008 - 2:07 pm 50. Spaniard in USA:

Zapatero is the typical example of the useful idiot.

Nov 3, 2008 - 9:38 pm 51. Spaniard in USA:

Zapatero is the typial example of the useful idiot.

Spain is divided in 17 different states, each with their own political groups, hungry of money and power and this smiling happy idiot is giving away money to the richer parts of the country, the separatists. Giving away green cards to illegal immigrants thinking about getting the vote like Miterrand did. Kissing different dictador’s butts. Deniying for a year that we were in a big real state crisis…

Tomorrow we will have the unemployment rate for Spain: it is going to be huge.

Nov 3, 2008 - 9:48 pm 52. Spaniard in USA:

Spain almost 200k unemployed more., 6000 people lost their jobs every day. (44 million people live in Spain).

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f4333f0-aa57-11dd-897c-000077b07658.html

But of course, Zapatero will say that the crisis in Spain is Bush’s fault.

Nov 4, 2008 - 4:13 pm 53. Europe and Saint Barack | Freedom:

[...] Ali wrote last week. Now my dear friend Nora, from Spanish Pundit, emailed me the following from Pajamas Media: As Barack Obama tries to persuade American voters that converting the U.S. military into an [...]

Nov 9, 2008 - 8:45 pm 54. Encarnacion:

This is the first time that I reed something that appears to be completeley in sin with my thoughts. Zapatero is wrong about many things. I can see that when you can’t walk by the streets in Madrid without fear of been rob; when I see prostitutes selling their bodies during the day in public streets where minors can watch; when I see condoms and drug syrengies on the parks and public streets of Madrid. When you can’t have an empty house because someone my illegally occupy your home. I don’t believe that is democracy and I see that USA is heading that way with a banch of crooks taking control of the government.

Jan 17, 2009 - 5:57 pm

Write a Comment

Name:	(required, displayed)
Email:	(required, not publicized)
URL:	(optional, displayed)
Comments: