Obama Hopelessly Adrift on Foreign Policy
Monday's press conference was one of the most frightening in presidential history.
Third, Obama states: “With respect to nuclear weapons, you know, I don’t want to speculate. What I know is this: that if we see a nuclear arms race in a region as volatile as the Middle East, everybody will be in danger.” Isn’t a nuclear arms race already underway in the Middle East? Isn’t it Obama’s job to know which countries there have such weapons, without speculating?
And then finally, inevitably, Obama jumps the rails. He states: “And one of my goals is to prevent nuclear proliferation generally. I think that it’s important for the United States, in concert with Russia, to lead the way on this. And, you know, I’ve mentioned this in conversations with the Russian president, Mr. Medvedev, to let him know that it is important for us to restart the — the conversations about how we can start reducing our nuclear arsenals in an effective way so that we then have the standing to go to other countries and start stitching back together the nonproliferation treaties that, frankly, have been weakened over the last several years.”
So Obama has announced that the U.S. can’t stop nuclear proliferation unless the U.S. itself abandons nuclear weapons, even as Obama has failed to make any strong statement in support of a missile defense shield for Europe. Essentially, then, he’s suggesting that the moral power of unilateral disarmament is the best and indeed only way to stop proliferation in the Middle East.
And that’s not the worst of it. This was the only reference to Russia that occurred in the entire press conference, and Obama injected it on his own (shame on the White House press corps for not asking him a single question about Putin’s neo-Soviet nightmare). The U.S. stands now at a major crossroads in world history. With the Russian economy facing a steep and dire recession (its stock market down 80%, its foreign reserves down 50%, and its currency down 30%), the U.S. has a massive amount of leverage to compel Russia to make democratic changes or face an arms race similar to the one provoked by Ronald Reagan which drove the USSR into the ash can of history. We’ve just seen yet another addition to the horrifying litany of political murder during the Putin years with the killing of human rights attorney Stanislav Markelov and firebrand reporter Anastasia Baburova, and yet not only did Obama not announce new pressure on the Kremlin, he spoke about Dmitri Medvedev as if he were not only the legitimate ruler of the country but a trustworthy partner on the nuclear problem.
Not a word from Obama about the Markelov killing, or about Russia’s equally terrifying litany of race murder, or about the fact that Medvedev’s “election” was shamelessly rigged after all serious opposition had been purged from the ballot, or about the fact that Medvedev support an extension of the presidential term widely viewed as a platform for the return of Russia’s real ruler, Vladimir Putin, to permanent formal power. Not a syllable about how Medvedev has begun abolishing the right to trial by jury, not a peep about Russia’s support for Hamas and Hezbollah terrorism, both directly and through Syria and Iran. Nothing about the fact that Russia just booted the U.S. out of a key military base in Kyrgzystan, signed a cooperation pact with Cuba, bribed Belarus into forming an anti-U.S. air defense program and started building military bases in the territory it seized from Georgia in Abkhazia.
Instead, Obama appears to let Russia off the hook, conveniently releasing the pressure of the nuclear arms race at exactly the moment the Kremlin needs him to do so. How can Russia possibly take this statement as anything other than an open invitation to escalate its crackdown on democracy and its efforts to dominate its neighbors?
Putin’s government is becoming increasingly unhinged as the pressure of economic failure and open public protests increases. It is spying on opposition political groups in the same way that got Richard Nixon driven from office. Putin delivered an unsettling, crazy-sounding speech at the Davos economic forum, and then made an even more delusional attack on Dell CEO Michael Dell. And when the Fitch ratings agency downgraded Russia’s debt rating because of its massive economic setbacks, Putin’s only response was to call for the creation of Russian ratings agencies that would give Russia higher scores! In this light, how can we see Obama’s comment about Medvedev as being any different from George Bush’s infamous claim to have looked in Vladimir Putin’s eyes, glimpsed his soul, and found him trustworthy?
And then, for a cherry on top of this rancid sundae, Obama takes a question from, of all places, the Huffington Post, without giving a similar opportunity to any conservative blogger. So much for bipartisanship! CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, Bloomberg, Reuters, the Washington Post, the Associated Press and, of course, we can’t forget the Huffington Post in the roll call of mainstream journalism! One has to wonder, of course, if George Bush would have been allowed to get away with taking questions from Michelle Malkin.
What’s perhaps the most amazing (and ironic) of all, however, is that the Huffington Post is actually doing a better job of calling Putin’s Russia on the carpet than Obama himself. It has recently given blog space to both dissident opposition leader Oleg Kozlovsky and leading Kremlin critic Robert Coalson. Even the rhetoric of the United Nations of late has been more convincingly pro-democracy than that of the Obama administration, and so has that of various European leaders.
Obama, meanwhile, is behaving in exactly the way one would expect a leader with no foreign policy experience or credentials to behave. In other words, he’s hopelessly and depressingly adrift.
<- Prev Page 2 of 2
Kim Zigfeld is a New York City-based writer who publishes her own Russia specialty blog, La Russophobe. She also writes about Russia for the American Thinker and for Russia! magazine and is researching a book on the rise of dictatorship in Putin’s Russia.
 |
 |
 |
Podcasts |  PJM Home |
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
99 Comments
1. David Thomson:“…but it came out sounding as if the U.S. was somehow itself fostering terrorism.”
I have long warned people that Barack Obama is likely a self-hating American who believes his own country craps on the dark skinned victims of the world. The dude attended Harvard University. This mindset dominates our “elite” intellectual and cultural institutions. I’m just shrugging my shoulders. And there is another point that cannot be overlooked: Barack Obama is a shabbily educated man. He merely learned how to manipulate white guilt during his academic years.
Feb 11, 2009 - 12:09 am 2. Yoni:He probably meant “for” like “to”. “it’s not acceptable to us”
Feb 11, 2009 - 12:29 am 3. Jones:>Second, Obama states: “It’s not acceptable for Pakistan or for us to have folks who, with impunity, will kill innocent men, women and children.”
he may have misspoken here, meaning to say ‘It’s not acceptable TO Pakistan or TO us…’
As for the rest of it, Obama is indeed pretty clueless as to the state of the real world. It’s full of bad people who mean us harm. Obama is a utopian who thinks inside every muslim extremist is a feminist Democrat just dying to get out.
And as far as a HuffPo reporter front and center at a Presidential news conference? We’re thru the looking glass on that one. Inconcievable. Unbelievable. Incomprehensible.
Where did my country go? Because this is starting to look like Bizarro World.
Feb 11, 2009 - 12:35 am 4. Keith W. Brown:Sadly, Obama just does not have a clue…
Think JFK & Vienna Summit where Khruschev beat the snot outta him. Naturally, this ended up as the Cuban Missle Crisis later on.
Putin will have Obama for lunch & we will all pay the price.
Feb 11, 2009 - 1:32 am 5. Ken Besig:Barack Obama has no foreign policy, just as he has no economic policy, and as we are coming to find out, all he has is a pretty face, a glib tongue, and campaign speeches. Oh yeah, and the slogan, change you can believe in.
Feb 11, 2009 - 2:35 am 6. SAF:As head of the KGB Putin no doubt killed some dudes, a little torture and probably had to, at the very, least sabotage some rivals to get where he is. Obama has had no such gauntlet to get to where he is.
I’m afraid we will get out negotiated and worse.
Feb 11, 2009 - 2:38 am 7. Judy, NYC:no. he meant “it’s not acceptable to pakistan or FOR us”. this is what we got. a president who does not defend or protect our republic. a chicago pol who oozed himself into the washington machinary. a lover of islam. a man who called the united states “a christian and moslem nation” in his inaugural address.
the huffington post thing does not surprise. he knows that americans are already sick and tired of his bullsht, and his sickening, deadly embrace of our enemies. huffington post is a despicable, disgusting online garbage can where psycho islamists, terrorist supporters, anti-zionist jew haters, the undereducated dumb and brutish can be found.
and, those are his support. the so-called “progressives”. he’s going back to them to rally them. two weeks in and he’s already ruined us.
Feb 11, 2009 - 3:03 am 8. Emma:The scariest element of this to me is that the MSM and the Democrats simply can not afford for him to fail. They have far too much invested in him. It doesn’t matter what he says or does, they’ll support it: this press conference was proof of that. They have no choice but to side with him – they’ll never be able to admit that they were wrong. Ever.
So we have the combination of someone who’s clearly in way over his head, and a vast fawning fan base that will never tell him when he’s wrong.
And of course, any criticism coming from anyone who didn’t vote for him will be written off as bitterness or racism or the pathetic whining of sore losers.
Feb 11, 2009 - 3:06 am 9. fear Obama:Keith: You made the comment before me.
Putin now knows who is in charge of this planet.
Our troops in Afghanistan will face the same terror the Russians faced in their humiliating defeat of 1987-89.
This appeasement reminds me of a huge polonium 210 Shiite sandwich and we are all invited to come on over.
Mr Obama-
If you and Nancy Pesky are invited to a Russian microwave state dinner and the Caviar or Vodka is glowing-
Don’t forget that Putin is one of the few leaders that can change your skin color.
Feb 11, 2009 - 3:19 am 10. joe:Jimmmmy is looking better and better all the time. The damage Mr Tambourine Man is going to do will last generations.
Feb 11, 2009 - 3:45 am 11. SAF:Obama isn’t stupid. But he believes in his heart of hearts (as do many Democrats) that the major problem in the world is America. So if he makes us into what the world wants there will be peace. It is this fundamentally incorrect philosophical underpinning that leads him, and unfortunately us, down this path of danger.
He is unwilling to confront a hostile Illinois legislature what makes anyone believe he can out negotiate murderers?
Feb 11, 2009 - 3:55 am 12. huxley:I was mildly optimistic, or rather not too pessimistic, after Obama’s election and his initial cabinet selections weren’t obviously crazy. I was hoping that he had realized he was in over his head and be a cautious, moderate president, who wouldn’t be particularly good nor particularly bad
However, with his al-Arabiya interview, the stimulus bill, the intended takeover of the census and this press conference, I am now much less sanguine. It looks to me like Obama is far more ambitious to oversee America’s decline in the world while transofrming it domestically into a Chicago-style political machine.
Feb 11, 2009 - 3:57 am 13. Terry Gain:“Obama, meanwhile, is behaving in exactly the way one would expect a leader with no foreign policy experience or credentials to behave. In other words, he’s hopelessly and depressingly adrift.”
—
Not just inexperienced but someone who was a member of the socialist New Party as recently as 1996. And someone who campaigned in Kenya with his Sharia-loving cousin Odinga in 2006.
There are three “you knows” in the first two of the three paragraphs which are transcribed. He talks like a college freshman. The fact that Obama goes,like “you know” all the time is however merely disconcerting. The fact that he thinks like a college freshman is frightening.
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:06 am 14. Lawrence Kohn:Why does writer insist Soviet Union is in ash can of history? Putin’s activities and the Yeltsin’s before him (Yeltsin built Topol missile, armed Iran and Syria) show we did not defeat the USSR; Russia just made a strategic retreat to regroup and get accepted into the West’s financial network such as G-7 (now
and its democratic facade was used to lead US to eliminate restrictions on technology sales including supercomputers. The nuke build up was uninterrupted and is now fully loaded and writer is correct to worry about Obama’s nuke policies. One interesting piece in conference was the President’s refusal to give timetable for leaving Iraq and crediting US forces and ambassador Crocker (Bush’s appointment) for the successful Iraqi elections. So he proved Bush was right in Iraq without saying so explicitly.
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:09 am 15. Terry Gain:@8 Emma
“The scariest element of this to me is that the MSM and the Democrats simply can not afford for him to fail”
-
Hitting the nail squarely on the head. The American public are going to have to figure this one out for themselves without mush help from the media most of whom suffer from OAS – Obama Arrangement Syndrome. They will interpret events in a manner which accords with and justifies their naive views of this naive President.
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:12 am 16. SAF:The real genius: Karl Rove:
Obama was a plot to make Bush look good. So far it seems to be working.
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:14 am 17. 888:Remember, this anti-American, narcissistic, elitist, charlatan idiot also said he wanted to visit all 57 states.
By the way, what’s Hussein doing with his illegal alien aunt? Giving her a pass just like all the gullible puppets have given him a pass for his illegitimate, unqualified climb to the White House?
Hey, what comes around, goes around, America.
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:20 am 18. Cybergeezer:“His Emptiness” is looking supremely vacuous. (I know that’s redundant, but I like the way it sounds).
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:37 am 19. Marina:They are saying that the Republican Party is dead; That’s because the Democrats are behaving like “suicide bombers”.
I know a guy who studied Chinese somewhere in Russia. His professors said that China is considered the main threat to Russa nowadays. China doesn’t even hides its dreams: we have people you have territory (they read some articles in Chinese newspapers or something like this). And they mean the Asian part of Russa, with less people and a lot of gas, oil and diamonds. So, China wants a part of Russia and has nuclear weapons. NO WAY WILL RUSSIA REDUCE ITS NUCLEAR ARSENAL. But Obama will, the 80% of the American one. So America alone will be weakened. All the other countries will produce more and more of it. Sad, but what can we do? It’s democracy: 52% didn’t care.
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:54 am 20. jerryofva:As I have said many times before we have elected a Mussolini but without the intellectual depth.
Feb 11, 2009 - 5:12 am 21. DoubleTapper:Sounds like he got smacked on the head…
Like this!
DoubleTapper
DoubleTapper@gmail.com
DoubleTapper, blogging on Guns Politics Defense from Israel
Feb 11, 2009 - 5:19 am 22. vivo:This article just stirs up the fears of paranoids. Obama’s statements will not remain unchanged if situations deteriorate. Presidential speeches (from any country) are just babble. The real policy and agreements are done with diplomats and envoys, and many remain secret. That’s politics.
Otherwise, we would be in war now with Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, etc, etc.
Feb 11, 2009 - 5:19 am 23. Paul -Indiana:Obama was elected by about 33% of registered voters. The rest of us saw through him from the start. It’s sad that we all will suffer because so many were misled. I’m glad I live in the Midwest and not a coastal city.
Feb 11, 2009 - 5:22 am 24. Meryl:None of this is a surprise. Depressing and frightening, but not surprising. All of it is on the continuum of what he was saying, doing and not doing during his campaign.
Feb 11, 2009 - 5:24 am 25. UsaBruce:The empty suit who would be President. We all tried to warn people before the election, lets just hope the damage wrought is not irreparable, and pray for our country.
Feb 11, 2009 - 5:37 am 26. sclemens:As a community organizer, he needed to be a salesman – lofty goals, good presentation, double-talk progress reports and lots of public money to throw around. Since there was no way to measure results, there was no accountability. The shell game could be played forever.
As president, there will be accountability. Elections have consequences. I feel as though I just boarded the Titanic.
Feb 11, 2009 - 5:55 am 27. Big Al:If, we were to have another election after 30 day home trial, he would be re-elected, his voters had no clue then nor do they now, even with the evidence in plain sight. I would love to see a column spectulating on the first cabinet member to resign (fired is not the same thing), i imagine clinton would be the favorite.
Feb 11, 2009 - 6:29 am 28. james:Politics is like music or math: some people can hear it coming but most simply can’t, even though they are able to appreciate it after the fact.
Feb 11, 2009 - 6:30 am 29. Broadsword:Anyone who is in the least surprised by what Obama is now demonstrating himself to be just can’t hear music or do math.
So here’s the Chopsticks version for you, kids. Obama is a lifelong violent, leftist radical who hates his own country and every single one of us who loves it as it is and abhors what he wants to make it.
Do you need to put headphones on to hear it? Maybe when the Google Police show up at your door you will finally figure it out.
“…Medvedev’s “election” was shamelessly rigged after all serious opposition had been purged from the ballot,” Did Obama in Chicago learn this tactic from the Russians, or the other way around? Of course he will not criticize what he himself has done. I am, of course, assuming he knows about Medvedev’s election skills. He could be clueless about that as well. As nearly as can be determined, his greatest skills seem to be talking about how much he cares, and telling us how much he will accomplish by merely talking.
Vivo, it sound like you’re saying Obama is so smart that he knows the smartest thing to do is pretend to be dumb. If so, why isn’t he stuttering like Claudius?
Feb 11, 2009 - 6:49 am 30. Mongoose:This article just stirs up the fears of paranoids. Obama’s statements will not remain unchanged if situations deteriorate. Presidential speeches (from any country) are just babble. The real policy and agreements are done with diplomats and envoys, and many remain secret. That’s politics.
Otherwise, we would be in war now with Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, etc, etc.
Yet again you demonstrate how little you onow about the actual world.
. What you call “policy” is merely a more or lessformal articulation of long and short term goals. They are not even strageties or tatcis. Diplomats and envoys merely articulate aspects of “poiicy” in their area of competence/The USMC is no less a part of implementing and artciulating “policy” than “diplomats and envoys” (and oh what an articulattion it is). So too the commerce dept. so to the Itelligence community. THe list goes on and on.
That you think otheriwse is because you do not live in the real world and do no real thing yourself. Diplomats to not run the world you know. You see to be very confused about this, it crops up gain and again. Of course the public utterences of the POTUS and the VPOTUS carry great weight, nothing could carry greater weight, particularly for an in coming administration at this time of crisis, After all the undermining and treasonous slander of the democratic party of the the last 8 years, ear are especially open .. What world do you live in? You are in denial. You are in a dream world. And what is really comic is that you think you know how “diplomacy” or “foreign policy” works. Trust me, work like you and your buds imagine down at the local bar or over at your young left web site. You have complete ignorance of the matter.
And as always, you project you internal world on other. It is not paranoid at all to question the immense foreign policy “blunders” of this buffoons administration. Most Democrat administrations have to wait 12 years to crew up like this.
It is you that are “paranoid” to imagine that knowledgeable ciizaens concerns are “babble” and that what came out of “His Emptiness’” mouth in that presser and out of Plugheads mouth in Munich is nothing else but “babble. It is you that are reaction in a paranoid manner that just plain common sense commetns undermind this clown you have voted for.
And of course, like the lefty you are you invert things. It is you that lack knowledge; it is you that is babbling.
Is there even a second in a day that you know what you are talking about? One second in a week?
Feb 11, 2009 - 6:57 am 31. drjohn:“QUESTION: Why do you have to speculate on who has …”
This is a really good question. And it was totally ignored.
Feb 11, 2009 - 7:00 am 32. ThinkingPerson:Vivo….I’m always amazed at your willingness to be so blind in the face of reality. Is that how one voted for Obama? You do read newspapers besides The Huffington Post and listen to news besides MSNBC right? There’s comes a time when even the most hardened liberals must open their eyes to reality. If everything was so rosy for Obama (he has the votes to pass all of his agenda), why does he need to be out campaigning again? Has that ever raised any flags in your mind? Do you see “PASS THE BUCK” when this crap sandwich of a bill falls squarely in his lap and he can’t pass the hot potato off to the GOP? Maybe it’s time to rethink your position. We couldn’t blame you after all.
Feb 11, 2009 - 7:00 am 33. Right Far Right:This column wins the award for whining. Gee he did not call on a conservative blogger. Please grow up before you write. What a dope!
Feb 11, 2009 - 7:11 am 34. Laura:#22 Vivo…you are unbelievable. Truly, scary…..
Feb 11, 2009 - 7:46 am 35. Joe Bison:The Obama gang already tried to sound out India
for concessions on Kashmir to woo Pakistan.
They were told basically where to go and it
came off the table.
The Obama gang is going to be a foreign policy
disaster zone, so get used to it.
The success of the Kadima party has roots in the
Feb 11, 2009 - 7:53 am 36. Jilly:Obama attitude to the region. Israel will enter
new negotiations with hope for change and the
other party will negotiate for publicity with
no serious intention, unless of course you
intend to surrender.
We got change all right. The most inexperienced, most left wing Senator ever to become president is now in charge. The American Idol presidency. The media was so busy slobbering over him that they didn’t do their job and vet him. Makes. Me. Sick.
Feb 11, 2009 - 7:58 am 37. Dan R:When I didn’t understand Bush policies, I took comfort in knowing that my president was counseled by the Lord Jesus, who is real and alive. Where is the rudder in this administration? Curses on Rev. Rick Warren for blessing this presidency with his fetid prayer! The LORD will wreak justice on this nation if we forsake our war against his enemies. I only pray that he has mercy on me for continuing to pay my taxes to people i disagree with!
Feb 11, 2009 - 8:27 am 38. James:I actually feel less safe. I don’t look to others for security: I’m self-reliant. But I simply cannot help but conclude that Obama will make our world much less safe through naive policy. I really believe that he views foreign policy through a politically correct lens. I do not believe that he thinks America is evil or the root of the world’s conflicts, but he certainly believes that American policy is a great cause of conflict. Remember, it’s all about perception. Obama may very well work toward peace, but our enemies may perceive him as weak, rightly or wrongly. And that’s all that counts in this new world: perception. And weakness (real or perceived) is provocation. Think I’m crazy? 60 million Americans voted for a man based on an “idea” of who he is. He was elected based upon self-created ideas – perception. The reality is something very different.
Feb 11, 2009 - 8:55 am 39. Rotwang:Obviously, it hasn’t occurred to any of the PJM geniuses that the biggest determinant of foreign policy (ours and everyone else’s) in the near-term is going to be the extent to which individual nations are destabilized, weakened, resource-starved or resource-empowered by the unfolding collapse of the global economy. Relationships and alignments are already shifting, new hot-spots are emerging and the relative strength of the major players is a in a state of flux.
A year from now, I doubt that anyone is going to give two shits about Afghanistan or the situation on the Khyber Pass, other than the extent to which we have adequate roads and bases available to support a speedy extraction of our forces and material from the Afghan theater, for use in more urgent conflicts.
And, just to pick another point, trying to force democratic concessions on Putin when Russia has the power to isolate our forces in Afghanistan and plunge large chunks of Europe into a Winter deep-freeze is just a conceptual error of the first magnitude. The reform of Russia’s government is both the least of our worries, and something over which we have only minuscule leverage.
We are about to enter an era of economic and resource wars in which Kim Zigfeld’s Cold War/War on Terror orientation will be both quaint and irrelevant, and its attendant priorities and strategies will make about as much sense as siege-engines and catapults.
If Obama is dealing with the most critical hinge issue first, we probably shouldn’t discourage him.
Feb 11, 2009 - 8:56 am 40. Pat J:I thought Obama was long-winded on a lot of his answers. He may have just been trying to be too careful. Heh. It was just the first press conference. Give the man a break. At least he has more of a mastery of the English language than his predecessor.
The author also neglected to mention in her media list how Fox News was also called on. Her bias against Russia was also evident.
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:08 am 41. seven:He has made great strides in causing us to miss Nixon.
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:09 am 42. ex-Democrat:President Fortune Cookie jokes because he is an empty suit and this is part of his defense mechanism: “hey, we’re buds. no difficult questions.”
This guy is truly frightening.
Hurry up with the birth certificate cases…we need to get fauxBama OUT.
Let’s roll. And BOYCOTT MAINE!
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:11 am 43. DonJoe:Obama’s policies are foreign!
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:11 am 44. Dan R:“And, just to pick another point, trying to force democratic concessions on Putin when Russia has the power to isolate our forces in Afghanistan and plunge large chunks of Europe into a Winter deep-freeze is just a conceptual error of the first magnitude.”
Hmm. Lack of willingness to jeopardize global stability for the sake of an ideological stance? Do you, like, value life or something? America is great because we find a hard line, and we stick to it — even if the rest of the world disagrees with its relevance.
That Obama would publicly recognize Russia’s elected leader, rather than its de-facto leader, is such a amateur mistake. It makes more sense to interject one’s personal opinions in to matters of national importance, even if they are potentially inflammatory or offensive. Who cares if Russians get offended? They should move to America.
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:12 am 45. ex-Democrat:Now we know why Team fauxBama used the wireless mic instead of the boom (first time in history?):
We don’t get the follow-ups and “crosstalk” …. only the initial question and Barry’s stump speech.
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:13 am 46. ex-Democrat:Yoni: He probably meant “for” like “to”. “it’s not acceptable to us”
If this had been Boosh “misspeaking,” I’m sure you’d be here covering for him too? /riiiighht
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:16 am 47. DonJoe:Words of Wisdom written over 2500 years ago from a former world leader, King Solomon;
*A wise [man] fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident.
*A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart.
*Luxury is not fitting for a fool, Much less for a servant to rule over princes.
*He who sends a message by the hand of a fool Cuts off [his own] feet [and] drinks violence.
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? [There is] more hope for a fool than for him.
Obama uses many words, he must like the sound of his own voice. King Solomon has this to say:
A fool also multiplies words. No man knows what is to be; Who can tell him what will be after him?
Obama “has a dream!”
For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice [is known] by [his] many words.
Even when a fool walks along the way, He lacks wisdom, And he shows everyone [that] he [is] a fool.
Plagiarizing the Torah
The more things change the more they stay the same.
That which has been [is] what will be, That which [is] done is what will be done, And [there is] nothing new under the sun.
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:36 am 48. Terry Gain:(King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Rotwanger is at it again.
“We are about to enter an era of economic and resource wars in which Kim Zigfeld’s Cold War/War on Terror orientation will be both quaint and irrelevant, and its attendant priorities and strategies will make about as much sense as siege-engines and catapults.”
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:38 am 49. ex-Democrat:—
Obama’s going to fight a resource war? Wow, what’s he going to do? Sink Chinese oil rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico? Invade Canada? Please tell us more, genius.
At least he has more of a mastery of the English language than his predecessor.
Actually, when the Magic Marxist is off the teleprompter he is, uh, uh, uh, uh, ummmmm, uh, uh, uh …. worse than BooshChimpHitler.
Search youtube for “obama gaffes” …. worse…than…Boosh.
Boycott Maine.
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:41 am 50. Rachel Peepers:From boy wonder to blunder boy in three short weeks. B. Hussein warned us about a catastrophe. Yet, not everyone realized he was talking about himself.
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:43 am 51. Marc Malone:I couldn’t watch the whole thing. I had to watch bits and pieces. I can only take a little of this nonsense. I will give him a pass on using ‘for’ instead of ‘to’. I got his meaning, for what it was worth. Further, I have no problem with a bit of friendly levity. HIs response to Helen Thomas(?) was an appropriate acknowledgment of her senior status. My problem is that most of it was a bunch of non-answers, filled with platitudes and partisan blaming. Blah!
I wish he’d stop campaigning and start actually governing, but it is beyond his ability. I think it is irresponsible of the President to talk down the economy. I think also that it is lese majeste for him to continue to blame Bush or to engage specific personalities like Rush and Hannity. It is just so beneath the office of the President. He does it, because that is the only tool in his bag. Things aren’t going the way you want? Go give a campaign speech. Amateur. Pick a random name out of a phonebook, and you’d likely do better.
Feb 11, 2009 - 10:57 am 52. deguello:Here’s the messiah’s foreignpolicy in a nutshell:”Can’t we all just get along?” Pathetic,simplistc,appeasing drivel from an affirmative action mediocrity way over his depth!
Feb 11, 2009 - 11:06 am 53. Flipside:Your attention, BHO will be going back to the campaign trail to gain more experience in order to become the POTUS. He may never set foot in the White House this term.
Feb 11, 2009 - 11:32 am 54. Cybergeezer:What part of “We are soooo screwed” don’t you understand?
Feb 11, 2009 - 11:41 am 55. Yes We Did:STOP IT!
Stop your hateful, racist attacks on our new Leader.
Face reality: We won, you lost, and you will never get another chance.
Get over it and get with the program.
Praise HIM!
Praise The ONE!
Praise OBAMA!
ALLAHU AKBAR!
Feb 11, 2009 - 11:42 am 56. JED:If you think that the economic recovery plan was all of the fun that we could handle, wait until the Hilliary takes her show on the road to garner our allies and humble our despots.
Feb 11, 2009 - 11:59 am 57. Austin:What else do you expect from the Commander in Thief?
He steals our paychecks, our future, and our national honor.
Feb 11, 2009 - 12:01 pm 58. ReConUSMC:Pres. Obama Invites Hamas Terrorists to America
Dr. Paul L. Williams, Bos Smith & Michael Travis, The New Media Journal
By executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in migration assistance to the Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza. The “presidential determination” which allows hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States was signed on January 27 and appeared in the Federal Register on February 4. President Obama’s decision, according to the Register, was necessitated by “the urgent refugee and migration needs” of the “victims.” Few on Capitol Hill took note that the order provides a free ticket replete with housing and food allowances to individuals who have displayed their overwhelming support of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the parliamentary election of January 2006. The charter for Hamas calls for the replacement of the nation of Israel with a Palestinian Islamic state. Since its formation in 1994, Hamas has been responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks, including the 2002 Passover suicide bombing. The leaders of the movement signed the World Islamic Statement of 1998 – a document, penned by Osama bin Laden, which declared war on America and Israel. President Obama’s executive order is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, many with ties to radical Islam, to our shores, furthering a process that was inaugurated in 1995 by Senator Ted Kennedy and the Cedar-Hart bill.
What on Earth is Obama “Not ” thinking ?
Obama is obviously “Insane ” and Dead Drunk with unrestricted total Moronic Power and unreal child like behaviors !
Who the hell is this Man we are now learning after 2 years of hiding those facts from the Voters .
He is scaring the Be Jesus out of me and I
am a Former “Been there “bad ass ReCon Marine .
This man is destroying this Country quickly .
This totally insanity will cost America Hundreds of Billions of Dollars for now (we don’t have ) and a large number of these People have been taught from Birth to “Hate ” Christians and Jews anywhere . There is question Hamas connections want come alone or Hamas terrorist them selves ….. just what we needed ?
Obama ”needs ” to be stopped …. Now ! This man makes Jimmy Carter look except-able in comparison . I can believe I would ever say that in my life .
This is ”CHANGE ‘ We have been hoping and waiting for ? Lord have Mercy No !
The $ 20.3 for now is only a drop the huge Bucket Illegals have well taught this country .
Facts – 90-95 % of them don’t speak English , 65 % can read or write and 80 % don’t have Job skills .
In other words 90 % will be on welfare for many years since we don’t have enough Jobs for those hard working American Citizens now .
Ad that to the 12-15 Million Illegals Obama will give Amnesty to he said in his Stimulus package .
America is in even deeper Do Do !
Please forward this if You have ever Forwarded anything !!!!!!!
Feb 11, 2009 - 12:03 pm 59. Oscar the Grump:This takes me back to the good old Clinton days. Let’s cut defense spending after all who needs tanks, planes and bullets.
Feb 11, 2009 - 12:12 pm 60. Bill:“Sam Stein, Huffington Post. Where’s Sam? Here. Go ahead.”
Sam Stein… where’s Sam… where’s my easy question? He was supposed to be here. We agreed on that Sam guy asking me something. Why can’t I see him? Is he short? Did I forget what is picture looked like? I told Rahm that we should have agreed with him before hand to wear a particular color tie, or get him to sit in a specific chair so I could look at him right away. Boy someone’s going to catch hell for this. Thank heavens I got Helen Thomas to start me off. Whew.
Boy! Press conferences are HARD.
Feb 11, 2009 - 12:15 pm 61. ashok:Thank you for listing all the current troubles with Russia. I think you make a convincing case that President Obama has to be a bit bolder, esp. given the fact that as you point out, Russia doesn’t have a lot of advantages right now.
Feb 11, 2009 - 12:34 pm 62. Right Far Right:I see that RECONUSM is off his meds again.
Feb 11, 2009 - 1:26 pm 63. Paul M Hupf:The President is naive. If he thinks he can deal with the Russia or with Iran, without having his pockets picked, he is naive. We were publicly assured after the Yalta conference in February 1945, attended by Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin that there would be “democratic” elections in Poland to insure that the people of Poland would determine their own form of government, independent, and selected by free and open elections. The people of Poland remained suppressed by a dictatorship under the control of Russia, until the visit of John Paul II in the early 1980s.
Feb 11, 2009 - 1:46 pm 64. 888:Well, all you had to do was look to his recent past to know what the guy was all about. Of course, none of America’s gullibles cared or took notice because they were enamoured by The One. Look at what he did for his constituents in the southside of Chicago: absolutely nothing, but he did shower them with glorious rhetoric, lies, manipulation and heavy-handed mob-style ACORN politicking to get their votes. The same thing he did to win the White House.
Feb 11, 2009 - 1:58 pm 65. Cybergeezer:75. Yes We Did:
55. Yes We Did:
Pull the rip cord, you fool.
In God We Trust.
signed;
American Infidel.
Feb 11, 2009 – 12:49 pm
Feb 11, 2009 - 2:35 pm 66. cedarford:Zigfeld went completely over to hysteria in her denunciation of a press conference that went very smoothly, speaking as a conservative who thinks he was dead on in giving the “right answers” given the new shift in foreign policy with the elections of 2006 and 2008 repudiating Neocon policy of antagonizing Russia at every turn and calling for new war to solve all Israel’s problems.
She makes 4 points and all but claim it is the end of the world:
1. He JOKED with the White House press corp senior rep before starting Q&A.
2. She said that it sounded like he was fostering terrorism by saying the US and Pakistan face a common terrorist enemy.
3. By saying he wants to avoid a nuclear arms race in the ME, he may have been ignorant that an arms race is already starting and that he doesn’t know who has or who is seeking nukes.
4. He wants to “pal round with Russia” ignoring what Baddies the Russians are and they have taken a string of actions against our interests recently.
5. And “the cherry on top” he took a question from a Blogger on the Left!!!
Answers:
1. Every President since Eisenhower makes an icebreaker joke or statement before a press conference starts – unless inappropriate fue to tragedy or crisis.
2. Since terorists have killed Pakis and Americans, Obama is saying we and Pakistan’s leaders both say such conduct is unacceptable.
3. Obama is quite aware who has nukes in the ME (Israel), who wants to have strategic parity unless some deal is made (the Iranians, Syria) and who wants nukes if Iran gets them (Saudis, Turkey, UAE, Iraq, and likely Egypt). The trick is finding a way to stop Iran, which has nuclear armed potential enemies in region (Pakistan, Russia, Israel, and a nuclear armed America in Iraq and with a lot of Neocon nutbags demanded we bomb them. The big thing is Iran has absolutely rational defense needs, lost a million in a war 20 years ago, and will seek strategic WMD deterrence with the other WMD possessors (Israel, USA, Russia) unless they get a credible security deal.
4. Russia has made us pay for a string of Neocon humiliations and going against their regional interests that started back in the Clinton Admin with Albrights Neocon goals, then got far worse under Bush as we openly meddled in their backyard, enabled Oligarchs further that stole Russian wealth through Yelsin bribes under Clinton. We threw plans to “see Iran” and have missiles ready in a way that “scanned” 80% of Russian and Ukraine airspace 1st.
This is simple payback for the many reckless insults we gave while Russia was down. Now Russia is the primary energy supplier, America’s combat capacity is tied down in 2 all but endless Neocon Wars, one where Russia now looks like our last logistics line. We will deal with them with Realpolitik again without pretensions to Neocon illusions about “Democracy for noble Georgian, Ukrainian Freedom-Lovers” or attempting to pry away Central Asia by inducement to end Treaties those former Republics signed with Russia. And we will deal with them because a weak Russia is not in our interests when China rises, and Russia must be satisfied for Iran to be dealt with.
5. Whining about a Lefty Blogger being allowed to ask a question? You’ve got to be kidding.
Mind that the economic, health insurance, entitlement crises rank far higher in importance to Americans than any foreign policy matter, and terrorism is down about 9th or 10th in concerns of average Americans polled…
But in foreign policy, the highest priority is to have a solid foreign policy with respect to nations and groups of highest geostrategic importance to us – China, Russia, Canada, Mexico, NATO, India, Iraq, Pakistan, and the Big 6 Dragon Group in Asia – (Australia, Japan, S Korea, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore -hoping to add Indonesia and Vietnam to that)
After that, you have 2nd tier nations and groups of limited geostrategic importance. Such as Israel, Taiwan, Columbia, Chile, Egypt…
After that, all the remaining 3rd World and 2nd World of even more limited value and importance.
Feb 11, 2009 - 3:38 pm 67. Jim Baker:Cedarford,
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:28 pm 68. thegr8 1:So now you are a conservative and neocons have caused all the world’s problems? You really had me fooled, buddy.
Nobody listened to the debates this lack of knowledge of foreign policy was quite apparent. Rush I agree with you 99% of the time but the Operation Chaos may have backfired. If it was the Socialists year, a third Bill Clinton term would have been better than a second Carter term. It’s time to move to Canada, Australia when the fires are put out. All of us with $$ leave the country and the US will be a third world country with what’s left.
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:59 pm 69. Owen:In regards to the question, “do you know of any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?”, the obvious answer is yes: Israel. I think the question was a setup, an attempt to make concerns about Iran’s nuclear program look hypocritical. And I think Obama recognized that, and tried to sidestep it without addressing it head on. I don’t like his response at all, but I’m not reading the exchange the way most of the posters, and even the author, seem to be.
Feb 11, 2009 - 5:34 pm 70. Bilgeman:#66 cedarford:
“…The trick is finding a way to stop Iran, which has nuclear armed potential enemies in region (Pakistan, Russia, Israel, and a nuclear armed America in Iraq and with a lot of Neocon nutbags demanded we bomb them.”
I’d like you to clatify exactly how Iran feels threatened enough to justify it’s nuclear weapons program.
Observe that Iraq is a threat only to itself, and has been so for the past 18 years. It was so unthreatening that the iranians allowed Saddam’s fighetrs to land on their territory after having crossed their airspace.
Syria has been a client state of Iran for years. The Assad legacy have pimped that nation out to the point that it is no more than Iran’s “bitch” and the logistical base for it’s Hizbullah terrorist clients that inflict themselves upon Lebanon and bedevil Israel.
I don’t think Persians really give much of a crap what Jews may or may not have done to Arabs in Palestine…either yesterday or 2000 years ago.
(If pressed, I’d say they’d probably support the Jews, since Jews have never been a threat to Persians, while Arabs are another story entirely).
For all their bellicosity wetsward, they’ve been pretty quiet about Afghanistan to their east, probably because they know enough about Afghanistan to know what an impossible place it can be to conquer, occupy and govern.
To their north are the former Soviet newly independent republics, and I can see no credible threat to the Persian homeland coming from THAT quarter.
Any threat to Iran seems to be a threat of iran’s own making due to it’s own version of “NeoConservatism”, (and when THOSE chaps talk “conservative”, they REALLY MEAN “Conservative”! Like…10th century conservative).
Which leaves…the Saudis and Emirates to their south.
Near everyone with two brain cells to rub together and any experience over there knows that the Sauds are only on the throne because they can buy off their public from the oil money.
And in time-honored middle eastern tradition, they never talk straight to the point, but engage in ellipses and arabesques and all kinds of dead-ends, word-games and red-herrings.
(Enter a soukh and have one of ‘em try to tell you something, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s the way things are done, and they get offended when you don’t play along).
The Iranian nuclear progran is offensive in nature, and despite all their babble about “Little Satan” Israel and “Great Satan” the USA, it’s the Eastern Slope of the Kingdom, and the oil beneath it), that is their REAL target.
If they can close the Straits of Hormuz for two or three weeks and put 100,000 men ashore with support, they’d bitch-slap the Saudis, who, if the last dust-up was any indicator, will scamper like rabbits,(they did exactly that when Sadaam jacked Kuwait…and all HIS boys did was dig trenches on their border).
This would disrupt Europe and Japan’s oil supply,and make their own gooey black stuff that much more valuable.
As you can see, I don’t buy Iran’s rationale for a “defensive nuclear capability”.
The only “defense” it would afford them is to allow them to f*ck with their neighbors more than they ALREADY do.
And these are people who sent unarmed 12 and 14 year olds into well-defended minefields to force Iraqis to expend their ammo and find the mines with their feet.
Feb 11, 2009 - 8:19 pm 71. jw:Obama says “Pakistan is a stalwart ally with us in battling this terrorist threat. With respect to nuclear weapons, you know, I don’t want to speculate.” This stalwart ally just released A. Q Khan from house arrest, the nuclear scientist who has been providing such states as Syria and Iran with nuclear know-how.
Feb 11, 2009 - 8:58 pm 72. cedarford:Owen – It was a setup question. Everyone knows Israel has WMD. But they have a policy of ambiguity and present US policy is to support that ambiguity.
But diplomacy clashes with reality – that since everyone knows Israel has the bomb and doesn’t let IAEA or UN weapons inspectors in – it makes sense for other nations in the region to seek WMD deterrent if they see Israel as a threat. The problem with Iran is none of the Shia nations want them to have the bomb, any more than they want Israel with WMD or Saddam with WMD. But not enough to support a preemptive attack on Iran for doing what Israel already did.
That’s the arms race that Obama wants to avoid, which the Russians, Euros, and most ME nations deep down want to stop as well. Because once Iran has WMD, then the odds are good that Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, possibly Egypt will also join the arms race. The other nations want a nuclear weapon-free ME. Israel wants to keep its WMD monopoly. The US is caught between the AIPAC dominated US Congress and those in the military and diplomatic community plus our formal allies and Russia that want Final ME Borders imposed and some sort of treaty on recognition of final Borders and a security guarantee for nations from Morocco through Iran that they would be under someone’s nuclear umbrella..
Feb 11, 2009 - 9:04 pm 73. John Burke:You’re reading too much into this exchange. Obama called on Helen Thomas, an old Leftist screwball who once covered the White House for UPI. She was able to keep her WH credential as a columnist fro reasons that escape me. Being 88 and the person with the most time in the WH press corps, she’s the”dean” of the group and gets a front row seat. Even Bush called on her.
So Obama sought to get calling on her out of the way early and made a joking reference that one could read as mocking her.
As for the non-speculation about nuclear armed states in the Middle East, in that cross-talk, Old Helen asked about Israel’s nukes. Since the US does not openly concede that israel has nukes, Obama took the no-speculation line.
I’m harshly critical of Obama for lots of things so far, but these are basically silly,
http://thepurplecenter.blogspot.com/
Feb 12, 2009 - 12:21 am 74. vivo:30. Mongoose:
“Yet again you demonstrate how little you onow about the actual world.”
You are delirious today. Nothing you say makes sense. What I said is my humble opinion and it obviously crashes with your embedded beliefs. If I’m wrong, I’ll find out and learn. For the time being, I’m fine.
Feb 12, 2009 - 5:09 am 75. vivo:32. ThinkingPerson:
“You do read newspapers besides The Huffington Post and listen to news besides MSNBC right?”
I do not read the Huff Post and I listen to Fox and other sources. I’m not the extremist you think I am. You probably are. I just look for the truth and common sense. I’m not partisan, but the people at this blog only look at them through a single-color glass. It’s a fun site.
Feb 12, 2009 - 5:17 am 76. vivo:34. Laura:
“#22 Vivo…you are unbelievable. Truly, scary…..”
Actually it’s the opposite. World leaders run the world with demonic speeches, but they know how to maintain peace (most times). They need to keep their constituencies satisfied. The diplomats and envoys take care of the real thing (following orders, of course).
Feb 12, 2009 - 5:24 am 77. vivo:37. Dan R:
“When I didn’t understand Bush policies, I took comfort in knowing that my president was counseled by the Lord Jesus, who is real and alive. ”
Now, that was funny.
Feb 12, 2009 - 5:26 am 78. Paul -Indiana:This thread’s title “Obama Hopelessly Adrift on Foreign Policy” is complete enough at ‘Obama Hopelessly Adrift’.
Feb 12, 2009 - 8:25 am 79. larry:Must be nice to forget the last eight years by pretending Bush was a rino.
You are all so tedious. After applauding and cheering eight years of idiocy, do any of you really think your criticisms are being taken seriously now?
Feb 12, 2009 - 10:33 am 80. deguello:Helen Thomas, the grand old sow of stalinist journalism,ought to get a job in Cuba flacking for the Castro brothers.
Feb 12, 2009 - 10:38 am 81. deguello:Vivo(cerebro muerto): Presidential speeches arejust babble?You mean like Reagan’s “Tear down this wall speech”? How about the Gettysburg adress? Your statements are breathtakingly inane. Not every president was as devoid of ideas and principles as your chosen Messiah,so don’t project his mediocrity onto them.
Feb 12, 2009 - 10:43 am 82. david:@ Dan R
When I didn’t understand Bush policies, I took comfort in knowing that my president was counseled by the Lord Jesus, who is real and alive. Where is the rudder in this administration? Curses on Rev. Rick Warren for blessing this presidency with his fetid prayer! The LORD will wreak justice on this nation if we forsake our war against his enemies. I only pray that he has mercy on me for continuing to pay my taxes to people i disagree with!
—————————————————————————-
I’m not sure this person is a christian for all his moral pretensions. When did the Lord tell us to go war against “his” enemies? Christ said it is not His will that ANY shld perish . . .
Did this person also forget 1 timothy 2:1-3? Did Paul encourage us to pray ONLY for republicans in authority? When Ceasar was ruling over the jews did Christ not pay His own taxes? Pls spare us the drivel . . . it is racist, irrational folks like you who give atheists enough ammunition to attack the church.
Feb 12, 2009 - 11:24 am 83. Harry Bergeron:Faulty semantics aside, who is Obama to tell Pakistan what is acceptable to OR for themselves?
A huge portion of the nation is in favor of AQ, so therefore it IS acceptable and a topic too hot to touch. Obama’s blythe wave of the hand is the mark of a rookie.
Feb 12, 2009 - 1:38 pm 84. Grant Harris:See, by not mentioning any of these things he has achieved peace and in less than a month. What a true genius this guy is.
Feb 12, 2009 - 6:40 pm 85. Rhein Gold:Are you saying that you are just now figuring out that Obambi is clueless? His first few weeks as PBO have been one disaster after another. The only thing that could be worse is if we were to be attacked on our own soil by Islamic extremists.
Feb 12, 2009 - 8:10 pm 86. vivo:81. deguello:
“Presidential speeches arejust babble?”
Most of them, obviously. Not all, of course.
Feb 13, 2009 - 4:28 am 87. deguello:deguello= córtate el cuello . . .
NO vivo,presidential speeches as YOU said,are not babble, but your posts certainly are! BTW congratulate your special ed./esl teacher for me, she managed to teach you to consult a spanish english dictionary! Amazing.
Feb 13, 2009 - 5:40 am 88. deguello:MS Zigfeld:The messiah is clueless about many things,but he sure does know how to buy votes; ask him for a car a kitchen; he’ll deliver it. What a bread and circus spectacle this administration is going to be!
Feb 13, 2009 - 5:44 am 89. nate zucikerman:Adrift compared to who?8 years of Rice and Bush? You are kidding, right?
Note in how many of your posts and in just about all your comments to these posts there is a singular lack of ideas, suggestions but rather sniuppy venomous spewing forth, girl-like nastiness! A famous person once said that Great Minds discuss IDEAS; good minds discuss EVENTS; and very ordinary minds discuss people (as in gossip, Peoples Magazine)
small wonder the conservative movement is in such a mess. There is so little being offered that is positive, constructive, useful..Instead, locker room barbs.
Feb 13, 2009 - 6:54 am 90. deguello:Nate Zucikerman:spare us your condescending liberal drivel,clearly, the criticisms of your demagoguic Hugo Chavez wannabee,have struck home, or you wouldn’t be posting.I notice your sexist comment about “girl-like nastiness”,What’s wrong Nate? Obsessed with being a girl?Or did you vote for the Messiah hoping that national health care would pay your sex change?It’s not conservatives who are in a mess;it’s the Obama bread and circus presidency, which implodes daily.We intend to enjoy his failure, and your chagrin until 2010,when we return to fix the mess the Ohole and the democrats will create.
Feb 13, 2009 - 7:54 am 91. Wally Lind:I don’t know! Bush had kind of a candy-assed foreign policy when he took office too. 9-11 took care of that. Give the rookie some time. If he relaxes security, the “so-called” terrorists, will re-introduce him to reality. Even soft-headed liberals get irked when they are kicked in the butt. We are in the Global War on Islamic Terror because they started it. So what’s changed?
Feb 13, 2009 - 9:45 am 92. dan:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090213/wl_nm/us_usa_shield_russia
close the kyrgyz base, force resupply through its territory, compel concessions re: missile defense which will mean effectively neutering it (remember it is officially designed to thwart attacks from iran, who would not be a threat without russian nuclear energy and missile design), and on and on…
anyone think chavez is afraid to “win” sunday’s referndum on term limits? look for more russian warships in cuba and venezuela. wonder how the uribe government feels about that. and noriega in panama… or those east europe governments on the russian gas lines…
who is the slaphead above who believes the cold war is an inapposite paradigm for the present? perhaps they don’t understand the cold war, then. or anything, probably.
Feb 13, 2009 - 11:06 am 93. Marc Malone:#89 nate “zucikerman” – You can’t even bother to make sure you spelled your own name correctly? Conservatives talk about ideas all the time. What do you think the culture wars are all about. It’s the Libs who don’t talk about ideas like right and wrong. They dismiss these other issues as unimportant. We want solutions, they say. That’s like a doctor treating the symptoms and not the disease.
The problem is not that we don’t talk about ideas. It’s that you just can’t hear them. You can see it all over this site: the ideas about right and wrong; forecasting the direction the country is heading; realization that it may soon come to an armed conflict; the failures of Marxism; the evils of Islam, and so on. How can you say we don’t discuss ideas? Because you’re confusing ideas and solutions. Solutions are operational things. Ideas are strategic. Solutions treat the symptoms. Ideas deal with the overall problem.
Feb 13, 2009 - 11:28 am 94. deguello:Marc Malone: BRAVO!
Feb 13, 2009 - 2:21 pm 95. Vaughn:Will the last person to leave America, please turn off the compact fluorescent bulb!
Feb 13, 2009 - 4:12 pm 96. Marc Malone:deguello – Thank you.
Feb 14, 2009 - 3:09 am 97. vivo:93. Marc Malone:
“How can you say we don’t discuss ideas? ”
Because they are one-sided. Your viewpoint is the rule and name-calling your fog.
Don’t get upset, I’m talking in general.
Feb 14, 2009 - 5:47 am 98. Ruthie:No one should excuse or re-define Obama’s statement: “It’s not acceptable for Pakistan or for us to have folks who, with impunity, will kill innocent men, women and children.” These are the same folks (like Stephanopoulos) who, without blinking an eye, correct Obama’s words “… my Muslim faith,” with “… my Christian faith.”
Obama likely said what he meant. After all, it was he that said our troops were “air raiding villages and killing civilians.”
Feb 14, 2009 - 7:24 am 99. Marc Malone:#97 vivo – You may be right that it’s one-sided, because the Left never want to discuss these things. All throughout the campaign I heard them dismiss the culture wars. “America wants solutions, not tired old arguments.” is what I constantly heard. The solutions they proffered did not discuss the actual problems. Identifying the problem is half the solution.
Tell me something, vivo, how old are you? I see your posts, and all I see are the usual Leftist talking points. These things are always devoid of deeper context. When conservatives post here, you so often see examples from history, or life experience, or classical texts, or quotes from great minds of the past to back their positions. When I post, I usually write how I got to the viewpoint I have taken. You proffer none of these things.
Feb 14, 2009 - 4:24 pm