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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Soul Crusher on March 11, 2011, 10:30:39 AM
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President of China?
Obama's lament.
William Kristol
March 11, 2011 9:01 AM
http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/blogs/president-china_554012.html?guy=1
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“Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, ‘No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.’”
“Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East,” The New York Times, March 11, 2011.
Mr. Obama is right.
If you’re president of China, people around the world who are fighting for freedom don’t really expect you to help. If you’re president of China, you don’t have to put up with annoying off-year congressional elections, and then negotiate your budget with a bunch of gun-and-religion-clinging congressmen and senators. If you’re president of China, you can fund your national public radio to your heart’s content. And if you’re president of China, when you host a conference on bullying in schools, people take you seriously.
Unfortunately for him and us, Barack Obama is president of the United States. That job brings with it certain special responsibilities. It’s a tough job—maybe tougher than being president of China. But Barack Obama ran for president of the United States. Maybe he should start behaving as one.
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Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.”
Well no shit. Can't have anything to do with China being a totalitarian state that imprisons dissidents, could it? This guy really hates the 1st amendment.
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Who the hell voted for this?
What a baby. Maybe you dopes, as well as Obama himself, should have taken his own advice and not run in 2008.
What an embarrassment.
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Maybe obama considers himself a failure already?
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What was the context of the discussion? Also the thread title is misleading. It's not a direct quote but quote from a source - Mr. Obama has told people.
Democracy is never easy, people are fickle. It may not be perfect but it's the best form of governance we have.
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HAHAHAHAH!!!
Obama owned himself. That is an admission that he can't hack it as POTUS. Time to take the garbage out of the oval office in 2012.
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What was the context of the discussion? Also the thread title is misleading. It's not a direct quote but quote from a source - Mr. Obama has told people.
Democracy is never easy, people are fickle. It may not be perfect but it's the best form of governance we have.
KC - did you look at the youtube clip i posted?
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KC - did you look at the youtube clip i posted?
What relevance does it have to the thread? I imagine not much at all. Does he say the words you attribute to him? I doubt it. Considering it is not a direct quote that you site, yet you try to pass it off as one, pretty weak if you ask me.
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What relevance does it have to the thread? I imagine not much at all. Does he say the words you attribute to him? I doubt it. Considering it is not a direct quote that you site, yet you try to pass it off as one, pretty weak if you ask me.
The clip i posted is of obama in his own words when he won the senate seatasking him if he would run in 2008. Guess what his answer was?
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The clip i posted is of obama in his own words when he won the senate seatasking him if he would run in 2008. Guess what his answer was?
And he ran and won. So the point you are making is moot. He felt he was ready when he decided to run and he won. Simple as that. You're on here talking about cry babies and yet here you are crying like a baby over something Obama said years ago.
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And he ran and won. So the point you are making is moot. He felt he was ready when he decided to run and he won. Simple as that. You're on here talking about cry babies and yet here you are crying like a baby over something Obama said years ago.
What did he do in 146 days that he went from admitting to be unqualified and unprepared to being prepared?
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sad fact of this matter is...
Even if obama only achieves 10% of his goals (and it seems like he's gotten much more) -
It's still 10% more than Mccain's goals. Obama won. You can throw a party about "But but but he didn't do everything he said he did".
Then I'd ask you to tell me the name of the last president, congressman, governor or mayor that kept all his campaign promises and did everything he said he'd do.
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sad fact of this matter is...
Even if obama only achieves 10% of his goals (and it seems like he's gotten much more) -
It's still 10% more than Mccain's goals. Obama won. You can throw a party about "But but but he didn't do everything he said he did".
Then I'd ask you to tell me the name of the last president, congressman, governor or mayor that kept all his campaign promises and did everything he said he'd do.
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he was joking, big deal, did bill kristol cry when bush said "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." (President George W. Bush, July 26, 2001.)
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." (President-elect George W. Bush, December 18, 2000.)
"You don't get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier." (Texas Governor George W. Bush, July 1998.)
this post is a waste of time bill kristol just another right wing hack ::)
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he was joking, big deal, did bill kristol cry when bush said "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." (President George W. Bush, July 26, 2001.)
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." (President-elect George W. Bush, December 18, 2000.)
"You don't get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier." (Texas Governor George W. Bush, July 1998.)
this post is a waste of time bill kristol just another right right hack ::)
So we agree- both Bush and Obama are pofs. Thanks. I think this is the first thing we agree upon.
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"He was joking." Hahahahahaha! This dork is really living in fantasy land.
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??? read it again said it was a joke, like i said waste of time
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"He was joking." Hahahahahaha! This dork is really living in fantasy land.
Bush and Obama are really morphing into almost the same being.
Must warm the hearts of Team Obama to realize that.
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So we agree- both Bush and Obama are pofs. Thanks. I think this is the first thing we agree upon.
who was the last president you were 100% happy with?
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Bush and Obama are really morphing into almost the same being.
Must warm the hearts of Team Obama to realize that.
Watch out or they'll really own you by once again comparing Obama's actions to Bush's to justify them. :D :D :D :D
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who was the last president you were 100% happy with?
I'm never 100% happy with a potus, But i though Bush was good his first term. Reagan is still my idea of what a POTUS should be be on many different levels. Bush the father was ok, but too aloof and not in touch w average people.
I loathed Bubba and thought he was a con and a fraud.
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or maybe they were just horsing around :D
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or maybe they were just horsing around :D
Or just speaking how they really feel?
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Or just speaking how they really feel?
I've never seen so many stories about a president crying. But not a single one is true according to the sheeple. ::)
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I've never seen so many stories about a president crying. But not a single one is true according to the sheeple. ::)
"I was bullied" - wwwaaahhhhh
"It would be easier to be potus of china" wwwaaahhhh
"businesspeople need to hire more people" wwwaaahhhh
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:D
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relax you only have 6 more years ;D
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relax you only have 6 more years ;D
We wont last that long under this kamikaze potus. Did you read about PIMCO?
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relax you only have 6 more years ;D
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oh and i forgot 6 more years of bowing ;D
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oh and i forgot 6 more years of bowing ;D
Who the hell is there left to bow to at this point? Palin? lol.
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BUMP
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BUMP
where's the quote from Obama?
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Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, ‘No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.’”
Link to his quote? I don't even see who is claiming he's made this statement.
Anonymous source claimed by anonymous author?
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Link to his quote? I don't even see who is claiming he's made this statement.
Anonymous source claimed by anonymous author?
I posted what was in the NY Times as reported by WS.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/world/africa/11policy.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
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I posted what was in the NY Times as reported by WS.
exactly
not a quote from Obama
is it?
not even a name of the person who made the quote either
good job
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exactly
not a quote from Obama
is it?
not even a name of the person who made the quote either
good job
Are you saying the NY Times isn't a reliable news organization?
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I posted what was in the NY Times as reported by WS.
I thought the NYT and WP were both lib pieces of garbage.
Why would you cite an authorless article with an anonymous quote from a source you consider to be biased and often full of lies?
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exactly
not a quote from Obama
is it?
not even a name of the person who made the quote either
good job
Yeah - now the NYT, which was never asked by the WH to retract the story, is under question. Ha ha ha ha.
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I thought the NYT and WP were both lib pieces of garbage.
Why would you cite an authorless article with an anonymous quote from a source you consider to be biased and often full of lies?
So you're agreeing that they're trash?
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Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East
By MARK LANDLER and HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON — In the Middle East crisis, as on other issues, there are two Barack Obamas: the transformative historical figure and the pragmatic American president. Three months after a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself aflame and ignited a political firestorm across the Arab world, the president is trumping the trailblazer.
With the spread of antigovernment protests from North Africa to the strategic, oil-rich Persian Gulf, President Obama has adopted a policy of restraint. He has concluded that his administration must shape its response country by country, aides say, recognizing a stark reality that American national security interests weigh as heavily as idealistic impulses. That explains why Mr. Obama has dialed down the vocal support he gave demonstrators in Cairo to a more modulated call for peaceful protest and respect for universal rights elsewhere.
This emphasis on pragmatism over idealism has left Mr. Obama vulnerable to criticism that he is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the Arab street protesters. Some say he is failing to bind the United States to the historic change under way in the Middle East the way that Ronald Reagan forever cemented himself in history books to the end of the cold war with his famous call to tear down the Berlin Wall.
“It’s tempting, and it would be easy, to go out day after day with cathartic statements that make us feel good,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, who wrote Mr. Obama’s soaring speech in Cairo to the Islamic world in 2009. “But ultimately, what’s most important is achieving outcomes that are consistent with our values, because if we don’t, those statements will be long forgotten.”
On Thursday, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, deflected calls for more aggressive action in Libya, telling reporters what American officials have been saying privately for days: despite pleas from Libyan rebels for military assistance, the United States will not, at least for now, put its pilots in harm’s way by enforcing a no-flight zone over the country.
Not only is intervention risky, officials said, but they also fear that in some cases, it could be counterproductive, provoking a backlash against the United States for meddling in what is a homegrown political movement.
A senior administration official acknowledged the irony of Mr. Obama’s dilemma; he is, after all, the first black president, whose election was hailed on the Arab street, where many protesters identify their own struggles with the civil rights movement.
“There is a desire for Obama — not the American president, but Obama — to speak to their aspirations,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. But, he added, “his first job is to be the American president.”
So Mr. Obama has thrown his weight behind attempts by the royal family of Bahrain, the home of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, to survive, although protesters say their demands have not been met. He has said little about political grievances in Saudi Arabia, a major oil supplier, where there were reports on Thursday of a violent dispersal of Shiite protesters. And he has limited White House critiques of Yemen, where the government is helping the United States root out a terrorist threat, even after that government opened fire on demonstrators.
The more cautious approach contrasts sharply with Mr. Obama’s response in North Africa, where he abandoned a 30-year alliance with Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and has demanded the resignation of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya. But Mr. Obama is balancing his idealistic instincts against his reluctance to use military action in Libya, where the United States does not have a vital strategic interest. Mr. Donilon noted that the administration needed to keep its focus on the broader region, where allies like Egypt loom large.
The time is coming, administration officials said, for Mr. Obama to make another major speech taking stock of the upheaval. But its central message is not yet set, and there is likely to be lively debate about questions like whether the president should admit American complicity in propping up undemocratic governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
“I don’t honestly think it would change much,” said a second senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “It isn’t going to change the perception of the United States one way or the other. What will continue to affect the perception of the United States is what we do now.”
The White House will send Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Egypt and Tunisia next week, where officials said she would congratulate the protesters for sweeping out their leaders peacefully and offer aid to revive the nations’ economies. She had planned to stop in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, but canceled, officials said, because King Abdullah is too ill to meet her.
This underscores one of the difficulties the United States faces in dealing with Saudi Arabia, a crucial ally that is run by an aging, infirm ruling family that has refused to open the political system. Instead, the king tried to mollify his people by doling out $36 billion worth of pay raises, unemployment checks and housing subsidies.
Bahrain poses a different problem. There, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has pledged to enter a dialogue with the protestors, after having unleashed its security forces on them. Officials said Mr. Obama persuaded King Hamad to pull back his forces, which they said won the United States goodwill from the mostly Shiite demonstrators. But the talks have failed to get off the ground, and now some Shiites feel the Americans have sided against them.
“There is a sense among many Bahraini reformers that the U.S. is a bit too eager to praise progress toward dialogue and reform that has not yet happened, and that the premature praise is easing pressure on the government,” said Tom Malinowski, the head of the Washington office of Human Rights Watch.
“Striking a very balanced, and in many ways, neutral approach is recognized by many people in the region as not being with them, or on their side,” said J. Scott Mastic, the head of Middle East and North Africa for the International Republican Institute. “It’s very important that we be seen as supporting the demands of the people in the region.”
How Mr. Obama manages to do that while also balancing American interests is a question that officials acknowledge will plague this historic president for months to come. Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.”
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Yeah - now the NYT, which was never asked by the WH to retract the story, is under question. Ha ha ha ha.
these are not my words but it's more of what I said about your so called quote in a prior post:
Every one of these criticisms takes a paraphrased, one-sentence attribution out of context and blows it out of proportion. The quote is included in the context of discussing the scrutiny Obama faces while trying to balance the demands of citizens in the Middle East with the United States' own interests. It precedes an official noting that "[n]o one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao's words in Tahrir Square."
The point is that foreign nationals are not scrutinizing the actions of other nations as they are those the United States. That's it. It is not a sign that Obama wishes he were a dictator, that he resents having to negotiate with Congress, or that Obama wants to "slaughter those disruptive Gadsden flag-waving tea partiers."
here is what an actual quote looks like but in lieu of video you can actually show me a quote from Obama and that would be fine too
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Ha ha ha ha ha - yeah, like it makes a difference?
Bottom line - Obama is on the defense and is not up to the job. Everyone knows it. if the feeling in the WH is of what was quoted - its clear as day they cnsider themselves unable to deal with events.
Its more failsville from his idiotic WH.
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Ha ha ha ha ha - yeah, like it makes a difference?
Bottom line - Obama is on the defense and is not up to the job. Everyone knows it. if the feeling in the WH is of what was quoted - its clear as day they cnsider themselves unable to deal with events.
Its more failsville from his idiotic WH.
yeah - who cares if you have no actual quote from Obama
let's just pretend you did
what's the difference
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yeah - who cares if you have no actual quote from Obama
let's just pretend you did
what's the difference
Its quotes from his admn as to the feeling in the WH that is obvious as well in its behavior.
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Its quotes from his admn as to the feeling in the WH that is obvious as well in its behavior.
who said it ?
even better - what was the context (not that context has ever mattered to you)
get me a quote from Obama or stop lying and saying you have a quote from Obama
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who said it ?
even better - what was the context (not that context has ever mattered to you)
get me a quote from Obama or stop lying and saying you have a quote from Obama
I posted exactly where it came from. Send an email to NYT reporter and ask him.
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I posted exactly where it came from. Send an email to NYT reporter and ask him.
yep - an unnamed person who was not Obama
great "quote"