OBAMA Speech in Cairo was a 10+ AMAZING !!!

[harpo]

And BBW how you must miss the great Bush!
Nancy

You're mistaken Nancy, BBW would like to huff and puff and blow the bourgeoise repressors of the masses' house down. Yes, he's an old-fashioned Stalinist/Maoist/Trotskiite/Leninist/Anarchist, or some-such, who has conveniently forgotten just how repugnant 'communist' regimes actually were.

Given his clear and unremitting cynicism towards any sign of hope or goodwill in the present world, I'm not sure how he thinks people's better nature would suddenly blossom under a socialist utopia.

 

[Recoleta Carolina]

I loathe Bush. I bitterly resent the argument that anything in the place of a great evil is a great improvement. Another puerile folly of American liberals. No wonder nothing ever changes in the US of A. Worthless Republicans and worthless Democrats (who merely sound as if they're a minute improvement on the Republicans). Hope and change -- what a load of hogwash.

And, let´s not forget that at the end of the day they are all in bed together. I don´t see any difference between the two parties.

 

[HDM]

harryp ... you're joking, right? How odd that you would offer a fine description of the Bush-Chaney regime but stick Obama's name on it. Funny.

 

[Moxon]

I'm a little confused. I thought Republican voters were supposed to be the ones who were ignorant and jingoistic.

 

[HDM]

No reason for confusion, Moxon. Your information about Republican voters is correct.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I'm a little confused. I thought Republican voters were supposed to be the ones who were ignorant and jingoistic.

Well we tried, Moxon. But in the face of such intransigent obduracy even we must give up and retire from the fray.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Here is a piece that gives grounds for very limited hope. I hope the analysis is correct and Obama puts unremitting pressure on the Israelis (which I doubt he will).

 

[bigbadwolf]

More on the divergence between rhetoric and reality in the Obama administration:

[SIZE=-1]

Obama administration appears increasingly devoted to covering up the worst crimes of the Bush era. CIA chief Leon Panetta formally objected to federal judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was considering releasing detailed information on 92 videotaped CIA torture sessions of detainees.

[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]The torture scandal sheds far more light onto the soul of American politics than the rhetoric of any politician. In a speech six weeks ago at CIA headquarters, Obama declared: “What makes the United States special, and what makes you special, is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and ideals even when it’s hard.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]This is the same “invoke American values” defense that President George W. Bush used in 2004 and 2005 after the torture scandal first erupted. It is deluging people with national flattery as a substitute for ceasing national disgraces. But hot air is no substitute for hard facts.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]Though I doubt this will have the slightest impact whatsoever on die-hard Obama fans here.[/SIZE]

 

[bigbadwolf]

Interesting essay from William Blum:

The praise heaped on President Obama for his speech to the Muslim world by writers on the left, both here and abroad, is disturbing. I’m referring to people who I think should know better, who’ve taken Politics 101 and can easily see the many hypocrisies in Obama’s talk, as well as the distortions, omissions, and contradictions, the true but irrelevant observations, the lies, the optimistic words without any matching action, the insensitivities to victims. Yet, these commentators are impressed, in many cases very impressed. In the world at large, this frame of mind borders on a cult.

In such cases one must look beyond the intellect and examine the emotional appeal. We all know the world is in big trouble — Three Great Problems: universal, incessant violence; financial crisis provoking economic suffering; environmental degradation. In all three areas the United States bears more culpability than any other single country. Who better to satisfy humankind’s craving for relief than a new American president who, it appears, understands the problems; admits, to one degree or another, his country’s responsibility for them; and “eloquently” expresses his desire and determination to change US policies and embolden the rest of the world to follow his inspiring example. Is it any wonder that it’s 1964, the Beatles have just arrived in New York, and everyone is a teenage girl?

I could go through the talk Obama gave in Cairo and point out line by line the hypocrisies, the mere platitudes, the plain nonsense, and the rest. (”I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States.” — No mention of it being outsourced, probably to the very country he was speaking in, amongst others. . . . “No single nation should pick and choose which nation holds nuclear weapons.” — But this is precisely what the United States is trying to do concerning Iran and North Korea.) But since others have been pointing out these lies very well I’d like to try something else in dealing with the problem — the problem of well-educated people, as well as the not so well-educated, being so moved by a career politician saying “all the right things” to give food for hope to billions starving for it, and swallowing it all as if they had been born yesterday.

 

[HDM]

I wouldn't use the snide phrase with regards to myself as a die hard Obama fan. Here is the difference between the "sides" here. I am willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt and more than a few months to cut through the political muck in hopes of seeing his ideas come to fruition. You are not. Like Rush L., you are more interested in dredging up esoteric opinion pieces that support the view you already hold, and express your flagrant desire that he will fail in his efforts, then cut and paste them here. That is the only difference expressed in this thread.