Obama's Motives Worry Me, Not His Actions

[straydog]

Bill:
I would encourage people to consider how President Obama's physical absence from Washington, D.C. impacts the nuclear crisis in Japan. If immedicate presidential authorization for an action is called for, it would take place over a phone line. Does it truly matter where on the planet that President Obama is when he takes that phone call? There is no issue currently facing our country that requires President Obama's physical presence in one particular place.

SD:
Before the information age, during a time of crisis, presidents were expected to stay at the helm and show leadership and support. Even if we had the same lightning fast communications, lets say during the Yom Kippur war; could you imagine Nixon saying this?

"Don't bother coming over Golda, just give me a buzz after I arrive in Rio."

Even if Obama can handle the situation over the phone, he is still making himself look bad. But, that is his choice, and who am I to try and talk him out of it?

[privateinvestor]

If this is what some want in their President then they are welcome to him..

But ask your self one basic question when the country cries out for leadership during a domestic and foreign crisis from our President where has it been??

I learned in the military that leadership equates to basically one who extolls stewardship, guidance, direction, and authority as his or her attributes. If you see those attributes in Barrack Obama then you might just be wearing rose colored glasses or contact lenses..IMHO

[billisonboard]

But US weakness on Libya ...is having a crippling effect on America’s ability to project global power. Barack Obama could well go down in history as the president who dithered while Rome burned,

The United States has done well dealing with the situation in Libya. Libya is not "Rome." This situation will at most be a small paragraph in the written history of the world.

The budget process is playing out well also. There are major problems and President Obama is doing the right thing in not being pulled into the middle of Congress' battle. The shape of the future of this country is very much at stake. We are setting up for 2012 quite nicely indeed.

[billisonboard]

Mar 19, 2011 3:25:45 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

In their hour of need, the Libyan people have looked to the most powerful figure in the world to back their cause in the face of a brutal tyrant, ...

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100078538/why-did-it-take-obama-two-weeks-to-publicly-call-for-gaddafi-to-go-the-us-president-arrives-late-at-the-table-on-libya/

I would encourage them to stop looking for a hero to rescue them and take control of their own destiny.

[privateinvestor]

Significantly, this was the president’s first public statement calling on Gaddafi to step down since the crisis first broke in mid-February, and his reticence to speak out on Libya has been striking. It took more than a week for the president to give a White House press conference on the Libyan issue, on February 23, after more than a thousand people had been killed, and even then he did not name Gaddafi when condemning the violence.

On February 26, he expressed the view that Gaddafi had “lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now”, but this was made in a private phone call to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and was not a direct appeal to the Libyan ruler.

In contrast, other world leaders have been far more swift and robust in their public statements, and were not afraid to directly challenge the Libyan leader. French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a news conference in Ankara on February 25 that “Mr. Gaddafi must leave.” On February 27, British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking in Downing Street, urged Gaddafi to “go now”, . On the same day, in Berlin, Angela Merkel called Gaddafi a “despot” and declared “it is high time for him to go”.

Why is it that Barack Obama is frequently the last major international leader to personally intervene on a major world issue? He displayed the same lack of leadership on Iran, where he spectacularly failed to back the protestors on the streets of Tehran who were being brutally suppressed by the Islamist regime in 2009. The White House will argue that in the case of Libya the president left the talking to his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has also been underwhelming. But there can be no substitute for the leadership of the president himself on the world stage.

[privateinvestor]

Significantly, this was the president’s first public statement calling on Gaddafi to step down since the crisis first broke in mid-February, and his reticence to speak out on Libya has been striking. It took more than a week for the president to give a White House press conference on the Libyan issue, on February 23, after more than a thousand people had been killed, and even then he did not name Gaddafi when condemning the violence.


On February 26, he expressed the view that Gaddafi had “lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now”, but this was made in a private phone call to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and was not a direct appeal to the Libyan ruler.

In contrast, other world leaders have been far more swift and robust in their public statements, and were not afraid to directly challenge the Libyan leader. French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a news conference in Ankara on February 25 that “Mr. Gaddafi must leave.” On February 27, British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking in Downing Street, urged Gaddafi to “go now”, . On the same day, in Berlin, Angela Merkel called Gaddafi a “despot” and declared “it is high time for him to go”.

Why is it that Barack Obama is frequently the last major international leader to personally intervene on a major world issue? He displayed the same lack of leadership on Iran, where he spectacularly failed to back the protestors on the streets of Tehran who were being brutally suppressed by the Islamist regime in 2009. The White House will argue that in the case of Libya the president left the talking to his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has also been underwhelming. But there can be no substitute for the leadership of the president himself on the world stage.


blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100078538/why-did-it-take-obama-two-weeks-to-publicly-call-for-gaddafi-to-go-the-us-president-arrives-late-at-the-table-on-libya/

[privateinvestor]

The White House will argue that in the case of Libya the president left the talking to his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has also been underwhelming. But there can be no substitute for the leadership of the president himself on the world stage.


We would call this in Ole Beantown a gutless wonder who hides behind a lady's skirt tails...and only will do what she beckons him to do..

[billisonboard]

But ask your self one basic question when the country cries out for leadership during a domestic and foreign crisis from our President where has it been??

I don't hear a people crying out for leadership. I see many individuals taking to the streets to provide leadership for this nation. I see many people standing up to "leaders" telling them this is where they wish to head as a nation.

[privateinvestor]

Does Hillary Clinton believe in American leadership? Washington outsources US policy on Libya to the UN

As I’ve noted before, the Obama administration has barely shown any leadership on the Libya issue, and Hillary Clinton’s statement is the latest confirmation of that. This is of course nothing new from this administration. We’ve seen it time after time on the world stage, from Iran to Egypt. Most disturbing of all is the refusal of the US government to do anything without the consent of the United Nations. This fits in with a broader strategy by the Obama White House and State Department to defer to supranational institutions that usurp national sovereignty and clip the wings of nation states.

Frankly, the likelihood of the UN agreeing to do anything truly effective to halt Colonel Gaddafi’s reign of terror is zero. After all, the Russians and Chinese are firmly opposed to sanctioning any kind of intervention in Libya, and the Libyan dictatorship is still part and parcel of the UN system, holding positions on the Executive Board of UN Women, the Commission on Information, and the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. (hat tip: Anne Bayesfky)



blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100079512/does-hillary-clinton-believe-in-american-leadership-washington-outsources-us-policy-on-libya-to-the-un/

[billisonboard]

Clinton made the following declaration, according to Reuters:

“We are working to create an international consensus because we think that is absolutely critical to anything that anybody, especially us, does,” Clinton said, saying there was considerable ambivalence over what should be done.

“Absent international authorization, the United States acting alone would be stepping into a situation whose consequences are unforeseeable,” Clinton said.

Clinton said the United States was focusing on humanitarian relief and building links to Libya’s opposition groups, adding that the State Department had stopped working with Libya’s embassy in Washington, whose ambassador was among the senior diplomats who renounced leader Muammar Gaddafi.

“We are suspending our relationships with the existing Libyan Embassy, so we expect them to end operations as the embassy of Libya,” she said. (from the link in the OP)

I fully agree with the Secretary.

[privateinvestor]

Why is Obama going to Brazil ?? Could it be because Brazil is a country which greets visitors with a huge smile
The mixture of races has made Brazil a culturally rich and at the same time unique country. This miscegenation began with the Indian, the African and the Portuguese, but soon after, immigrants from around the world began to arrive: Europeans, Asians, Jews and Arabs. The result is a happy people, open to everything new, a people one can only find in Brazil.

[privateinvestor]

Obama admits his budget plan won't solve fiscal problems





www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_17397872?source=pkg

[ugonow]

If he jumped in with both feet and no international support, having the US be the lone ranger,he would have been criticized,and if he waited for international support and deliberated on it,he would have been criticized. I would not want that job.

[privateinvestor]

Mar 19, 2011 10:54:24 GMT -5 ugonow said:

If he jumped in with both feet and no international support, having the US be the lone ranger,he would have been criticized,and if he waited for international support and deliberated on it,he would have been criticized. I would not want that job.

I don't think Obama does either...He is too busy listening to this music on AF #1..



Tall & lovelyThe girl from ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes - ah
When she walks, she’s like a sambaThat swings so cool and sways so gentle
That when she passes, each one she passes goes - ooh(ooh) but I watch her so sadly
How can I tell her I love herYes I would give my heart gladlyBut each day,
when she walks to the seaShe looks straight ahead, not at meTall, (and) tan, (and) young,
(and) lovelyThe girl from ipanema goes walkingAnd when she passes,
I smile - but she doesn’t see (doesn’t see)(she just doesn’t see, she never sees me,...)

[ugonow]

The pay stinks,but the benefits are good........

[privateinvestor]

Even if Obama can handle the situation over the phone, he is still making himself look bad. But, that is his choice, and who am I to try and talk him out of it?


SD you are NOT alone in that regard... But I am willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt and will be watching to see how he performs and what he has to say in Latin America.

Who knows he may just pull it off but I for one remain very skeptical and have serious doubts about this president and his leadership....must be a Marine Thing....I guess because all my old comrades in arms are saying the same thing in our chat room and emails and I have reposted some of their thoughts as well

[chiver78]

Mar 19, 2011 10:32:27 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

The White House will argue that in the case of Libya the president left the talking to his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has also been underwhelming. But there can be no substitute for the leadership of the president himself on the world stage.


We would call this in Ole Beantown a gutless wonder who hides behind a lady's skirt tails...and only will do what she beckons him to do..

we in Boston don't actually call it "Beantown"

[privateinvestor]

Mar 19, 2011 11:39:54 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Mar 19, 2011 10:32:27 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

The White House will argue that in the case of Libya the president left the talking to his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has also been underwhelming. But there can be no substitute for the leadership of the president himself on the world stage.


We would call this in Ole Beantown a gutless wonder who hides behind a lady's skirt tails...and only will do what she beckons him to do..

we in Boston don't actually call it "Beantown"

We transplanted Bostonians do out of repect for the Boston Baked Beans, Franks, and Brown Bread that was a ritual meal on Saturday nights in the Irish districts in Southie, Dorchester and West Roxbury MA But probably NOT in Easta Boston or Blue Hill Ave ..

[chiver78]

Mar 19, 2011 11:44:03 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Mar 19, 2011 11:39:54 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

we in Boston don't actually call it "Beantown"

We transplanted Bostonians do out of repect for the Boston Baked Beans, Franks, and Brown Bread that was a ritual meal on Saturday nights in the Irish districts in Southie, Dorchester and West Roxbury MA But probably NOT in Easta Boston or Blue Hill Ave ..

I'm well aware of my city's rich Irish history, thanks. parts of my family helped contribute to it. the word isn't used by natives, just tourists and short-timers.

[privateinvestor]

OK I will now refrain from using that colloquial term and refer to the Hub City as Boston..

[Shirina]

We would call this in Ole Beantown a gutless wonder who hides behind a lady's skirt tails...and only will do what she beckons him to do..

I find a strange dichotomy in conservative attitudes toward our government. When it comes to domestic issues, our government is evil, corrupt, tyrannical, and deceptive to the point where guns are needed to protect ourselves from it. Government should stay the hell out of our lives.

But it sure shouldn't stay out of Libyan lives. When it comes to foreign affairs, our government should have a hand in everything. It's almost as if some conservatives would rather our government rule everyone BUT Americans.

[privateinvestor]

Mar 19, 2011 13:29:37 GMT -5 Shirina said:

We would call this in Ole Beantown a gutless wonder who hides behind a lady's skirt tails...and only will do what she beckons him to do..

I find a strange dichotomy in conservative attitudes toward our government. When it comes to domestic issues, our government is evil, corrupt, tyrannical, and deceptive to the point where guns are needed to protect ourselves from it. Government should stay the hell out of our lives.

But it sure shouldn't stay out of Libyan lives. When it comes to foreign affairs, our government should have a hand in everything. It's almost as if some conservatives would rather our government rule everyone BUT Americans.

Ms Shirina are you aware of the Summit Meeting in Paris France today with all of the NATO leaders to discuss the war in Libya?? And Hillary Clinton is representing the USA and NOT President Obama?? Could it be that the President of France and Prime Minister of England decided that Hillary would do better at this meeting than Mr Obama...or maybe they didn't want him..??

[Shirina]

And Hillary Clinton is representing the USA and NOT President Obama??

This might have something to do with Mrs. Clinton being the Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President's chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President's foreign policies through the State Department and the Foreign Service of the United States.

[privateinvestor]

This might have something to do with Mrs. Clinton being the Secretary of State.



But all the other NATO countries at the Libyan Summit in Paris today are represented by their Presidents or Prime Ministers....so everyone was wondering..."Where's Obama"....

And the reply was "Flying Down to Rio" or making our country seem like a bad joke. And many in the Washington DC Press Corps are not laughing but very embarassed as you can well imagine..

Obama looked bad but probably could care less and Hillary is a better choice for the meeting according to most..

The White House issued a statement and said Obama had a prior committment and would not be attending the Libyan Summit Meeting in Paris but would be getting updates on his Air Force #1 flight to Brazil ....

[Tennesseer]

Mar 19, 2011 15:20:45 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

Mar 19, 2011 13:29:37 GMT -5 Shirina said:

I find a strange dichotomy in conservative attitudes toward our government. When it comes to domestic issues, our government is evil, corrupt, tyrannical, and deceptive to the point where guns are needed to protect ourselves from it. Government should stay the hell out of our lives.

But it sure shouldn't stay out of Libyan lives. When it comes to foreign affairs, our government should have a hand in everything. It's almost as if some conservatives would rather our government rule everyone BUT Americans.

Isnt' that funny? Because you libs don't want anyone to tell you that aborting your 9 month old child is murder and that you can't marry 3 chickens and a mule? But, then you want to turn around and tax people all over the globe for CO2 and the very air they breathe.

I guess you need to look in the mirror.

So three month after the child pops out of mom it's its first birthday?

Someone better rewrite the medical books and alert Hallmark.

[Tennesseer]

All on conception to birth. Your understanding must be moment of conception is actual birth if the baby is nine months leaving the womb.

[privateinvestor]

Ms Snerdley Snicklefritz......


Aber Sie verstehen???

[ed1066]

So three month after the child pops out of mom it's its first birthday?

A lot of Asian cultures regard birth as the child's first year. They are considered one year old at birth. You need to get out more...

East Asian age reckoning is a concept and practice that originated in China and is used in East Asian cultures. Chinese culture, Taiwanese culture, Japanese culture, Korean culture, Vietnamese culture, and others share this traditional way of counting a person's age. Newborns start at one year old, and each passing of a Lunar New Year, rather than the birthday, adds one year to the person's age. In other words, the first year of life is counted as one instead of zero, so that a person is two years old in their second year, three years old in their third, and so on.[1][2] Since age is incremented on the new year rather than on a birthday, people may be 1 or 2 years older in Asian reckoning than in the Western system

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_age_reckoning

[ed1066]

Mar 19, 2011 15:57:46 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

Mar 19, 2011 15:55:25 GMT -5 @ed1066 said:

A lot of Asian cultures regard birth as the child's first year. They are considered one year old at birth. You need to get out more...



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_age_reckoning

Boo ya! Karma baby!

One more for you, too!

[Deleted]

Who wants to marry a chicken and abort at 9 months?