SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: stockman_scott who wrote (78771)6/24/2010 3:02:17 PM
From: manalagi  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 149317
 
Would not be surprised if Obama is criticized for wasting taxpayers money spent for a motorcade to Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Virginia where he had a cheeseburger lunch with Dmitry Medvedev. Yeah, you know how much it costs his entourage to go there? Yeah, why is he wasting his time when the oil spill in the G of M has not stopped? Yeah, why does not he address the unemployment, yet has so much time to go to a hamburger joint?

Yeah, Obama treats the President of Russia to a cheeseburger place and he gave the Queen of England an iPod? Yeah, does not that give a cheap impression to the world? Yeah , ... and the beat goes on, and the people keep brewing tea.



To: stockman_scott who wrote (78771)6/24/2010 3:10:59 PM
From: tejek  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 149317
 
The vast majority of liberals want an end to all these elective wars...Obama's base does not want a long occupation of Afghanistan-- it's time to do more nation building at home

He's given the generals until 7/2011 to get Afghanistan under control and to accomplish what we set out to do......which is stabilize the region. You don't have enough flexibility in your ideology to give him the benefit of the doubt? After all, this isn't the idiot Bush...its Obama.

We're spending well over $100 Billion on war games in Afghanistan this year -- and wouldn't it be nice to spend that money on clean energy technology and the new national Grid that will be required to transmit these new forms of power...??

Yes, it would be nice but it there is anything this country learned from Vietnam, you don't walk away cold turkey.

Life's a series of compromises and our country has not made the required investments to move aggressively towards a clean energy economy...

I have yet to see liberal ideologues compromise......they started complaining within three months after Obama took office and little makes them happy. Its enough already. They are almost as bad as the wingers.

the wars are stretching our military to the limit and are very unproductive forms of spending tax dollars. But it sure is boom times for the Military Industrial Complex...;-)

The wars are no longer stretching our military because Iraq has been winding down.



To: stockman_scott who wrote (78771)6/24/2010 3:23:10 PM
From: tejek  Respond to of 149317
 
He is the best president in two generations.......liberal ideologues don't seen to get that......I wish they would.

PASSING A SILLY MEDIA TEST....

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I've become so accustomed to the inane chatter of talking heads that, while watching President Obama in the Rose Garden yesterday, it actually occurred to me to think, "What will the pundits complain about this time?"

After all, the recent chatter has been disparaging. The president held a White House conference, which was panned for reasons related to "emoting." Obama delivered an Oval Office address, which was panned for, in Chris Matthews' words, lacking a "sense" of "executive command."

What kind of complaining would we hear in response to yesterday's remarks about a change in military command in Afghanistan? Apparently, there isn't much -- the president seems to have satisfied the media's expectations. Here's Dana Milbank, for example, who often captures (shapes?) the media establishment's conventional wisdom.

It was 95 degrees in the Rose Garden. Reporters dripped with sweat. Vice President Biden's brow glistened. Defense Secretary Robert Gates's face was pink and Gen. David Petraeus's was red.

But the sight before them was rare enough to be worth the suffering: The commander in chief was being commanding.

Without benefit of his favorite transitional object -- the teleprompter malfunctioned at the start of his remarks -- Obama stood, preternaturally cool and dry, on the steps leading to the Oval Office and delivered some of the most forceful words of his presidency. [...]

For those craving strong presidential leadership, it was reassuring to hear unequivocal words such as "certainty" and "won't tolerate" on Obama's lips -- and even more reassuring that he was acting on those sentiments. The president, too often passive in the face of challenges to his authority, correctly recognized that McChrystal's insults to him and his advisers threatened to weaken his administration. For 36 hours, he flirted with a Carter-esque response -- expressing anger in words but not deeds -- before finally taking decisive action.


Slate's John Dickerson said the McChrystal affair was "a test -- more of a pop quiz, really -- of Obama's leadership skills" and the president "aced it." Obama, Dickerson added, "was resolute and commanding." [Update: To clarify, the Dickerson piece dealt only briefly with style-related issues, and was almost entirely about the substance of the Rose Garden remarks and the larger McChrystal decision.]

Time's Michael Crowley added, "The change of generals was the firm action of a hands-on executive. And a self-confident one, too."

Even Josh Marshall, who'd said earlier in the day that he was surprised Obama "had it in him," wrote last night, "When I woke up this morning I still couldn't quite see how President Obama could not fire McChrystal. But I also couldn't quite imagine him doing it. But he did. Showed me a different side of him. And what I really couldn't have imagined was that he found a way not just to acquit himself honorably and protect the office but actually enhance his prestige and standing."

The president doesn't seem to care much about media reactions when weighing major decisions, but I suspect many in the West Wing, who've no doubt grown tired of un-passable media tests, will be pleased that observers are finally satisfied with a presidential appearance, at least for now.

Postscript: The NYT has a fascinating tick-tock, by the way, on what led to McChrystal being relieved of command.