Posts Tagged ‘obama’

He ain’t much but he’s the only president we’ve got

Posted: October 4, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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VDH latest (not quoted by LGF) points out some flaws in the current president in terms of foreign policy.

Here is the problem for our President: the Iranian negotiation is an IED that will blow up in our faces. The theocrats want, need a bomb for a variety of reasons (why would a country that burns natural gas off at the oil well head need “peaceful” nuclear power?). Bombs have been a win/win situation for both Pakistan and North Korea. If Iran wins, we are off to the races—Saudi Arabia next, Egypt? Syria? Venezuela?

I hope the President is up to encouraging madcap drilling in the Alaska, Gulf, California, and the Dakotas to get these new finds into production, since if or when the Israelis strike, all hell is going to let loose in the Gulf. Cannot someone tell Obama that the moral, the peaceful, the only realistic thing now is to get tough with Iran through ostracism, sanctions, boycotts, even, heaven forbid, a blockade if need be, to prevent the far more terrible scenarios that lie ahead?

The problem here is a person is who he is: President Obama is an inexperienced Machine Pol who parlayed personal charisma, a weak republican opponent (at least at the top of the ticket) a fawning media, a country desperate to put race behind them, and an overconfident Hillary Clinton into the presidency.

No matter how much I might not like this situation he IS our president duly elected. He has not committed any impeachable offense and I doubt he is likely to. He is the man in Charge until at least Jan of 2013 and that’s that.

It is only the 10th of 48 months just over a fifth of his terms so things can turn around, and this president has some intrinsic advantages.

1. His relative youth:

As a 40 something guy I think he is less likely to be set in his ways. It is very possible that he can learn from his current mistakes and make smarter moves.

2. An Experienced VP:

We laugh a bit at Joe Biden gaffes but he has decades of experience (He really should have been on the top of the ticket) and is a lot smarter than he carries himself. He can give some advice if this president is willing to listen.

3. His own ego:

Nobody likes to lose. I don’t think this president wants to be the fellow who lost Afghanistan and Iran. This more than anything else has the potential to push him in the right direction, particularly since he has a long life ahead of him and he is does fail he will be hearing about it for decades.

4. The best military in the world bar none:

In anything resembling a shooting war there is absolutely no military force better than ours, not INCLUDING ISRAEL. Why am I willing to include Israel in that? Because we have tens of thousands of troops with direct combat experience. This is one of the few good side effects of any war. There is no substitute to actual field experience. Combine that with the training and the equipment and nobody can stand against our troops.

5. An experienced security infrastructure:

We tease about threat levels and some moan about the patriot act but the bottom line is that we haven’t been hit in 8+ years and we still break up terror threats successfully. This is quite a record and all those in law enforcement should take a bow.

6. Political reality:

It doesn’t matter if it comes from a change in congress in 2010 or a shift by the sitting congress due to self interest. The desire to protect one’s seat is a great motivator to get people to do the right thing.

What can we do?

So what do we do, well on the domestic front we continue what he have done, and object to bad policy that will cause long term hurt to the country.

On the foreign policy front we support candidates who look at the world the way it is instead of figuring a coexist bumper sticker is going to make people love us.

And if you are religious pray for the country and for our president. He is still our president and it is in our interest for him to do the right thing. So pray that he gains strength and wisdom.

And remember this to keep the eyes on the prize, what do I mean by that. I mean this:

It is better for us to have a president Obama who keeps Iran from getting nukes, wins the war in Afghanistan, and keeps America from being successfully attacked and thus wins re-election than for him to fail in these tasks and be replaced by a president Palin.

You want a president to advance a goal, if the goals are met it doesn’t matter who is in the white house.

Anyway that’s what I think.

Well I was wrong about the IOC…

Posted: October 2, 2009 by datechguy in Blame Bush, opinion/news
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… I figured that they would give Obama this win to compensate for the non-corporation that they will give him on Iran and Afghanistan:

I guess not.

Not only does he lose but he doesn’t even make it out of the first round.

What does that mean? It means that the perception internationally is there is absolutely NO COST for snubbing this US president.

Let see how the media spin this one. There must be some way to blame George Bush.

I really shouldn’t but I can’t help myself:

the sad thing is I’m directing this at the Obamacult, but the rest of the world is directing it toward us.

Update: Hotair is all out.

Update 2: The greenroom too!

Update 3: Michelle on fire. Rush has a great quote:

Who knew the IOC was racist?

I bet Charles Johnson did!

Update 4: Rio Wins! This proves that the crime issue wasn’t a primary consideration against Chicago. It’s all O’Keefe’s fault, if it wasn’t for him and Hannah Giles and her bikini pics Acorn could have helped stuff the ballot. (yes Rush said it first but he didn’t mention bikini pics!).

Update 5: Some media reactions

La Times:

The decision dashes the hopes of U.S. boosters — President Obama chief among them — who had put their reputations on the line to help win the games for Chicago. The announcement came as the president and first lady headed back to Washington after making a last-minute appeal to the International Olympic Committee as it met in Copenhagen.

UK Daily Mail:

IOC makes history – and humiliates Obama – as Rio de Janeiro is awarded 2016 Olympics

The State:

The IOC decision was a major blow to Mayor Richard M. Daley, who spent three years working, cajoling and insisting that the games would be a boon for his city. The 67-year-old Daley, who has been in office for 20 years, was already grappling with low approval ratings, though it was an open question whether a winning Olympics bid would help or hurt those numbers.

Update 6: The Anchoress talks sense

Did the IOC look at Obama -who treats his nations’ traditional allies rather dismissively, and her enemies with too much deference- and see “weakness”?

I’ll never forget what Osama bin Laden said about the decision to attack the US on her own soil, that he saw the United States, throughout the 1990’s as “the weak horse.”

Beyond all the media madness concerning these Olympic Games, Obama’s losing a bid for Chicago may well be sending another sort of message altogether to the wrong people: America is weak.

If that is the sentiment being projected, then our own media have a hand in creating the impression of weakness. Yes, it’s worrisome.

Riehl has his own suggestion:

Next time, perhaps they should consider relying on advocates who truly are proud of America and like her just the way she’s been. Yes, Sarah Palin does come to mind just now.

Not a Chance, Sarah Palin is much too smart to risk US prestige in this way.

Glenn tweaks the left:

That’s too bad. I was kinda looking forward to seeing President Palin speak at the opening ceremonies. . . .

Update 7: Apparently we are all unpatriotic for laughing at the Obamacult and their God’s ineptness. That is the line of the blogs of the left. Don Surber answers them:

The left confuses standing beside the nation in wartime — something the left by and large failed to do — with hoping an arrogant president and the corrupt City Hall machine that backs him fall flat on their faces on an international stage.

The left is now fully vested in the Cult of Personality, blindly following this twerp wherever he may lead.

The president risked all for a trifle.

But there is a grain of truth in the complaint from the left. But not for the reasons they stated.

“Chicago’s dismal showing today, after Mr Obama’s personal, impassioned last-minute pitch, is a stunning humiliation for this President. It cannot be emphasised enough how this will feed the perception that on the world stage he looks good — but carries no heft,” Tim Reid wrote in the Times of London.

That is what hurts the nation and the world. President Obama pissed away the prestige of the presidency so the boys back home could line their pockets with kickbacks on an Olympian scale. In the sober aftermath, America did lose today. Obama — not the IOC — is to blame.

As I said at the top, we are laughing at the shock of the Obamacult, the rest of the world is laughing at us. As for the left which seems to have decided on their talking points, the last word goes to the blogfather:

Whatever Soros is paying, it’s too much.

If I’m the IOC I give the games to Obama (Chicago)

Posted: October 1, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: , , , ,

One of the most important things in diplomacy when you are going to disappoint a friend is to give them something to hang their hat on.

The international community in my opinion is not going to do a thing about Iran, they are not going to help in Afghanistan and will be favoring China in monitary issues.

The Olympics in the end generally is all about show and face, it will be a net money loser.

No naturally they will give it to the president that will give him a foreign policy victory, he will need one in his hat over the next few years.

Myself I would have done more than just a zip trip and maybe visit an ally or two but it is still legit use of power, but his success will be used to mask other failures.

Update: Or not.

Some memories from Jan 20th on Afghanistan

Posted: September 29, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news, war
Tags: , , , , ,

From a post on Jan 20th:

I remember Glenn Reynolds saying that the best part of the Democrats taking power is they will suddenly be willing to support the war on terror. Lets hope he is right.

I guess this was wrong as we see the cut and run left of the Bush administration suddenly deciding that Afghanistan is no longer the “good war”.

We are seeing posts like this:

No problem! The policy makers will find some way to get them there. Why at all send them to Afghanistan to die, why not recreate some ops. in mid-Manhattan and send them to their grave Mr. McChrystal? Or would that not be considered as dying for honor?

The title of that post was Wanted 40,000 more to die in Afghanistan is itself dishonest, but I don’t expect better.

It’s is just a bunch of Neo-cons:

Ignoring the overwhelming Democratic-voter opposition to the Afghanistan war threatens to cost Barack Obama the support of young people and anti-war voters who helped make him president. It could destroy any possibility of achieving his robust domestic agenda as well. President Obama needs an exit strategy instead of an escalation strategy.

It’s a graveyard I tell you:

From the time of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan to the British, Soviets and now the US and NATO, Afghanistan’s poppy fields, barren plains and rugged mountains are filled with the ghosts and treasuries of would-be conquerors. Sooner or later, America, Canada and NATO will meet the same dismal fate as everyone who went before them.

On Morning Joe they are united in calling it Vietnam.

And of course there is Newsweek:

One of history’s enduring lessons is that Afghans don’t appreciate it when outsiders tell them how to govern their affairs—just ask the British or the Soviets. U.S. success in overthrowing the Taliban seemed to suggest this lesson no longer applied, at least to Americans. That quickly proved an illusion.

I remember when liberal blogs were even insulted by the suggestion that they advocated withdrawal:

Yesterday on The O’Reilly Factor, former administration official Dan Senor told guest host John Kasich that “many leftist centered activists, political activists” — such as MoveOn.org — believe “we would be better off” if the United States withdrew from Afghanistan.

But when pressed by Kasich, Senor couldn’t name any progressives who have advocated pulling out from Afghanistan and admitted that MoveOn.org has called for withdrawal from Iraq, not Afghanistan.

Doesn’t anyone remember what democrats were saying just one year ago?

Al Qaeda in Afghanistan:

Obama on Afghanistan

During the Debates:

Ya think we (as in the country) might have bought a candidate and a party that might not have meant what they said?

We always get the government we deserve

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