July 25, 2008
Obama-as-President
Mike Littwin, a liberal columnist for the Rocky Mountain News had this Obama cheerleading piece in today's Rocky. Forget the column, which is mostly fawning pap. The nut graf says it all:
If the idea of this trip was to let Americans see Obama as a would-be president, it was a grand success.
And, judging by Obama's performance, his presidential proclivities can be summed in a single word: feckless. Obama took strong stands for everything over which he will do nothing: Darfur, Zimbabwe, AIDs in Africa and the unification of Jerusalem. (Does anyone think that he will really send troops to any of these places?) On issues that he must tackle, such as winning in Iraq, he turns tail and runs like hell. While simultaneously admitting that the Iraqi surge worked and maintaining that it was a mistake, he calls for a similar surge in Afghanistan. Guys like Littwin lap it up - what a country!
The press also makes much of Maliki's "endorsement" of Obama and his 16 month plan. Assuming we can take this at face value, one must ask oneself why Maliki would prefer Obama in the White House. Could it be that he would rather negotiate with a relatively weak president than a relatively tough one?
2008 Race Posted by Boulder Refugee at July 25, 2008 2:00 PM
In fact, Maliki never endorsed Obama. Not at all. But the liberal MSM here would have you believe so.
Actually, what Maliki did is *agree* to a general timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. This withdrawal is possible only because of the, dum dum dum, MCCAIN "SURGE" STRATEGY! When Obama and other nutroots opposed the refocusing of U.S. fighting tactics, it was going so poorly in Iraq that any withdrawal would have been in the face of defeat.
By the Obamorons' logic, Satan endorses my pre-school teacher because they both agree that 2+2=4.
Goddamn liberals.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at July 25, 2008 2:53 PMOh, I should also add, some Iraqi government spokesman said Maliki's remarks were mistranslated and misconstrued, and that they should in no way be taken as supporting any candidate. Consider also that the "source" of Maliki's supposed endorsement is Der Spiegel, which is Germany's equivalent of the New York Times.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at July 25, 2008 2:55 PMJust like any good lobbyist, Maliki is playing both sides. IF Obama wins, Maliki looks like the whole thing was his idea. IF McCain wins, same song.
Posted by: Terri at July 25, 2008 3:22 PMMaliki is just singing to Obama right now.
Plus he has his own election to deal with and needs to look "strong" and not "needy".
BR, you're new around here and I don't expect that you have committed the ThreeSources Style Guide to memory. But I will call your attention to page 316:
Otherwise, superb!
Posted by: jk at July 25, 2008 5:56 PM
I don't recall Obama ever "admitting that the Iraqi surge worked." Instead he says, "Katie, as you've asked me three different times, and I have said repeatedly that there is no doubt that our troops helped to reduce violence. There's no doubt." There's a world of nuance between "helped to reduce violence" and "accomplished their mission."
And what exactly is this "16 month plan" of his? He can't say:
"As I've said before, I am not interested in a false choice between either perfect inflexibility in which the next 16 months or the next two years I ignore anything that's happening in Iraq. Or, alternatively, that I just have an open-ended, indefinite occupation of Iraq in which we're not putting any pressure on the Iraqis to stand up and … take this burden on. What I'm gonna do is to set a vision of where we need to go, a clear and specific timeframe within which we're gonna pull our combat forces out."
So what he said is, I'm gonna set a clear and specific timeframe within which we're gonna pull our combat forces out but it won't be something that's as inflexible as "within the next 16-24 months." Other than that though, it will be a clear and specific timeframe - at least, in his "vision."
Posted by: johngalt at July 26, 2008 4:03 PMIt's also worth noting that his 16 month mantra started 20 months ago.
Posted by: Boulder Refugee at July 28, 2008 2:48 PM | What do you think? [6]