Dowd on Obama's European handshake

[Galen Sevinne]

How encouraging was it to see Obama in Europe so far? From his reception to his eloquence and leadership, I forgot what it is like to not have to cringe everytime an American President has the ear of a foriegn nation. Maureen Dowd writes it well in her Times op-ed:

"Gabriel Byrne’s brooding psychoanalyst on “In Treatment” might envy Barack Obama’s calming psychoanalysis in Europe. He may not have come away with all he wanted substantively. His hand was too weak going in, and there was too much hostility toward America, thanks to W.’s blunders and Cheney’s bullying. But he showed a psychological finesse that has been missing from American leadership for a long time."

He won points with a prickly Sarkozy when he intervened in an argument about tax havens between the French and Chinese leaders, pulling them into a corner to help them “get this all in some kind of perspective” and find a middle ground. Mr. Obama also played to the ego of the Napoleonic French leader, saying at their press conference, “He’s courageous on so many fronts, it’s hard to keep up.”

"Like a good shrink, the president listens; it’s a way of flattering his subjects and sussing them out without having to fathom what’s in their soul. “It is easy to talk to him,” Dmitri Medvedev said after their meeting. “He can listen.” The Russian president called the American one “my new comrade.”

It was so different from the past 8 years;

W. always bragged about his instincts, saying he knew whom to trust based on his gut.

How could it never occur to them that Saddam Hussein might simply be bluffing about the size of his W.M.D. arsenal to keep the Iranians and other antagonists at bay?

The Bush chuckleheads misread the world and insisted that everyone else go along with their deluded perception, and they bullied the world and got huffy if the world didn’t quickly fall in line.

Change you can count on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/op...dowd.html?_r=1

[Rochardrik]

How encouraging was it to see Obama in Europe so far? From his reception to his eloquence and leadership, I forgot what it is like to not have to cringe everytime an American President has the ear of a foriegn nation. Maureen Dowd writes it well in her Times op-ed:

"Gabriel Byrne’s brooding psychoanalyst on “In Treatment” might envy Barack Obama’s calming psychoanalysis in Europe. He may not have come away with all he wanted substantively. His hand was too weak going in, and there was too much hostility toward America, thanks to W.’s blunders and Cheney’s bullying. But he showed a psychological finesse that has been missing from American leadership for a long time."

He won points with a prickly Sarkozy when he intervened in an argument about tax havens between the French and Chinese leaders, pulling them into a corner to help them “get this all in some kind of perspective” and find a middle ground. Mr. Obama also played to the ego of the Napoleonic French leader, saying at their press conference, “He’s courageous on so many fronts, it’s hard to keep up.”

"Like a good shrink, the president listens; it’s a way of flattering his subjects and sussing them out without having to fathom what’s in their soul. “It is easy to talk to him,” Dmitri Medvedev said after their meeting. “He can listen.” The Russian president called the American one “my new comrade.”

It was so different from the past 8 years;

W. always bragged about his instincts, saying he knew whom to trust based on his gut.

How could it never occur to them that Saddam Hussein might simply be bluffing about the size of his W.M.D. arsenal to keep the Iranians and other antagonists at bay?

The Bush chuckleheads misread the world and insisted that everyone else go along with their deluded perception, and they bullied the world and got huffy if the world didn’t quickly fall in line.

Change you can count on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/op...dowd.html?_r=1

It was AMAZING! Just think. we may have a president who improves our status in the world, both in public opinion, AND in actual strength.. It's incredible what not being an arrogant fool can do, isn't it?
Unprecedented that we would go into discussions with an open mind, but still make progress. I never could understand what W and McGrumpy meant by "negotiating" when they wouldn't talk unless the outcome was predestined.
We're not going to discuss this if you don't agree? That's NOT negotiation.

[Galen Sevinne]

It was AMAZING! Just think. we may have a president who improves our status in the world, both in public opinion, AND in actual strength.. It's incredible what not being an arrogant fool can do, isn't it?
Unprecedented that we would go into discussions with an open mind, but still make progress. I never could understand what W and McGrumpy meant by "negotiating" when they wouldn't talk unless the outcome was predestined.
We're not going to discuss this if you don't agree? That's NOT negotiation.

Shit Obama told the Muslims that we are not at war with them today? What was he thinking???

Now Al Qaida is going to have a bitch of a time recruiting new bomb-strappers and this whole "war on terrorism" industrial complex is going to come tumbling down.

I will miss the ol days of colored code warnings, embedded reporters following contrived wars and crazed apocalyptic right wing newscasters stimulating the growth of underground bunkers, 200 gallon backyard kerosine tanks and books on the end of days.

peace might become boring. even the president of russia called Obama his new friend. all of this talking stuff and treating people like they are rational human beings is some liberal agenda. watch the economy might even start improving then what do we do?

[effo5231]

Shit Obama told the Muslims that we are not at war with them today? What was he thinking???

Now Al Qaida is going to have a bitch of a time recruiting new bomb-strappers and this whole "war on terrorism" industrial complex is going to come tumbling down.

I will miss the ol days of colored code warnings, embedded reporters following contrived wars and crazed apocalyptic right wing newscasters stimulating the growth of underground bunkers, 200 gallon backyard kerosine tanks and books on the end of days.

peace might become boring. even the president of russia called Obama his new friend. all of this talking stuff and treating people like they are rational human beings is some liberal agenda. watch the economy might even start improving then what do we do?

Of course the Russians think Obama is their friend... after all he's a Soooooocialiiiiissst!

:ww:

[4G63]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123906007566594937.html

[Galen Sevinne]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123906007566594937.html

if you are going to quote a WSJ Op-Ed pieces you might as well quote Hannity.

The Polls:

1. A large majority, 79 percent, said people in other countries will have a more positive view of the U.S. because of Obama, while only 19 percent said it would be more negative, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released Monday.

2. (61 percent) believed Obama had accomplished either "a great deal" (16 percent) or "a fair amount" (45 percent) during the trip while just 24 percent said he had not accomplished much and 11 percent said he had accomplished nothing at all.

[4G63]

France has been cooing along with everyone else over the arrival of Bo Obama at the White House, but the master of America's new First Dog is no longer in good odour with President Sarkozy.

Mr Sarkozy is pouring cold water on President Obama's efforts to recast American leadership on the world stage, depicting them as unoriginal, unsubstantial and overrated. Behind leaks and briefings from the Elysée Palace lies Mr Sarkozy's irritation at the rock-star welcome that Europe gave Mr Obama on his Europan tour earlier this month.

The American President's call "to free the world of the menace of a nuclear nightmare" was hot air, Mr Sarkozy's diplomatic staff told him in a report. "It was rhetoric – not a speech on American security policy but an export model aimed at improving the image of the United States," they said. Most of Mr Obama's proposals had already been made by the Bush administration and Washington was dragging its feet on disarmament and treaties against nuclear proliferation, the leaked report said.

Personal pique and French politics are also behind the souring of Mr Sarkozy's self-promoted honeymoon with the United States. On the personal side, the French President is needled by the adulation for an unproven US leader whose stardom has eclipsed what he sees as his established record as a world troubleshooter. "The President is annoyed by what he sees as the naivety and the herd mentality of the media," said a journalist who is privy to Elysée thinking.

story continued...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6098836.ece

[Rochardrik]

But the nationalizing of American banks is not socialism.
:grbac:



"Whether they are defending the Soviet Union or bleating for Saddam Hussein, liberals are always against America. They are either traitors or idiots."



SOMEBODY TELL DADE THAT EXPLAINS IT.


WE WILL FEED AMERICA DOSAGES OF SOCIALISM.

THEN THEY WILL BECOME GOOD COMMUNISTS. NIKITA KRUCHEV - 1962

The bank in this country originally, was nationalized. It was the criminal Andrew Jackson who privatized the system.