Obama’s “Deep Concern” Over Ukraine Sounds . . . Familiar
Barack Obama has expressed “deep concern” over the situation in Ukraine:
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for 90 minutes on Saturday and expressed “deep concern over Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a breach of international law,” the White House said.
Putin must have been deeply concerned by Obama’s use of this phrase, since Obama doesn’t express “deep concern” lightly. It’s not like it’s a pet phrase he trots out every time something happens overseas.
Or . . . maybe it is.
- Darfur, April 2008:
IN APRIL 2008, candidate Barack Obama expressed “deep concern” that the Bush administration was making an unseemly deal with the Khartoum regime as a means to bolster the fledgling but already failing UN/African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
- Gaza, January 6, 2009:
Barack Obama, who takes over as U.S. president from George W. Bush on January 20, broke his silence about the violence in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, calling the loss of civilian lives in Gaza and in Israel a “source of deep concern for me.”
- Taliban, March 5, 2009:
Taliban havens Obama’s deep concern
THE terrorist attacks have greatly heightened US concerns about the political stability of Pakistan, already under pressure from a weakened economy and increasingly assertive militant groups.
In a joint press conference with the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, President Barack Obama expressed his “deep concern” about the attack.
- Iran, June 16, 2009:
As Iran’s Guardian Council announced a partial recount of Friday’s contested presidential election results, and mass protests rocked the capital of Tehran for a second day Tuesday, President Barack Obama used a press conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to again express his “deep concerns about the elections.”
“I have said before that I have deep concerns about the elections, and I think the world has deep concern about the election,” Obama said.
- Libya, February 5, 2011:
In separate phone conversations with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama “expressed his deep concern with the Libyan government’s use of violence which violates international norms and every standard of human decency, and discussed appropriate and effective ways for the international community to immediately respond,” the White House statement said.
- Sudan, June 16, 2011:
U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday met with his special envoy for Sudan to express “deep concern” over the violence and humanitarian crisis in the country.
- Syria, August 12, 2011:
President Obama, for his part, expressed deep concern about Assad’s continued use of violence in a phone call with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Edrogan, said the White House. The two leaders agreed violence should end now, US officials said.
Of course, it’s not just international issues where Obama is deeply concerned. He shows deep concern about domestic issues as well.
- Tucson, January 9, 2011:
Obama “was updated on the investigation around 9 a.m. by (national security aide) John Brennan,” said a White House statement. “The president will continue to be updated as appropriate in the coming days.”
He is not expected to speak today on the tragedy.
The statement also said that Obama did connect with Giffords’ husband, astronaut Mark Kelly.
Obama “expressed his deep concern and full support,” the statement said.
There are more. I just got tired of documenting them all.
Because Obama so often expresses deep concern, it stands to reason that he is, of course, deeply concerned. Confirming this deduction, the blog I Hate the Media in April 2011 collected over a dozen examples of Obama being deeply concerned.
So when Obama tells Putin of his deep concern, well . . .
Thanks to an excellent tipster.
Ding.
Patterico (9c670f) — 3/3/2014 @ 7:56 amGas pipelines thru both the Western and Russian leaning halves of the Ukraine are one complication. Another:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/commodities/10671764/Commodities-Russias-stand-off-with-breadbasket-Ukraine-threatens-UK-food-prices.html
If our Navy, especially the USN G.H.W. Bush proceed into the Black Sea Dog will be given the odd glance.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/3/2014 @ 7:58 amMost Americans are deeply concerned that Barack Obama has his head up his ass.
ropelight (2a0dd2) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:20 amI looked into Putin’s eyes and saw deep concern.
How deep is your concern, how deep, I really need to know.
Houston, we have a deep concern.
A Deep Concern For All Seasons.
All the President’s Deep Concern.
The Grapes of Deep Concern.
Gone With The Deep Concern.
Ok, ok, I’m stopping.
nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:24 am“Deep Concerns” by Jack Obama
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:26 amDeep Concern Down?
nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:27 amHow deep is your concern
is your concern
how deep is your concern
I reeally need to know
’cause we’re livin’ in a world of “hope”
felipe (b5e0f4) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:30 amPutin is concerned? Smart diplomacy is never a cause for concern … right?
quasimodo (97433f) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:31 amA day that will live in deep concern.
nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:35 amWe shall be deeply concerned on to the end. We shall be deeply concerned in France, we shall be deeply concerned on the seas and oceans, we shall be deeply concerned in the air. We shall be deeply concerned on the beaches, we shall be deeply concerned on the landing grounds, we shall be deeply concerned in the fields and in the streets, we shall be deeply concerned in the hills; we shall never surrender our deep concern.
nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:39 amHis not-so-secret superhero identity: The Concerner.
Faster than a speeding news cycle, able to bend public opinion with his bare pen, able to leap world crises in a single bound…
Joe Miller (22fd0f) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:47 amHey, Floridians, time to brush up on yer tourist Russian and stock the shelves with Stoli.
The money is on the move.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-03/russian-stocks-crash-central-bank-scrambles-hikes-rates-most-1998-default
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:51 am“I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture Putin attacking that world, because I’d never expect it.”
– a Deep Thought, from Jack Obama
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:53 am“It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.”
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:08 am– a Deep Thought, from Jack Obama
Evidently, Toy Pony is worried Strong Horse might ‘eff it up:
http://oldironsides-thesilentmajority.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-western-center-for-journalism-obama.html
Something about timing.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:10 amApparently obama needs a new teleprompter.
Jim (145e10) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:12 aminsufficient funds
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:15 amBarcky tries to cash check on
his unbridled tongue
Greetings:
I hope all the progressive statists in our Department of State Department can handle the shock of these events. If only some of them had read Samuel P. Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations…”, published back in 1996 and available from Amazon, they might have realized that Ukraine was what the author saw as a “divided” country subject to devolution either from within or without and prepared something along the lines of a contingency plan or, at least, a “Danger, Will Robinson” sign.
And, lest you all forget, I have some real problems with the vaunted European Union’s behavior in moving Ukrainian history along the road to crisis. From the beginning of my awareness of the situation, it seemed to me that the EU was heavily into “tax-farming” mode trying, in spite of its own serious economic and political problems, to lure the Ukrainian Ukrainians and their near bankrupt corruptocratic country into its own cabal. And believe you me those EU apparatchiks could give Putin’s puppets a run for their dachas. The EU’s concept of democracy, one might say, is subject to fits and starts in an on again off again kind of way and while political and economic shenanigan’s have been sufficient up ’til now (N.B. the EU’s recently knotted panties over the Swiss referendum to control immigration into their own country) we will shortly see if they’ll let the gal they brought to the dance go home with another guy.
Meanwhile, I can’t help but wonder what our UN Ambassadoress Samatha Powers is thinking about the “responsibility to protect” that she worked so hard to sell to the rest of the world. I think Mr. Putin is finding it quite useful.
As much as we all dislike Mr. Putin and his ways and means, what was fomented and allowed to proceed in Kiev was very much a coup and however much we may like its direction and proponents, it was hardly an exercise in democracy. For some almost nonsensical reason, the EU decided to help foment the overthrow of a somewhat democratically elected government via large scale street disorders, a kind of OCCUPY Wall Street on streroids, and now, finding itself and its new potential subjects in a hole of its own digging, continues its excavation.
We are in the best of all possible hands in the best of all possible worlds.
11B40 (6abb5c) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:22 amIn 2005 Victor Yoshchonko won a run-off election against Victor Yankovych to become president of Ukraine. The country’s highest court ordered the run-off after evidence of massive voter fraud by Yankovych’s supporters, and emerging evidence Yonkovych had concealed a police record of violence and criminal fraud.
Subsequently, Yoschonko was poisoned (dioxin) and nearly died as Ukraine sought membership in NATO. Yaknovych became president in 2010 and subsequently announced a change in policy not to join NATO.
Then in late 2011 Russia demanded the US halt plans for an anti-missile defense system in Eastern Europe and threatened to deploy its own missiles or to withdraw from the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty. Obama yielded to Russian pressure.
In March of 2012 Obama was caught on an open microphone telling the Russian president to tell Vladimir Putin to be patient, that once he was no longer accountable to US voters “he’d have more flexibility.”
Now we know what Obama was talking about.
ropelight (2a0dd2) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:29 amTo build on Joe Miller at 11; we used to have The Decider. Now we have The Concerner.
luagha (5cbe06) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:33 amThis is a new era – or back to an old era – of taking territory from weak neighbors based on pretext, and of flouting internationally recognized borders. In other words, a new era without a benign superpower.
First our strength will be shown to be hollow. Then our allies will be picked off one by one. Finally, when our debt comes due, we will be their mercenaries.
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:13 amI wonder if Obama will deploy the dreaded “pivot”?
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:25 amGreat Putin poster. It completely captures the current Russian-American relationship.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:26 amI am deeply concerned that our concern may not be deep enough, as we stand in solidarity with the President’s deep concern.
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:35 amI would not be surprised to find out that Obama and Putin talked about golf, the Olympics, and whether golf should be added to the summer Olympics.
In other words, nothing of substance, just 90 minutes of talk so the American public can be told their president spent that time talking to Mr. Putin.
Why else would Putin have bothered to spend 90 minutes on the phone with President Obama? Obama’s claim to fame is to weaken America at almost every opportunity and to “lead from behind”, with the exception of aggressive use of drone strikes (which may be harmful to our defense by not taking people alive to get intel.)
Unless Putin enjoyed listening to our President grovel, or to see just how much he could extort for empty promises.
Really, name one reason why Mr. Putin should give any consideration of what President Obama thinks or says.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:39 am“He keeps using that phrase, I don’t think ‘deep concern’ means what he thinks it means.”
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:41 amWhy should there be any surprise? Obama is like a robot with a limited set of pre-programmed responses.
See Obama’s amazingly consistent smile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsQ5wxZI1U4
Listen to how everyone punches above their weight
Eric (3e4afd) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:43 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erYpXzE9Pxs
Quit sneering at Obama’s deep concern. Because Obama’s concern is just deeper then a mere mortal’s concern. And that’s a game changer, doncha know!
A trip down memory lane:
http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/morford/article/Is-Obama-an-enlightened-being-Spiritual-wise-2544395.php
I suppose now the only thing to do is to change the meaning of foreign policy success just like Hiltzak has changed the definition of economic success so the fanboys can still have faith in their lightworker.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:57 amour SCOAMF might have been on the phone for 90 minutes, but it’s a safe bet was that ~87 or so minutes of that was him listening to hold music.
no one takes this joke seriously, other than the MFM.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:58 amThe world used to take American promises seriously because they knew American Presidents took them seriously. The current President doesn’t feel that way, and now neither does the world.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 3/3/2014 @ 11:02 amOh, how I wish that were true.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/03/mccain-obama-was-smarter-than-the-rest-of-us/
Establishment GOP pols take Obama seriously. Particularly types like McCain, who have appointed themselves the ultimate authority on reasonable behavior. Which apparently means they don’t take their constitutionally assigned duties seriously when it comes to “advice and consent” and simply rubber stamp Obama’s appointees.
Then later complain when those appointees are living on an alternate planet and whose naivete is unprecedented in the history of the Republic (cough, cough, John Kerry).
Kerry was approved by the Senate 94-3. So McCain is in no position to complain. But complain he does, and by doing so he only highlights his own dereliction of duty. That was brought home last week in his shameful performance last week in the confirmation hearings for Bob Work as Undersecretary of the Navy. Information Dissemination explains.
http://www.informationdissemination.net/2014/02/fact-check-john-mccain-vs-bob-work.html
Unlike the blogger at Information Dissemination (an excellent Navy oriented Milblog, btw; AoSHQ had one of their bloggers on their podcast last week) I don’t think McCain’s ignorance and his clown act are mutually exclusive.
And McCain is typical of the GOP establishment pols. It isn’t that Obama is such a smooth operator or is “so much smarter.” The problem is that they’re such idiots.
Going back to the WaPo article, the a couple of the commenters nail it:
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 11:44 amIf it were only a President that would be bad enough. What makes it worse is that the world now knows the US electorate doesn’t take those promises seriously. So now any current or prospective ally knows they’re always one election away from being abandoned.
This is the kind of thing from which you don’t recover from.
But then, not taking your own promises to fulfill your responsibilities seriously is the norm in DC political circles. It may look like I was picking on McCain, but I’m not. Again, 94 Senators voted to confirm John Kerry as SecState. Of the three who voted against him, I can’t say for certain how many if any did so because they knew he’d be a horror show as opposed to simply pandering to their base who wanted them to oppose Obama.
Obama’s “deep concern” over events in the Ukraine is nowhere near as deep as his concern over the “number one threat” facing the world today according to the gospel of John Kerry. Global warming.
Which as far as foreign observers are concerned (except for other western leftists) simply is the Obama administration advertising for all to see they no longer take their actual commitments seriously and never intend to do so.
A reading from the book of obvious; expect regional arms races across the globe. Including nations going nuclear no matter how many times the lightweights in the Obama administration try to explain that what’s obviously in their own nations’ best interests really isn’t according to their “smart diplomacy.” It would be laughable if we weren’t actually living through the foreign policy of a pot-smoking college freshman circa 1980.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 11:57 am3. Most Americans are deeply concerned that Barack Obama has his head up his ass.
But some of us knew that from the get-go.
Bill M (c8f413) — 3/3/2014 @ 12:02 pmSteve57:
I disagree. Americans have done too much for the world for one President, or even several Presidents, to undo.
However, I agree the world knows (or should know) that any nation is only one election away from being abandoned. We haven’t been the free world’s policeman for a long time, but we are still the free world’s last resort.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 3/3/2014 @ 12:38 pm#30… wholeheartedly agree!!!!!!!
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 1:14 pmMaybe once Obama learns that Russia wants to control the Black Sea, he’ll finally get angry about their racist uncontested arrival.
Or whatever.
At least then, Al Sharpton might be provoked to say something. Or something.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 1:20 pm31. Comment by Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 11:44 am
quoting someone:
better briefed, getting updated, and he discussed the matters on which he had been briefed, and was prepared about, and so he was able to talk more fluently than the Senators.
But I still wonder if the other Senators would have agreed with McCain than Obama was smarter than any of them.
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 1:36 pmJohn McCain was grandstanding, and counting on Bob Work not having the guts to say that, yes, cost overruns of this scale are normal and to be expected, and yes, he does disagree with the Government Accountability Office.
John McCain was not a clown. He was the straight man, and was securely positioned to make Bob Work into the clown.
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 1:46 pmMany spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker,
The devil himself can appear as an angel of light.
No, Obama is not the devil, but just because one appears to be messianic they are not necessarily a good guy.
If President Obama was smarter than all of the Repub Senators present, that was not necessarily a compliment for Obama.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 3/3/2014 @ 1:58 pmmeh at this juncture
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:27 pmO and Kerry could have watched
Rocky IV and learned
“Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker,”
I doan think that word means what you think it means…
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:29 pmThere was probably some confusion about which word was used to characterize him.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:36 pmThey likely said, “lightweight,” but it was misheard as “lightworker.”
Or something.
Has Condoleeza said anything publicly? She was known to be quite an expert in the politics and economics of that part of the world.
elissa (206b02) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:42 pmI think this Rice believes if you don’t have something nice to say, leave it unsaid.
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:44 pmOverheard at Oval Office;
“This Ukraine place—isn’t that a cold part of Canada where there was a Gold Rush about a hundred years ago ?”
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:47 pm—Barack Obama
This Putin person has almost as much audacity as Obama.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:49 pmI wonder if Putin had Alinskyite traning in Russia.
Of course, in the old Soviet Union, an Alinskyite would have been the equivalent of a conservative Goldwater supporter. Or something.
well, the First Failure may be “deeply concerned”, whatever that means, but at least the EU is stepping up with a strong, united response that’s sure to have a positive effect…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-03/europe-cant-even-agree-russian-trade-sanctions
teh funny is that they claim to be worried about damaging the worldwide economic recovery.
that’s like me being worried about losing my Miss America crown. 😎
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:51 pmObama is drawing lines, and doodles, and funny pictures.
Meanwhile, Putin is drawing…guns and swords.
This may be time to push the reset button. Or whatever.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 2:53 pmMany spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker,
If a person was truly “deeply spiritual”, he would have known that like all people, they have feet of clay and have fallen short of the glory of God.
There are no light workers, just mere mortals trying to do the best they can …”best” of course being subjective. And some so self-deceived that their “best” is rooted in lies and pride and delusions of grandeur.
Dana (88a590) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:00 pmEh, first para quoted from Elephant Stone above…
Dana (88a590) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:02 pmSPQR, I appreciate your pessimism. Believe me, I’m a real fan of pessimism.
However, having thought the matter through, Putin isn’t going to try to seize Kiev and the Ukrainian heartland.
Why?
Too much cost, not enough benefit. The Russian military could do it, but at great cost, especially with an occupation bleeding them. Occupying, for now anyway, the Crimea and East Ukraine is enough to demonstrate their resolve to protect their bases, the self-determination of their ethnically-Russian people, and to dissuade the Ukraine from getting too tight with the EU, and in particular, with any thoughts of placing ABM missiles on their territory for the benefit of Europe and America.
It wasn’t an ideal situation, since it earns Russia hatred by the Ukrainians, but it’s much better from his perspective than simply losing Ukraine to the west.
[cross post]
Former Conservative (6e026c) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:07 pmnot to worry Dana, that quote is legendary…
i’m not sure, but i think it was Zombie who found that gem back in 07 or 08, floating around the fetid squalor that is the Bay Area.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:09 pm“Unleash teh Jimmy Carters”
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:09 pma deeply concerned Mr. Burns
people who keep trying to figure out how Putin will act or react to things would do well to stop projecting their values, views & desired outcomes onto him.
after all, it is exactly that sort of delusion that is the driving force behind our SCOAMF’s brilliant foreign policy.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:11 pmIt was Mark someone, ES, I think a writer for SF Chronicle or some paper up there. I remember being stunned at how stupid his claims were. Still shaking my head…
Dana (88a590) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:17 pmKerry dons tu-tu
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:20 pmPutin invades Crimea
Barcky takes it hard
“It’s all part of his policy fantasy
It’s all part of his policy dream”
– Barack Rodgers, Burned Company
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:23 pmI am confident all that flexibility has bent Obama over.
I am also confident that Obama has the shallowest of concerns about almost everything except domestic political adversaries and his recreational time.
He is has the shallowest of interest within the shallowest mind of any President I’ve known.
steveg (794291) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:26 pmSarah Palin is supposedly the worlds largest dunce, but she’s smarter than Obama by light years
Well, carnival concern-o-meters are notorious for being unreliable. So if the one he consulted gave the president bad information it is hardly fair to blame him. (Just anticipating Sammy’s argument)
elissa (206b02) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:29 pmBarry always takes it hard… ask Reggie Love.
😎
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:31 pmConfucious say: he who repeatedly expresses deep concern is neither deep nor concerned.
Tom (cef3d8) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:39 pmWell it’s better than when the American ambassador said he is “nervous”.
Former Conservative (6e026c) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:42 pmI wonder if Putin had Alinskyite traning in Russia.
Alinsky published his rules for radicals in 1971. At that time, the KGB had one rule for radicals: “A 7.63 in the back of the head, from a Tokarev, in the basement of the Lubyanka, is the State’s most potent weapon.” (Three rubles for a bottle of vodka for the executioner afterwards customary.)
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:49 pmThe vodka was 2.87 rubles, the 13 kopecks were for the snack, a brand of soft, processed cheese called “Friendship”, BTW.
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:55 pmbare-chested Putin
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 4:12 pmrides two-trick pony bareback
Barackaloosa
Butch and Sundance wouldn’t have had to flee to Bolivia if they had merely asserted their right to arrive in banks uncontested.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 4:15 pmOr whatever.
We have a Potemkin President.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 4:22 pmAll teh way doooooowwwwwnnnnnnnnnnn
Colonel Haiku (a84474) — 3/3/2014 @ 4:36 pmWho’s surprised that McLame thinks Obama is a genius? If you were best buddies with Lyndsey Graham, Obama would seem smart to you too.
East Bay Jay (a5dac7) — 3/3/2014 @ 4:40 pmIt was Thatcher that gave Bush Sr the backbone to challenge Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait. Thatcher is gone, as well as that type of thinking (broken window theory as applied to regional disputes that lead to aggression). That’s probably for the best as we can’t afford wars of choice anymore.
East Bay Jay (a5dac7) — 3/3/2014 @ 4:45 pm==Who’s surprised that McLame thinks Obama is a genius? ==
I am. I must have missed this statement.
elissa (206b02) — 3/3/2014 @ 4:54 pmI would not be surprised if they talked about what kind of sandwiches Obama has to make for Putin and his KGB buddies at their next summit, and whether or not Obama has to wear the French maid costume again or if he can choose his own dress and high heels.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 4:59 pmelissa, I cannot imagine McCain saying that either, except as sarcasm. “Obama, the smartest man in the room”.
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:02 pmelissa, I cited this McCain quote in #31.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/03/mccain-obama-was-smarter-than-the-rest-of-us/
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:02 pmi, for one, am deeply concerned that we aren’t sending an official delegation to the paralympic games in Sochi…
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/03/fierce-obama-responds-to-putins-ukrainian-assault-cancels-delegation-to-sochi-paralympics/
Barry the Dimwitted strikes another telling blow for freedom!
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:12 pmLiving on lies and schemes
mg (31009b) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:19 pmDown in Washington D.C.
“The Maverick” was a legend in his mind
71. 73.elissa, Comment by the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:02 pm
I cannot imagine McCain saying that either, except as sarcasm. “Obama, the smartest man in the room”.
This is the TIME Magazine (Swampland) piece where it originated on:
http://swampland.time.com/2014/03/02/john-mccain-ukraine-barack-obama-climate-change-ted-cruz/
What must have happened is that Obama must have been in better command of the subject(s) they were discussing.
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:19 pmRead the whole interview at the below link.
McCain wasn’t being sarcastic. He thought he was being statesman-like. He just reveals how easily he was played, and how he still hasn’t figured out that Obama is playing establishment GOP pols like him and how he’s doing it.
He will be perpetually caught off guard by Obama’s modus operandi; Obama gets what he wants today in exchange for an I.O.U. that he never intends to make good on.
The guys is clueless. Does he think that the people in the AZ Republican party, which just censured him for betraying their interests, wants to hear this?
Yeah, John, good call. Remind everyone how chummy you were with Ted Kennedy. That’ll just remind everyone that you’re now just one of Chuck Schumer’s pet Republicans now.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/20/Hot-mic-catches-Schumer-organizing-immigration-amendment-votes-with-our-Republicans
McCain isn’t AZ’s Senator anymore; he’s one of the Democratic party’s kept Republicans.
So, no, he wasn’t being sarcastic.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:21 pm38. I see from the link, that the writer says the GAO probably did not say what McCain said it said.
He says:
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:26 pmFor once we completely agree. I’m merely pointing out that’s not a testimony to Obama’s smarts, considering the crowd he was dealing with.
http://21stcenturywire.com/2013/09/28/it-gets-worse-john-mccain-hires-fake-phd-syria-expert-elizabeth-obagy/
Considering who McCain hires to brief him, such as an academic fraud/lobbyist for the Syrian opposition, how could anyone not be better prepared? I know 12 year olds who have a better grasp on subjects than John McCain.
And, again, I am not singling John McCain out as an outlier or an extreme example of the breed.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:29 pmDeep into that darkness peering, long Barry stood there wondering, fearing,
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:29 pmDoubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and still Putin gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, ..
“Concern.”
Genius? Not exactly the same. But interesting. I missed the quote, Steve57. Yes, it’s my oversight. But as I said here months ago I just do not have time or patience to wade through wall o words comments anymore. No matter whose wall o words they are.
I’ll be looking carefully for the context of the quote and the actual quote in the Time interview. Will McCain say he was misquoted when TSHTF over the interview? In any event we all agree he needs to go. Too bad he was re-elected to the senate by Arizonans not all that long ago in 2010– and after his presidential campaign fiasco.
elissa (206b02) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:30 pmSteve57 @78.
No that’s only excerpts, and the quote about Obama being smarter than anyone else in the room (but not any more – does McCain think he took stupid pills, or was it that he was taking caffeine and nicotine before? Or does he mean that Obama is not a reasonable guy anymore? Or was he just trying to flatter the old Obama through TIME magazine?) appears only in the introductory four paragraphs.
There seems to be some video there on that web page, but I don’t know where that’s taken from.
The video says it is 50 minutes long, and TIME says the interview was 40 minutes long.
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:37 pmAnd your suspicions are right; the GAO report did not say what what McCain thinks it says about the LCS.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-738T
Bob Work played a significant role in addressing and fixing those early problems. Senators like McCain played a significant role in creating them.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:38 pmWanda… wonder what
Colonel Haiku (1fb3ba) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:42 pmthat ghastly little weasel
Paul Krugman would say
Sammy, how many times do you expect a single quote to be repeated in an interview?
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:43 pmI think, though, the biggest reason for McCain saying that is that McCain, in his language, is confusing or confounding being smarter, with knowing more than someone else about some things.
Not that Obama is stupid. He came out looking better than Romney in two debates. He is a very facile liar about issues. He actually would make a pretty good lawyer in court, if there wasn’t anybody around to rebut him.
He lost the first debate in 2012 (about economics) because the position he was taking was simply so wrong, you could get at it a hundred ways, you didn’t have to know that much.
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:48 pmTeh Sammy Report…
Colonel Haiku (1fb3ba) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:49 pm86. Comment by Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:43 pm
Sammy, how many times do you expect a single quote to be repeated in an interview?
Up to two times. The first time in the summary, and the second time in the full text. But there was no full text.
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:49 pmI know that’s what I look for in a leader… a facile liar…
Colonel Haiku (1fb3ba) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:51 pmpeople who keep trying to figure out how Putin will act or react to things would do well to stop projecting their values, views & desired outcomes onto him.
Comment by redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/3/2014 @ 3:11 pm
I think that is about true for everything and everyone.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:53 pmAfter America, the world is hitting a reset button.
we’re in the hands of Top Men;
http://twitchy.com/2014/03/03/amateur-hour-deputy-natl-security-adviser-unaware-of-putins-intentions/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:55 pmNah, not really, red.
Putin’s not much afraid of Obama, but he doesn’t want his army bled, again, for no good reason (by a larger foe), when he can achieve the same basic result by taking what he’s already taken and maintaining a credible threat of future action.
Former Conservative (6e026c) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:56 pmwell they are being reasonable;
http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-liveblog-day-14-could-a-cold-war-turn-hot-today/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/3/2014 @ 6:01 pm84.Comment by Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 5:38 pm
And your suspicions are right; the GAO report did not say what what McCain thinks it says about the LCS.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-738T
Not my suspicions – that was what Galrahn said outright at informationdissemination.net but I didn’t read much of it at first, and I was thinking that Bob Work maybe wasn’t brave enough to dispute the GAO.
Of course, that was not the right explanation. Bob Work didn’t dispute McCain’s characterization of what the GAO said because he probably hadn’t read it and hadn’t had any reason to.
Once I saw Galrahn said, it hit me that made the most sense.
Bob Work played a significant role in addressing and fixing those early problems. Senators like McCain played a significant role in creating them.
Which makes McCain attack on him very unfair.
McCain, I would guess, had been lobbied by someone about the Littoral Combat Ship program, and convinced this was a great thing, and didn’t like any of this being cancelled or reduced. (and he would know, if there is too little of anything, it’s useless.)
He probably thought, or was led to believe, the reduction in number was due to cost overruns, so he was lashing out.
Galrahn says he didn’t even realize it wasn’t really being cancelled.
Q. But was maybe some factory getting a contract cancellation?
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 6:05 pmObama may be ready to act, to the extent that he can act.
Although he should have symbolically dispatched a couple frigates to the Black sea.
Former Conservative (6e026c) — 3/3/2014 @ 6:08 pmObama deserves the Nobel
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 6:26 pmPeacePiece Prize.speaking of concern;
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/03/breaking-far-left-code-pink-founder-jailed-in-cairo/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/3/2014 @ 6:27 pmI guess we’ll all just have to wait to find out what Valerie Jarrett decides Barack should do about Putin.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/3/2014 @ 6:35 pm98. You know how airports are famous for losing luggage and peoples’ pets? Wouldn’t it be interesting if…..
elissa (206b02) — 3/3/2014 @ 6:38 pmYou guess wrong. McCain hates the LCS. I do to but for all I know McCain hates the LCS for some insane reason like the contract wasn’t given to boat builders at Lake Havasu City in Arizona while I hate it because it’s not survivable and the modular concept restricts it to performing one mission at a time when it needs to be multi-mission. So McCain’s dislike for the LCS is something we have in common, but that doesn’t excuse McCain’s ignorant assault on Bob Work.
http://www.informationdissemination.net/2014/02/john-mccain-puts-hold-on-bob-work.html
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 6:55 pmI took this statement:
to mean that Senator McCain didn’t want it be to cancelled.
And also Senator McCain seemed to be complaining about Secretay Hagel not adhering to the original plans, which were for 52.
That sounded like he wanted it.
This is too new to me – I didn’t catch some of the words that might point in the other direction (McCain being against the whole project)
Sammy Finkelman (c08134) — 3/3/2014 @ 7:18 pmActually, there was a misspelling going on there.
What Barack actually said was he was “Derply” concerned…
Smock Puppet, "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses." (225d0d) — 3/3/2014 @ 7:35 pmI know it’s blunt, but it happens to be true:
http://therightscoop.com/video-sarah-palin-people-look-at-putin-as-one-who-wrestles-bears-obama-as-one-who-wears-mom-jeans/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/3/2014 @ 7:44 pmPutin’s is bigger. His personality cult, I mean.
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/3/2014 @ 7:57 pmJimmah Carter Redux
Colonel Haiku (1fb3ba) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:19 pmThis is silly. Obama’s policy of not going to war over this is obviously correct.
James B. Shearer (878baf) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:57 pmReagan didn’t use the military in every instance, there was supplies to Solidarity, covertly, public statements in favor, training of military in El Salvador, but above all, spoke of the blessings of liberty we don’t see that here,
narciso (3fec35) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:04 pmWell, people should have thought about this before voting Crack Whore President.
There are not a large number of problems in this world a gay prostitute’s bj can fix.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:11 pmVoting for him again, is just indications of enemy action,
narciso (3fec35) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:14 pm110. I can’t say I’ve asked anyone straight out whether they voted for antiChrist the first time let alone a second time.
I can’t trust what I might say or do.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:26 pmBarry and Bibi are undoubtedly sharing their respective deep concern.
I never like being a party to such spats. I’m so twisted I always feel its about me.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:45 pmSammy @102, McCain was being petty and snarky. He’s been against the LCS from the start, and he was trying to use the Bob Work nomination hearings to grandstand on the assumption that the recent administration moves to halt procurement of the LCS is proof he has been right and LCS advocates like Work has been wrong all along.
The feigned exclamations of confusion such as the ones you quoted were theater:
They were just long-winded attempts to convey the message that what Work was saying in his nomination hearings were at odds with reality. To make it appear as if what Work was telling him, if true, “makes it hard to understand” why his bosses were finally seeing the light per the gospel of John McCain. Which of course means in McCain’s view what Work was saying in that hearing couldn’t possibly be true. It was a way of saying that Work is an obtuse dullard without using those words.
When in fact the obtuse dullard was the one asking the questions, not the nominee.
But I’m not going to argue the point any longer as this isn’t about the LCS. The point is that the establishment GOP Senators have contributed to a range of problems by failing to take their constitutional advice and consent duties seriously. So Senators like McCain are the last people who have a right to complain about people such as Obama’s clueless SecState (or cost overruns at DoD) since they’ve never met a nominee they wouldn’t defer to the President over.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/3/2014 @ 9:54 pm“Jimmah Carter Redux
Comment by Colonel Haiku (1fb3ba) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:19 pm”
No, we passed that long ago. Jimmy Carter II was best case last year. It is clear that Obama is far worse.
SPQR (768505) — 3/3/2014 @ 10:55 pmunexpectedly!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-04/it-begins-gazprom-warns-european-gas-supply-disruptions-possible
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/3/2014 @ 11:06 pmDeep Concern….
We got nothin’, and we’re so phuquing doomed.
askeptic (2bb434) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:10 amI was listening to a commentator on some talk radio program describe Obama as “Jimmy Carter on steroids.”
I thought to myself, so where’s the ‘roid rage?
Obama is Jimmah on estrogen; if Jimmah was on hormone therapy in preparation for a sex change operation, he’d have been Barack Obama.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:23 amhttp://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2014-03-03/backstory-russia-ukraine-confrontation-us-and-nato-encirclement-russia
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:40 amAt least pig intestines are off the sanctions table. Russia has decided to maintain/reinstate/reverse its decision to lift* the ban on American
porkpig parts imports.*When speaking Soviet, words have a broad range of meaning. For example, “No” can mean from “absolutely never” to “yes, definitely”.
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:07 amSo you’re saying Soviets are women?
Former Conservative (6e026c) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:19 amLet’s not go there. How about “the chocolate increased when it went from 6 oz to 4 oz”?
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:30 amthe chocolate *ration*
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:31 amYes, red, however, why did we feel the need to offer NATO membership, a little thing called the Warsaw Pact.
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 5:01 amThe KGB’s propaganda assets in the western press are still active. It’s our fault for trying to cage the Bear? Well, no, it’s good that we tried to cage the Bear. It’s bad that we elected a worthless zookeeper.
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/4/2014 @ 5:14 amWell Cohen is willing to buy any Russian palaver, the Guardian, has the hammer and sickle on their trapper keeper, it’s as if the 80 years of Russian domination don’t matter,
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 5:19 amThis is a more likely scenario;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2572613/EDWARD-LUCAS-Appease-Putin-I-really-fear-stumble-war.html
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:07 amBecoming Russia has a learning curve for the Stasi, Gestapo, and Brownshirts:
http://bearingarms.com/when-they-come-a-warning-to-connecticut-police/
Over the top? In Kali they execute kids with ADHD and invalids in their beds.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:12 amThis is silly. Obama’s policy of not going to war over this is obviously correct.
Comment by James B. Shearer (878baf) — 3/3/2014 @ 8:57 pm
Entirely misses the point. Obama’s reset w/Russia was wholly unrealistic and he has been outmanuevered at every turn… left with his pants around his ankles and egg on his face. Weak suck in every respect.
Colonel Haiku (1fb3ba) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:17 amNo such luck;
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-activist-codepink-co-founder-medea-benjamin-says-egypt-police-have-broken-her-arm-in-jail/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:18 amPoint taken, SPQR!
http://senseofevents.blogspot.com/2013/09/oh-for-good-old-days-of-jimmy-carter.html
Colonel Haiku (1fb3ba) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:21 amObama and his excremental SoS Kerry believe “climate change” is the biggest threat to America’s security. Russia is not even on their radar
Colonel Haiku (1fb3ba) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:33 amOhmigosh. http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/carter-miss-me-yet-543×600.jpg
the deeply concerned nk (dbc370) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:37 am129. Tell them we’ll sit up and take notice when they beat her bloody with the detached extremity.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:52 am132. LOL before pulling it up.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:53 amObama’s much worse then Carter, the latter had Zbig, let Vance for being a crybaby over Desert One, his braintrust is uniformly incompetent and awful,
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:59 amToo bad we shame allies and pull the rug out from under them.
http://news.sky.com/story/1219922/russia-and-china-in-agreement-over-ukraine
Leading is hard for a
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 7:11 amhyperpowerbanana republic.we’ll get it right, someday.
http://twitchy.com/2014/03/04/times-headline-prediction-about-russia-and-ukraine-was-one-big-oopsie/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 8:20 amSure, no problem, just as soon as you tell us your ‘need to know’. Specifically.
A ‘World Events’ essay for tomorrow?
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 8:25 amLinky.
http://twitchy.com/2014/03/03/sally-kohn-seeks-specifics-from-gop-on-how-to-handle-ukraine-crisis/
My New Year’s resolution is beginning to fall apart.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 8:26 amSix Time Magazine Person of The Year covers. Before you click, guess on which one Time did not dare put any letters over, including its own name. http://i.imgur.com/q4LrApN.jpg
nk (dbc370) — 3/4/2014 @ 8:32 amSally Kohn is not the only one parroting that. It’s the party line. Heard it first from some fat guy in yellow suspenders debating Ollie North on Hannity last night. (I didn’t like the “Have Gun Will Travel” episode that was on the channel I like to watch.)
nk (dbc370) — 3/4/2014 @ 8:38 ampretty much, or they just yell ‘Squirrel’
http://twitchy.com/2014/03/03/et-tu-msnbc-are-obama-lapdogs-who-mocked-romneys-validated-russia-comments-turning-on-their-hero/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 8:42 am141. I think I know that fat guy.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 9:29 amBeckel, lord love a waterfowl,
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 9:32 amYeah, with the euro levitating and the ruble crashing we’ll see how long that lasts:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/04/news/economy/europe-russia-ukraine/index.html?iid=Lead
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 9:38 amwe’re in the hands of top men;
http://weaselzippers.us/178103-white-house-heres-another-propaganda-photo-of-obama-totally-having-this-ukrainian-crisis-under-control/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 9:49 amHarmony Church, 1983. i hay have heard that name, once or twice… 😎
redc1c4, 11H10 (abd49e) — 3/4/2014 @ 10:09 amFrom Yahoo/Fiscal Times–grain prices on the move:
elissa (d1d13e) — 3/4/2014 @ 10:16 amwe’ll see your bluff and raise:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-04/russia-warns-will-have-respond-us-sanctions
the money quote:
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/4/2014 @ 10:23 amA lot of double and triple talk;
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304815004579416931451436234?mod=Opinion_newsreel_3
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 11:51 amLimousine liberals spend their own money. Mooch is a mooch.
nk (dbc370) — 3/4/2014 @ 11:58 am149. As long as the response doesn’t involve a first strike with ship-to-ship missiles, I think we’ll be Ok.
Oh, I hear a knock at the door. I’m not expecting anyone..
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:13 pmRemember he vouched for Obama;
http://minx.cc/?post=347633
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:14 pm153. Just wondering, has anyone seen foreign policy experts Dick Lugar and Joe Biden in the same place at the same instant.
I think we’ve been hoodwinked.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:27 pmIt would cross the streams, gary.
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:36 pmwell we see she didn’t really learn the lesson;http://althouse.blogspot.com/2014/03/sarah-palin-gender-bullies-barack-obama.html
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:38 pm156. Meanwhile the GOP is creaming all over itself for Chris Christie.
I think ‘seeing eye-to-eye’ is just a bridge way to far for me.
What possible difference could it make, at this point, to save this country from itself?
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 12:54 pmhttp://www.newrepublic.com/article/116852/merkel-was-right-putins-lost-his-mind-press-conference
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 3/4/2014 @ 1:50 pmGary #157,
Your house could be on fire, and you would still be mumbling something about…Chris Christie !
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 3/4/2014 @ 2:44 pmhttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-04/russian-nat-gas-game-theory
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/4/2014 @ 3:03 pmalways on top of the important news;
https://twitter.com/robinabcarian
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 3:09 pmHere’s an April 2013 video of Park Geun Hye announcing that she will retaliate immediately and without political considerations to any NORK military provocations. That she will trust the judgement of her own military, since it is the one directly facing off against the North.
Let me translate; after the NORKs sank the Cheonan and shelled the Pyeongyang islands, the South Koreans let the US stay their hand. And they feel betrayed. No more, says the PM. They’ll make their own decisions. And without “political considerations” such as would be imposed by a US administration which views foreign policy entirely through the prism of domestic electoral politics. Immediately, as in now waiting for the international community.
Here’s a lengthier report. Since it’s from the WaPo, it’s the typical useless drivel despite the length. Really there are only two important items in it. The date and this text:
In December 2012 Abe Shinzo was elected Prime Minister of Japan. Or rather reelected, since he had been the PM in 2007 but had been forced to reason under the whiff of scandal.
In other words, he’s a known commodity. And here is what he’s most known for.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/16/japanese-election-shinzo-aide-redemption
My point is that it was, in part at least, the prospect that the US would reelect Barack Obama that made the party headed by a known militarist attractive in Japan. It was a horse race between Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan through September 2012. The LDP was always ahead but (with the exception of August) the DPJ was within the margin of error or at least within striking distance. But in October the LDP opened a ten point gap and never looked back.
And it was following the reelection of Barack Obama that Park Geun Hye announced her “we’re not waiting anymore” policy r.e. retaliating against the North.
My information is admittedly anecdotal, but I lived in Japan for seven years and spent enough time in Korea to qualify for membership in the VFW on that basis alone. Based upon the contacts that I still have in those countries, they found it dismaying that we would reelect Barack Obama. Once was excusable. But the fact we’d return him to office wasn’t. They thought we’d wake up to the reality of Barack Obama, and we didn’t.
You are correct, DRJ, that we have done a great deal for the cause of freedom. And the people I know in Japan and Korea appreciate that. When I was in Japan and the NORKs would start rattling their sabers with their rhetoric or shooting off missiles into the SOJ, my money was no good at the local pub snack or karaoke bar. They were really glad we were there. Which is why they find the current turn of events so disheartening. They had followed our lead in so many cases. The Japanese government sent ships to the Indian Ocean to refuel our ships at their entire expense, and sent troops to Iraq to demonstrate their commitment to our alliance.
I don’t think you understand how complicated that was for them. The postwar regime is so restrictive that technically the personnel on those ships violated Japanese domestic laws in myriad ways even though their parliament (Diet) had authorized the deployment. I knew Japanese ship captains who tried to get arrested in order to highlight the absurdity of the situation but the Japanese police simply refused to deal with it. Which is of course the Japanese way; “ignore unwanted things.”
The South Koreans also participated, and even after their troops and civilians had been killed early in the first Obama administration they let the US take the lead.
But based upon what I hear, they no longer feel they can rely on us. By us I don’t just mean this administration. They’re not happy about it, DRJ. But they’re just facing the reality they’re on their own. One president and two election cycles doesn’t undo what we have done in the past. But nostalgia for what we were also doesn’t help these countries that thought they could rely on a US security commitment in their present predicaments.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/4/2014 @ 3:15 pmIn another post, Althouse said that after 10 years of blogging, she’s proud people don’t know if she leans left or right — although she’s “skewing left.” Of course, it isn’t a surprise to see her admit she leans left However, after 10 years, I can’t see why any adult — let alone someone with Althouse’s education and employment — would be proud that people don’t know what principles she supports and believes in. It sounds like she’s toying with her readers, and that’s insulting.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 3/4/2014 @ 3:18 pmhttp://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/03/04/putin_brings_real_world_experience_to_the_graduate_school_seminar_crowd
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/4/2014 @ 3:18 pmForgot a couple of links.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyn7c7_s-korea-leader-vows-strong-retaliation-to-north_news
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/island-attack-boosted-s-koreas-will-to-strike-back-against-north/2013/04/14/5d6a8a8c-a4d9-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/4/2014 @ 3:19 pmSteve57,
America is clearly going through an isolationist period, and one result is that we aren’t willing to police the world to protect the weak. We wrote off Africa and Eastern Europe long ago, and we’ve probably written off Asia. We could probably add Europe and Israel to that list under this President. But we won’t remain isolationists forever because foreign affairs will deteriorate so much and/or American interests will be affected, and that will drag us back in. When that moment happens will determine how many allies will be sacrificed in the meantime.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 3/4/2014 @ 3:24 pmOh. I heard that Russia did a test launch of an ICBM.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 3/4/2014 @ 3:54 pmHow can you people be fixating on Russia and ICBMs when Chipotle is announcing they may have to quit serving guacamole due to climate change? They say weather volatility and changing weather patterns might impact price and availability of some of the ingredients. Good Allah. Think Regress has all the details but I’ll not link.
elissa (d1d13e) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:10 pmDRJ @166, you are correct. We have certainly written off Asia. This was obvious years ago. That’s why I posted this shortly after the Benghazi embassy assault. Forgive the language; I was in serious “the administration is lying to our faces” mode in the immediate aftermath of that assault. And, by the way, I was pointing out they were lying to us about Cairo as well since that wasn’t over a video either.
https://patterico.com/2012/09/13/romney-offends-pundits/#comments
Those were harsher words than I’ve ever heard anyone in or connected to the Japanese defense establishment use about an administration’s commitment to our mutual defense treaties ever.
The “pivot to Asia” was so obviously at odds with Obama’s shipbuilding plans it was described by knowledgeable observers back during the first Obama administration as a “pivot to domestic spending.” And by knowledgeable observers I mean allied nations as well, who realized while we were pivoting away from the ME and Europe we weren’t pivoting toward Asia because we were planning on doing away with the force structure that would support that.
Hence the recent Hagel budget where the Obama administration finally announces the culmination of its scheme with the observation that US military dominance can no longer be assumed to be the case.
Of course, anyone who listened to candidate and President Obama over the years would have known this is exactly where we were always going.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/the-citizen-of-the-world-presidency-1/
One of those “habits” he was talking about was our commitment to maintaining a strong military. I recall during the 2008 campaign Obama said words to the effect that “no country every maintained its military power without maintaining its economic power.”
For some reason the suckers among us thought that meant he wanted to restore the economy. Given his history, I knew at the time he clearly intended to cripple it permanently. But he was sufficiently vague about what he intended to do to allow the uninformed to think he was going to do the opposite of what he obviously was going to do.
So here we are in 2014, and the suckers still think Obama actually intends to do something other than impoverish people so they can’t afford to heat their houses or drive their SUVs. Remember he said we weren’t going to be allowed to do that back in 2008 as well?
The suckers most definitely include our foreign allies. They can’t afford to be as naive as the US electorate. When we finally get back around to undoing the damage of the Obama years we are going to be seriously damaged goods. I don’t see how we recover from that for generations.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:23 pmWe can no longer afford a strong military, needless to say. When Hagel announced the knew budget he proclaimed that US military dominance can no longer be assumed.
Who here doubts that was the plan all along?
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:26 pmPutin is handling this very well so far.
/nosarc
Former Conservative (6e026c) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:35 pmit takes a staggering amount of ignorance, or maybe just squirrel;
http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-ra-sarah-palin-on-ukraine-putin-and-obamas-pants-20140304,0,5665367.story#axzz2v2Sp4hfm
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 4:53 pmSteve57,
I think Obama uses “pivot” to refer to economic issues, although he’s careful to be so vague that it can mean anything the listener thinks it means. Thus, when Obama talks about pivoting to Asia, he isn’t concerned with China’s intentions in the Sea of Japan or Taiwan. Obama cares about being able to say he’s done something for his donors’/cronies’ business interests in China and the rest of Asia.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 3/4/2014 @ 5:00 pmFormer Conservative,
/nosarc, indeed.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 3/4/2014 @ 5:00 pmsure we can…
we just can’t afford a strong military AND 47% of the population expecting free schisse from Uncle Sugar.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 3/4/2014 @ 5:05 pmTrue, red. But we really, really can’t afford a strong military with that PLUS Obamacare. His new EPA regs should also do nicely to further ensure that the economic crisis he was told not to get go to waste back in 2009 remains the new normal in these greatly reduced United States.
Enjoying the wreckovery?
And I don’t know why I wrote this:
Our allies are most definitely not suckers.
Also, knew = new.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/4/2014 @ 5:18 pmO/T
http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/03/here-we-go-again-10-year-old-boy-suspended-for-pointing-finger-like-a-gun//#more
Dumb kid. Doesn’t he know what’s acceptable behavior at school these days?
Threatening to beat someone up for wearing a US flag T-shirt.
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/4/2014 @ 5:23 pm159. I think I’ll adopt a lump of gneiss in honor of Stones and practice my similes in rough draft for the avatar.
Does that sound like a plan, anyone?
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:23 pmZernike has stopped filing on the Stay Puft,
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:30 pm163. Capital point. Blancmange at her absolute best.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:32 pmI didn’t credit you for the blancmange use, I hope its Ok.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:34 pmSure, I borrow most of my tropes from Python, some from Princess Bride, and some from Spinal Tap.
narciso (3fec35) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:38 pmRichardson just said to Piers on CNN that the Czech-Polish missile treaty needs re-establishment.
No mention how it was a freebie offered to Pooter by the Toy Pony for cooperation over Iran.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:39 pm181. I checked out Spinal Tap for home revue a couple years back but never squeezed it in between Toons and HGTV.
Me and the cats grovel.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:42 pm“There is a perception in Japan that the U.S. commitment is ambiguous,” says Yoichiro Sato
The Japanese should have known something was amiss with Obama a few years ago when he, instead of making his hosts respect him further due to his observing correct protocol, bowed inappropriately in front of Japan’s Emperor and his wife. Or when it was not American officials but Japanese officials themselves who told Obama that, no, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to visit Hiroshima and issue a public apology for the US using the atomic bomb in 1945.
I still recall an editorial in a Japanese newspaper back in 2008 that said no US president in history had the dubious or rag-tag background of Obama. Even today I don’t believe that basic yet very revealing point has ever been expressed by any other part of the world’s mainstream media, at least a website or publication that isn’t overly specialized or actively slanted to the right (eg, National Review, etc).
Japan is one of the few wedges of the industrialized world — the First World — that so far hasn’t become overly enamored with modern-day liberalism, so I don’t know why its officials would have ever been truly confident with what Obama is all about.
Mark (71f7cb) — 3/4/2014 @ 6:55 pm184. And then Il Douche torpedoed Toyota to sell Government clunkers.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/4/2014 @ 8:07 pmAn unidentified USN ship has today entered the Black Sea. Not the G.H.W. Bush.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 3/5/2014 @ 3:02 pmRush was pointing out how hardliners like Vitaly Churkin are back in vogue,
http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2014/03/05/ukraine-putin-and-the-big-lie-what-russia-media-is-saying-about-america-right-now/
narciso (3fec35) — 3/5/2014 @ 3:15 pmNor will a US carrier ever enter the Black Sea.
The Montreux Convention prohibits it.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/naval-arms-control-1936.htm
Steve57 (2991b6) — 3/5/2014 @ 4:50 pm