What America Stands For, by President Obama (Updated)
[Guest post by DRJ]
President Obama explains what America stands for in a message to Iran celebrating the Iranian New Year:
“I want the Iranian people to know what my country stands for. The United States believes in the dignity of every human being, and an international order that bends the arch of history in the direction of justice – a future where Iranians can exercise their rights, to participate fully in the global economy, and enrich the world through educational and cultural exchanges beyond Iran’s borders. That is the future that we seek. That is what America is for.”
What in the heck does “an international order that bends the arch of history in the direction of justice” mean, and how does that have anything to do with what America stands for?
The President also wants to have more exchange students “so that Iranian students can come to our colleges and universities.” However, he doesn’t mention sending Americans to Iran. That’s probably because of what happened to Esha Momeni and Shane Bauer, Sharon Shourd, and Joshua Fattal.
— DRJ
UPDATE — This is an Obama variation of a quote by Martin Luther King:
“In a speech delivered on August 16, 1967, Dr. King declared, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
***
Now President Obama developed a variation on Dr. King’s words. Speaking to thousands in Millennium Park on the night of November 4, and to millions around the world, the President said of his own election, “It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.”
Dr. King’s version expresses hope in the future of mankind. Obama’s most recent version puts the “international order” in charge of mankind’s future.
he’s a crack smoking moron who hates America, who gives a damn what he thinks?
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/19/2010 @ 9:59 pmNot caring what Obama thinks and does would probably end my modest blogging career, at least for now.
DRJ (daa62a) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:07 pmHell, Obama doesn’t even like America, let alone understand her.
Kevin Murphy (3c3db0) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:11 pmHell, Obama wasn’t even born in America. 🙂
Official Internet Data Office (3def0e) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:15 pmDo you not think that Our President would happily send any and all of the GOP representatives in Congress to study in Iran ?
Alasdair (205079) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:19 pmI updated the post. This is from Obama’s version of a Martin Luther King quote.
DRJ (daa62a) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:21 pmi like how PJ ‘splained it to the foreigners:
i’d love to read this to Ear Leader, just to watch him blow a gasket… 😀
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:27 pmMLK was talking about God, Obama about the UN. One can only hope he knows the difference.
Kevin Murphy (3c3db0) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:31 pmmaybe someone should read him the one that starts:
’cause it looks like he’s never heard of it…..
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:32 pm#6 DRJ:
The problem is, he doesn’t understand what King said; let alone understand America.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:33 pm(answer: He knows he’s not the UN.)
Kevin Murphy (3c3db0) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:34 pmExchange students personally selected by the Mad Mullahs of Iran.
What could go wrong?
He’s getting nuttier every day.
How are those Iranian deadlines and sanctions coming Obama?
daleyrocks (718861) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:40 pmI wish Obama had said “the United States believes in the freedom of every human being” rather than the “dignity.” You don’t have to be free to have dignity.
DRJ (daa62a) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:46 pm@12: Me too, DRJ.
—
President Obama has confused “the arc of the moral universe” with “the arch of history”.
Everything that America stands for is in opposition to the President’s vision — thus his disdain for our country. IMO, it is not even certain if he understands the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, beyond a sixth grade level.
pons Asinorum (1f16cc) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:48 pmpons – Obama’s “towering” intellect still seems to impress the heck out of most liberals. I think that says a lot about both of them. I’m still waiting for an example of the intellect.
daleyrocks (718861) — 3/19/2010 @ 10:56 pmdaleyrocks – amazing, isn’t it? Over a year into his administration, unprecedented trillions spent, economy in the toilet, 9% unemployment (apparently the new standard of excellence), Washington DC is more partisan than ever, the White House is less transparent than ever, enemies that are laughing their asses off, allies that he is knifing in the back, Black panthers…Timothy Geithner, Holder, Janet Napolitano…
Pure genius!
pons Asinorum (1f16cc) — 3/19/2010 @ 11:09 pmWhat about Obama’s quote do you guys actually take issue with? Or is this all about insinuating that he’s secretly in bed with some international (read: Europussy) cabal intent in on erecting statues of Lenin in your backyards?
Of course, I’m not a “real” American… maybe someday I’ll understand, right?
Fuck this.
Leviticus (30ac20) — 3/19/2010 @ 11:21 pmI Won simply does not like the concept of freedom. He does not endorse it. He does not support it. He barely, if ever, even utters the word.
Obama will talk to the dictators of Iran without precondidtions. However he will condemn long time ally Iarael for building a housing project.
DavidL (e74857) — 3/20/2010 @ 3:14 amI saw the video of him giving his yelling speech on death care. He looked just like when he was illegally campaigning for Odinga in Kenya during 2007. The only difference was the yelling barefoot Kenyans waving machetes and dancing and screaming, were replaced with more American looking useful idiots screaming.
It’s a chilling image.
bill-tb (541ea9) — 3/20/2010 @ 3:38 am“What in the heck does “an international order that bends the arch of history in the direction of justice” mean”
It means that Obama is illiterate.
Federal Dog (286df0) — 3/20/2010 @ 3:43 amObama is and was, more suited and perfect for the “job” of Head of the cpusa. See http://www.cpusa.org
SteveB (d71a0b) — 3/20/2010 @ 4:10 amCome to think of it, so are Pelosi, Reid, Andy Stern, Rahmbo, Axelrod, VJarrett, Anita Dunn, Van Jones…….so there’d be alot of competition for that job. At least the title and obvious-ness of purpose of that job would be more clear to people who’d come into contact with the cpusa.
The reason I say all that, is that the current administration is about 100% on-board with the goals of the Communist Party USA.
Is it too much to ask him to let the word “freedom” pass his lips? Sheesh!
RB (bed771) — 3/20/2010 @ 4:29 amWhere’s the “F” word? No, not that one – Freedom.
Or liberty. He talks about these materialistic effects, as if it’s a hard lift to get those. But they’re easy, if you have freedom and liberty.
Jeff Weimer (952d52) — 3/20/2010 @ 4:48 amIt think it’s because he believes that dignity is something granted, not something that can’t be taken away.
Jeff Weimer (952d52) — 3/20/2010 @ 4:51 amDRJ wrote:
But without freedom, your dignity doesn’t seem to matter.
President Obama wouldn’t have used the word “freedom,” because such would have offended the Iranian government. But it also seems that freedom is a concept he doesn’t like having teh American people exercise too terribly much, either. His policies are, in effect, a choice of community goals — whether we agree with them or not — over individual freedom.
The dignified Dana (474dfc) — 3/20/2010 @ 5:14 amOf course, we did have a president who would have said:
had he been a bit more erudite. George W Bush wanted to use our power to roll back tyranny and spread democracy and freedom to places which didn’t have it, both for altruistic reasons and because he believed that free and democratic nations don’t have any real reasons to threaten their neighbors, thus enhancing the security of the democracies. It was, in effect, an expansion of President Wilson’s desire to make the world safe for democracy, or, more accurately, safe for the democracies.
President Bush wasn’t as glib as President Obama, but he was a whole lot smarter.
The historian Dana (474dfc) — 3/20/2010 @ 5:21 amBabbling. Will someone please tell the President he has lost his … he’s a zombie!
htom (412a17) — 3/20/2010 @ 5:23 amMethinks Obama’s gilded tongue is losing some of its luster. He was always a great snake-oil salesman, but now he doesn’t even make sense. Why such an absurdly convoluted statement such as “…an international order that bends the arch of history in the direction of justice?” The reason is, Obama can’t bring himself to state clearly and plainly that the U.S., whatever its flaws and mistakes throughout its history, has stood for freedom, peace and prosperity for the world’s citizens. This is because he doesn’t believe in this country’s exceptionalism, as Reagan, Kennedy and Truman did before him.
Guy Jones (7a4dff) — 3/20/2010 @ 5:24 amIt is sad to see such a base, immoral, vulgar individual like POTUS use such sweeping language to describe things which he has does not believe in.
HeavenSent (a9126d) — 3/20/2010 @ 5:48 amPresident Bush wasn’t as glib as President Obama, but he was a whole lot smarter.
Prize of the day to Dana.
HeavenSent (a9126d) — 3/20/2010 @ 5:49 amObama’s promises get farther from reality every day as he tries to sell this monstrosity. I really wonder if he knows the boundary between reality and fantasy. Maybe he thinks “If you build it, they will come.” The trouble is that was a movie.
Mike K (2cf494) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:07 am“It means that Obama is illiterate.”
I wonder if people who disagreed with MLK went around saying he was a terrible speaker. I’m sure there were some. But I don’t know where to look.
imdw (d472cb) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:14 amI wish Obama had said “the United States believes in the freedom of every human being” rather than the “dignity.” You don’t have to be free to have dignity.
Comment by DRJ — 3/19/2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the name of all that is holy, don’t go the “I wish Obama had said… rather than…” route.
You won’t have any time for the important things in life if you mine that vein.
GeneralMalaise (20e943) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:17 am“#32
“It means that Obama is illiterate.”
I wonder if people who disagreed with MLK went around saying he was a terrible speaker. I’m sure there were some. But I don’t know where to look.
Comment by imdw — 3/20/2010 @ 6:14 am”
I remember what the Democrats, who wanted segregation and discrimination, were saying and it was MUCH worse than that, I assure you.
Machinist (9780ec) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:35 amMLK was a man of great courage and to compare Obama to him in any way is offensive, “like Hyperion to a satyr”.
Machinist (9780ec) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:42 am“I wonder if people who disagreed with MLK went around saying he was a terrible speaker. I’m sure there were some. But I don’t know where to look.”
Comment by imdw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Step #1: Remove your cranium from your lower digestive tract.
Step #2…
GeneralMalaise (20e943) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:45 amJust go ahead and say “RAAACIST”. Quit beating around the bush.
Techie (43d092) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:47 am#20 SteveB:
Steve, the current administration IS the Communist Party of the USA.
#30 HeavenSent:
Concur.
#34 Machinist:
There was a lot more “getting in their face” and other means of physical persuasion as well. Only a moron would make the comparison between MLK and the Obamaroon.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:58 am“Only a moron would make the comparison between MLK and the Obamaroon.”
DRJ compared the two.
[note: fished from spam filter. –Stashiu]
imdw (4b8f92) — 3/20/2010 @ 7:00 am#38 EW1: Amend that to “
moron” in the last sentence.
As men and women have demonstrated moral genius throughout trials in history, imdw has demonstrated an utter moral imbecility in a time of peace and plenty.
The difference couldn’t be more stark.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 3/20/2010 @ 7:03 amIt is just another excuse to send more government money to the education camps, I mean American universities.
Alta Bob (e8af2b) — 3/20/2010 @ 7:34 amThe United States believes in….
I’m sure if the guy in the Oval Office had free reign — if he had his way — he instead would have proclaimed “the United Nations believes in…”
Mark (411533) — 3/20/2010 @ 8:01 amWhat in the heck does “an international order that bends the arch of history in the direction of justice” mean?
It’s the sort of lofty but empty cant that is cherished by lefties and academics. And you’d hear it at pretty much any Unitarian church sermon.
When people praise BHO’s intelligence, they are talking about his ability to playback this kind of ahistorical analysis-free PC arblegarble. I’m guessing the mullahs just roll their eyes and LOL.
gp (35122e) — 3/20/2010 @ 8:13 amAmerican discontent with the ‘international order’ is as old as America is, to be honest. Rhetoric from the Revolutionary and early Republican periods is rife with references to the established international order as being a viper’s den in which the interests of old monarchies and aristocracies conspired against the interests of free peoples; the US was held up as an exemplar of the way things should be, and we spoke of holding ourselves apart from the international order so that we wouldn’t be corrupted by it.
It took more than a century before our representatives abroad were even assigned the rank of ambassador.
But somewhere along the line – President Wilson was the emblem of this movement, but the idea predated him – we switched from withdrawing from the international order to remaking the international order in our image. We retreated from that in the 1920s, but the UN was entirely about that, and the IMF/World Bank were the result of a related idea – if we could bind the international order with rules that tamed it, we would make the world safe.
Not everyone has bought this; detente, for example, was all about accepting the international order as it was. But Reagan’s talk of eliminating Communism was talk of building a new international order, and Bush – with his talk of spreading democracy throughout the globe – was the most Wilsonian president since, well, Wilson.
All of which is to say: America was born with an innate distrust of the international order, but there are strands of both liberalism and conservatism which hold that the international order should be remade, and that America should take the lead in doing so. Obama’s words on this are really nothing new.
aphrael (73ebe9) — 3/20/2010 @ 8:17 amplagiarising dr. king with paraphrases will not give obama the image of having a moral core.the content of his character has been revealed and been found to be corupt chicago politics that has metastistized across across our nation.
clyde (3a55ab) — 3/20/2010 @ 8:23 amI remember what the Democrats, who wanted segregation and discrimination, were saying and it was MUCH worse than that, I assure you.
Comment by Machinist — 3/20/2010 @ 6:35 am
MUCH worse than what?
steve (917128) — 3/20/2010 @ 8:26 amIranians are already coming to the US for education. They are escaping from Iran, throwing off the hijab, and enrolling in school all over CA. They don’t need Obama to tell them what America stands for. The know.
Patricia (e1047e) — 3/20/2010 @ 8:27 amObama’s words on this are really nothing new.
But what lurks behind his words is what is new. IOW, no US president has ever sat in a church for almost 20 years and happily listened to a preacher spouting off “goddamn America this, goddamn America that!” And, most importantly, then made that preacher a close, trusted advisor—at least until controversy and criticism ensued.
Mark (411533) — 3/20/2010 @ 8:34 am“What in the heck does “an international order that bends the arch of history in the direction of justice” mean”
It means that Obama is illiterate.
Comment by Federal Dog — 3/20/2010 @ 3:43 am
It more likely means an intern at Politico can’t transcribe. Using that link instead of the others showing “arc” in the transcription goes to something I can’t answer. Or doesn’t mean anything.
steve (917128) — 3/20/2010 @ 9:00 amWhat in the heck does “an international order that bends the arch of history in the direction of justice” mean, and how does that have anything to do with what America stands for?
If Obama wants America to stand for that, I think he’s saying that we need to give up more of our sovereignty.
What we really need is an American Nigel Farage.
Alan (07ccb5) — 3/20/2010 @ 9:31 am“… the current administration IS the Communist Party of the USA.”
If so, then the Obowman had best watch his step.
AD - RtR/OS! (c811db) — 3/20/2010 @ 9:32 amThe Politburo has a very bad habit of excising those that attempt to rise above the collective.
What in the heck does “an international order that bends the arch of history in the direction of justice” mean?
It means, “Good luck to you, and we hope you win against the mullahs, but we’re not going to lift a finger to help you.”
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 3/20/2010 @ 9:40 amIt means, “We’re with you and though we can’t directly affect the course your leaders take, highlighting your struggle is a cheap way to appear to.”
FDR offered similar solidarity with hapless Poles in 1939.
Would we prefer no statement at all to one that mentions no military option, even in the breach?
steve (917128) — 3/20/2010 @ 10:06 amGreetings:
Shouldn’t that be the “arc” of history, not the “arch of history”.
Bending an “arch” is not usually recommended by those architectural types but, occasionally, it happens in Haiti or Chile or even California with somewhat catastrophic results.
11B40 (b7fb8d) — 3/20/2010 @ 10:24 amIndiana Jones V… “
GeneralMalaise (20e943) — 3/20/2010 @ 10:54 amArkArc of the Dignity”… coming to a theater near you…If Obama wants to invite Iranian students to our universities, he should probably start with members of the Baha’i religion. The regime has been discriminating against the Baha’is and persecuting them ever since the 1979 revolution.
Joshua (9ede0e) — 3/20/2010 @ 12:29 pmObama’s promises get farther from reality every day as he tries to sell this monstrosity.
Reality to Obama is whatever he says it is. He can shape it, mold it and sell it to the gullible masses. After all, he can command the oceans and pull the tides, too. Next to being the Lightbearer, tweaking reality is chump change.
“International order” is code for the new global government he will usher in… where loyalists will eat only arugula and waffles. Of course there won’t be room for God in this new order, nor for bitter clingers, but everyone else is more than welcome.
Dana (1e5ad4) — 3/20/2010 @ 12:39 pmWell, I hope that they have a large confab where they all gather together…
AD - RtR/OS! (cdee11) — 3/20/2010 @ 12:56 pmmakes massed fire more effective.
““International order” is code for the new global government he will usher in… where loyalists will eat only arugula and waffles. Of course there won’t be room for God in this new order, nor for bitter clingers, but everyone else is more than welcome.”
Haha NWO and the 1990’s all over again.
imdw (b40b74) — 3/20/2010 @ 12:58 pmaphrael:
Obama’s interpretation is new. Instead of using international bodies to remake the world into America’s image, he wants America remade in the world’s image … with things like government health care, redistribution of wealth, and equal treatment of nations regardless of their ideologies. That’s also why the Obama Administration acts as if Honduras is no better than Venezuela, Iraq is no better than Iran, and Israel is no better than any nation in the Middle East.
DRJ (daa62a) — 3/20/2010 @ 1:18 pm“That’s also why the Obama Administration acts as if Honduras is no better than Venezuela, Iraq is no better than Iran, and Israel is no better than any nation in the Middle East.”
Indeed, DRJ. Afterall, who is a Goddamned America! to make judgments?
GeneralMalaise (20e943) — 3/20/2010 @ 1:45 pm[…] the article here: What America Stands For, by President Obama (Updated) […]
What America Stands For, by President Obama (Updated) | Liberal Whoppers (d16888) — 3/20/2010 @ 5:04 pmand Israel is no better than any nation in the Middle East.
Obama not only doesn’t mind “goddamn America” rhetoric, he apparently doesn’t mind “goddamn Israel” rhetoric too. Then again, and as is true of most liberals — meaning the way they judge the good and bad in people and situations — he is ass backwards.
Meanwhile…
Mark (411533) — 3/20/2010 @ 5:35 pmI am shocked that an American Sec State would relay this turd sandwich to Israel.
This would be as if FDR told the Poles in ’39 that not only did they have to give the Danzig Corrider back to the Germans,
but that they wouldn’t be able to ship any goods through there either.
Well, we were promised that other nations would think differently about the USA with Obowman as our Great Leader.
AD - RtR/OS! (cdee11) — 3/20/2010 @ 6:08 pm