The Arabs Have Stopped Applauding Obama!

[andymays]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499404574558300500152682.html

Excerpt:

'He talks too much," a Saudi academic in Jeddah, who had once been smitten with Barack Obama, recently observed to me of America's 44th president. He has wearied of Mr. Obama and now does not bother with the Obama oratory.

He is hardly alone, this academic. In the endless chatter of this region, and in the commentaries offered by the press, the theme is one of disappointment. In the Arab-Islamic world, Barack Obama has come down to earth.

He has not made the world anew, history did not bend to his will, the Indians and Pakistanis have been told that the matter of Kashmir is theirs to resolve, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the same intractable clash of two irreconcilable nationalisms, and the theocrats in Iran have not "unclenched their fist," nor have they abandoned their nuclear quest.

[Bochall]

Wow, what a revelation...the Middle East is unhappy with our President...REALLY??...and why should we care??? Is this supposed to be a knock on Barack? Well then you've knocked every Prez we've ever had.

[Show Me the Wire]

But this is the President that was going to change all that. This is the President the World, including the Middle East, clamored for.

This is a direct hit at this individual President.

[Bochall]

I just dont see why we're all of a sudden concerned what some Arab or Muslim cleric says about Obama. We never gave a damn about their opinion before. Think Ahmadinejad cares what the Pope or some bishop thinks about him?

[Show Me the Wire]

apples and oranges. Yes, we should care what they think about our President.

As of now they don't respect him and that is very bad news.

[Bochall]

They didnt respect Bush either. Personally, I dont think we need to bother with the Kashmir or Arab/Israeli conflict, esp Kashmir....we are entrenched in the Arab/Israel crisis so it may be hard to just pull away, but BELIEVE ME, we are NOT going to solve that mess. We blindly support Israel too much anyway, but thats another can of worms....But to restate my point: i dont recall Americans being bent out of shape over Arab or Muslim disapproval of our leaders in the past, so why now?

[Show Me the Wire]

They might not have respected him personally, but they respected his power as President of the U.S. With Obama it is neither respect for the person nor the position, very bad news.

BTW the story is not about Americans being nebt out of shape, it is about Obama disenfranchising any Arab support America may have had in the Arab world.

Read the article it is interesting, especially the part about how Obama's blaming America is blowing up in his face, due to cultural differences.

With Obama we have the worst of all worlds, he doesn't understand American culture nor Arab/muslim culture. Big trouble on the horizon.

[Bochall]

I have seen middle easterners burn our flag, Reagan, Bush and Bush in effigy....dont tell me they still respected "the position" of Prez. Sorry, i dont buy that assertion about the 'position' being respected until Obama took over. NO WAY!

[Show Me the Wire]

Way!

Did you even read the article?

[Bochall]

I did read the article and it seemed quite anti liberal from the onset. (i consider myself a non lib and non conservative). Me and my brother vs my cousin, but me and my cousin vs a stranger...got it. i did not vote for Obama and am not a rank and file follower, but ask yourself if you TRULY gave him a chance or prejudged him, thats all. I think those who prejudged him will find this article appealing, and those who didnt will see it as just more Arab/Muslim hate of the USA, baby.

[Show Me the Wire]

I did read the article and it seemed quite anti liberal from the onset. (i consider myself a non lib and non conservative). Me and my brother vs my cousin, but me and my cousin vs a stranger...got it. i did not vote for Obama and am not a rank and file follower, but ask yourself if you TRULY gave him a chance or prejudged him, thats all. I think those who prejudged him will find this article appealing, and those who didnt will see it as just more Arab/Muslim hate of the USA, baby.

The problem is not prejudging and that is not the point of the article. One of the salient points is Obama made a very large error in judgment, because he did not understand what he was doing.

Obama thought his blaming America for all the problems tour would go over well with the Arabs. While factually, he hurt his own image with the people he was courting and did further damage to America's image.

It is his questionable judgment that is the problem, linked with his lack of cultural understanding and his ego.

That is a very dangerous combination.

[Bochall]

We're 2 folks who see this article from different points of view. I do see your point and hope you see mine, which is: a little mideastern disapproval of the President of the United States doesnt bother me...American disapproval does though. And if enough folks here disapprove then he must change his foreign policy.

[Show Me the Wire]

We're 2 folks who see this article from different points of view. I do see your point and hope you see mine, which is: a little mideastern disapproval of the President of the United States doesnt bother me...American disapproval does though. And if enough folks here disapprove then he must change his foreign policy.

I agree Mid Eastern disapproval or any foreign country's disapproval is not important to me either,

I don't remember America, meaning the people, asking Obama to go to the Arab world and apologize to the Arabs on our behalf. So I guess as a nation we are comfortable with Arab disapproval.

[DJofSD]

They finally saw this (http://msunderestimated.com/2009/11/21/snl-obama-jintao-press-conference-in-beijing-video/) routine and realized the arab's were not in any different situation.

[NJ Stinks]

apples and oranges. Yes, we should care what they think about our President.

As of now they don't respect him and that is very bad news.

Is it possible to take off your blinders once in a while when it comes to Obama and actually look out past your nose?

No. I didn't think so.

[Boris]

Is it possible to take off your blinders once in a while when it comes to Obama and actually look out past your nose?

No. I didn't think so.
Would blinders affect your ability to look past your nose? No. I didn't think so. ;)

[boxcar]

Is it possible to take off your blinders once in a while when it comes to Obama and actually look out past your nose?

No. I didn't think so.

How can you see anyone else's blinders when you have yours on 24/7?

Boxcar

[NJ Stinks]

How can you see anyone else's blinders when you have yours on 24/7?

Boxcar

How much common sense does it take to realize that the Arabs are not going to be happy with Obama and us as long as we are in their countries?

This whiz of a writer for the WSJ could have saved himself (and us) a 1000 words of BS and cut to the chase. That he didn't and SMTW bought what he wrote means the WSJ reached their target audience. :jump:

[newtothegame]

NJ....
The problem is NOT that the arabs or middle eastern countries do NOT like us. Hell we all knew that. We knew that before Obama became president.
But, isnt that what all the libs cried...how BUSH hurt our credibility overseas? How no one likes us now? Obama was supposed to change all of that...remember his rhetoric during the campaign? For that matter, you do not need to go back to the campaign...just look at his world tour bashing the USA.
So you have to ask yourself a few questions here which I think get to the heart of the matter...
1. Why the world tour bashing the USA at every opportunity?
Possible answers...either he is trying to gain favor with foriegn countries (which as the article points out is not working) OR he truly despises the USA. I mean how else could a president of THIS country consistently downgrade THIS country? I thought he was president of the AMERICAN people.
2. Is it possible that the people of the U.S who voted for Obama were all dupped by his oratory skills?
Only possible answer in my opinion...YES! Either that or you would have to say if they werent blinded, then this is what they asked for. And I am sorry to say, I can't see much good that he has accomplished versus the negative that he has done to this country both internally and externally.

[andymays]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499404574558300500152682.html

Excerpt:

The laws of gravity, the weight of history and of precedent, have caught up with the Obama presidency. We are beyond stirring speeches. The novelty of the Obama approach, and the Obama persona, has worn off. There is a whole American diplomatic tradition to draw upon—engagements made, wisdom acquired in the course of decades, and, yes, accounts to be settled with rogues and tyrannies. They might yet help this administration find its way out of a labyrinth of its own making.

Mr. Ajami, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, is the author of "The Foreigner's Gift" (Free Press, 2007).

[Dave Schwartz]

One thing that I find amazing about this entire line of thinking is, to quote one response...

I did read the article and it seemed quite anti liberal from the onset.

... and that is precisely how it goes. If you agree with Obama you must be liberal and if you disagree, you must be anti-liberal. (The reverse is, of course, true for Bush agreers and dis-agreers.)

This is where we are: "Oh, you disagreed with Bush. YOU must be a liberal."


Thus, we have become a nation of liberals and conservatives. Or, if you prefer, anti-one-or-the-other.


What happened to being "Americans" first before anything else?

I'll answer my own question: It's gone!

Of course, the liberal (or conservative) will say that they are doing "What's best for the country" and so that makes them American first. It doesn't!

If someone calls themselves an "American First" sort of person, tell me... how often do you strongly disagree with your party's position? And how often do you actually voice that opinion strongly?


Seriously, IMHO, all of what we know as good and right is going away from before our eyes. Our country is going away. We have but a few years left.

God save us! (Of course, to many liberals THAT statement would seem un-American!)


Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[Old Sparky]

One thing that I find amazing about this entire line of thinking is, to quote one response...



... and that is precisely how it goes. If you agree with Obama you must be liberal and if you disagree, you must be anti-liberal. (The reverse is, of course, true for Bush agreers and dis-agreers.)

This is where we are: "Oh, you disagreed with Bush. YOU must be a liberal."


Thus, we have become a nation of liberals and conservatives. Or, if you prefer, anti-one-or-the-other.


What happened to being "Americans" first before anything else?

I'll answer my own question: It's gone!

Of course, the liberal (or conservative) will say that they are doing "What's best for the country" and so that makes them American first. It doesn't!

If someone calls themselves an "American First" sort of person, tell me... how often do you strongly disagree with your party's position? And how often do you actually voice that opinion strongly?


Seriously, IMHO, all of what we know as good and right is going away from before our eyes. Our country is going away. We have but a few years left.

God save us! (Of course, to many liberals THAT statement would seem un-American!)


Regards,
Dave Schwartz
:ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: Very well put. OS

[Tom]

I just love the handle Old Sparky! :ThmbUp: bzzzzzzzzzzzzttttttttt!:eek:

[Old Sparky]

before long most will call me :mad: I have lurked for 8 yrs. I remember suff on tvg I think he was ?????????then alce I think IRAC oS

[skate]

I just dont see why we're all of a sudden concerned what some Arab or Muslim cleric says about Obama. We never gave a damn about their opinion before. Think Ahmadinejad cares what the Pope or some bishop thinks about him?


You've missed the point