Obama’s speech on Afghanistan reminded me of Churchill in one sense – it was dead.
One didn’t have to be a cadet on Tuesday to feel a bit of nausea upon hearing Obama’s speech. It was the least truthful address that he has ever held. He spoke of responsibility, but almost every sentence smelled of party tactics. He demanded sacrifice, but he was unable to say what it was for exactly.
An additional 30,000 US soldiers are to march into Afghanistan — and then they will march right back out again. America is going to war — and from there it will continue ahead to peace. It was the speech of a Nobel War Prize laureate.
Of course, nothing cheers a US military audience more than invoking Vietnam. “This won’t be like the last time your elected leaders forced defeat down the throat of victory.”
After so many prime time speeches, it’s hard to watch Obama without tuning out to play the “left-right game”. It’s pretty simple, just predict what direction the Presidential metronome will look next. “Look left … look right … look left… look right.” Try it – you’ll be right 95% of the time.
Last night, he was playing it, too.
(second link fixed)
Update – Donald Rumsfeld comes out swinging;
In his speech to the nation last night, President Obama claimed that ‘Commanders in Afghanistan repeatedly asked for support to deal with the reemergence of the Taliban, but these reinforcements did not arrive.’ Such a bald misstatement, at least as it pertains to the period I served as Secretary of Defense, deserves a response.”
“I am not aware of a single request of that nature between 2001 and 2006. If any such requests occurred, ‘repeated’ or not, the White House should promptly make them public. The President’s assertion does a disservice to the truth and, in particular, to the thousands of men and women in uniform who have fought, served and sacrificed in Afghanistan.”
“In the interest of better understanding the President’s announcement last night, I suggest that the Congress review the President’s assertion in the forthcoming debate and determine exactly what requests were made, who made them, and where and why in the chain of command they were denied.”
Obama is getting very tiresome. His speech cadence, his mannerisms, all of his vocal for emphasis is completely predictable. Exactly as you would expect from a completely empty suit.
Obama is spiralling into the dirt. The guy is a disaster.
The Scene: A comfy cave somewhere in Talibanistan
Taliban Terrorist #1:
So Babboo, did you catch Obama’s speech last night?
Taliban Terrorist #2
Yes, Badda Bing, I did. The satellite coverage worked out well. I put “Little Mosque on the Prairie” on the PVR just in case there was an enthusiastic reception, but the broadcast ended before my favorite show started.
Taliban Terrorist #1
So Babboo, what do you think, what should we do?
Taliban Terrorist #2
Well Badda Bing, it is simple and obvious. This President gives good speeches but he is spineless and can be easily rolled. Since these troops are just political icing and will only be available for 18 months, I think it is time to give all our troops long leave passes and tell them to come back when Obama calls everyone home and claims victory.
Our troops will be well rested, we can stock up on lots of ammunition and be ready.
Taliban Terrorist #1
Good Plan Babboo, good plan. Much better than Obamasiah’s smoke & mirrors.
It was pretty funny watching him switch from prompter to prompter in a halfwitted attempt to engage the audience more. I guess he can’t get his chin high enough when looking straight ahead.
That Churchill comment is pretty funny!
An acquaintance of mine, about six months after Obama was elected, remarked that The Big Owe was going to be assassinated. My reply was simple:
“No one needs to do that. Obama’s slowly committing suicide — everytime he opens his mouth.”
I believe I now detect a slight speed increase in the seppuku.
Garth
“This won’t be like the last time your elected leaders forced defeat down the throat of victory.”
That’s true.
Afghanistan isn’t on the verge of being a victory like Vietnam was.
Obama is looking a lot like Nixon in that AFP picture at Spiegel, so he has that anyway.
*
what’s this rumour about more troops? i
guess ctv must have missed that bit.
*
The German media, doing the job that America’s won’t do. With no Commander in Chief, we should bring the troops home and keep them out of harms way until we have one. Has there ever been a person more politically shallow and unfit for office than Obama?
http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/jackspratsphotobucket/missmeyetgeorgebush.jpg
2011 … 19 months … hmmmm.
Sounds more like the Harper and Canadian Parliament plan to me.
Taliban … happy.
Afghan peasants … preparing for the return of barbarism.
Soldiers … “and I’m supposed to die for this?”
Anyone notice a number of the cadets nodding off during his “speech”? So much for firing up the troops. It’s like watching the ump at a tennis match.
Did anyone else notice that brief moment when the camera panned to the cadets in the audience and captured one young blonde woman struggling not to nod off?
And what is with the Mussolini-style up-tilt to Obama’s chin when he speaks?
Is the Narcissist-in-Chief ever out of campaign mode?
What kind of MORON tips his hand like that. The _correct_ thing to say is we’re sending “another couple of divisions” -Vague- and they are going stay until we win, and THEN define what win means ( wiuth lots of wiggle room if necessary)
ALSO, the US is fighting a war where the enemy can retreat and recruit in Pakistan, until THAT problem is (can be?) solved this war will go on and on.
Afghanistan has been badly managed.
I gather Gen. Stanley has made himself “McChrystal” clear.
You can “Have it your way” with ‘Burka King’.
Too bad it’s not just a fast food restaurant war.
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Even stocking the West Point audience with sycophants didn’t get Obama a warm reception.
http://thehostages.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/hellcouple1.jpg
When reality meets the socialist transnational ideal, you get what you saw in Obama.
An intellectual pretzel with no conviction.
JMD: O’s upturned chin is a result of his teleprompters line of sight being too high…according to a recent story link about the teleprompter industry on this very blog.
They had advised lowering the eye-line so that he didn’t look arrogant.
True Paul, PMSH nailed it.
wrt the speech:
First, I agree with his policy moving forward regardless of what he said. The Americans will be forced to adjust plans as time moves forward. The 18 month deadline is simply window dressing to appease his base. It can not be reasonably predicted at this time if such plans are reasonable or accomplishable.
On the critical side, I disagree that “great power conflicts and clear lines of division” have been relegated to the past, and are not a concern in the 21 century. It appears the “lines” are being drawn as we speak.
Hoil,
This is true, but I think it is inentional, since it allows for those “stirring photos that are straight from busts of Alexander the great and ceaser, 2/3 to 3/4 head turn slightly uplifted.
It is an iconic image used by many.
Oh the grand old Duke of York
He had 10 thousand men
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again
I think that the reason Obama’s speech was wooden was that Obama is psychologically unable to interest himself in anything that is not directly linked to Him.
Remember, he’s a malignant narcissist; that means that his ‘psyche’ operates only when it is actively engaged in making Other People controllable by Him. The result of this control must be submission and adulation. That’s all that Obama can do. Manipulate people to submit to him.
For Obama, anything that is not directly controllable by him, literally has no existence. No reality. If he can’t control you, he’ll drop you, push you under the bus.
Therefore Iran has no reality for him because he can’t control it AND its issues don’t relate to submission and adoration of Obama. Same with Israel-Palestine. Same with Asia. Same with Honduras.
It isn’t merely that Obama is historically ignorant and shallow; it’s that he is unable to deal with anything in the world that is not directly submissive to him.
Afghanistan has no reality for Obama. Since it and its people aren’t potentially adoring submissives, then, they have no existence in Obama’s psyche.
Therefore his ‘decision’ won’t be based on military analysis but on a political agenda. His political agenda. He’s seeking the vote of the independents and right, which he has lost this past year, with the 30,000 troops. He’s seeking to retain the left with his time line of moving out, just before the 2012 elections.
There’s nothing more to Obama than his narcissism and ignorance.
Those West Point cadets are just the kind of people that, if a Second American Revolution is necessary, would be needed as leaders to take back the nation from communists like Obama.
O’mocked. “CRAZY”.
…-
“Michael Moore mocks Obama for setting a deadline. Calls it crazy talk.
Michael Moore: I can understand why Republicans and some of the people on the right, lol, are like, ‘What are you doing setting a deadline?’. It’s like CRAZY. If they’re truly the enemy, you don’t say, ‘Okay, we’re going to fight you until 2:00 on ummm (looks at watch), on July 2, 2011. I mean it’s like, if they are the enemy, you fight them until they’re done. Until you win, and they lose. And that’s not what he said. He just provided more fodder for his opponents by giving a deadline.
Larry KIng: Right
Michael Moore: If somebody is trying to kill you, if that’s his case, that people in Afganistan are trying to kill us, then how can you set a deadline? The deadline is maybe a week from now or maybe it’s 10 years from now, but it’s going to be, ‘We’re going to stop you from killing us”.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398420/posts
maz2: So, what would Moore think of Canada’s stand? We’ve given a best-before date for our mission.
The stamp on the Canadian tin is 2011.
Sorry but I can’t watch the metronome. I refuse to be hypnotized into believing any of the bunk Owebama proclaims. Good thing I’m not a West Point Cadet I would have been AWOL!
[quote]JMD: O’s upturned chin is a result of his teleprompters line of sight being too high…according to a recent story link about the teleprompter industry on this very blog.[/quote]Hoil
The invention of the Teleprompter was to provide the “illusion” that a Newscaster was looking the audience in the eye (truth & authority). The Prompter was mounted directly in front of the Camera Lens and the Script was displayed & read.
The Teleprompter makes hair-balls into stars.. hence the term NEWS READERS
The camera angle follows a differant set of production values, but with free standing Prompters you will get those undesirable results
BTW: It looked like Obama’s Teleprompter was providing him thinking Options.. a new illusion..feed back from polling????
Loved the Production PL mix (Producers voice) “what happened to the opening”
Interesting considering that Spiegel is a left-wing rag.
graphic of US troop deployment over the years, from your link……
http://www.heritage.org/research/nationalsecurity/upload/97649_1.gif
I watched for about ten minutes. One too many ‘pok-istan and tally-bon’ for me. Impeach the incompetant S.O.B.
“Extremists kill in the name of Islam, he said, before adding that it is one of the “world’s great religions.”
All politicians say Islam is a “great religion”, no matter which Party they represent.No big deal.
I watched the entire thing on CNN,and by the end of the telecast was completely pissed off at the commentators and their “experts”!
WHY?
Because they went over and over a map of Afghanistan,showing all the Provinces and flags showing which NATO Countries were in each area,BUT though they mentioned the U.S.,Britain and Australia and a couple of other NATO allies, they never mentioned Canada once,even though the Canadian flag was right there on Kandahar Province. Their chief “expert” was either Aussiie or British,not sure from his accent, but even he never acknowledged Canada,with our flag right there in front of him.
CNN apparently has no idea Canadian troops are fighting valiantly in one of the most dangerous Provinces of Afghanistan!
I’ll end my comments now,before I lapse into foul language concerning CNN and it’s band of idiots.
puddin: Thanks, that was a very revealing graph. What the grand commander is facing is small change compared to other campaigns. But the Freedom of the Western Christian World may depend on the outcome. I much would have preferred to hear something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utv9rCHlpkM , or at lease a few borrowed words of resolve from some of those speeches given so long ago in a much darker time.
Of all proofs of the utter ineffectuality of the modern Right none is so delectable as its attempt to make something out of Obama’s use of a teleprompter.
As though every other modern president hasn’t used them. check out Bush’s old speeches and notice how he shifts his gaze from prompter, left right, centre….
But keep trying guys! Eventually you’ll find something to hang on him. In the meantime, the comedy you provide is priceless!
Paul at 1:26 – the Globe and Mail yesterday mentioned that Obama was phoning allies, but Canada (Harper) only merited a call from Joe Biden.
This gets back to the narcissist thing – the feeling of not caring about the friends and allies you have, thinking they will always love you – coupled with the desire to always attract new friends and allies.
bleet
Mom still thinks you’re out looking for a job I see.
Bleet,
You would have a point if it were not for the distinction made about Obama being so very intelligent and articulate, the second coming of Cicero. Turns out he’s just like Bush, you say?
Bleet, sshhh, adults talking.
The days of Obama moving people through his gift of televised oration are coming to an unceremonious end. People see that all he can do is talk. He should have made his move on Afghanistan before. He should stop blaming the previous administration for his current problems. Every president has inherited the successes and failures of presidents past (Truman inherited the Secnd World War from Roosevelt). He must deal with them. He’s had since January. He’s an adult, for crying out loud. He should man up, stop blubbing and do something contructive.
Sorry- had to get it off my chest.
Kate – both links go to the same Spiegel Online page.
Kate – both links go to the same Spiegel Online page.
There is a world of difference between Canada’s projected 2011 pullout and the TOTUS declaration of a 2011 exit.
Canada’s was mandated by the fractious Parliament…tying the governments hands.
It distresses me to have to agree with Moore but he is correct.
Imagine if Canada had set a Christmas 1944 deadline before D-day…..
Of all parroted talking points of the utter pseudo-intellectuality of the obtuse Left, none is so delectable as its attempt to make nothing out of Obama’s abject dependence on teleprompters after endlessly preening about what a great speaker he is when in reality Obama sounds like a retard without one.
Kinyobe – right, it isn’t simply the teleprompter usage that is a problem with Obama. It’s that without that teleprompter, there is nothing there.
If asked a question without the teleprompter, Obama can’t answer it; it’s all ‘uhs’ and ‘ahs’ and vague comments, misinformation, ambiguous and empty sidesteps that reveal both his ignorance of the issues and above all, his inability to THINK about these issues.
Obama’s ‘mind’ (in quotes) seems to freeze when faced with any situation that has nothing directly to do with Him. He’s like a deer in the headlights; he can’t think or act when confronted with the glaring lights of a real situation.
Obama lives in a virtual world of his own narcissistic construction; he can’t deal with reality.
Notice how, when faced with reality, he so frequently comes up with impossible Alice-In-Wonderland answers of contrary solutions or solutions that last for all of one day and are then changed the next.
Health care? Public option: one day it’s yes; the next day it’s no. And this is from Obama not Congress.
Guantanamo? One day it’s absolutely closed; the next day it’s a public trial of Bush/Cheney in New York.
Terrorism? Doesn’t exist; they are all called ‘insurgents’ now. War? Nope: it’s an ‘oveeerseas contingency operation’.
Ft. Hood? ‘Don’t rush to judgment’ …and let’s have a ‘shout out’ before we do.
Afghanistan? One day it’s necessary; then it’s ‘overseas contingency’ and the next day it’s ‘Bush’s War’. His solution: send in 2/3 of the request but set a ‘best before date’ of withdrawal.
This label informs the Taliban that their role in this whole thing is quite clear: all they have to do is sit in their caves, and be very very quiet, for 18 months until Obama wins the 2012 election…and then, after Obama’s re-election, they can drop the peacenik role and take over Afghanistan.
Obama acts towards the world as if it were some kind of board game, World Monopoly or such. And his agenda is focused only on Himself.
The Taliban know more about tactical warfare than they’re given credit for. They won’t sit quietly, waiting for The US troops to leave.
As a fighter, turned coach, I can tell you how to deal with an opponent with a known limit to his endurance. You can’t hold back, and wait for him to tire. You attack, immediately, and try to finish him before time expires. Expect a surge in Taliban activity to coincide with the American troop surge.
If they were to hold back, they’d run the risk of losing the decision. Obama could claim victory, just in time for a highly publicized pullout. The Taliban resurgence could be written off as rear action. Obama could blame Taliban resurgence on the international community.
I can’t see 30,000 more troops making much difference to the end result. Look at the beating they’ve already handed the Taliban. They should be dead and buried, but they’re actually picking up steam. Obama will be stuck with 2 options, pull out prematurely, or keep piling on more troops. This war will destroy any administration it touches. That’s probably why Bush tried to ignore it. His grasp of history was better than his detractors realize.
No worries, dp.
The Taliban won’t hold back.
The Taliban is going to be running Afghanistan again just as soon as the last ISAF soldier leaves.
They’re going to claim they have the right to run Afghanistan based on the fact that they ran the foreign infidel invaders out.
In 5 years it’ll be as if we were never there.
All we’ll have to show for it in Canada is our 1st historic war loss and some monuments to the dead.
As I’ve always said, we can’t win a War of Attrition against a population of goatherds half our median age, and three times our reproductive strength when our government changes every 4 years and our population is riveted to the boob tube.
When this nightmare is all over, maybe Barack can take Oprah’s place on the talk show circut.
Or as host on the Price is Right.
Seriously, he’s is way over his head and the US public is waking up to it.
Hopefully before it is too late.
wrt Rumsfeld
It goes without saying now that any speech from President Obama will contain mistruths(wouldn’t want to call someone a liar) and the delegation of blame towards the last administration. For the sake of future discussions on POTUS’s speechs, my disdain for this is on the record and doesn’t need to be repeated again and again and again and …
I guess what I’m saying is, someone wake me when POTUS has a speech that doesn’t blame Bush or contain misinformation.
Kate, would you please post the link for Rumsfeld’s response? Thanks.
When this nightmare is over 0bama will be hung from the highest yardarm for treason and usurping the office of the president. I hope he looks just like sadam did!!!
And now, for extra points, can you predict deployment of the “scholarly” finger-pinch gesture?
The Zero knows nothing about 99% of what he yammers about, and he lies 100% of the time. His advisors write everything for him phonetically.
I thought I heard somebody call Obama and adult…!
Please be more discerning…. calling Obama and adult is a disservice to children.