tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post3270498734803037031..comments2024-03-16T09:11:27.097-04:00Comments on GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD: Redefine GreatGrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09760252542953109449noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post-9480937265717058492008-11-30T18:36:00.000-05:002008-11-30T18:36:00.000-05:00The problem, Karen, is that people have to trust u...The problem, Karen, is that people have to trust us for America to do that. And that is the problem America is having today. <BR/><BR/>If we wave that big stick around like we are going to get whatever we want or else, people will not trust us.<BR/><BR/>That is why Obama has been so popular in international circles. Because people trust him better to not wave that stick around so gratuitously.<BR/><BR/>We have the stick. People know that. We don't have to go around waving it in peoples' faces all the time. And doing so has had consequences, whether those who advocate it want to take responsibility for that fact or not.<BR/><BR/>If we want people to trust our leadership, we have to stop threatening to beat everyone with our stick. <BR/><BR/>If we don't, we deal with the consequences, no matter how much we try to explain them away.<BR/><BR/>It's actually really straightforward, when we're not making excuses for our failures.<BR/><BR/>Our stick is useful often. It is not useful always. And waving it around in peoples' faces - just as you would expect waving around a stick, literally, in peoples' faces - does not win us confidence, either internationally or in the U.S. <BR/><BR/>It, paradoxically, undermines our moral clarity - because noone is listening, they're just pissed about the stick - and it undermines peoples' trust in our leadership.<BR/><BR/>If we want that to change, we have got to stop waving around our stick, so to speak.<BR/><BR/>Strong men and women don't need to piss all over their neighbor's yard to prove how strong they are. They need to use their sticks when they are necessary and effective. But they need to avoid using it as much as possible because when abusing the use of that stick has consequences.<BR/><BR/>We are experiencing them, right now, whether we like it or not and whether we want to own up for that or not.<BR/><BR/>We continue down that path, we will lose peoples' confidence and their support for our using the stick, at all, if we can't learn that lesson.<BR/><BR/>That is why people like Obama, internationally. They think he has learned that lesson, better. On some issues, like international security, he has. On others - the economy and the environment, for instance - he has not, and will deal with his own consequences on the matter.<BR/><BR/>If Republicans want a strong challenge to Mr. Obama in 2012, they have got to learn this lesson, too, and offer a candidate who can challenge a President Obama with his own weaknesses on this count.<BR/><BR/>If they do not, look forward to 8 years of saying, "President Obama."<BR/><BR/>I, personally, would just rather have a better President.Ben Sutherlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14193389264010365448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post-33419070217762046542008-11-23T21:27:00.000-05:002008-11-23T21:27:00.000-05:00Someone has to lead. I choose us, the U.S.Someone has to lead. I choose us, the U.S.Karen Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12692791436106987353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post-54964301923577876912008-11-22T19:13:00.000-05:002008-11-22T19:13:00.000-05:00We tried isolationism in the 1920's and 30's and a...We tried isolationism in the 1920's and 30's and all it got us was Pearl Harbor. We should have learned our lesson from that. We cannot go back, we are the only Super Power in the world and must maintain a strong military.Findalishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02881549378886491540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post-78066737141639626572008-11-22T14:12:00.000-05:002008-11-22T14:12:00.000-05:00Obama's strategic retreat,oops retrenchment will i...Obama's strategic retreat,oops retrenchment will involve the formal loosening of Iraq to Iranian-orientation, and negotiating with rather than attacking Iran, (ask Bolton). Let's hope he extricates the Empire from Afghanistan too before wasting more resources in unwinnable wars. I wonder also if the "New Era" concedes Hezbollah's gains in Lebanon under Bush, "coddles" Syria from necessity, and forces Israel closer to 1967 borders, again, from necessity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post-68921243155003576332008-11-22T12:18:00.000-05:002008-11-22T12:18:00.000-05:00Courtney: The U.S. will face a period of strategic...Courtney: The U.S. will face a period of strategic retrenchment, but Barack Obama has thankfully adopted a much more centrist tone than his radical left supporters, and HRC at State won't be too bad, if she gets the gig.AmPowerBloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18236333181889271910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post-29805247457787997512008-11-22T03:26:00.000-05:002008-11-22T03:26:00.000-05:00It doesn't surprise me this guy was ambassador...It doesn't surprise me this guy was ambassador to Bulgaria. When was the last time Bulgaria took military action against anyone? Aside from that little tiff with Germany and then the Soviet Union? Of course, if he were ambassador THEN, all that unpleasantness would have been avoided, or at least greatly minimized. Virtually no one was killed during the Anshluss with Germany, and it could be argued that Chekeslovakia benefitted in the end.<BR/><BR/>Less diplomacy, more history.<BR/><BR/><><jim.carrollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01658038083336924974noreply@blogger.com