http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/germanys-got-a-crush-on-obama/

Quote :

"Germany’s Got a Crush on Obama By Nicholas Kulish BERLIN — Germany has developed a serious case of Obama-mania. Barack Obama’s high standing in Germany goes beyond his opposition to the unpopular war in Iraq. The country’s sudden crush is bound up with near-constant comparisons here between the young senator from Illinois and President John F. Kennedy Jr. – still admired in Germany and particularly in Berlin. The Berliner Morgenpost over the weekend ran with the headline, “The New Kennedy.” The tabloid Bild declared, “This Black American has become the new Kennedy!” And the headline for the editorial in the Frankfurter Rundschau read simply: “Lincoln, Kennedy, Obama.”"

I heard on NPR that in Germany, it's 76% for Obama, 10% for McCain. Forget Kennedy-- he's the next Hasselhof.

Mock it all you want, but this isn't trivial. Our standing in the world would skyrocket. It'd be like GWB never happened.

7/23/2008 3:13:22 PM

Quote :

"But in the German Chancellery a few hundred meters away there is unease with the Illinois senator's cult-like following and skepticism about whether he can live up to the hype. "There is a sort of Obama-mania in Germany right now, but I think a lot of people will have their illusions shattered if he does become president," an official in Chancellor Angela Merkel's office told Reuters, requesting anonymity. "

Imagine that.

BTW, Hasselhof is a joke in the states.

7/23/2008 3:51:11 PM

Germans are going to have about the same impact at the polls this November as I am

7/23/2008 4:04:39 PM

well its a good thing germans can't vote in US elections.

why the fuck does this matter?

Germany also allowed Hitler to come to power.

7/23/2008 4:09:18 PM

Shit, guess I have to vote for Obama now since the Germans think he is the next Kennedy! I hope he isn't, because if he were to be assassinated then we would NEVER hear the end of it.

7/23/2008 4:14:11 PM

Quote :

"Mock it all you want, but this isn't trivial. Our standing in the world would skyrocket."

I guess it's en vogue to piss on other countries these days, though.

7/23/2008 4:39:57 PM

take the specific candidates out of this election and I'll just say that in general we shouldn't base our election on what other countries want too much really imo.

This isnt against Obama or for McCain at all. Im just stating, while I know what you're trying to say, NO ONE should see something like this and want to change their vote if they are voting for someone based on agreeing with their policy.

7/23/2008 4:45:44 PM

Quote :

"take the specific candidates out of this election and I'll just say that in general we shouldn't base our election on what other countries want too much really imo."

nobody is suggesting that we should base our decisions on what other countries want. But if we, as a country, independently made a decision that other countries (our trading partners and military allies, no less) happen to look favorably on, what's the problem?

A lot of people seem to prefer to do things just to piss other countries off. just because we can, because we're the biggest and baddest country in the world. And nobody is suggesting that we run every decision we make by the EU just so they can sign off on it, but jesus - what's so wrong with attempting to improve or restore relations with our friends?

7/23/2008 5:12:33 PM

there is nothing wrong with that and our goal as a nation shouldnt be to piss people off. If the candidate we vote for based on his platform happens to be loved by the world then great! There is NO problem with that and I never said there was.

But at the same time, whether I am voting for Obama or McCain, another country's poll has 0% effect on my vote is all I was saying.

7/23/2008 5:31:48 PM

Quote :

"I guess it's en vogue to piss on other countries these days, though."

lol i thought it was en vogue to piss on the US these days

7/23/2008 5:33:02 PM

Quote :

"Mock it all you want, but this isn't trivial. Our standing in the world would skyrocket. It'd be like GWB never happened."

Don't worry, the United States, even under a President Obama, will figure out a way to either blow up a country we shouldn't have, fail to blow up a country we should have, or some other means of pissing off Europe or any variety of nations all over the globe.

7/23/2008 6:10:49 PM

Europeans also supported Mugabe

7/23/2008 6:32:10 PM

Quote :

"Our standing in the world would skyrocket."

So it takes putting a capitalism-hating marxist in the White House to get the world to love us?

No Thanks.

7/23/2008 10:51:06 PM

Without the US, the rest of the world would have gone to shit a long time ago. I'm so sick of the left always apologizing for America.

7/24/2008 12:13:09 AM

Quote :

"Without the US, the rest of the world would have gone to shit a long time ago. I'm so sick of the left always apologizing for America."

Why don't we now just let it go to shit then, why does the US feel the need to help morons that don't want to be helped? I don't want the US to spend 0.7 Trillion dollars on missile bases in Europe or waste money on bases in anywhere else besides the US. It would save us a ton of money.

7/24/2008 4:27:22 AM

Quote :

"Ich bin ein beginner."

http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/37535AE9-31F2-4537-8C87-C82987FC24C1/

[Edited on July 24, 2008 at 7:38 AM. Reason : .]

7/24/2008 7:37:16 AM

OK sure....the "light weight", naive, inexperienced, black guy with the funny name goes to the Middle East, wows everyone there including their leaders (that in many cases hate each other guts) gets the ball rolling on his policy proposals, navigates unscathed the shark tank that is Israel-Palestine politics, is about to have the biggest rally for a foreigner since the '60s...

Meanwhile the more experienced supposedly expert needs his sycophants on the media to edit his interviews b/c he can't string two words together that make sense, aren't scurrilous (TM Joe Klein) or outright lives.

Uhhh, choices, choices, what a difficult choice.

7/24/2008 9:40:21 AM

That's just liberal media bias, if you were learning the real news instead of the MSM you would know that none of that has happened.

7/24/2008 9:45:08 AM

^^you make it sound like Obama did more with middle eastern leaders than just go over there and take pictures..."navigates unscathed the shark tank that is Israel-Palestine politics"...really?

either way looks like Obama's trip certainly was a good PR move

7/24/2008 9:53:35 AM

^^^ Yeah, Obama's doing a great job--of stepping in one self-made pile after another.

Barack Obama not so sure what Senate committee he's on

Quote :

"The freshman Illinois senator slipped up again Wednesday on his foreign field trip. In a news conference answering a local reporter's question about what he'd done to protect Israel's security, Obama cited a bill 'we passed' just last week tightening sanctions against Iran in the Senate Banking Committee -- 'my committee.' Of course, everyone but Obama knows that isn't Obama's committee. If Obama was the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, he would have been getting preferential loan interest rates from Countrywide Financial like the real banking committee chairman, Sen. Chris Dodd, who has endorsed Obama, who isn't even on that committee. (See the video below.) Some blogs like WakeUpAmerica and HotAir (video hat tip) interpreted Obama's misstatement as intentional attempts to overstate his efforts. That would indeed be shocking in the middle of a political campaign."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/07/obama-gaffe.html

Obama again weighs in on Jerusalem

Quote :

"(CNN) — Barack Obama said Wednesday that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel, though he did not repeat his headline-grabbing June comment that the city should remain 'undivided.'"

Quote :

"After the comment, which drew concern from Palestinian leaders, his campaign spent several days clarifying his position. Earlier this month, Obama told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he had used 'poor phrasing' in a June speech that supported Jerusalem’s status as the undivided capital of Israel. 'You know, the truth is that this was an example where we [We? Did Obama have a mouse in his pocket? ] had some poor phrasing in the speech. And we immediately tried to correct the interpretation that was given,' he said."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/23/obama-again-weighs-in-on-jerusalem/

Barack Obama and the surge -- new, improved answer needed

Quote :

"If Barack Obama's message team draws one lesson from his current foreign jaunt, it almost assuredly should be this: When he finally shares a stage with John McCain, he's got to provide a better answer than he's been offering on whether last year's surge in U.S. troop deployment in Iraq can be considered a success and whether he was wrong to oppose it. He can't concede the latter; the base of the Democratic Party would never stand for it. But he'll need to parry the grilling he can expect on the matter from McCain -- the surge's most notable political advocate -- more deftly than he did when pressed on the subject by CBS' Katie Couric in an interview that aired Tuesday."

Quote :

"And here, courtesy of the National Journal's Hotline political report, is how some commentators reacted to Obama's meandering response: Time magazine's Mark Halperin, on Fox News channel's 'O'Reilly Factor': 'His position doesn't make any sense. ... He thinks it worked, but it wasn't necessarily a good idea.' Politico.com's Mike Allen, on Fox's 'Hannity & Colmes': Obama 'is trying to walk a fine line here. He is taking advantage of or benefiting from the results of the surge that he opposed.' Christian Broadcast Network's David Brody, on CNN's 'Situation Room': 'The squirming by Obama on the surge talk is clearly not good for him or his campaign.' Conservative activist Bill Bennett, also on the 'Situation Room': 'I thought it was odd, kind of intransigent.'"

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/07/barack-obama--2.html

But none of this matters. You, leftists here and elsewhere, and the left-wing media continue to swoon.

[Edited on July 24, 2008 at 10:04 AM. Reason : .]

7/24/2008 10:02:40 AM

Whoa holy shit you mean to tell me conservative activists, Mark Halperin, and a guy from the Christian Broadcast Network are saying bad things about Obama? Whoaoaooaoaooaooaooaoahhhh

You know, on the topic of the surge, it probably is somewhat responsible for the decline in violence. But there are some other things at work, and it's silly to try and deny that. Maliki himself said that the decline in violence can be attributed to progress from the Iraqi security forces, public rejection of Al Qaeda and the militia warfare, and economic stability moreso than the surge. It also helps that many cities were basically ethnically cleansed so there weren't all that many people left to kill. Political pressure could easily have heightened the effects off these things.

Certainly the surge is a component of this, but to say it's the only factor contributing to reduced violence is absurd. You say Obama can't concede that it worked, yet he says:

Quote :

"Couric: "But do you not give the surge any credit for reducing violence in Iraq?" Obama: "No, no ... of course I have. There is no doubt that the extraordinary work of our U.S. forces has contributed to a lessening of the violence. ... So this, in no way, detracts from the great efforts of our young men and women in uniform. In fact, that's one of the most striking things about visiting Iraq is to see how dedicated they are, what a great job they do.""

So he admits it's helped, but he also doesn't see the military as the only way to solve a problem. That maybe there are better options than sending even more troops and money at a time when other internal factors were contributing to a reduction in violence.


Just out of curiosity, what's your take on McCain's comment that the surge caused the Anbar Awakening and allowed the military to prevent Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi from being assassinated?

7/24/2008 10:30:23 AM

Take away Obama's note-cards and teleprompter..and let the real fun begin!

7/24/2008 10:33:44 AM

Wow. His missteps have been so profound that they're reverberated all across a small portion of the right-wing blogosphere

7/24/2008 10:37:02 AM

Speaking of Halperin..

7/24/2008 10:45:46 AM

Quote :

"In a news conference answering a local reporter's question about what he'd done to protect Israel's security, Obama cited a bill 'we passed' just last week tightening sanctions against Iran in the Senate Banking Committee -- 'my committee.'"

Are. you. fucking. kidding me? he uses the collective "we", and the LA Times writes an editorial about it?

Hey, how's this:
"When I was at NC State, we beat Florida State in Football 3 times. My school is the best"

OMG - what a gaff! I wasn't on the NCSU football team, nor am I the chancellor of the school! Someone write the N&O!

7/24/2008 10:50:05 AM

Quote :

"When I was at NC State, we beat Florida State in Football 3 times. My school is the best"

the accurate analogy would be "When I was at NC State, we (UNC) beat Duke in Football 3 times. My school is the best

since IT WASN'T HIS COMMITTEE

He's not claiming to be chancellor or to play on the football team...he's claiming he went to a different school (per your analogy)

7/24/2008 10:57:21 AM

alright, i see.
do you accept this as a reasonable explanation then:

Quote :

"UPDATE: An Obama spokesman tells CNN “it was his bill, not his committee,” referring to the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act that the Illinois senator sponsored and introduced in May 2007."

it was, in fact, "his bill" that was passed, even if he wasn't on the committee that passed it.
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/press0515072.shtml

7/24/2008 11:05:01 AM

thats better...he's gotta watch what he says though...does he think every single word he (or McCain) says in public isn't going to be scrutinized with a fine toothed comb?

7/24/2008 11:06:58 AM

Meanwhile check out how McCain has productively used his week! Does he even know where he is half the time?






[Edited on July 24, 2008 at 11:27 AM. Reason : 123]

7/24/2008 11:25:10 AM

Finally a president that doesn't creep out female foreign leaders!

7/24/2008 11:38:09 AM

Quote :

"So it takes putting a capitalism-hating marxist in the White House to get the world to love us? No Thanks."

well, we know that having a fascist in office didnt work so

7/24/2008 11:53:04 AM

^^Where's his other hand

7/24/2008 11:56:23 AM

Giving her a back rub.

The kind of back rub only a smoove operator can give. The kind of back rub that even foreign leaders appreciate.

The kind of back rub Obama can give, but McCain can't.

7/24/2008 12:17:33 PM

his other hand is reaching under her dress to cut off her nuts

7/24/2008 12:40:50 PM

no, his other hand is writing a speech "disowning" the handshake.

7/24/2008 1:16:16 PM

LOL, how many press conferences has Obama had just in the past month "clarifying the meaning" of another press conference just a day or 2 before?

The man is very good at spinning his message. He's gotta be careful though or people will start to view him like "slick Willie", a guy who thought he could talk his way out of any situation.

[Edited on July 24, 2008 at 1:25 PM. Reason : 2]

7/24/2008 1:23:05 PM

you werent supposed to notice.

I love his talk to the jews. "let me be clear, Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."

I cant remember if he "mispoke" or said it was "a poor choice of words", after the muslims got pissed.

7/24/2008 1:27:36 PM

This speech is fantastic.

7/24/2008 1:31:27 PM

Im at work, so most repubs wont hear it.

Im sure it is good. He is a great speaker esp when given a script.

7/24/2008 1:35:16 PM

Hahah, he's telling the Germans where to stick their distaste for America.

And they still love him

[Edited on July 24, 2008 at 1:35 PM. Reason : .]

7/24/2008 1:35:21 PM

Has he said, "Ich bin ein Berliner" yet?

7/24/2008 1:42:24 PM

lol i cant wait til mccain wins...the rest of the world is gonna be like omgruserious

7/24/2008 1:44:10 PM

Ich bin ein Bad Motherfucker.

7/24/2008 1:44:49 PM

I agree boone. He is pretty bad

7/24/2008 1:46:33 PM

well they fell for hitlers bullshit too

7/24/2008 1:49:37 PM

He just healed the rift between us and Europe.

HE JUST DID THAT.

7/24/2008 1:51:04 PM

^boone, no offense, but it worries my you teach children.

He just healed the rift between us and europe? geez.

7/24/2008 1:55:51 PM

^ it worries me that you've made it this far in life with no sense of satire, irony, or humor

7/24/2008 1:57:43 PM

I might be exaggerating just a weeee bit

But I won't be exaggerating when I fail my kids for not swearing allegiance to the Communist Party of America.

7/24/2008 1:58:08 PM

Quote :

"But I won't be exaggerating when I fail my kids for not swearing allegiance to the Communist Party of America. "

see what i mean.

7/24/2008 1:59:40 PM