Barack Obama–Why Iran but Not Hamas? [Updated]
By Larry Johnson on May 20, 2008 at 10:38 PM in Barack Obama, Current Affairs, Hamas, Iran, Iraq
Barack Obama, why do you insist on talking without pre-conditions to a nation that has attacked us while insisting on pre-conditions before talking to an elected terrorist group that has not directly attacked the United States? I am inclined to say this does not make sense, but then I ask: Who’s your daddy? Political daddy that is. Could it be former President, James Earl Carter? I think, yes. And for those of us old enough to remember, this is a bad thing. Unless you are at least forty three years old, you probably have no significant memory of the disaster that was the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Folks younger than forty only know Jimmy Carter as the avuncular, Habitat for Humanity guy. How can you not like a wrinkled old man wielding a hammer and wearing a nail apron who is spending his dotage building homes of the poor? Easy, just turn back the pages of history and recall his legacy:
Runaway inflation,
Dismantling the CIA,
the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Iran taking Americans hostage
Gas lines
So why do I say Barack is acting like a 21st Century Jimmy Carter, only not as bright?
Look at his contortions on Iran and Hamas. Ignore for a moment last week’s gaffe in which Barack claimed the reason we are having trouble in Pashto-speaking Afghanistan is because our Arabic translators are tied up in Iraq. Let’s ignore the fact that the Afghans don’t speak Arabic. Check out Barack’s contradictory positions on Iran. Speaking in Billings, Montana Barack said:
“Iran is a grave threat. It has an illicit nuclear program. It supports terrorism across the region and militias in Iraq. It threatens Israel’s existence. It denies the Holocaust,” he said. “The reason Iran is so much more powerful than it was a few years ago is because of the Bush-McCain policy of fighting in Iraq and refusing to pursue direct diplomacy with Iran. They’re the ones who have not dealt with Iran wisely.”
But later that same day, before an audience in Portland, Barack said that Iran, among others, was not a serious threat:
We can solve all problems if we just talk to these folks. But here’s the problem for Barack. He wants to convince voters that he is proposing basic diplomacy–you know, just like Reagan talking to Gorbachev–when, in fact, he is proposing the exact opposite. No President since World War II has proposed unconditional negotiations with any of our enemies. But that is exactly what Barack is proposing with respect to Iran. Accoring to the New York Times:
Making clear that he planned to talk to Iran without preconditions, Mr. Obama emphasized further that “changes in behavior” by Iran could possibly be rewarded with membership in the World Trade Organization, other economic benefits and security guarantees. . . .Senator Barack Obama said he would “engage in aggressive personal diplomacy” with Iran if elected president, and would offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek “regime change” if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues.
Barack does not understand that in dealing with Iran we must make clear that there are fundamental principles we will not compromise.
So perhaps Barack Obama could explain why he insists on pre-conditions for talks with Hamas–an elected entity that has not carried out significant terrorist attacks against the United States–but not Iran, who has conducted more terrorist attacks against the United States than any country or entity in the world? In fact, one could argue that Iran’s support for groups like Hamas (and even more for Hezbollah) would make Hamas but a proxy for Iran. So Barack, depending on his physical location, believe that Iran is and is not a grave threat. He believes that we should talk to Iran without pre-conditions but should not talk to the terrorist group funded by Iran unless they meet certain conditions. Confused? You bet.
Democrats get ready. Barack Obama is Jimmy Carter without the brains. Jimmy Carter was a nuclear scientist. But his failure to confront the threat of Islamic extremism in Iran opened the door for the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeni. This in turn sent shivers through the oil markets. The price of oil went up. Supplies dipped. And Americans were introduced to gas lines. And Carter’s solution? He donned a cardigan sweater and asked Americans to turn down their thermostats to 68 degrees as preliminary steps for confronting the energy crisis. Despite his training as a nuclear scientist, Jimmy Carter was generally perceived as a naive bonehead. He was genuinely surprised when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in late 1979. His policies of placating the Soviets blew up in his face and ultimately put this nation in peril. The election of Jimmy Carter was in part a reaction to the corruption of the Republicans during Watergate. The subsequent defeat of Jimmy Carter was a reaction to his weak and feckless policies.
But Jimmy does not get all of the blame. No sir. He had a foreign policy guru–Zbigniew Breszinski. Funny thing. Guess who also is advising Barack Obama? Yep, Zbig is back. And Barack reportedly is taking some cues from him.
There is nothing wrong negotiating with rogue states and actors. But there is something very wrong and very foolish about agreeing to negotiate without preconditions. On this particular issue Barack is clearly not ready for prime time.
UPDATED–Some of you are skimming rather than reading. I do not blame Jimmy for the Soviet invasion. However, it happened on his watch and is part of his legacy. Moreover, Carter was wringing his hands and expressing surprise that the nasty old Commies would do such a thing. For those of us who were following events at the time, this simply reinforced the image of Carter as weak and feckless. That’s the point.
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Barack needs an internship, not the Presidency.
The Presidency of the United States is not an entry level job.
Hang tough, Hillary!
Not good enough for an internship, either. You need top-notch people to even bother with.
This is amazingly bad: who the hell was paying no attention while Axelrod used the Middle East to fund a bumbling candidate and then used tactics centered on calling everyone who disagreed a racist?? Including Bill Clinton, for heaven’s sake – that was my eye-opener. Almost anyone but Bill Clinton. I think the answer to who was paying no attention was maybe all of us. It wasn’t until Feb 08 that I realized how dangerous O is – not just to us but to the whole world.
I thank you deeply, Larry, for running this website and keeping this commentary sharp but civil, enlightening but blunt. It is one of the things that has kept us sane the last few months. We might have avoided the trainwreck known as John Kerry if you had been around with a website.
I so very much thank you.
What a load of revisionist crap!
And I am not even an Obama supporter……yet?
Scud-
You lying sack of shit! You claimed you were a super delegate for Oblowme over 2 months ago.
Either you already forgot that you’ve used the same jackass name here before or you’re just plain delusional like Oblowme.
Carter was so worthless as a President that I stopped eating peanuts. I still have a “Fuck Iran” button from when the pricks took American hostages.
Go to your fantasy convention with your poster of Oblowme in your closet and stay the hell away from here.
Hey folks!!! Now we know who Kevin, Hey Guys et all is! The same damn idiot with such a long list of fake names that it can’t keep them straight!!
WOW …
All of those names and none of them ever used the “smart” supporter pose ???? Who would have thought of that tactic ….
You know of course that now that you have outed him he will become “enraged” and tell you that his wife is off limits? Or maybe, in Kevin’s case, his MOM?
hahahahahahaha
It is like watching a trainwreck in slo-mo
This blog? I agree. It’s come down to rewriting history to trash a great man and a good President like Jimmy Carter, all in the name of smearing the Democratic frontrunner. I keep checking to see if I mistyped the URL and stumbled onto a WorldNetDaily mirror.
Your ignorance is mind boggling. If you represent the majority of Obama supporters and their intellectual capabilities, you deserve every bit of his idiocy. For once try looking at yourself in the mirror — try some critical thinking and individual responsibility. If you are incapable of doing that, don’t bother coming back here — nobody gives a damn what YOU think.
She’s a Wizard!
“a good President like Jimmy Carter” ??????? Wow! First let me say that I agree that Pres. Carter is a good man (despite some recent poor decisions). However, there is no way to describe his presidency as anything but a miserable failure. Larry mentions many of the problems, though he misses High Unemployment and many others. I’m sorry but he was a failure, an honest, noble failure but a failure nonetheless.
Granted, Carter was surprised by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but given it finally BROKE the back of the Eastern Block, or at least pushed it into transition, was it bad, in the greater scheme, for the US?
Well all things being relative…Before the collapse of the Soviet Union the present instability was unfathomable…No ?
I am not a proponent of the old order…just an observer…
But if the order were to break no matter what, and it would, the economy of the USSR wouldn’t sustain, how would, or could, the US handle it?
It almost has to be proactive, doesn’t it?
If, for instance, terrorism, and those loose nukes and mob ties were to go no matter what, how best to contain it?
Very frightening for people to think about, no one wants their fantasy of a safe world interrupted, and simple military might isn’t enough.
I said the other day people were unaware how great NASA was in insuring only a few died in space, the rigor of their work, I guess the same can be said for US intelligence, keeping this country, the world, safe, despite all the VERY REAL threats.
Threats an Obama or a McCain aren’t prepared to handle.
Cheney thinks if you just bomb it will be OK, doesnt work that way, it’s what the enemy wants.
This is one example of an EMPIRICAL CONUNDRUM…a concept Americans are both uncomfortable with and have no real cutural affliation with…Mostly empires are excellent at one thing… stability until they choose to expand….
But expansion is (usually) always for greed, and that doesn’t work.
So you have to figure out different ways to maintain power, you can’t think, or behave selfishly, you want win win…
(The US functions as a stabilizer, before anyone goes off on Yankee imperialism, which never excuses bad acts but we are ALL better off with a politically healthy US)
Expansion happens for many reasons as history shows.
For instance China would regularly expand due to an inability to feed it’s own…Hence khan and the boys…
The Hun is due to an occasional fight of reason coupled with unrealistic expectations of grandure…The Spanish a zeal for conquest coupled with Jesus…
It is no always about Money…But it is always about Power.
This is what the Romans and the British understood so well….They were each the most successful Empires in the West….A lot of this that we are dealing with now is a result of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire…
EMPIRES = STABILITY = BRUTAL ENFORCEMENT OF THE SOCIAL ORDER….
Americans are seen by many in Europe and other empirical countries as hopeless idealists…with too many guns….if you get my drift….we are loose cannons…
Well, perception, as you said…
I don’t really blame him for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But the collapse of the economy and his incompetent response to the Iran hostage crisis are the defining aspects of his presidency.
The Soviet Union was already internally crumbling and would have eventually fell under its own weight anyway. Afghanistan may have hastened the fall some what, but that is all. Reagan’s policy against the Soviet Union was also not the sole or even key to it’s disintegration. The disintegration of the Soviet Union was more complex.
Given that information, how then does terrorism function, given the US helped “give rise” to it?
Interesting, thanks.
(It is a de facto political system, I see it as such).
Essentially it is tribal warfare…The Jihad of AlQueda seeks to unite the tribes….He is recruiting fighters but has yet to convince tribal chieftains…Fighting for Allah is good and all but can I feed the village…and by the way Whose Allah are we fighting for…and does this mean those that are not our inda muslims….etc….God Forbid these freaks get their own George Washington…or Wellington…Or Napoleon…
Are they actually terrorists, or are they just being “good Muslims”? They are following Islam very acurately, fundamentally. While I certainly don’t agree with their methods, and have my own ideas what should be done with them, I believe labeling them terrorists is oversimplifying. Political Islam has been on the march for 1400 years, and it’s gaining momentum.
A big target like the U.S. will have to be taken down from the inside, bottom up. The few “flowery” snippets of the Koran, Hadith and Sura that are presented as proof of Islam’s peaceful nature are strictly propaganda. How the U.S. intends to win the “war on terror” without reading and comprehending Islam’s ideology is beyond me.
It’s the tactic, though, right?
And what does motivate violent behavior, in anyone?
Along those lines, is Ayers any different from Osama, at root?
There was not a religion component to the Weather Underground, as far as I know. Ayers raised his two sons as Muslims, so who knows what runs through his head these days. A recent photo of the door to his office had a sign that read Abu-Zayd… father of Zayd, with Zayd being the name of one of his sons. Outside of that, I haven’t read anywhere that he actually converted to Islam. Strange that he would raise his sons Muslim if he isn’t. Another Obama “associate” with direct/indirect connections to Islam.
Osama has more testicular fortitude than Ayers ever did, making him more dangerous from a physical violence standpoint. Political Islam is less selective as to targets than the Weathermen were. Islam views all Kafirs (unbelievers) as legitimate targets.
Ayers is currently dangerous in a different manner these days. He is in position to influence education in America. Pundita did an excellent write up on Ayers today. You can find it at her website, and at RezkoWatch.
While Ayers wants to replace the current system of government with one that is more to his liking, Osama wants the U.S. out of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq. Political Islam wants to have us submit to Allah, and add us to the list of conquests. Violence will be used to attempt to drive us out of the Middle East, while Islam will insinuate itself into all aspects of American life… drip, drip, drip… one drop at a time.
agree…solidarity anyone…and then there was tito and chachesque sp?…It was going to happen we jus did not expect it all at once and the resulting vaccum has led to other unexpected consequences…
Tom Plumb repesctfully.
And from this OBL was born.
On purpose, though?
Just throwing things, my imagination, sorry…
just throwing things out, sorry, kind of like brainstorming…
There is so much history that is not discussed and means a great deal in the context of what is happening today…
You have great points ! No apology ever required in my direction.
No Big and No apology is required!!
You make great points!
There is so much history that is not discussed in the context of where this country is today…So much to learn…
Ash
How the hell old are you? You have NO idea what you are talking about.
Jimmy Carter was a DISGRACE to this nation! The American people were HUMILIATED by his weak leadership.
Hamas Loves Barack. That’s why they endorsed him with a wink-wink.
But, he can CHANGE that!
Yes, He Can!
Kumbayah Time, kiddies, then get your rugs and we’ll have a nap. And it’s all good, because, even if Obama doesn’t always know best, Big Sister Michelle surely does.
Well I am sure he would have no problem with their cultural behaviors towards women.
Just as a point of fact: how was Jimmy Carter or his foreign policy advisor Breszinzky responsible for the Soviets’ decision to invade Afghanistan? I’ve always placed that bad decision on the Soviets themselves. Carter, at least, took a stand on the matter, but what more could he really do?
Later, Charlie Wilson seems to have taken matters into his own hands, but that proved a risky and disastrous policy too. US secret intervention in Afghanistan built up the warlords, not civil society, and there was no US follow up after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops. Hell, the American public didn’t even know we were fighting that fight!
Really, I’m asking you Larry (or anyone else who specializes in that part of the world), because I know you must have a lot of background on this that I don’t.
Dana B,.
Not sure where the original is.
try this –
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BRZ110A.html
I think sometimes we want some measure of surety, some measure of safety when dealing with events of this magnitude.
It’s ironic, we’re willing to confront events concerning the US in Eastern Europe, or even the middle east, but no one wants to look realistically at what is going on at home.
How can one understand how critical the events in the USSR, or the middle east, yet turn a blind eye to Obama?
Or even Bush, Cheney or McCain?
Susaninbosque made a very good point regarding Axelrod funding Obama through the Middle East.
What are the implications for the United States?
Tom Plumb , if you recall Al gore got slammed by Re-thugs for campaign donations from China….
BO is going to be grated cheese from Khalidi working the phones in GAZA for BO…
I love it when BO does something “controversial”.
rjj:
Thanks for that link. It was quite helpful. I had no idea that Carter and Breszinski provided secret aid to anti-government forces in Afghanistan BEFORE the Soviet invasion. I had no idea they intended to lure the Soviet Union’s leaders into a devastating war.
More important in that link was the insight it gave me into Breszinski. He brushed off as unimportant the destruction of Afghanistan, so long as it helped give the Soviets their own Vietnam. And while I agree with Mr. B. that the Soviet Union was a greater threat to the U.S and its allies than the rise of international islamic terrorism has to date been, it seems stupid to slay one dragon only to create another powerful and awful one.
I think the ol addage…if you give an inch they will take a mile…perhaps ?
You’re all wrong!! He didn’t lie! He never lies! Grave isn’t the same as serious! Don’t you understand? Iran is a grave threat but not a serious one! I’d explain but it’s to complicated for undereducated, inbred, racist, roe vs. wade hating, Clinton deadenders.
Why do you bother with all this stuff? Can’t you see he’s the ONE!
Leave Bawack alone and I’m not crying, I got something in my eye!
lol
Larry Larry Larry!
You give Barry too much credit! Barry doesn’t say what he feels! Barry has no opinions! Barry has only an agenda! And Barry’s agenda is determined by his backers!
Larry Larry!
Barry’s most used lie lines:
“That’s not what I said!”
“That’s a debate I will be happy to have”
Barrack KNOWS what its like to be called an incompetnet bafoon with too much money and not enough experience.
Barrack aint never had to work hard and gain experience and respect like Hillary.
Hillary aint never been handed cash for votes by influence peddlers and the people who push legislation through to stack commitees as puppet votes for them.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHABut Barack “No more politics as usual” Obama has lured many with this lie. Instead of laughing you should try to see the hypocrisy of this.
When faced with the prospect of just another politician, I have chosen Hillary because she is more competent, knows the issues and is not running around with her foot in her mouth proving at every step she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Barack’s ignorance and total lack of preparedness is no laughing matter. Not at this time in history. Not with Putin chomping at the bit in the background pulling Medyevev’s strings and looking to engage.
You think the world isn’t watching as Hilllary proves how strong she is and Obama pales in comparison. World leaders are licking their chops at the prospect of making Obama and the US their bitch.
No thanks!
“More competent”, you say.
Yet squandered a vast headstart in fundraising and political connections in the course of losing to a first-term Senator named HUSSEIN. [The house style here does call for all-caps, yeah?]
There seems to be a contradiction here.
Joe Beese –
I agree that it’s hard to beieve that the Democrats could be so stupid as to pit Barack HUSSEIN Obama:
afraid to release terrorist passport stamps,
best bud Tony “The Fixer” Rezko,
with whitey hating preacher and wife v.
a true war hero.
The Dems can’t say that they didn’t do it to themselves. And I will be keeping my cash from the kiddies and kooks who seem to be in charge of the jackass party today.
Screw Donkey Brazziere & Coward!
what happened to your Post Ash?
It looks like O you under the bus as well…all flat n’ all. I “hope” you are ok under there…
Hell, he isn’t even ready for Saturday afternoon reruns.
Oh, G-d. Did you have to remind me? I remember sitting in those gas lines. I thanked my lucky stars at the time that I was driving a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia and could drive for weeks at a time on a tank of gas. Those were AWFUL times. He was, without a doubt, one of THE WORST presidents EVER. BUSH is THE WORST.
Sure, he’s done fine things since leaving office, but his Apartheid book and his love affair with Hamas has completely turned me away from the man.
He was TOO NICE and it didn’t work. That’s exactly what Mr. Hope plans to be…”nice” and actually believes that if you just schmooze those people, they’ll come around. Nope. It won’t work. Been there, done that.
I heard someone on Fox today who mentioned that Mr. Hope is sounding an awful lot like Jimmy Carter these days. They went on to play a Carter speech and a Mr. Hope speech to compare the 2, but I had to leave and missed them.
You’re spot on with this comparison.
I happen to love President Carter
I served 6 yrs in the Army, 4 of it under Carter.
Guess what? I was NEVER SENT IN TO WAR!! I don’t remember any of the rest of what you blame him for and I came out of it pretty well intact so I can’t believe this new found blog I love has just stabbed me in the heart.
I’m 52. Carter was a good President. I’m very sad to find this place is hostile to one of my heroes.
I’ve lost enough of them lately. I won’t lose another.
If Carter comes out and endorses Odrama on TV like Kennedy did? I will have to think he has a brain tumor as well. I still will never hate him.
Don’t hate for for not agreeing with you.
sorry Larry
sorry Susan
I really do love this place though
Dawnelle,
You are welcome to disagree. No problem.
Thank you!
I understand that you are 100 times smarter than me about the inner story of that part in History.
I know that. I’m just sad about all the (mostly men) that I used to look UP to until this campaign began that have shown their true colors. If Jimmy does it to me I just don’t know if I will be able to stand it!!
I hope I’m not giving him more credit than he deserves.
Dawnelle– I have great fondness for Carter, too. Those were kind years for our country, and we did not face what we face now. I wish we could get back to the place we all knew. We will, if Hillary wins. We have to.
100 times smarter? C’mon dear. I don’t administer SATs for access here. We can simply agree to have a different impression about that time period. I don’t doubt that Jimmy Carter was well meaning. But good intentions did not translate into good actions.
LJ
Hey Larry I’m waiting for one of those wannabe secret agent trolls to come in here and talk about the broken mailbox again.
Dawnelle….Although we are each entitiled to an opinion I believe that St. Jimmy was a pretty bad president…Now some of this was due to events beyond his control but that being said…I remeber the hope he offered when eleced and the crushing reality of the reaction to the aftermath of his presidency….He has also lost ost of his credbility with his recent mid-east
adventures. The problem with St. Jimmy is that he refuses to admit that he is wrong….You cannot expct to have reasonable talks with irrational folks.
The man has allowed his Pride to cloud his actions and his judgment.
The best thing he did was Egypt-Israeli Peace agreement…But look where we are 30 yrs. later ?
I understand what you are saying. I do. But again for ME, the best thing he did for ME, was to NOT take me into a FRAUDULENT war of lies!
I really do appreciate that.
Especially NOw THAT this maniac President has cause so much damage and death. The comparison is stark!
imo
Thats ok…Why we all of us love this site…And I respect both your experience and your opinion….I just beg to differ on my assessment.
By the Way up until few weeks ago I greatly admired Carter…Still do with the exception of his foolish spinabout towards Israel and the Obama thing….I cut him a little slack due to age…But when he actively participates in the current state pf the party towards its destruction..Well as a senior party leader I think he ouhta do something about it…But my opinion is like my ass everyone has one.
Dawnelle –
I think that was part of his problem. He was seen as weak and unwilling to go to war.
Not a good thing in a President.
Too many times I’ve seen things escalate or disintegrate because someone didn’t master the art of negotiation.
I get your point though. It’s not better to start dumbass wars.
McCain has been tested as much as anybody I can think of now. I’m not crazy about all of his politics, but I don’t trust Oblowme to do anything other than what his terrorist handlers dictate.
If HRC doesn’t get the nomination, I’ll be one pissed off former Democrat.
I’m grateful that you’re here. I enjoy your posts.
Mike:
Thank you. I believe, too, that war should always be the last resort, but you should never indicate that you won’t go to war. What the press did — upper right hand corner “America Held Hostage Day # ___” fed right into voters feeling like they too were a hostage. RR rode in on his horse and inspired people to believe that he wouldn’t countenance the public humiliation of our nation. Carter’s hand wringing was not an effective counter balance.
As someone with military training, Carter knew all of this and did nothing. It was awful to watch.
bee –
Wow! You’ve got a way with words. It all comes back in one sickening wave.
Where the hell was Oblowme during the Daily American Hostage Count-up? Who the hell really knows!
Did you Spring Break-It in Pakistan? Do you know anyone who did? Wanted to?
Back then, it would have been even worse – if that’s possible. I remember the Iranians in the U.S. were calling themselves Persians, it was so awful.
Well, here’s to more pleasant thoughts of four years of someone other than Carter and Oblowme in the WH.
It’s ok dawnelle. we love you too.
YEAH! As the hard truths come out, we need to remember good and bad things. Or in my case learn things. I know that I do from Larry. The writing will get harder, cutting into bone, as this goes on. I love the people here. I mean that. Larry I don’t know how to use those book mark things but if I cut and paste your heds I think that is a trackback. Uppity and Susan, Dawnelle — like with Riverdaughter — to me, you are my “sisters” like from the 70’s. I swear.
It’s too scary right now with this war. We can’t afford the wrong, unintelligent choices. Back in the 70’s we didn’t have the poverty, the layoffs, the outsourcing of our American jobs. We didn’t have the healthcare crisis or the homeless crisis. We didn’t have the death of the American Dream. Or the death of journalism. We didn’t have the media spin, or even the internet. We did not have candidates running as logos and target marketing. We had the FEC protecting us until now.
We have to get this one right, this time. We will not take another hanging chad style hostile corporate takeover. It can’t happen.
My parents were laid off every single winter, both were home for at least 4 months straight during the energy crisis due to lack of work.
Homelessness was an issue for many, particularly the Viet Nam veterans.
Health care was better, you’re right, and we did have a more honest media, no doubt about that, they took their responsibility very seriously, antagonists to the politicians, as opposed to their lap dogs.
Now it’s done on the Internet, real journalism.
At least for the time being the net is free thought and free speech and I find that here….I am addicted to this forum…It is my solace during this primary season…and my kid appreciates NQ too as I stay out of her hair…chuckle…
Tom-
Let me respectfully disagree with a few of your points. You say healthcare was better. I don’t remember people back then getting heart bypasses as a routine operation. They were major surgery. No knee replacements, hip replacements, and few organ transplants. Healthcare was certainly cheaper but the depth of care was much more shallow.
Also, how did we know if the media was honest then? As long as they were consistent, we had to believe them. There was no good way to check. Cronkite’s announcement of Tet as a failure for the US forces is a good example.
EXCELLENT LARRY….Keep up the pressure…NQ is vital right now…thanks
Obama’s a blank slate, someone to project all your hopes and dreams upon. If you want a tea party with Iran, then Obama’s your guy. If you don’t, that’s cool, Obama’s your guy too. He’s everybody’s guy. He’s all things to all people all the time, he’s The Chosen One.
He could never renounce his crazy uncle except when he could. He could never turn his back on the black community except when he could. Flip flop. Flip flop.
Hey, does anybody know if he windsurfs?
He’s all things to all people and nothing to anybody.
Obama gaffes again–this time Hanford.
Hanford is the most polluted site in the US, and happens to be located in the Pacific Northwest.
Obama also voted to clean the site in a 2005 bill.
But when asked by a young woman what he planned to do about Hanford–since it is so polluted, and a clean up would provide a boost to the local economy–he admitted that he was unfamiliar with Hanford.
First, just three years ago he voted on a bill to clean up the site. Second, he was stumping in the Pacific Northwest.
The man didn’t do his homework in the Senate, and he didn’t do his homework before his stump in the Pacific Northwest.
Intellectually lazy and unqualified are understatements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGZbgMQZATs
The bill’s details:
Introduced–Apr 26, 2005
Scheduled for Debate–May 20, 2005
Amendments (10 proposed) [details]
Passed House [details]–May 25, 2005
Passed Senate–Nov 15, 2005
Differences Resolved–Dec 19, 2005
Signed by President–Jan 6, 2006
Obama’s vote on H.R. 1815 via Govtrack (scroll down to Illinois)
Let’s get local Oregon media to run with this story.
Email local stations, and newspapers.
And if you have the time, CALL OREGON!
I guess we have just taken BO`s words out of context again. How many times will surrogates come on TV to tell what Obama meant to say was….
Hanford is a deadly stew and up river from Portland.
Hanford is in WA state — on the Columbia River. The Columbia Rive separates WA and Oregon.
Oh wait a minute — see the Columbia River is so huge that snObama thinks it is Lake Columbia — that’s were his problem is. He doesn’t understand the difference between a really really huge rive and a Lake.
I recall a Senator from Washington during a hearing last year saying how the sites GROUND WATER contamination is migrating into the Columbia River basin…when that happens …FUBAR
Hanford is a deadly waste site and up river from Portland.
ON another topic
that pathetic snake Dick Morris just told Cavuto to “stay home tonight and not watch tv it didn’t matter about the returns”
“Hillary is only still in this for 2012″
HIS WORDS
what a MOFO
Dick Morris has an address at LoonyToon, USA.
Unless you’re just watching him for the laughs.
I do.
Hey Tom,
Wasn’t Dick Morris a political advisor to Bill Clinton? And didn’t he get kicked to the curb for bragging about his influence over the president and what policies were about to be pushed, etc.? And wasn’t that bragging done to impress a woman he was paying for sex in a beltway hotel?
I don’t understand why FOX keeps having this hack comment. He’s so consumed by hatred for both the Clintons (though as a card-carrying misogynist he reserves most of his venom for Hillary)that his comments lack any toehold in reality.
Who was fired after the great toe sucking escapade, right?
Nuff said, at least they knew to trash the loony.
Bitter much?
Dick Morris. LOLOL.
i will say it…….carter was a weak president. weakness is not an acceptable trait for a presidential candidate…..obama is weak….he does not understand the world arena of politics and power. a weak president can get us annialated. this obamadrama is not a game. it is a dangerous season of politics. hopefully, clearer minds will prevail and the wind of “change” will be blown away. it seems like we are in the mist of a civil, cultural, race, gender,and age war. many battles to go and the nation will prevail.
BS. Obama will be a strong President. Strength doesn’t mean being ignorant and not talking to your enemies. It’s GOOD to talk to your enemies. All successful presidents of the past have done that.
It’s unbelievable to me that you people (supposed Democrats) want to continue down the George W. Bush foreign policy route instead of actually having a President (Obama) that behaves like an adult.
Music…Does that include FDR…Truman…IKE…hmmm and that is just the 20 th c….
Israel used to grovel to the PLO, and sponsor peace talks, and summer camps for the kids to learn about each other. I don’t think it did anything at all.
The PLO, the terrorists, will attack no matter what, you have two choices, either figure out the mechanism of war , ala Sun Tzu, or fight like it’s WW2, or Viet Nam, turning the war internecine, everybody dies.
There are no missionaries to crazy, so how do you handle, how to take apart their infrastructure?
So, again, you fight militarily, politically, and economically.
What if a terrorist war were approached like the cold war, in terms of research, and strategic moves?
How can Hamas, or the PLO be manipulated, how can they be controlled, who controls them?
Larry mentioned Hamas being funded by Iran. If the funding to Iran is somehow manipulated, can Hamas be affected? This doesn’t mean BOMB Iran. How is Iran holding internally? What are my goals, to politically “enlighten” Iran, or steal it’s oil? (Iran is an enemy, I have a right to defend.) All factors to consider, some only want to bomb, then are confused when it fails.
I’ve heard the greatest move Carter ever made was NOT taking the bait Iran threw in 79.
I mean, is it like fighting Chicago, the Rezko’s and Obama’s and the Blagos?
And it is war, no way around it, people die.
But it is our enemies choice to attack.
Saddat got killed by his own people trying to do the huggy kissy too.
I remember watching that on TV…they had’nt edited the footage and it was shockingt watch around noontime….I’ll never forget it….
The problem is Jerusalem…The Palestinians insist it be their capital. And that aint’ gonna happen…
I thought the recently departed Obama supporter recommended division.
Won’t work, SOS.
adviser, Mallory, right?
Jerusalem is the navel of the world…it took the Jews since 70 ad to get it back….they will not partition as it is unfeasable and irrational.
They consider Islam a young religion and the claim on Mohammeds cosmic trip to be basically irrelevant ( theologically ) they tolerate the mosque and keep the peace just like they do with the Christians
but I mean lets get real here…EVEN THE SECULAR ISRAELIS WON’T LET IT HAPPEN….and the Jews invented Guerilla Warfare…ask the Romans
Well, I bet Obama doesn’t see it that way, neither do his supporters.
He’ll just walk in, and divide it, and that’s that…
Oh, brother…
I worked for president Carter (after he left office) and it is clear that he is a very nice guy and extremely smart too. However, through our conversations and the conversations of those who know him best not acting as aggressively as possible against Iran during the Hostage Crisis (though one has to admit that there were very few good options) was and still is one of his biggest regrets.
I believe that Carter was ill served by Stansfield Turner.
You know….That is interesting…It is important to take in the bigger picture…..In Global Politics perception is everything…Hmmm…
I agree, if he had gone into Iran the US would have lost, much the same way it is in Iraq.
Some say the goal was to DRAG the US into Iran, for just that reason, the hostages as bait.
I hate to admit this, since we Democrats have only elected two presidents in thirty years, but Jimmy was a nice guy and a terrible President. He not only had a Jihad guy in the 3 Zs, but he destroyed us domestically. It was a true disaster to watch Mr. Peanut create a complete cloud of malaise over America.
I already knew Obama was dangerous to us in foreign affairs, considering his obvious affiliations and fundraisers. But when I heard him talk about eating all we want and keeping warm, I was IMMEDIATELY reminded of Carter.
If anybody wants to meet the maniac, Zbigniew Breszinski:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJTv2nFjMBk&feature=related
Carter was right about Egypt….and wrong about everything else in the region…And right now he’s big on the Isaraeli shit list…
** THE PALESTINIANS WILL NOT NEGOTIATE AS TO JERUSALEM **
THIS IS IRRATIONAL.
O God Larry. Susan UnPC and Uppity and everybody here. Why is it that WE see the…trainwreck?
We have to have Hillary Clinton. We have to. She will be the only unifier, and the only SOLUTION to any kind of world peace. Why is it we cannot get this message to the MEDIA FASTER? Are they braindead?
Or just too dosed up by big pharma to care?
Carter was the President when I grew up. I admire him for Habitat, but was a bit young to know about the politics back then. Carter was kindly. I cannot see how he would endorse a candidate with Ayers ties…
We will have four years of McCain because nobody wants 1968 street riots. It’s as simple as that. Well that and all the middle eastern money Obama is flashing around. The only way to stop this wreck is to make sure Obama never wins. And he won’t.
Agree…If Clinton is denied the nomination…The correct choice is clear.
AMERICA CANNOT AFFORD OBAMA AS POTUS…HE IS AN IDIOT
Can you Gas Line?
Uppity I worked gas lines back then as teen. I saw up front and personal what happens to carbon units when they can’t function.
Dozens of calls to the police, injuries and shootings. The civil underpinnings of this country are brittle.
Bary has two things going for him.
He is “of two minds” on everything.
He’s “for it” AND “against it” at the same time so no one can swiftboat him.
You guys are really hopeless – no pun intended. Hillary has been caught in lie after lie, and yet YOU cant seem to see them. Then you start quoting FOX and channeling Karl Rove as a reliable source. YOU GUYS are the trainwreck. You have joined with the GOP 5th columnists that are undoubtably posting here, to engage in character assassination of the ugliest kind. You use the same despicable tactics of innuendo, fear mongering , and guilt by association that was used on the Clintons during the 90s. It is a complete betrayal of the progressive values that you supposedly hold. I pray you can someday see what you’ve become.
The only thing Hillary lied about was sniper fire and that was bullshit more than it was a lie.
Obama has lied in his book about his life, lied about his associates, lied about his accomplishments (which are none by the way). I could go on and on. There is a list on the internet of 72 lies at last count for Obama. That is the one thing he is good at and you can count on from him. Otherwise, he is a crap shoot.
Carter not so nice. He broke the coffee strike back when he was President. I have just been trying to find info on this. I found a nice scrubbed site.
F them little Fing Obamas. So I will be back when I get the info. If memory serves, Carter broke the back of poor people trying to get decent wages in Central of South America for their coffee beans. Which makes him a fake on the only front he has left. — the good old human rights front.
also wasn’t Carter behind spraying parquat (sp)on marijuana fields? This guy wasn’t so great on so many fronts.
I remember the coffee thing.
I don’t know. I just don’t think Hillary has a chance. I think the fix is in and that’s why the Dem Party heads want her gone. I’d like her to win but with the party heads and the media in Obama’s corner I just don’t think she’ll make it to the end of the month. Obama’s done something very savvy. He’s tapped into the “No More Clintons” theme that was in the liberal blogosphere from the beginning. I’ll vote for Obama in the fall. But I don’t have to like it. I mean what has he done? A good look at his background shows he built his political career on the hard work of others. They do the heavy-lifting; he takes all of the credit. I knew people like that in the military. I despised them.
Tonight she will kick his ass in Kentucky just like she did in WV–and tomorrow four more superdelegates will come out for him. The Fix has been In right along, even unto keeping Florida and Michigan from defeating him. this Affirmative Action nomination has been brought to you by the DNC led by an off the cliff left wingnut and a black women who is swooning.
That leaves November, and if history tells me anything, he will rest beside McGovern, Mondale and Dukakis, where he belongs.
I repsect your decision, but Obama will have to:
WIN WITHOUT ME!
Obama has routinely reminded me of The Dead Zone. I expect disaster after calamitous disaster if he is ever president. And then what? All those FUCKING MORONS who put him in the Oval Office will be wailing and gnashing teeth and pointing fingers and complaining? They piss me off. Idiots with heads up their asses. I am so disgusted this man is even a candidate.
Early exit polls in KY are astounding. she is kicking major ass in all voter blocks.
FAB–Oregon is VERY GREEN. AS GREEN AS CALIFORNIA. They are HUGE environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest. The Dems there will have already seen through his rhetoric. They will not want the genetically modified corn seeds for ethanol, either. Also, they will be anti-war, and the women will be progressives/feminists. The letter Susan had the other day? The women there will feel like that. She could have been speaking for me, in Californa. Same concerns. Go Hillary!
Why would meeting with this Muslim religious leader in Dearborn be kept secret? And this article is even hard to find. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/NEWS05/80515096/1007/NEWS
Interestink….verrry….interestink….hmmmm…
Anyone check bank deposits the next day?
Debbie Schlussel knows about this Imam. She went undercover at his mosque:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/05/the_company_he.html
Speaking of public disruptions such rioting brings to mind Executive Order 51; here’s a partial excerpt of an important definition:
“Catastrophic Emergency” means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;
And here’s a link:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html
And when I think that if Obama takes office he will also have this as option it makes me VERY worried.
I also think the Dem Party heads want someone the media like. They (the media) love Obama and despise Clinton. Several of them have admitted that their fellow journalists just can’t stand Hillary. I think the leadership is thinking that “well at least this time we won’t have to fight the Press and the GOP”.
I agree.
“But Jimmy does not get all of the blame. No sir. He had a foreign policy guru–Zbigniew Breszinski. Funny thing. Guess who also is advising Barack Obama? Yep, Zbig is back. And Barack reportedly is taking some cues from him.”
The public meeting of Jimmy Carter with Hamas may have been somehow tied with the secret meeting of Obama advisor Malley with Hamas.
Obama suddenly severed ties with a Middle East policy adviser who acknowledged holding private meetings with Hamas. Robert Malley, who had advocated negotiations with Hamas, was sacked after disclosing to the Times of London he had been in regular contact with the group in conjunction with his work for a conflict resolution think tank. Think tank or Obama emissary? One has to wonder what those other anti-Israeli foreign policy advisors of Obama are up to.
And with Obama firmly staying with his belief in direct unconditional talks may have some basis if the following report could be credible.
“Zbigniew Brzezinski, is preparing a major, new anti-Israel initiative: an international campaign to pressure the Jewish state into disclosing and dismantling its nuclear arsenal as an inducement to Islamist Iran to permanently end its suspect uranium enrichment program.”
http://chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/2008/04/obamas-foreign-policy-adviser-preparing.html
Recall how highly Obama thought of Reagan and recall how Reagan came to office by immediately resolving the Iran Hostage Crisis. Could Obama be circumventing the President and establishing his own connections with Iran and its agent armies of Hamas and Hezbollah through Brzezinski?
S. Markom,
Your history is off. Remember, the hostage crisis was resolved under Carter. Iran refused to release the hostages until Carter left the white house. But Carter finally negotiated that end.
LJ
Stand corrected on that point. I was thinking of the arms for hostages which were other hostages held by Hezbollah.
Still concerned that Obama foreign policy advisors are establishng their own initiatives with Iran and their agents.
Iran refused to release the hostages until Carter left the white house.
This was part of the “October Surprise” wasn’t it? – the off the shelf deal negotiated by Reagan’s people to help him win office.
Now this is really special!!! The resident guru of revisionism and TIA propaganda correcting historical mis-statements.
This shallow attempt to ingratiate oneself with the mindless lemmings that swallow your screed and regurgitate it ad nauseum herein doesn’t pass the smell test! I was there, in the bowels of the IC, when the conservative miscreants defanged the ops branch and politicized(read compromised) the analytical branch; and here is a historical clue, oh thou guru of disinformation, the dismantling of this nations IC began long before the Carter presidency under the tutelage of “Tricky Dick” and the feckless Ford. What does your conservative history primer have to say about Bush 41’s tenure as Director of Central Intelligence? Is it your “professional” opinion that he strengthened the “community”?
It is interesting that you now are willing to publicly give credit where it is due, but where have you been during the decades of revisionist propaganda that have intentionally misinformed the American people? Was not the delayed release of the hostages the very essence of the quid pro quo of the traitorous “October Surprise?”
It is instructive to note that some few herein have demonstrated a limited and reasoned understanding of these historical events, and are obviously interested in knowing the unvarnished truth. To them I offer this assurance from one who has never compromised loyalty and fealty to the Constitution and all that it stands for, once we, the American people, have truly regained control of our government, it will once again be dedicated to truth and justice and the public good before private ideological advantage. We are on the brink of a 21st century age of enlightenment, for we still have the Republic that our founders created, and we will keep it despite the corrupting machinations of the fear mongers and their cowardly sycophants.
Indeed obama is another Carter. With regards to hamas having been “elected”, so was hitler.
And arguably Iran’s disgusting little pipsqueak dictator was also “elected”. Elections have no legitimacy from the islamic world as those populations are completely radicalized.
I was on the Carter bandwagon and the whole Jimmy Who? campaign was somehow endearing. One day near the beginning of his term he spoke in support of Dupont and was seen now and then wearing a Dupont baseball hat when he was off fishing during his “downtime” and when dressed casually.
I was curious about that and found it disturbing till I got a few environmental group newsletters in the mail (days before the internet!) and they blasted him for reducing pollution controls and for shilling for the chemical companies over our health.
It took a big bite out of my admiration and it was never regained after that. I still to this day see him at an amusement park with that cap on his head in my mental “image” of his political history.
[...] Barack Obama–Why Iran but Not Hamas? [...]
Carter made Five fatal mistakes:
Firstly he bothered to be elected in the first years of the Oil War. The next President gets nearly congruent conditions.
Secondly he directly confronted the strategic disadvantages we suffered in the opening years of the Oil War and pushed conservation and alternate energy sources to the dismay of the Energy and Automotive cartels.
Mistake number three was that Carter is the only President in my lifetime that really leveled with the American people. He told them that they were materialistic, measuring themselves and their self-worth by their possessions (some things never change) and to snap the fuck out of it. He paid one hell of a price for that.
Mistake number four: Zbigniew Brzezinski (some things never change)
The fifth and final mistake is that he didn’t take out three major liabilities, Godfather style:
The military and the entire intelligence apparatus stabbed him in the back not only on the fall of the Shah (some things never change) but with the cluster fuck they made of Eagle Claw.
The Democrat party, notably Teddy Kennedy, stabbed him in the back (again, some things never change).
If you believe the Area 51 crowd, Dubya’s daddy even committed treason to ram another blade in.
When you fill up with four dollar gas I’ll be happy to share my recollection of Reagan tearing Carter’s solar panels off the roof of the White House. That’s given me enough quality Schadenfreude to last several lifetimes.
Pretty good analysis. I would definitely quibble with the leveling with the American people. A less kind interpretation might be that he tried to spin economic troubles as a values crisis. He blamed the populace for his failures. And don’t get me started on Reagan. Carter was incompetent; Reagan was evil with a kindly face.
“A less kind interpretation might be that he tried to spin economic troubles as a values crisis.”
He is the only elected official in my lifetime that gave it to them straight. This is still dead on nearly 30 years later:
And all that before the McMansion, and the Hummer.
His mistake is that he let an initial positive reaction lull them into not following up. The Republicans started spinning it immediately, notably inserting the “malaise” into the speech (it does not appear in the speech). Reagan’s very first campaign speech went along the lines of “Do you know what this SOB called you?”. (You aren’t a bunch of self-absorbed slobs, you are a great and wise people, elect me, yadayadayada). These are the fuckwits that would go on to elect Reagan and Bush II twice.
He also flat out admitted that he had fucked up and spent ten days at Camp David where he invited everyone from Governors to Joe Sixpack to come in and rain shit on him. No President in my lifetime has ever done anything near that. It is far better to be incompetent and feign infallibility than to ask advise.
But I’m not bitter.
I don’t know why the PBS link to the speech didn’t work. It worked in the preview.
There is no computer or network problem that cannot be fixed with 300 feet of salt water.
The thing that I cannot forget from the Carter presidency was our failure to support the Shah of Iran. It seems that the source of many of our problems in the Middle East stems from the fall of the Shah who was replaced by the Ayatollah Khomeini. No, the Shah was not a ‘nice guy’, but compared to Khomeini, the Shah was a pussycat.
Of course, the truth be told, our problem with Iran goes back to the overthrow of Mosaddeq back in the 50’s that we engineered with the Brits–prompted by Mosaddeq’s nationalizing the oil industry in Iran. Nevertheless, even AFTER the Shah assumed power following Mosaddeq’s overthrow, Mosaddeq went on to live out the rest of his life under “house arrest”–i.e., if the Shah had been really ruthless, he would have figured out a way to get rid of Mosaddeq.
Nevertheless, I’ve always felt that Carter handled the situation with Iran VERY poorly–and the whole mess started well BEFORE the hostage crisis. Even so, I am not convinced that McBush would be one bit better in dealing with Iran, Hamas, or ANY country in the Middle East. Sadly, this is one election where I really HATE the choices that we appear to be left with, unless the Super Delegates figure out a way to make Hillary the Democratic nominee (I’m NOT holding my breath!).
PEOPLE —NOTICE –HOW CNN—HAS CHANGED ITS TONE TOWARDS HILL AND US
DO NOT GET FOOLED
DO NOT GET FOOLED
DO NOT GET FOOLED
DO NOT GET FOOLED
DO NOT GET FOOLED
DO NOT GET FOOLED
FIGHT BACK –FIRST THEY TRASH US —WIN THE GAME AND TRY TO KISS AND MAKE-UP
FUCK NO —–JUST SAY –NO —-
U KNOW HOW THAY SAY –ONCE A LIAR ALWAYS A LIAR —OR ONCE A ABUSER ALWAYS A ABUSER —-
SO DNC–OBAMAS–BLACK LEADERS TOOK US FOR ADVANTAGE —-TRASHED US —SO GIVE THEM HELL–
SO GIVE THEM HELL–
SO GIVE THEM HELL–
SO GIVE THEM HELL–
SO GIVE THEM HELL–
S Markom, thanks for the link. It gave me some insight as to why Sam Nunn is on the Obama train. Oh I just thought of something: the return of Breszinski to a position of power & influence would add insult to injury to the Russians (coming after the Kosovo affair & GWB wanting missils in Eastern Europe) just what we don’t need, to rachet up those old hostilities while simultaneously disarming our only real ali in the ME.
Obama is indeed Carter Jr. when it comes to foreign affairs: a naive fool who thinks that he can win over foreign opposition leaders who brutally attained and maintained their power through his toothy personal magnetism.
In June 1979 while meeting with then Soviet Premier Leonid Brehznev, the old Commie leaned over to Mr.Peanut and told him earnestly, “God will not forgive us if we fail (at SALT II).” Carter whipped out a notecard and penned the qrote, believing that he had converted the lifelong Marxist to Christianity. Shortly thereafter, much to Carter’s disbelief, the Soviets “flipped him an Obama” (the middle finger), figuratively speaking, and invaded Afghanistan.
Castro, Ahmadenijad, Chavez and Kim aren’t Obama girls who faint and drop their panties when you sneeze, Barry. They acquired and maintain their absolute power by killing people, a lot of people, apparently without conscience. Ahmadenijad has already rejected Carter’s charms as a student leader who seized our Embassy in 1979. These guys are no more going to be persuaded by you than a street mugger.
when did Iran attack the US???? you’re so ignorant.
Iran attacked our embassy and held Americans hostage. They attack and aid in attacking our soldiers daily in Iraq right now………Duh!
EMABASSIES AND BASES ARE CONSIDERED….U.S. SOIL….DUH
I was in 5th grade sitting in the car waiting in line for gas. My family was very politically involved though and I understood what was going on. Jimmy Carter is a great human being and wonderful man, and also a pathetic president. As an adult I’m now friends with the wife of one of the pilots that survived the failed mission to free the hostages in Iran. They have retired to Enterprise AL on the outskirts of Fort Rucker. History marches on. Men and women in uniform have a job to do as the world is not always a nice place and they deserve and need a real world educated decisive CIC. They need Hillary Clinton.
obama says he wants to talk to iran who has many times said they wish isreal was wiped off the mape any christian knows that isreal is Gods chosen land i know that obama isnt smarted than a 5th grader but still says he is a christen what kind of fool would wait untill the end to put on his usa pin also he needs to quit riding on hillary`s coat tails and opra thinks she can buy a leader sorry it not going to happen