Rhymes With Right:
For six long years, Barack Obama and his administration have taken a stance towards Israel , Americas closest ally in the Middle East that can only be described as relentlessly adversarial (and which could be interpreted as being functionally anti-Semitic). In recent weeks, the Administration has even floated the possibility of imposing sanctions against Israel because it continues to build new subdivisions and apartments (because thats what settlements really are) in territory that the Palestinian terrorists surrounding it demand for their own. This comes after repeated snubs directed towards Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and appeasement of Iran, which is seeking to build nuclear weapons in order to attack the Jewish state. These actions are just one example of how American allies have been disrespected by this Administration, harming our standing in the eyes of the world.
But if you are an enemy of the United States, you get coddled. The countrys Iran policy is one example, and todays moves with relation to Cuba are another.
President Obama announced sweeping changes to U.S. policy with Cuba on Wednesday, moving to normalize relations with the island nation and tear down the last remaining pillar of the Cold War.Under the new measures, the United States plans to reopen its embassy in Havana and significantly ease restrictions on travel and commerce within the next several weeks and months, Obama said. Speaking from the White House, he declared that a half-century of isolation of the communist country has not worked.
And in an instance, one of the cornerstones of Americas bipartisan foreign policy for the last half century has been demolished by Obama. A nation which has long shown itself to be an enemy of the United States and a serial violator of basic human rights for all its citizens will get everything it has wanted from the US.
And it isnt just a prisoner exchange, the end of long-standing economic sanctions and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Communist dictatorship just off our shore. It is also the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Steps toward normalizing our relations with Cuba were long overdue. Normalizing relations will eventually change Cuba, not the United States.
@Greg:
Change Cuba how? You mean like how normalizing relations with China has changed that nation? Last time I checked, China is still Communist and Cuba will still be Communist in ten years. All Obama did was give the Castro brothers a thumb’s up to continue persecuting the Cuban people.
I admit I have mixed emotions about this move. On the one hand, I look at the defacto sanctions we have had for roughly 50 years plus on Cuba, and wonder what desired effect we had. Furthermore, sanctions didn’t work against Saddam’s Iraq, and they certainly don’t seem to be stopping Iran from developing nukes. I have no admiration whatsoever for communists anywhere, especially not for the Castro regime. But honestly, I don’t see that our embargo against Cuba has served to remove the Castros from power. Certainly it has hampered Cuba economically, and I am not happy about the likely impending flood of cash to the Cuban communists from this, but if our embargo has not been successful in removing Castro in over 50 years, what purpose does it serve?
I am more skeptical about the reason this is being done now, and about the manner in which it was done. If congress passed some law that implemented this back in the 60s, is the manner in which Obama is enacting this legal? I don’t know. Furthermore, why now? If it is a method of increasing economic pressure on Putin – as the primary purpose – then it seems like a good decision, even if tbe 1 on 3 prisoner trade is typical leftist lopsided shortsightedness. However, if this is merely an arrogant move by Obama to bolster his relevance after the recent election loss, or an attempt to deflect from the North Korean act of cyberwar/threatened terrorism, I question the motive.
Regardless, I do think the failure of this half a century of sanctions against the Castro regime should become a clear example to policymakers that economic sanctions, by themselves, will never work against an enemy nation, and should be kept in mind when dealing with an evil government like the Norks or Iran.
@retire05, #2:
While China is still far from what we would like it to be, things have changed enormously there since Nixon’s visit initiated the thaw in U.S./Chinese relations. In contrast, half-a-century of hostility between the U.S. and Cuban governments has accomplished virtually nothing. When is this approach expected to finally start working?
Obama didn’t give the Castro regime a thumbs up on the persecution of anybody. If anyone deserves credit for bringing about a reset, it’s probably Pope Francis. I like this guy.
@Pete, #3:
All Obama can do is take steps to normalize diplomatic relations. People more knowledgeable than myself are saying that the embargo was originally set up by Congress in a way that can only be undone by another act of Congress. I don’t think anyone is optimistic about that happening anytime soon.
The enemies of the USA are obama’s friends, and the friends of the USA are obama’s enemies. Look at what countries obama wants to be friends with, compared to the countries obama shuns.
Though I am still uncertain whether or not this is a positive event for the US, I am still suspicious of the timing and motivation. If Cuba’s economy was dependent on Russia, and the tottering leftist regime in Venezuela, -both countries struggling due to the drop in oil prices – then it almost looks like this move by Obama is a de facto economic lifeline to the brutal Castro regime at a time when the continuation of the embargo might actually be on the brink of succeeding in bringing the Castros down.
I don’t know yet whether I believe this is a good move for the US. Unfortunately, our current anti-American occupant of the Oval Office has consistently acted in ways detrimental to our country, so my impression is that this is not going to turn out as a positive outcome. Obama is inherently untrustworthy, so even if he says, “The sky is blue”, I won’t believe it until I can see it for myself.
@Greg:
Really? So the prisons in Cuba will no longer be filled with those dissidents who disagree with the heavy hand of the Communist Castro Brothers? Bloggers. who illegally access the internet to get the word out about the oppression will no longer be arrested? The Ladies in White will no longer be beaten, and then arrested, by Castro’s military? What changed for the Cuban people who have been suffering under the Castro fist for over 50 years?
Read this, Greggie:
Will Pope Francis Bring About the Release of Alan Gross?
By Carlos Eire, on January 14, 2014, at 5:22 pm
Two Secretaries of State, One Mission ?
Two Secretaries of State, One Mission ?
Maybe. And perhaps he is being set up to do much more than that in regard to Castrogonian relations with the USA.
Secretary of State John Kerry met with his counterpart at the Vatican, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, to push for papal involvement in the Alan Gross case.
As everyone knows, Castrogonia insists that Gross is a hostage who will not be released from his dungeon unless the US exchanges him for the four remaining “Cuban five” spies who are still serving their prison sentences.
President Obama has not yet made the swap, despite increased pressure from various influential entities, and the question arises: why not? After all, his approach to foreign policy is simple and predictable: to always cave in to the demands of enemies and to betray allies. His behavior in the Gross case thus far runs against the grain. Why is it so?
Does he fear some kind of backlash or too much loss of face, especially when his popularity ratings are in the cellar? Does he fear that it will make him look weaker than he already seems? Or is there some other reason, closer to the well-known Obama strategy of never letting a crisis go to waste?
How’s this for a scenario?: Pope Francis gets Alan Gross freed in exchange for the four Castro spies, and, on top of that, orchestrates the restoration of US/Castro diplomatic ties, along with the lifting of the embargo. And it will all make Obama look so righteous and compassionate rather than weak, all because of the glow lent to the whole deal by Pope Francis’s halo.
Such speculation is not far-fetched. Keep in mind that all of these items are linked together, since Gross is often cited by the Obama administration as the greatest obstacle to “reconciliation.”
… And don’t forget the the Vatican has easy access to Raul through the reprehensible boot-licking Cardinal Ortega, who has already proven his mettle as a deal-maker who will screw the Cuban people and –at the same time — make all the screwing look like a holy work of mercy.
Of course you would like this pope. Pope Francis, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. and you are all Socialists. Most of the Catholic community in the United States is appalled by this Pope. He seems just as gaff prone as our Community Organizer in Chief and John (French poodle) Kerry.
The Cuban community knew what was coming with this president. The trade for Alan Gross has been in the works for a year, and there was never any doubt it was going to be a prisoner exchange, although the White House now denies that.
But like all things when it comes to the Obama foreign policy, this latest [illegal] action on the part of Obama will turn to crap. Cuba was beginning to hurt and the Castro Brothers were beginning to see their wealth diminish with the fall of oil prices. They were about to lose the support of Venezuela and Russia which have always propped them up. At that point, we would have been in a position to really make some serious demands to secure freedom for the Cuban people, but instead, the hapless, inept man that you continually sing the praises of (Obama) just gave away the farm.
If this Obama guy keeps addressing all these idiotic self-perpetuating problems that previous administrations have seemed hopeless to fix, there won’t be anything left for the next POTUS to do. With all due respect to Cuban Americas who may have deeply person reasons for feeling the way they do, any objective defense of the embargo needs to start with why Cuba is different than all the other autocratic and despotic states we’ve maintained diplomatic relations with.
I think John Lee Anderson has summed this up better than anyone I’ve read so far:
Obama tried to use the Bible (out of context horribly!) to justify he various policies.
Now he uses the Pope to justify another policy.
Who else remembers the promise both Dems and Reps forcibly extracted from JFKennedy that he would absolutely NOT take any marching orders from the Vatican?
I do.
Can you imagine how history would have villified Kennedy had he EVER- even once -claimed he did anything because the Pope said to?
Found the quotes but the edit feature disappeared:
John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1960: “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president . . . how to act. . . .”http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16920600
Barack Obama, December 17, 2014: ” His Holiness Pope Francis issued a personal appeal to me. . . . In particular, I want to thank His Holiness Pope Francis. . . .”http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-president-obamas-statement-on-cuba-policy-change-20141217-story.html#page=1
@retire05, #8:
The fact that Obama is taking steps to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba doesn’t mean that he approves of everything or even much of anything that the Cuban government does. We have diplomatic relations with both friendly nations and adversaries. The reason we have diplomatic relations with adversaries is because talking and negotiating often allow us to work things out, or at least come to better accept our points of disagreement. What useful thing has half-a-century of refusing to talk or negotiate with the Cuban government accomplished?
That certainly isn’t what my Catholic friends tell me. That’s not what a recent poll says, either:
Today’s conservatives would call yesterday’s Republicans (Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford) Socialist appeasers.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2014/1218/Obama-s-Cuba-plan-could-change-how-Latin-America-views-US
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA
@Greg:
And exactly what do we gain with negotiations with Cuba? The Castro brothers got everything they wanted and now we will bail them out financially when we would have been in a better position as they flailed due to lack of support from Russia and Venezuela. So once again, just as in the Beau Bergdahl case, Obama traded one American for three high value terrorists who murdered American citizens.
Not withstanding my surprise that you have any friends, I am sure any friends you have are like minded, i.e. far left wing fruitcakes. So your point is moot.
There is a more recent poll that says Pope Francis’ approval numbers are around 60%. And that was before he kicked Cardinal Burke to the curb.
Obama’s foreign policy on Cuba will turn out just like his foreign policy in Iraq; a total disaster.
@Larry Weisenthal:
Obama-s-Cuba-plan-could-change-how-Latin-America-views-US
Yeah, it will now realize that the most powerful nation on Earth has been neutered and is nothing more than an apologetic eunuch.
@retire05:
I thought the Pope was infallible? Or is it only right wing talking points?
@Tom:
Once again, you show how little you know.
I’m right wing, and I have never said the Pope is infallible. Never. Perhaps you would like to name those “right wingers” who said he was? Or are you just throwing more shite against the wall to see if it sticks, like you generally do?
@Nanny: #10
If obama can’t quote the Bible accurately, what was Jeremiah Wright preaching for the 20 years obama attended his church? We heard a little bit of his preaching, and it was to HATE America, which obama has done before he was president.
@retire05, #14:
How about the eventual prospect of a new market for U.S. goods? I’m sure there are a lot of U.S. businesses that would be interested in that possibility.
Actually, a question should be put to people like Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz: What do we gain by continuing hostilities that have already gone on for longer than they”ve even been around? When an approach has failed for 50 years, it’s time to try something different.
@Tom:
That is a common misconception from non-Catholics. Papal infallibility only exists when speaking ex cathedra on issues of faith and morals, and nothing else.
There are exactly two ex cathedra proclamations:
1. The Immaculate Conception of Mary.
2. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven.
@Tom:
Exactly WHAT problem has Obama fixed? If you are talking about Cuba, how was that a problem? Was watching yet another Communist regime collapse under its own incompetence harming us?
And, don’t worry about the next POTUS being without things to do; there will be eight years on ineptitude, incompetence, failure, disaster and corruption to correct. On just that count, the next POTUS… and the NEXT will be very busy.
@Greg:
Let me see if I understand you correctly: as you on the left rail about the evils of capitalism, we should cave to the demands of Cube because of…………..CAPITALISM?
If it were not for hypocrisy, you leftists would have no philosophy.
It is only the Cuban leaders (military, mostly) who have any money whatsoever inside Cuba.
And even they keep their money OUTSIDE of Cuba!
Foreign money has value, Cuban paper, not so much.
The ”people” have to subsist on small food rations.
But they MUST uniform up and parade on demand, carrying whatever the sign-of-the-day is for ”dear leader.”
Back in 2003 I saw a photo array of their infrastructure, old-fashioned wire jungles all over the sides and tops of buildings while clean-looking children paraded in the streets…..
Elian Gonzales, as a young man, can now be included among those puppets.
There are still tens of thousands of Cubans living in the USA whose land was stolen from them by Castro.
What’s the proposal?
Like Israel, no building in ”occupied” land?
Riiiiight!
@Nanny:
Michael Totten had a great article on Cuba. He talked about how even small things, like soap, were unavailable to the average Cuban. Potatoes, with the rich farmland that Cuba has, are hard to get. Drugs, even aspirin, and other everyday needs are basically unavailable although Cuba touts its free medical care for all.
None of that will change, no matter how optimistic people like Greggie are. The average Cuban will be paid in the worthless peso, while stupid Americans spend their dollars at fancy hotels which the military owns. But what Obama did was hand a black check to the Castro brothers who will become even richer as they send their money to the Bahamas. He bailed them out for the disaster that was headed their way since neither Russia, or Venezuela, could afford to prop Cuba up anymore. Bet Putin wishes he hadn’t cancelled out the debt that Cuba owed Russia now.
Rand Paul endorses Obama’s Cuban diplomacy.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/12/19/marco-rubio-rand-paul-trade-barbs-on-us-cuba-deal/
@retire05, #24:
Maybe you’re worried that it might, without it happening on your own terms. What a tragedy.
No, he didn’t. Nor has anyone ever come up with evidence that the Castro brothers have accumulated enormous personal wealth. The claim is made because of the extent of what the Cuban state owns. While the Castro brothers have ruled Cuba for over 50 years, they aren’t the Cuban state. That will become clear sooner rather than later; Fidel is 88 and his brother is 83.
I don’t know what people like Rubio and Cruz are imagining will happen, once the Castro brothers are gone. Possibly they think a repressed Cuban population will welcome back earlier generations of Miami refugees and step aside to they can divide up the estate and take over. Maybe they think a U.S. supported invasion would be in order, to accelerate the process. For all I know, that might be their idea of “winning.” They do have some goofy ideas.
As I said, only Cuba’s top leaders (mostly military) will benefit from this ploy from obama.
Just today there’s a new law in Cuba!
http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2014-12-15/nuevas-disposiciones-sobre-pago-a-trabajadores-vinculados-con-la-inversion-extranjera
In an official announcement in state newspaper Granma, government officials announced a system in which employees who work for corporations with foreign capital will be paid two Cuban Pesos for every Convertible Cuban Peso (CUC) the corporation actually pays them.
The Convertible Peso (CUP) is almost exclusively for the use of tourists and is of significantly greater value; one CUC is the equivalent of an American dollar and the equivalent of 26.5 CUPs.
The other 24 CUPs Cuban workers will not receive amount to 92% of their salaries.
So the 1-to-26.5 ratio melts into a 1-to-2 ratio.
That means Cuban workers will pay (not get) a 92% tax to the Cuban ”gov’t” (leaders.)
But, wait, there’s more!
In addition to the 92% of salaries being pocketed by the Cuban government, Cuban government employment offices will charge 20% of the salary of each worker they connect to the corporation for the service of finding said corporation employees.
Employees will also lose 9.09% of their salaries for “vacation time.”
So, YES, all Obama did was ”save” the Castros.
Their gov’t was about to fall after their deaths at the latest.
But Obama propped them up forever.
Maybe American businesses will exercise some restraint and not play their part.
That would be great!
@Greg:
Judas H. Priest, Greggie, you are an absolute moron. How the hell do you find your way out of your house? Can you even tie your shoes or does someone from your local Socialist Party have to do that for you?
From a web site about Cubans written by Cubans:
Since 1997, Forbes magazine has featured Fidel Castro in its annual Billionaires‟ edition as one of the richest rulers in the world. Initially, Forbes assigned to Castro a share of Cuba’s reported GDP (gross domestic product) for the previous year, which yielded a fortune of approximately $150 million. Since 2003, however, it began using a method similar to that used to estimate the fortunes of businesspeople and other royals and rulers. Using academic sources, Forbes identified several enterprises said to be controlled by Castro and determined their value by comparing them to similar publicly-traded companies. This has resulted in the more recent estimate of $500 million for Castro‟s fortune.
Aside from the difficulties inherent in estimating the value of privately-held companies lacking financial disclosure, Forbes‟ calculation of Fidel Castro‟s fortune is fraught with other obstacles. Due to a severe lack of information, the number of enterprises it took into account was very restricted in relation to the large number of businesses said to be under Castro‟s control. In addition, Forbes ‟calculation of Castro‟s net worth fails to take into account funds in bank accounts all over the world, large inventories of assets inside Cuba, and real estate holdings both in Cuba and overseas, all reported to belong to Castro. Yet, given the serious methodological flaws of Cuba‟s GDP statistics and Forbes‟ past practice of using only one year as the basis for its calculation, the new approach provides a sounder approximation to Castro‟s wealth. Although it probably falls well short of Castro‟s actual holdings, at least its foundation is the market value of clearly designated assets.
Not surprisingly, the Cuban government has long disputed Forbes ‟inclusion of Castro in their list. It publicly responded for the first time in 2004 by issuing a statement that “the revenues of Cuban state companies are used exclusively for the benefit of the people, to whom they belong.” Fidel publicly rebuked Forbes report and said he was considering a lawsuit against the magazine for libel.
Because of the large, intricate, and secret nature of these business activities, expectedly, all estimates of Castro‟s worth are imprecise. Nonetheless, even the best attempts appear to be well shy of the vast wealth under his command. The testimonies of former regime insiders provide telling snapshots of the enormous assets that Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl control. Arguably, they offer damning substantiation of their existence, regardless of their precise value at any given time –which appears to fluctuate widely as substantial assets apparently flow in and out constantly. Read the entire report: Fidel Castro Inc. – A Global Conglomerate
http://www.therealcuba.com/Castro%20the%20multimillionaire.htm
Forbes doesn’t list Obama as a billionaire because of the amount of property owned by the Federal Government, and they don’t list the Castro Brothers as billionaires because of the amount of property owned by the Cuban Government. You are absolutely the most dense person to ever post here.
Yes, Obama wrote the Castro Brothers a black check. Allowing businesses to come in, and the free exchange of currency, will only line the pockets of the Castroistas, not the average Cuban. Or have you forgotten that Communism is just another form of Socialism and Socialism is beneficial only to the politburo, not the proletariat?
You Socialists are really funny. You seem to think that dictators are so stupid they don’t plan on what happens when they die. The Castro Brothers will leave Cuba in the hands of like minded Communists, just like themselves. Fidel’s daughter comes to mind, the one that didn’t turn on him. And if you want proof, did Hugo Chavez leave Venezuela in the hands of a reformer or someone who thinks just like he did?
Obama is a foreign policy failure. But you’re so drunk on the Socialist Kool-Aid you can’t see that. It causes one to wonder how you reached that point.
@retire05, #28:
Forbes is advancing an argument that depends on definitions of ownership and personal property that don’t even apply in the capitalist world, let alone Cuba. It’s a waste of any intelligent reader’s time. The Cuban trade embargo has also been a waste of time. Why some people desire to continue it is obvious. They don’t want their own policy to be seen as the failure it has been. After 50 years without change, its failure is obvious; if it hasn’t worked for 50 year it isn’t going to start working anytime soon.
@Greg:
You do nothing but parrot the left wing talking points. But I wonder how you will offer an argument to someone who actually knows something about Cuba.
“It seems that the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba is the constant thread of the narrative here at Babalu Blog and wherever the issue of Cuba and its dictatorship is discussed. It feels like every day someone new comes along and says, “well it hasn’t worked in fifty years so isn’t time to try something new?” The purpose of this post is not to discuss the origins or intent of the embargo, we’ve discussed that ad nauseam, but rather to look into our crystal ball and see what a post-embargo Cuba would look like without the regime first making any significant changes to its economic and political systems. In other words, giving the castro brothers exactly what they have been asking for since the Soviet Union collapsed.”
Read the article, and take a note of the date. The left (you) have been mouthing the same mantra for years, but you, and your Socialist friends, have NEVER lived under a Socialist/Marxist/Communist regime. So you are just blowing smoke out your pie hole thinking you are so smart that what ever the Marxist in the Oval Office proposes will work. How’s that whole Obama foreign policy going in Iraq, Greggie?
Obama gave Raul Castro everything he asked for and we got nothing in return. We traded three terrorists, who killed American citizens, for a man that was falsely imprisoned. You have been told, over and over again, how nothing will change in Cuba. And no matter what proof is offered to you, you have some glib excuse not to accept it.
Now let’s be clear: Cuba’s trade embargo didn’t work because Cuba had the support of other Communist nations. The Euro weenies who wanted a tony vacation went to Cuba to bask on its beautiful beaches, the Cuban people be damned. Remember when Russia was whining about how they had a wheat crisis so our government sold them wheat and corn? Well, Nixon got rolled. Just like Obama got rolled. Bags of wheat with “Produced in the USA” wound up on the docks of Havana and our wheat and corn prices skyrocketed here at home.
Cuba enjoys a strong tourism business now. If lifting the embargo so that more misguided Americans in their Che’ t-shirts can bask in the Cuban sun will help the people of Cuba, why hasn’t Cuban tourism, which is over 2 million now, not helped?
What a sad, pathetic little man you are, Greggie.
You’re a dupe, Greggie. A sponge for all things left wing. You cannot form an original thought on your own and your only ability is to parrot whatever your left wing handlers tell you.
I’ll be content with the fact that Obama has made another policy move that I considered overdue long before I’d even heard of the guy. You’re just going to have to deal with the fact that support for this sort of change crosses party lines. Normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba is an idea whose time has come.
@Greg:
I would suggest to you that rank and file conservatives do not agree with this latest action on Obama’s part.
Only to those Socialists like yourself who welcome a relationship with Putin’s puppet.
Putin has plenty to worry about with the rapidly sinking Russian economy. It kind of looks like sanctions might turn out to be an effective approach to the Ukrainian situation after all, doesn’t it?
What hasn’t the far right been totally wrong about? The recovery? Job creation? Obamacare destroying the U.S. economy? Gas prices soaring? Gun confiscation?
@Greg:
Unlike our inept leader, Putin can walk and chew gum at the same time. That’s the problem with you radical leftists, you sell our enemies short.
Nope. It is just all show on Obama’s part. And no one can endure more, suffer more, and accept it more than the Russian people who have known hardship for hundreds of years. Yet they endure. So while Obama shows that he is a weak leader, the power players turn to Russia and Putin.
More right than you Socialists. The recovery? How’s that going when all the jobs have been filled by immigrants, legal and illegal and the labor force is at Carter levels? Job creation? Remind me again, who has been in control of the Senate, and the Oval Office, for the last six years? Gas prices? When Obama took office on January 20, 2009 regular gas was $1.87 in my area. It soared, and stayed high, ever since, and only because of Texas and North Dakota do we have falling gas prices. Remember, Obama said that under his plan, energy costs would necessarily skyrocket. That was one campaign statement he kept.
Gun confiscation? Tell me, Greggie, why are you leftists so afraid of nothing more than a piece of metal? Guns don’t go off by themselves, and Chicago children are not slaughtered by law abiding gun owners who support the 2nd Amendment. Yet, if you on the left don’t like something, you want the rest of us to abide by your opinions. You’ll blather on about the individual’s right to freedom, but only if it is the kind of freedom you say we are entitled to. You demand the right to be able to kill a baby in its mother’s womb, you demand the right to stop schools from having Christmas programs or stop towns from having nativity scenes on the court house lawn, but when it comes to anything conservatives believe in, like our right to bear arms, you have a hissy fit, jumping up and down demanding those Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms be abridged because you don’t like them.
But your days are numbered, Greggie. Americans are waking up and understanding that Socialism doesn’t work.
Now, don’t come back until you can give a cogent thought that is your own and not the left wing talking points.
@retire05, #34:
Putin has brought the Russian economy to the brink of collapse. The ruble is turning into Monopoly money. That’s how most people would define a disaster. Of course, you’re still impressed with the Bush administration’s display of economic and geopolitical genius. I suppose there’s at least some degree of consistency in that.
What they’re more likely to wake up to is the realization that the far right is full of hot air. They’ve got a President whose policies have worked very well for the country, and a republican House of Representatives that hasn’t been doing any constructive work at all. I half expect their new majority in the Senate only means that they’re about to double down on worse than useless.
Maybe they’ll surprise me and write some meaningful legislation. There’s certainly a backlog of problems that Congress has failed to deal with. I doubt it, however. Given that 2016 is just around the corner, they’ll more likely go to war with each other jockeying, for position. They’ll have to take time out from trying to trip up Obama to devote more time to trying to trip up each other. There will probably be lots of impassioned speeches about important issues that they’ll do absolutely nothing about.
@Greg:
Doesn’t matter. Russia will spend every ruble it has on its military, even if it means that people starve. And that Russian economy is based on oil revenue, and the price of oil has dropped due to the efforts of North Dakota and Texas.
Get your head out of your anus. Bush isn’t in office and hasn’t been for six years. The days of “but, but…… Bush” are over. And the fact that you bring up Bush only exhibits the fact that you have nothing but weak arguments. Not withstanding the fact that YOU brought Bush up, not me.
Again with the same lame rhetoric that the Democrats spouted when the Republicans took over the House in 2010. How did that work out for you? Conservatives cleaned your Socialist’s clocks last November. Obama’s policies work for well for the country? Really, Greggie? Millions of people, including me, losing our health insurance due to Obamacare works well for us? You are freaking delusional. And there is the foreign policy aspect; Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Russia, the list of failures goes on.
Two New York cops are dead tonight and you can lay the blame for that at the feet of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., Eric Holder, Bill Deblasio and Al Sharpton, all Democrats.
@Greg:
Actually, it looks like once again Obama benefits from something he has been trying to destroy. The fracking industry in the US has been instrumental in producing so much energy that costs have fallen and the petroleum-dependent economy of Russia is suffering. Just as Obama benefited from the intelligence gathered by the Bush administration to kill bin Laden, so does he now take credit for crippling the Russian economy with a weapon he would rather not have.
Thus proving, again, that the opposite of what Obama adapts as policy is the intelligent way to go.
Now, do you think Putin will just throw in the towel, as Obama does? Do you think Obama is prepared to deal with a desperate Putin? Putin will have to act before a competent adult is elected President and replaces the Campaigner in Chief; do you really thing Obama is equipped to handle that?
Almost 400 bills passed by the House that Reid keeps locked in his desk drawer. Who is it that obstructs, Greggo?
@retire05, #36:
Bush may be over, but his cheerleaders have obviously learned absolutely nothing from the experience. They’re eager to do the same things all over again. They won’t even concede that setting up a program to torture foreign nationals was a bad thing. Obama, on the other hand, sends the wrong signals and is an international embarrassment.
@Bill, #37:
Maybe they would have had better luck if they’d written and passed legislation that more people could agree on. That said, the number of bills passed in the House that weren’t voted on in the Senate isn’t much different than the end-of-term count in the past.
I can hardly wait to see what new explanation republicans will come up with for doing nothing, now that they’ve lost their Harry Reid excuse. They must be frantically wracking their brains to come up with something plausible. The only alternative would to write and pass useful legislation.
I’m sure President Obama will continue to helpfully point out the pressing issues that Congress has thus far neglected to address. He’s already put the immigration problem and Cuba on their list.
@Greg:
Which ones do the people disagree with? What are those bills which the vast majority of the American people have sent Reid the message that they disagree with and want Reid to not even debate them?
No, no, no, Greg. If you would remember, even Obama’s “pass this now” stimulus, jr. got shelved by Reid; why? Because he didn’t even have enough Democrat support for it and a vote would have been politically embarrassing. Besides, it, like Pappa Stimulus, would have failed, which is why Democrats, seeing elections ahead, turned away from it. So, Reid would not bring it to a vote. The same thing on the budgets passed by the House; no Democrats want their spending put in writing. Even Obamacare repeal is supported by the majority. Please, Greg, give us a list of those bills passed in the House that Reid shelved because he had the information that We The People wanted him to.
Well, there’s still the Obama veto; however, it will be interesting to see if Obama has the guts to veto the Keystone or other bills which will create jobs and allow the economy to get off its ass and grown. The excuses for not taking a stand and standing by his promises will be REALLY interesting. No doubt, it will be Bush’s fault.
How was Cuba a “pressing issue” that Congress needed to address? Cuba, on the verge of collapse, could have turned to a more democratic government but now the Castros vow to maintain the communist oppression that has kept Cuba in the toilet. The primary issue of immigration, border security and getting the message out that no longer is violating our laws rewarded with citizenship, entitlements and forgiveness will be addressed. Cuba is about as critical an issue as the global warming scam which Obama pays so much attention to.
Reid and Obama have created a national disaster and that is why their message has been resoundingly rejected. But now, Obama has yet another self-induced problem to deal with… the blood of two NYC police officers which is on his hands. I don’t think the Oahu surf is going to wash that off.
@Bill, #39:
The facts are that two NYC policemen were randomly gunned by some angry loser who then killed himself. The guy was already on the run, having shot his ex-girlfriend early that same morning. He shouldn’t be allowed to claim any greater cause as his motive. What he did was nothing more than pointless murder. I wouldn’t even have used the word assassination. Assassination implies a reason that goes beyond his own screwed up life. We need to look no further than that.
@Greg: The fact is that the racist rhetoric has been building to a crescendo ever since the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” lie was perpetrated. This led to protests, which led to riots, which led to faux outrage spreading to liberal sanctuaries across the nation, which led to highways and bridges being shut down, which led to police being assaulted, which led to a march with the chant of “What do we want? DEAD COPS! When do we want them? NOW!”, which led to Lui and Ramos being murdered, execution-style, in their police car. An assassination.
Sharpton and Farrakhan have been ratcheting this incitement up, day in, day out. Obama and Holder have been lending credence to the validity of police brutalizing blacks due to race. DeBlathero has been pandering to blacks, further encouraging the false accusations that any of these blacks’ deaths was the due to race. Every one of them, as well as many more who promoted the false claims, bear the responsibility of these officer’s deaths.
Why has Obama and Holder not spoken out about THESE deaths? Can’t Obama make anyone believe he could have had an Hispanic or Asian son? They make me want to wretch.
Both Holder and Obama did speak about them, but you won’t have picked up that bit of information from any of your “unbiased” conservative news sources. It isn’t useful to their efforts to politically exploit the situation.
@Greg: Obama has NOW spoken. He had not at the time I posted my thoughts; I know because I searched for it before I posted. Immediately afterwards, he went golfing, so I know his heart was really in it.
However, in his statement, did he discuss how the law must be respected, how the cops have not, in fact, been carte blanc racist in their actions and what a despicable, scumbag, race-baiting, tax-cheating, lying turd Sharpton is for personally getting tensions to the point where cops are assassinated? No, and no doubt, as soon as Obama gets back from his Hawaiian paradise vacation (on my nickel, thank you very much), Sharpton, the tax-cheating race-baiter, will be the first guest in the White House.