Credit Where Credit is Due
I am about to do something I haven’t done since he took office: praise President Obama. His speech given yesterday in Oslo accepting the Nobel Peace Prize was a good one, and reflects a deeper understanding of world history and America’s role in it than I have expected.
“(A) nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies … negotiations cannot convince al-Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms …the belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it.”
Damn right, Mr. President.
“The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms. The service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans. We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will. We have done so out of enlightened self-interest — because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if other people’s children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.”
Wow… Is he channeling Ronald Reagan?
This doesn’t mean that I will vote for the guy in 3 years, or that I’ve suddenly gone soft on him. I still believe the man is the worst president to hold the office since Jimmy Carter. But even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while, and I’m not irrational about my dislike of the guy.
So good job, Mr. President.
Terry Trippany:
Unfortunately he also said the following:
“And even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight. That is a source of our strength. That is why I prohibited torture. That is why I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed. And that is why I have reaffirmed America’s commitment to abide by the Geneva Conventions. We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend. (Applause.) And we honor—we honor those ideals by upholding them not when it’s easy, but when it is hard.”an
He is worse than Carter (amazing that we could have two of these guys in our lifetime). This is another apologizing for America wrapped in some leftists fantasy about their supposed moral ground. First and foremost torture was prohibited way before this jerk took office. They just expanded the definition and claimed that they prohibited it. The idiot is closing Guantanamo and putting enemy combatants into our legal system. The same kind of combatants that killed our soldiers in Iraq, tortured them, burned them and hung them from a bridge. The same kind of terrorists that cut the heads off people and fly planes into American buildings killing 3000 people. Wondering when Obama is going to call for the terrorists to follow the Geneva conventions.
If I called Obama an ass it would be offensive to all the other asses in the world.
11 December 2009, 10:52 pmScott Kirwin:
Trip
I agree with your assessment. I was motivated to post this due to the European/Leftist reaction which interpreted the speech as being “militaristic”.
He has a long way to go to redemption, and I doubt that he will even continue down that path. After all this is just one step forward after thousands of steps backward. But it was still a step forward.
11 December 2009, 11:18 pmThe Razor » Blog Archive » Obama vs. Carter:
[...] fellow Watcher’s Council member Terry Trippany in stated his belief that Obama is a worse president than my nominee of “worst president ever” James [...]
15 December 2009, 8:54 pm