A Revised Obama M.E. Response

[bhunter]

All Obama has to do is imagine that the mobs in the Middle East are not misunderstood Muslims — who overreacted a bit to an offensive American video — but rather suspect conservatives and opponents of progressive thought. Then, mutatis mutandis, Obama might get fired up and level a much-needed warning.

If he did, it might go like this:

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But let’s be perfectly clear, the Middle East acted stupidly.

If the people of the Middle East cannot trust their governments to do the job for which they exist — to protect them and to promote their common welfare — all else is lost. It’s not surprising, then, that those on the Arab street get bitter; they cling to their religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-American sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Make no mistake about it — the point I am making is not that Middle Easterners harbor any racial animosity. They don’t. But there is a typical Middle Eastern person, who, if they see somebody on the street that they don’t know, you know, there’s a reaction that’s been bred in their experiences that don’t go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that’s just the nature of religion and race in their society. And so what I think we know — separate and apart from these incidents — is that there is a long history in their countries of average Americans being singled out disproportionately, and that’s just a fact. On more than one occasion, they have uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that have made us cringe.

Nonetheless, whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower. So if they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun. Because from what I understand, folks in America like a good brawl. I’ve seen our football fans. Make no mistake about it: We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us. So I want America to argue with those radicals in the Middle East and get in their face.

Finally, as far as Middle Eastern governments go, I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking. They just can’t drive their SUVs and eat as much as they want and keep their homes on 72 degrees at all times — and then just expect that other people are going to say okay. That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson092112.html

But alas, he instead leveled that at his political opponents which represent about 50% of the populace.

[BlueStreak]

That's odd. I just heard that the administration has denounced the reaction and the attack on our Libyan Embassy as "...acts of terrorism."

Perhaps they just wanted to do the intelligent thing and wait until they had all of the facts before they spoke? Or, should they act more like Mitt? Or GW, or............

Regards,
Dave

[bobabode]

Why not reproduce the whole article BH? Don't you agree with premise and invective shown in this? This is getting old guy. You are starting to be intellectually dishonest lopping off the first two paragraphs.


September 21, 2012
Obama on the Middle East
by Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online

The last three and a half years, Barack Obama has gone out of his way to bow, apologize, contextualize, and scapegoat in order to win Middle Eastern affection. Yet, his reset, “Bush did it” policy is now in shambles, and he apparently has nothing with which to replace it.

So I have a modest suggestion. Obama has a formidable arsenal of invective that he has unleashed against conservatives, Republicans, and just about anyone else on the domestic scene he doesn’t like. Why, then, not redeploy these fire-in-the-belly attacks against those who kill Americans abroad?
All Obama has to do is imagine that the mobs in the Middle East are not misunderstood Muslims — who overreacted a bit to an offensive American video — but rather suspect conservatives and opponents of progressive thought. Then, mutatis mutandis, Obama might get fired up and level a much-needed warning.

If he did, it might go like this:

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But let’s be perfectly clear, the Middle East acted stupidly.

If the people of the Middle East cannot trust their governments to do the job for which they exist — to protect them and to promote their common welfare — all else is lost. It’s not surprising, then, that those on the Arab street get bitter; they cling to their religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-American sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Make no mistake about it — the point I am making is not that Middle Easterners harbor any racial animosity. They don’t. But there is a typical Middle Eastern person, who, if they see somebody on the street that they don’t know, you know, there’s a reaction that’s been bred in their experiences that don’t go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that’s just the nature of religion and race in their society. And so what I think we know — separate and apart from these incidents — is that there is a long history in their countries of average Americans being singled out disproportionately, and that’s just a fact. On more than one occasion, they have uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that have made us cringe.

Nonetheless, whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower. So if they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun. Because from what I understand, folks in America like a good brawl. I’ve seen our football fans. Make no mistake about it: We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us. So I want America to argue with those radicals in the Middle East and get in their face.

Finally, as far as Middle Eastern governments go, I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking. They just can’t drive their SUVs and eat as much as they want and keep their homes on 72 degrees at all times — and then just expect that other people are going to say okay. That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.

Amen, Mr. President.

©2012 Victor Davis Hanson

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Why not reproduce the whole article BH? Don't you agree with premise and invective shown in this? This is getting old guy. You are starting to be intellectually dishonest lopping off the first two paragraphs.


[B]September 21, 2012

I cited it and thought the context was obvious. It was interesting seeing a lot of Obama's little jabs in one place when directed at something other than his political opponents. I initially wasn't planning on posting that much and pieced it together. I'm most sorry for not meeting your lofty standards of intellectual honesty.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by bhunter

I cited it and thought the context was obvious. It was interesting seeing a lot of Obama's little jabs in one place when directed at something other than his political opponents. I initially wasn't planning on posting that much and pieced it together. I'm most sorry for not meeting your lofty standards of intellectual honesty.

We're suspicious of intellectuals here. We don't understand all of the long words, so they must be up to no good.

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by bhunter

I cited it and thought the context was obvious. It was interesting seeing a lot of Obama's little jabs in one place when directed at something other than his political opponents. I initially wasn't planning on posting that much and pieced it together. I'm most sorry for not meeting your lofty standards of intellectual honesty.

Lofty standards? How about some minimal stardards? Just quote the thing instead of playing games, sheesh.

BTW Boreas is right it's a shitty little racist piece masquerading as political discussion.

[bobabode]

Oh okay.When I read the complete story, not the truncated version the OP put up my first impression was so what it's Hanson,just more whiney crybaby shit morphing into an adolescent rant. Weh, weh, weh. Olson can go effing cry to someone who cares. What a sobbing little punk. No sympathy here. I wouldn't piss on his head if his hair was on fire. Somebody needs to send him a crate of Depends and a pacifier.

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Oh okay.When I read the complete story, not the truncated version the OP put up my first impression was so what it's Olson,just more whiney crybaby shit morphing into an adolescent rant. Weh, weh, weh. Olson can go effing cry to someone who cares. What a sobbing little punk. No sympathy here. I wouldn't piss on his head if his hair was on fire. Somebody needs to send him a crate of Depends and a pacifier.

Who's Olson?

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by bhunter

Who's Olson?

Corrected. It's Hanson but you knew that.

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

That's odd. I just heard that the administration has denounced the reaction and the attack on our Libyan Embassy as "...acts of terrorism."

Perhaps they just wanted to do the intelligent thing and wait until they had all of the facts before they spoke? Or, should they act more like Mitt? Or GW, or............

Regards,
Dave

That would be fine; however, they spun the movie story for the better part of a week. That is, they did not wait before they spoke, rather, they went with a story line that was the least damaging to Obama. Moreover, he should have made some generic statement in a more timely manner IMHO.