Fess up, naysayers. What did you think of Obama's speech?

[babylonsister]

Honest opinions would be nice. I know some of you were on the ledge, and I know we all have issues we're not happy with, but weren't you just the teensy-weensy bit encouraged about this change of direction?

[madeline_con]

1. He kissed way too much Israeli ass. n/t

[babylonsister]

3. I hope you read this take on it:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8451570&mesg_id=8451570

Obama's Astonishing Message on Palestine

[CreekDog]

2. Well Roseanne Barr certainly didn't like it

I heard her on Stephanie Miller this morning and she was unbelievably negative about it --saying it made her made and was "just like George W. Bush" and that Obama was just like Bush. :wtf:

As for me, this is the one of the first times in my life where a president has been as honest, fair and forthright on issues like this and i feel Obama is relying on his own voice more and more --and i like that.

[movonne]

13. Well I don't think that bush could have made a speech like that..in

fact there are not many that could...

[MadBadger]

20. Roseanne's a little nutty

And by little I mean very. Have you read her blog? I can just imagine her yelling all the nonsense she types on her blog.

[cali]

36. Roseanne Barr is remarkably stupid. always was. always will be.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. It was a nice speech,

certainly preferable to what we've heard over the past eight years, but I still don't see how we can gain any credibility with people in the Middle East until we hold some people accountable for the Iraq war, Gitmo, etc. Words without actions don't mean much, other than setting a better "tone."

[TerryRay]

6. I agree

It was a speech..until something concrete happens it is simply just a speech

[NYC_SKP]

7. Um. Going to Cairo and delivering a thoughtful and honest address IS concrete.

He represents this country.

If you don't think COMMUNICATING is a concrete act, then you may be beyond hope.

[TerryRay]

23. sorry

I just disagree..a speech is just words without true resolve and action. Why do people remember JFK talking about putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade? Becsause it happened. The action behind the words made the speech itself powerful, not just the speech

If at the end of Obama's time in office if our relations with the Middle East have truly improved, then I do think this speech will be remembered and talked about for generations...but as of right now it is still just a speech. Sounded great and yes gives hope, but if action does not follow, then it will be simply false hope.

And your right communicating is concrete..but if your actions dont match your words, then all your doing is sinking in that concrete

[babylonsister]

30. Has a president in the past 8+ years tried to fix this in the first 6 MONTHS

of their presidency, or even brought it up? It's important, historic, and signals a change. He has signalled that he's going to work for it by starting now. What don't you get about that?

[HopeOverFear]

46. Notice that JFK said "by the end of the decade" and not TOMORROW

it didn't happen overnight. Neither will many of the policies Obama talks about in his speeches.

[janx]

9. I agree with you so much, but I don't know how Obama can

deal with that and also with he has to deal with now. If it's any consolation, history will deal with it. This administration might be able to deal with it during the next term. Hugs to you and J.

:hug:

[Blue_In_AK]

15. I know he has his hands full,

and as I said, he certainly sets a better tone. I just wish I could rid myself of this nagging feeling that the criminals are going to get away completely -- just like criminals in high places almost always do, at least in this country. Ordinary people go to prison for many years for crimes that have harmed far fewer people, or no people at all. The Bush cabal (going back many years) and people like Cheney and Rumsfeld are responsible for the pain and death of millions, forcing people out of their homes, destroying their lives and yet we're supposed to just "move on for the good of the country," "look forward, not back." How can we ever absolve ourselves as a nation of the guilt and blood on our hands as long as these crimes go unpunished? There is no "justice for all" unless and until we hold them accountable.

[janx]

17. Wait....

:hug:

[babylonsister]

18. I'm not convinced it's a done deal by far, Blue.

Lots of stuff on that plate, but when we have senators like Whitehouse and Levin, and Leahy initially, who want this investigated, and so many unanswered questions, I keep the hope. There's also that lady being held in limbo, Dawn Johnsen, who might be the reason why the rethugs won't budge.

I hope you are well! :hug:

[vaberella]

21. We can't use Gitmo as an example.

Obama is being held up by the damn Senate on that one. As for Iraq he's working on it and said by 2011.

[janx]

5. I'm not a naysayer, but I can tell you that those I spoke to in

my neighborhood are very pleased!

[elocs]

8. I must confess that I never saw or heard but a bit of it.

Nothing to do with issues or ledges but maybe it was after watching the series on tv "Lie to Me" which said that people's unconscious gestures reveal their true emotions it made me wonder in the short bit I did see why Obama several times frowningly pursed his lips. I don't know what it indicates, but it did stick out for me.

[laureloak]

11. You really should READ the speech.

You can find it at whitehouse.gov

[elocs]

19. Probably right, but the list of things I SHOULD do is very long

and reading or hearing or watching the speech is nowhere near the top. I'm sure it was great because here at DU the tendency is to either be orgasmic over all things Obama or to trash him for not jumping through their pet hoops. If faith without works is dead, then words without action are empty. Time will tell and the speech will still be around to see.

[babylonsister]

27. What happened to you?

If DU is the only source you get your newz, that's not right.

Have you checked anything else out? Can't stand the positive reinforcement of people who have liked him/speech, which surely surpasses those that didn't?

:boring:

[Jennicut]

41. Not important enough for ya, huh? Why are you on DU then if major speeches

by a Dem President are not important?

[elocs]

43. I didn't realize I was required or obligated to listen to every presidential speech.

I'm not and I'm at DU because I can be and choose to be.

[Jennicut]

44. Its one of the biggest speeches ever on the American/Muslim relationship

Am I missing something here? Not a requirement, just common sense.
Its impact on how we get along with the middle east could be huge.

[elocs]

45. It makes no difference to the impact or importance of the speech whether I hear, read it or not.

I can get over it, others evidently cannot.

[babylonsister]

12. You should watch it, and what this president said today at Buckenwald.

Really. The youtube group probably has both.

[DURHAM D]

24. The local news folk were talking about Buckenwald today.

Where in the world is Buckenwald?

[babylonsister]

26. Germany. It is one of many places where horrors were carried out

during WWII. It is the place where a concentration camp was. I hope you find out about it, and others. Time to read up on the history of Germany starting from 1937ish til 1945. It's quite the history.
It was beyond horrific.

[DURHAM D]

33. I was actually referring to your spelling which matched the local mispronunciation.

I visited Dachau in 1972 and Auschwitz, Buchenwald and other work and concentration camps in 1977. I am actually pretty familiar with the camps.

[vaberella]

22. Huh? You're taking notes from tv to read people?!

:wtf:

[elocs]

25. Nope, just something that crossed my mind as I was watching.

Let's be honest here--had I been doing this with a Republican I would be congratulated here for being so observant.

[laureloak]

10. Perfect. Full of truths that needed to be spoken. n/t

[babylonsister]

28. Thank you. Pretty awesome. nt

[janx]

14. I do want to mention that I talked to people of very different

ages--they were all blown away. I am lucky in that I have contact with people from adolescence to the eighties and nineties. I will continue to talk to them to determine their reactions.

Obama has it right. There are people in their sixties and nineties who say they have never seen a new president like this. NEVER. This includes a 93-year-old WWII vet whose wits are still very much attached.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OHdem10]

29. One of the best ever by a President of these United States.

He maintained a balanced approach giving the world a lot of food
for thought.

We must keep in mind, Conservative--Neo-Conservative ideas are being
rejected. This is why the GOP Fox etc keep nitpicking.

[babylonsister]

31. Hi.

I remember words exchanged with you so I'm glad t see you here. I just want you to know that.

[jeanpalmer]

32. The speech was good

but it was just a speech. If we end up with just a speech, and no action, then it didn't amount to much. As weve seen in the past with Obama, its better to hold judgment with respect to what he says because so far he has not followed up on what he told us or he has done a 180.

Someone in Iran said "we dont need sermons from the USA." There was also that element to the speech. Someone from the USA, the biggest terrorist in the world, lecturing muslims about terrorism was laughable. He went real light on the USA to the point where he wasn't credible. The USA is responsible for the deaths of a million people just in Iraq alone, and the making of 4 million people homeless. That's on a level with the holocaust. He was very direct about the holocaust. But here's what he said about the USA and Iraq: "Let me also address the issue of Iraq. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world. Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible." That's all? It just just provoked strong differences? There was nothing heinous and immoral about it? This is where he lost all credibility for me. He really wasn't willing to take the USA to task for its crimes. If he were honest, he would have condemned that war.

A few muslims have attacked us, most of them are dead. But the US has waged immoral war on the M.E., for their oil, and he didn't touch that. So in that respect, he's just a talker.

The real problem for the world, and the USA, is the militarism of the US. It's the greatest threat to the world. It's the greatest threat internally to the US. And until he is willing not only to address that but to take on the MIC and de-militarize our country, he's not going to accomplish much. And so far, he has not been willing to take it on. On the contrary, he seems more than eager to do the bidding of the MIC, and he certainly is not willing to hold them accountable under the law or to downsize them. So when I see him do those thing, then I'll take him seriously.

[eridani]

34. I thought it was outstanding. His economic team still sucks, however n/t

[leftofthedial]

35. Outstanding speech. It was brilliant IMHO to get so many "taboo" subjects off the table.

Rachel Maddow had an excellent commentary on that aspect of it.

I think his statements about how we don't torture (now) and how we won't use 9-11 to justify war crimes (now) would carry more weight if he showed any inclination to holding torturers and war criminals accountable.

Excellent speech, perhaps a paradigm-shifting speech.

[annabanana]

37. He DOES have a way of grabbing those "third rails" and just

hanging on until the current is exhausted.

[vaberella]

38. It's Good stuff, it's hard for me to find an earthly word to describe it. n/t

[jberryhill]

39. Nay!

Nay, nay, nay. Nay? Nay!

[jeanpalmer]

40. Here's a take

that seems accurate to me.

"There was of course a distinct shift in the rhetorical tone from the bullying “you’re either with or against us” of George W. Bush to the reassuring “we’re all in this together” of Obama. But as several commentators noted (the New Republic compared the speech line-for-line to that given by Bush to the United Nations on September 16, 2006), if you turned off the picture and the sound and simply read the prepared text, the words are very similar to speeches delivered by Bush, Condoleezza Rice and other officials of the previous administration.

"The vague and flowery rhetoric, the verbal tributes to Islamic culture and the equal rights of nations, constitute an adjustment of the language being used to cloak the policy of US imperialism, not a change in substance. Obama made not a single concrete proposal to redress the grievances of the oppressed peoples of the Middle East. That is because the fundamental source of this oppression is the profit system and the domination of the world by imperialism, of which American imperialism is the most ruthless.

"Obama made one passing reference to colonialism, and to the US role in the overthrow of the democratically elected Mossadegh government in Iran in 1953. But in his litany of “sources of tension” in the region, he offered the same checklist as his predecessor, with the first place given to “violent extremism”, Obama’s rhetorical substitute for Bush’s “terrorism.”

"In his speech in Cairo, Obama was playing the role for which he was drafted and promoted by a decisive section of the US financial elite and the military and foreign policy apparatus. This role is to provide a new face for US imperialism as part of a shift in the tactics, but not the strategy, of Washington’s drive for world domination."

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/pers-j05.shtml

Did anyone here detect a concrete proposal to redress legitimate grievances? I didn't. Or did anyone detect a detailed admission of what US imperialism is responsible for, like all the deaths and homelessness in Iraq? I didn't. I think Martin is right. Obama tried to put a new face on the same old policy, which hasn't changed.

[Akoto]

42. I wasn't a naysayer, but I thought the speech was excellent.

He was humble (unlike Bush), honest, and he touched on many issues of importance to the region. For the most part, I've heard nothing but good reception - in a few cases, outright surprise - from the foreign media. Not a bad reaction from what was no doubt an initially skeptical audience.