President Obama’s America is a passive, confused and ineffective superpower
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 28, 2024, 08:53:36 AM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  General Politics
  U.S. General Discussion (Moderators: The Dowager Mod, Chancellor Tanterterg)
  President Obama’s America is a passive, confused and ineffective superpower
« previous next »
Pages: [1] 2
Author Topic: President Obama’s America is a passive, confused and ineffective superpower  (Read 2453 times)
The Vorlon
Vorlon
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 4,656


Political Matrix
E: 8.00, S: -4.21

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« on: September 05, 2014, 10:21:54 AM »

Discuss

http://washingtonexaminer.com/round-two-team-clinton-book-ratchets-up-attack-on-obamas-feckless-policies/article/2552897
Logged
King
intermoderate
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 29,357
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2014, 10:32:18 AM »

Intellectually dishonest, as expected. Doug Schoen is as much Team Clinton at this point as Dick Morris, a FOX News/Newsmax lackey.

That aside, the notion is ridiculous. We're not losing any ground to anyone. We're still the 50x bigger than anyone else superpower that can nuclear holocaust the world in 10 minutes. No President can change that system.

Literally nothing has happened, it's all speculative fear that our role is diminishing. We aren't losing anything in Ukraine, Israel is doing just fine, ISIS was only winning because we doing absolutely nothing but just a few airstrikes is already derailing it.

There are conflicts around the world but people against our interest are not really claiming victory over anything meaningful. Everything that is happening in the news at this moment will be lost to the sands of time.
Logged
Brittain33
brittain33
Moderators
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 21,933


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2014, 10:41:21 AM »
« Edited: September 05, 2014, 10:42:58 AM by Gravis Marketing »

It's hard to take a neoconservative critique of Obama's foreign policy seriously after the utter fiascoes that resulted from what they consider a "strong, resolute" foreign policy. It's all well and good to speculate that Obama makes America weaker and puts Americans in danger, but hard to credit that speculation against the actual body count of the 2000s that continues to this day.
Logged
DrScholl
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 17,926
United States


Political Matrix
E: -5.55, S: -3.30

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2014, 10:59:59 AM »

Waste of a thread.
Logged
Antonio the Sixth
Antonio V
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 57,960
United States


Political Matrix
E: -7.87, S: -3.83

P P
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2014, 11:04:22 AM »

lol
Logged
Free Bird
TheHawk
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,918
United States


Political Matrix
E: 0.84, S: -5.48

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #5 on: September 05, 2014, 11:59:05 AM »

Cue the hacks and blind Obama fanatics
Logged
Badger
badger
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 40,237
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #6 on: September 05, 2014, 12:05:38 PM »

Cue the hacks and blind Obama fanatics

Such as yourself?

Oh trust me, one might not support Obama <raises hand> and still be a hack about Obama. Look in a mirror for an example.

That aside, any reason you think this article makes a point?
Logged
King
intermoderate
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 29,357
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2014, 12:16:42 PM »

Cue the hacks and blind Obama fanatics

I, for one, find FreedomHawk's posts to be passive, confused, ineffective, muddled, irresolute, full of naive assumptions, and even feckless, an international symbol for spinelessness.
Logged
Landslide Lyndon
px75
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 26,613
Greece


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2014, 12:20:41 PM »

Isn't it funny that all these Bomb-For-Freedom neocons have such a massive hard on for a dictator like Putin?
Logged
King
intermoderate
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 29,357
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2014, 12:38:32 PM »

Neocon love is 99% person 1% principle. Putin taps into that lust for a President John Wayne who stands a foot taller than he is and rides horses. They can't help themselves.
Logged
Lief 🗽
Lief
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 44,875


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #10 on: September 05, 2014, 01:13:03 PM »

oh god no vorlorn is back
Logged
Yank2133
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,387


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2014, 01:19:00 PM »

Neocons have no credibility when it comes to foreign policy.
Logged
Snowstalker Mk. II
Snowstalker
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 20,414
Palestinian Territory, Occupied


Political Matrix
E: -7.10, S: -4.35

P P P
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2014, 04:12:03 PM »

The imperialist has decided that he would rather see America glassed in nuclear catastrophe than see the Nazi-coddling apartheid states of Latvia and Estonia in any danger.
Logged
Bacon King
Atlas Politician
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 18,822
United States


Political Matrix
E: -7.63, S: -9.49

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2014, 04:20:58 PM »

The right's criticism of the Obama administration's foreign policy is literally nothing but hilariously blatant hypocrisy and this article exemplifies that perfectly.

Quote
You must be logged in to read this quote.

Oh, Obama was spineless and let Assad step all over him, you say? I remember this a bit differently. I recall Obama boldly declaring to Congress and the American people that American intervention in Syria was extremely necessary, specifically stating that the credibility of the United States on the world stage would be at stake if we failed to respond to Assad's use of chemical weapons. Congressional leaders immediately went to work whipping the votes for the resolution to authorize military force, and the talking heads on cable news commenced the spin cycle. Congress never passed that resolution primarily because it was opposed by almost every single Republican there. Literally only 8 members of the House GOP caucus had declared their support while 191 of them announced their opposition. The conservative media had a field day painting Obama as a reckless warmonger while literally praising Vladimir Putin for his "principled" opposition to the President. America's posture towards Syria became spineless when certain news organizations eagerly provided a soapbox to that nation's dictator, not only ignoring the fact that his regime was at that very moment massacring thousands of its own citizens, but even lending credibility to the absurd conspiracy theory that a chemical attack on a fortified rebel position in the middle of a surprise attack conducted by government forces was somehow anything other than his regime launching a gas attack on its own people.

One might complain that it was Obama's fault we came out of this looking bad because he had no business making the "red line" comment in the first place? If so, you might have a point, except that this entire line of criticism against Obama is centered on his alleged failure to protect American interests abroad. If the US were to have ignored the Syrian Civil War completely it would be globally regarded as an unprecedented abandonment of our interests in the Middle East, giving Putin free reign to court our current Arabic allies to his side.

You might say Obama was weak because he requested Congressional authorization in the first place. Let's not kid ourselves here, that would have been a PR nightmare for the President because the GOP would come out swinging even harder than they did (and also probably causing outrage and revolt among the Democratic Left). Besides, while Obama claimed that he didn't technically require Congressional authority to strike against Syria, that was nothing more than a footnote reaffirming that the Executive Branch is still continuing the 40-year precedent of claiming the War Powers Act's unconstitutionality while faithfully adhering to its every letter, because seriously could you imagine if someone sued and an active military operation suddenly fell into limbo pending a judgement from the Supreme Court? Besides, it'd be ridiculous for the GOP to claim Obama shouldn't have sought congressional authorization to attack Syria when so many Republican Congressmen complained that he didn't seek authorization against Libya. The War Powers Act didn't require authorization for Libya because it made exceptions for treaty obligations like actions authorized by the UN Security Council.

But back to the article:

Quote
You must be logged in to read this quote.

This is hilarious because we're not in the Cold War anymore. Responsible nuclear security is further multilateral arms limitation agreements, not reigniting the arms race.

Quote
You must be logged in to read this quote.

Seriously? Blaming the sequester on Obama? He had nothing to do with the fact that the Supercommittee couldn't reach any agreement. The only reason it even got to that point was because the Congressional GOP constantly played chicken with a Federal budget default to cause a debt ceiling hostage crisis at every opportunity. The silliest part is that Treasury bond yields were so low and stable at the time that they had a negative real interest rate- the government would have literally been saving money long-term if they were allowed to borrow more.

Ultimately the GOP has undermined Obama's presidency at every opportunity and that's forced this alleged impotency on the international stage. This sort of attack on his foreign policy is like tripping someone as they walk past, just so you can insult them for falling to the floor. A modern democracy requires a "loyal opposition" willing to negotiate in good faith on substantive international issues and to whatever extent America has become ineffectual, it's because we've lost that capability to work across the aisle without being stabbed in the back.
Logged
Beet
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,802


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2014, 04:37:34 PM »

Excellent post, Bacon King. The president was certainly right to request congressional authorization before getting us into another war. It's in the Constitution, something I thought conservatives cared about (yes it's been generally ignored, including by Obama himself most of the time, but that doesn't mean it ought to continue to be). Obama requested striking Syria and the congressional Republicans denied it.
Logged
○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└
jfern
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 53,611


Political Matrix
E: -7.38, S: -8.36

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #15 on: September 06, 2014, 02:16:32 AM »
« Edited: September 06, 2014, 02:18:21 AM by ○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└ »

Warmongers can STFU. Their pal Bush had 7 years to take out Bin Laden, but Obama was the one who got him.

Bush looked into Putin's soul and liked what he saw.
Logged
Brittain33
brittain33
Moderators
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 21,933


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #16 on: September 06, 2014, 07:25:46 AM »

Hmm, this seems somewhat relevant to this post.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/the-kremlins-troll-army/375932/

Quote
You must be logged in to read this quote.
Logged
Maxwell
mah519
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,459
Germany


Political Matrix
E: -6.45, S: -6.96

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #17 on: September 06, 2014, 12:37:36 PM »

Being thoughtful and cautious about foreign policy = "passive","weak", "ineffective"

I hate to say it, but I think I'm gonna miss Obama.
Logged
pbrower2a
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 26,841
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #18 on: September 06, 2014, 01:12:04 PM »

Being thoughtful and cautious about foreign policy = "passive","weak", "ineffective"

I hate to say it, but I think I'm gonna miss Obama.

Let's remember how awful Dubya was before we consider contemplation and caution as "passive", "weak", and "ineffective". Dubya was often decisive but wrong, and that got us into horrible situations.
Logged
Kevin
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,424
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #19 on: September 06, 2014, 01:14:09 PM »

Intellectually dishonest, as expected. Doug Schoen is as much Team Clinton at this point as Dick Morris, a FOX News/Newsmax lackey.

That aside, the notion is ridiculous. We're not losing any ground to anyone. We're still the 50x bigger than anyone else superpower that can nuclear holocaust the world in 10 minutes. No President can change that system.

Literally nothing has happened, it's all speculative fear that our role is diminishing. We aren't losing anything in Ukraine, Israel is doing just fine, ISIS was only winning because we doing absolutely nothing but just a few airstrikes is already derailing it.

There are conflicts around the world but people against our interest are not really claiming victory over anything meaningful. Everything that is happening in the news at this moment will be lost to the sands of time.

LOL!
Logged
Lief 🗽
Lief
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 44,875


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #20 on: September 06, 2014, 01:16:25 PM »

oh god no kevin is back too?!?!
Logged
Maxwell
mah519
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,459
Germany


Political Matrix
E: -6.45, S: -6.96

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #21 on: September 06, 2014, 01:25:42 PM »

Being thoughtful and cautious about foreign policy = "passive","weak", "ineffective"

I hate to say it, but I think I'm gonna miss Obama.

Let's remember how awful Dubya was before we consider contemplation and caution as "passive", "weak", and "ineffective". Dubya was often decisive but wrong, and that got us into horrible situations.

I don't think you're really responding to me. I agree with you dude.
Logged
Atlas Has Shrugged
ChairmanSanchez
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 38,096
United States


Political Matrix
E: 5.29, S: -5.04


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #22 on: September 06, 2014, 02:34:32 PM »

Did Snowstalker just call the Baltic nations Apartheid states?
Logged
MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!
Kalwejt
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 57,380


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #23 on: September 06, 2014, 03:29:57 PM »

Mods, please ban Snowstalker .
Logged
Indy Texas
independentTX
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 12,258
United States


Political Matrix
E: 0.52, S: -3.48

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #24 on: September 06, 2014, 04:10:02 PM »

I would rather we be a country that double checks than one that impulsively starts trillion dollar wars based on hearsay evidence of WMDs in a Middle Eastern country.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.051 seconds with 12 queries.