awwww, Billy Kristol is sad because Obama's not a war President

[EraOfResponsibility]

boo-hoo

Not a War President

What can we learn from the few sentences President Obama devoted to foreign policy in his speech to Congress tonight?

The main lesson is how very few the sentences were. Yes, this was a speech focused on the economy. But it was also Obama’s first address to Congress, and his first to the nation since his inauguration. Obama did acknowledge in passing that for seven years we have been “a nation at war.” But that fact was barely reflected in his text. The treatment of foreign policy was perfunctory at best.

Obama did say he’s “carefully reviewing our policies in both wars.” “War” is just one area in which the president conducts and reviews public policy, apparently no more urgent than energy, health care or education--indeed, perhaps less so. You’d never know from the one-sentence discussion of Afghanistan that just last week the president had ordered an additional 17,000 troops there. Obama doesn’t seem to think his responsibility as commander in chief is in any way special. He certainly felt no responsibility even to begin to educate the public about this theater to which he’s committing additional American soldiers.

Instead, both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were treated as sideshows to “a new era of engagement” that Obama claims has begun. The only particular place mentioned by Obama, in addition to Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan, was Israel: “To seek progress toward a secure and lasting peace between Israel and her neighbors, we have appointed an envoy to sustain our effort.” The Israeli-Arab dispute and its envoy merits a mention. Yet Iran and its nuclear program does not?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2009/02/not_a_war_president.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[leftstreet]

1. BWAHAHA I first thought you meant Billy Crystal, and thought wtf?

I keep forgetting Kristol still lives and breathes.

[EraOfResponsibility]

5. lol

[firedupdem]

2. They are so used to hearing about terror, freedoms, hate, and

axis of evil they don't know what to do. This was not a State of the Union Speech.

[Norrin Radd]

3. We shouldn't have to listen to that warmongerer any more.

The commentary under his post is great, though.

[provis99]

4. Man, the comments thread is a real riot, isn't it?

If people click on the article, they need to read the comments thread too. It reads like a rant-athon at DU on Kristol.

[and-justice-for-all]

6. I cant stand him, he drivesme up a wall...nt

[asteroid2003QQ47]

7. Baþa medoa kalê ha ða o.

* Literal Translation: 'A cripple does not start a war song'.

* Explanation: Usually when war songs are sung they arouse a fighting spirit in men or arouse them to do some daring deeds; thus the leader of the song must be strong enough to take part in any war-like activity that may follow the singing. A cripple can lead a war song but cannot take part in the war-like activities that may follow from it and this will expose his infirmity.

* Moral Teaching: 'A Cripple starting a war song means a person who claims certain qualities that he does not have and such people's empty claims are exposed in due time. This proverb is, therefore, a warning against empty boasting and recommending the virtue of humility.
------------------------
The New Republic dubbed Kristol "Dan Quayle's brain" :rofl: when he served as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle during the Bush administration.
Those alive at the time know how well that worked out.

[PVnRT]

8. Billy Kristol is the son of a Communist agitator

Just remind the righties of that - Irving was a socialist during the Great Depression.

[grantcart]

14. Huh? he was a trotskyite at college in 1940

But after the war he has been on the far right and is known as "the father of neo conservatism"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Kristol

having been forn in 1920 he would have been a teenager during the Great Depression. His only known association in radical leftist circles was joining a trotsky sect at CCNY.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Kristol

[MadHound]

9. What, 19 more months in Iraq and a surge in Afghanistan isn't enough war for Kristol?

Damn, these hawks are getting damn demanding in what they want from a war or two.

[EraOfResponsibility]

11. HAHA!....n/m

[sampsonblk]

10. I don't blame him for feeling this way

While the Dunce was in office, all the RW wackos claimed he was a great leader, doing what he had to do because of the dire situation we were in. "In a post-9/11 world...," they said. Terra! Terra! Terra!

Then a new dude comes in and handles the same responsibilities effortlessly, with no blustering and no fanfare, and no torture. It makes Kristol and his friends look as smart as they are. And that is not a compliment.

[FrenchieCat]

12. He is correct. President Obama is not a warmonger!

Good for the world! What a relief!

[crimsonblue]

13. Sorry to tell Kristol this...

but our current economic crisis kind of trumps wars thousands of miles away. Right now, I'd rather have a job than peace in Iraq. Sad, but true. And I bet millions of Americans would agree with me.