*****OFFICIAL SPEECH THREAD 1*****

[nadinbrzezinski]

You know the drill

[spanone]

1. k&r

[The Straight Story]

2. "What is your sole purpose in this army private Gump??"

"To do whatever you tell me to..." :rofl:

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. How are we to know this is the real thing and not a cleverly designed imposter? n/t

[The Straight Story]

6. Hell, some here don't think there were any planes crashing on 9/11

;)

[Electric Monk]

21. or pretend to, anyway

[Lasher]

4. K&R, thanks Nadin

This will not be boring.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Here we go

[shadowknows69]

7. Present but not optimistic

[Nite Owl]

14. Me either but I want to be

fair.

[RoccoR5955]

8. The scope of our interests is...

the pipeline!

[Stand and Fight]

9. 9/11 n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

911911911911911911

[Individualist]

Yep. Bush redux.

[shadowknows69]

34. I wish I didn't believe my own ears.

[eleny]

47. How many Afghanis were on the planes? The answer is zero

I can't believe my ears that he's pushing this.

[bdamomma]

215. those terrorists on the planes were from Saudi Arabia.

unbelieveable, just crap, I was yelling at the TV, geez, I thought those days were over.

[eleny]

218. Yes, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

But hey, whatever works even if it's a carefully crafted lie. Down is up and in is out today in opposite land.

[MissDeeds]

48. Sounds familiar

Damnit

[xiamiam]

10. link

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN3.aspx

[NightWatcher]

11. more 9/11 bullshit

[RoccoR5955]

12. If not for the inattention by the Moran in Chief, we woudn't be here! n/t

[d_b]

13. I can't believe it's not Rumsfeld

[mzmolly]

15. Can we watch online?

Anyone?

[RoccoR5955]

there's a link to CSPAN up there just read... n/t

[NightWatcher]

19. here ya go

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream1

[mzmolly]

Thanks!!

:hi:

[debbierlus]

Go to any cable news outlet...it is all live

[Locrian]

22. TYT

tyt has it on http://www.theyoungturks.com/

[scarletwoman]

16. Nine Elevennnnnnn!!!!11!!1!

Oh gawd... :banghead:

[shadowknows69]

17. OMFG September fucking eleven. I'm having Deja Vu

And still flying the Flight 93 flag. I'm done. All I needed to know.

[lib2DaBone]

18. Bullshit 911 911 911.. you sound like BUSH!!!

[lib2DaBone]

26. Al quida is a creation of the CIA.. Alqueida means.."The List"

[lib2DaBone]

33. Here comes the WMD's.... spare me....

[Gold Metal Flake]

20. Deja vu, so far.

[debbierlus]

27. This is gross.

And, wrong.

[Horse with no Name]

23. Surprise--the bloody 911 carcass has already been dragged out

Color me shocked. Not.

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. He is establishing the legal case

[RoccoR5955]

42. Legal case my ass... Bush failed. Bush was responsible,

Yet Obama fails to want to hold him responsible!

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. Article Five and UN security council is a legal case

like it or not, failures of bush are besides the point.

Afghanistan is a legal war, as much as I despise it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

Good setting down the legal reasons first

Yes this is a LEGAL war... as much as I hate this.

[shadowknows69]

24. Come on apologists I want to hear it.

[Sebastian Doyle]

25. Did Chimpy write this fucking speech?

What the FUCK :wtf:

[d_b]

35. yea this is really bad

[tridim]

46. Laughing..

At you. :rofl:

[shadowknows69]

73. Wow, incredibly informed comback.

laughing at you.

[tridim]

156. And "Yea, this is bad" is superior IYO?

[d_b]

175. Hey, dipshit

if you've something to say I'm right here.

[tridim]

207. Dipshit!?

Fight, playground, 3:01pm. :rofl:

[d_b]

208. "No"

Gotcha.

[d_b]

82. Laughing..

Back at you

:rofl:

[malaise]

66. Cheney will attack him for this speech

I'm willing to bet on it.

[shadowknows69]

79. Sure, we clearly live in the Twilight Zone now so anything is possible.

[golddigger]

28. 911!!! WTF!!!

[high density]

29. Why are so many people freaking out over a history lesson?

This did all start with 9/11 if you can't remember.

[Arkana]

36. Yeah. Sounded more like a history lesson than a Rudy Giuliani-esque

invocation of the day to me.

But hey, people hear what they choose to hear.

[AngryOldDem]

39. Exactly.

We have to know how we got here, even if we don't know where we're going.

[stray cat]

41. DU is a left version of Free Republic group think

[CakeGrrl]

I'm not getting the kneejerk outrage either. It's getting weird here.

We didn't have 4 planes hijacked and flown into three major American structures by the Tooth Fairy.

Does that mean everyone here yammering "sounds just like Bush" thinks, as Chimpy changed his mind and decided, that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda is no longer a threat or worth pursuing?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

68. It's like the Knights who say Nee.

Oops, now I've done it.

Oh, I did it again!

I said it again!

Oh...

[eleny]

80. Because there were NO Afganistani nationals on those planes

That's your history lesson.

[Capn Sunshine]

155. History- It was done by an extremist group operating from Afghanistan with that country's support

Or do you think it was all a govvie conspiracy?

[eleny]

186. We're going to be killing a whole lot of innocent Afghanistani people

People who had nothing to do with any conspiracy. Escalation and aggression in Afghanistan will never resolve what happened.

So, you going to enlist tomorrow? Obama needs you. No excuses, now. Bright and early you head on over and demand to be enlisted. It's time to put your own skin in the fight.

[Capn Sunshine]

210. I did my time

I have govvie metal in my body, and furrin metal which works itself to the surface on occasion. What about you? YOu think my mention of history is a xenophobic kneejerk patriotic post? It was a response to your idiotic posit.

War is bad, mmmmmkay?

The only thing worse is douchebaggery on a website discussion board.

[eleny]

216. Hey Sunshine - if our troops can do multiple tours so can you

Cut the crap and your own special brand of douchebaggery.

[Capn Sunshine]

220. OK, I'll go. My specialty is jungle warfare. I should fit right in.

Where are those damn vines? By the way appreciate the comment. I was just trying to get your goat:

[MadMaddie]

127. Some apparantly prefer broken thoughts and not complete stories

The prefer the previous administrations non-plan, knee jerk fucked up
why are we here?
where we were?
where we are?
where we need to be?
how we get out?

He is laying out objectives....gosh that's really bad!!:sarcasm:
And he is laying out how to meet those objectives!! :sarcasm:
What and allies actually helping us? Say it ain't so!

[bullwinkle428]

31. SHIT...repeating the Bush lies about not turning over Bin Laden.

:banghead:

[LooseWilly]

45. Just leaving out the fact that we refused to turn over evidence...

[RoccoR5955]

32. The Bush administration PREVENTED us from getting bin Laden...

not to mention, we let his entire family who was in the US, go free on 9/12!

[Horse with no Name]

37. BRB...going to go harvest my crops in Farmville

Just a redux of bush speeches past with the same props.:puke:

[shadowknows69]

44. fuckin A Horse.

[The Straight Story]

Can you help out in Mafia wars?

:rofl:

[Horse with no Name]

110. I can throw you a couple of fish for your aquarium?

:D

[tonysam]

125. I am going to play the slots on Facebook

I feel like Obama is just a more articulate version of GWB.

[Horse with no Name]

140. I would but I used all my coins this morning!

:rofl:

[gateley]

38. Some of those cadets looked b-o-r-e-d. One seemed to be texting. nt

[niceypoo]

51. Probabally 90% Republicans

Do the math on that one

[nadinbrzezinski]

87. And you'd be wrong

but that's ok.

I know The military are all republicans canard is alive and well.

Those kids will be in teh front lines at graduation... here is more, JUNIOR officers, which these kids will be. reflect the US and its poltics. So a fair percentage of them are Democrats, about the same percentage of civilians... same goes for republicans and the same for independents.

Now if you were talking of General OFficers, and most of these kids will NOT reach stars, there is a bent towards the RNC and that has all to do with Nam...

[eShirl]

Maybe s/he is posting to DU. n/t

[many a good man]

40. Wrenching debate over Iraq war?

Guess I missed it.

[RoccoR5955]

55. Me too... I was against it, and they all told me to STFU,

because it was "unamerican."

[Locrian]

43. Same old shit. Change? What's that? Huh??

[boston bean]

49. Iraq is all great now, phewwwww.... good to know.... nt

[jennied]

Watch the Speech from TheYoungTurks.com

[optimator]

50. Did we vote for Guiliani or something

holy shit.

[tridim]

59. How the fuck do you talk about Afghanistan without saying the word "9/11"

Refuckinglax! :eyes:

[high density]

60. that wasn't anything like a Guiliani 9/11 speech and you know it

[gateley]

52. Anybody know if Biden is there? nt

[lovelyrita]

53. Al Qaeda was in Afganistan....ok so why are we sending more

troops? What does this have to do with 9/11?

[Stinky The Clown]

54. We are not leaving Iraq. We have plans to leave Iraq.

Action vs Hope.

We'll see.

[debbierlus]

70. This is a propaganda speech. There is nothing new here.

[Arkana]

He doesn't sound like Dubya now.

Even if the 9/11 history lesson was a little off-putting.

[tridim]

64. He NEVER sounds like Dubya. Not even close.

[harun]

57. What a giant pile of poop. What the hell is 30k troops going to help? Nada.

[Sebass1271]

130. you are a whiner.. there are people outthere that REALLY

want to kill us. what planet do you live?

[harun]

170. When do you deploy? I don't need anyone to go over there to protect me here, period.

[debbierlus]

58. Successfully leaving Iraq to its people - that is a disgusting thing to say Obama

That is pure BULLSHIT.

We murdered a million people, we let the people who lied us into war go free, the country is completely devastated and polluted with deleted uranium....

SHAME ON YOU for uttering such bullshit.

[eShirl]

61. wait, which war is this speech about?

[joecool65]

74. Sorry, I must be on the wrong website

I must have accidentally logged onto free republic. With friends like these, does Obama need enemies?

[eShirl]

94. I meant, is this speech supposed to be about Iraq or Afghanistan

sheesh

[LooseWilly]

62. What's a little fraud in an election?... that's not inconsistent with the laws of Afghanistan...

[The Straight Story]

63. Tahli-ban? Is that like 'nooclear'

:hide:

[joecool65]

Proper way to pronounce it

Sorry we have a President now who properly pronounces words.

[NYC_SKP]

91. I know! "Tally Bon".. made me think of "Cinna Bon"...

now I'm hungry...

[bridgit]

93. Someone else used that pronun on the radio today and it sounded almost 'happy'...

Like a new, improved, vitamin enriched breakfast cereal: Snap, Crackle & Tahli-ban :):(

[bridgit]

65. Right now Obama's yak'n - spooling out his thread

[AngryOldDem]

67. We will NEVER defeat Al Quada militarily.

[SnakeEyes]

162. Quite definitive

And quite a pessimistic statement.

[AngryOldDem]

178. Call me a pessimist, then.

[Sebastian Doyle]

69. He just endorsed the FUCKING STOLEN KARZAI "ELECTION"???

:grr:

[debbierlus]

76. I know. It is disgusting. He is losing the country right now.

[LooseWilly]

90. details details... it was just a little fraud... on the model of US elections I guess..

[Libertas1776]

71. I'll give my post mortem

once the speech is over.

[spanone]

72. pssssss......this war started with 911 whether anyone likes it or not....that's a fact jack

[boston bean]

77. status quo, let me be clear, yada yad yada yada dabba doo....

[debbierlus]

Psssssssssst.....who the hell cares? END IT

[spanone]

92. me

[bdamomma]

219. exactly. just end it.

[Sebastian Doyle]

102. Yes, that was the EXCUSE that Chimpy used to invade Afghanistan

And it sickens me to see a Democratic president telling the same fucking pathetic lies. :evilfrown:

[RufusTFirefly]

133. Pssst. I've got just one word for you...

Pipeline.



No pipeline. No war.

[eleny]

154. How many Afghanis on those planes, hmmmm?

Zero.

[RoccoR5955]

177. And the people who attacked us were not from Afghanistan, they were from Saudi Arabia.

They were funded by Saudis. Why the hell aren't we going after them?

[tavalon]

212. Yep, we weren't gonna do any wimpy police action with surgical precision

to get Bin Laden. No siree. We wanted, nay, needed blood to pour down the streets. We needed to bomb Afghanistan back to the stone age, which, as I pointed out way back then, wasn't all that far. We required vengeance. I think you can tell I was an original 10%er. I didn't want war with Afghanistan, I wanted Bin Laden and his group apprehended and prosecuted.

[many a good man]

75. Election fraud is consistent with the Afghan Constitution?

How nice!

[rocktivity]

89. Since 2000, election fraud has been consisted with OUR Constitution

:(
rocktivity

[Arkana]

78. THAT LINE. THAT LINE RIGHT THERE.

THAT MAKES HIM SO MANY FUCKING MILES DIFFERENT FROM SMIRK/SNEER I CAN'T EVEN MEASURE THE DISTANCE.

HE OWES THEM A MISSION WITH AN END.

[NYC_SKP]

97. woot! +1 n/t

[dysfunctional press]

81. without mentioning the 'need' to secure a pipeline route...

it's nothing but a huge pile of lies.

i cannot and will not support him after this...UNLESS

unless he gives us single-payer before the 2012 selection- then he'll have my vote.
NOTHING less than that will do at this point.

[lovelyrita]

83. Three d's

[Joe the Liberal]

84. I turned it off, 9/11 this and that blah blah blah, we already know whats going to be said here. n/t

[lib2DaBone]

85. Whoot.. there it is... 30,000 troops....

[Sebastian Doyle]

86. VITAL NATIONAL INTEREST MY ASS !

There is NO national interest in that shithole. NONE.

[mzmolly]

88. "After 18 months, we'll begin to come home."

Not soon enough, I'm afraid. :(

[debbierlus]

96. Yeah. When are the Iraq troops coming home, again?

[mzmolly]

224. August of 2010?

http://www.theage.com.au/world/obama-lays-down-iraq-exit-strategy-20090228-8kzu.html

[AngryOldDem]

106. I don't believe it for a nanosecond.

If things have been going that badly for 8 years (hell, I'd say for 30), they won't be that much better in 18 months.

[dixiegrrrrl]

95. "Having JUST experienced" the worst economy since the Depression?

Past tense? The economy problem is past tense?
Bush shit.

[debbierlus]

103. In the THROES of the worst recession since the depression..

[G_j]

119. that is a disturbing statement

I don't what would be worse, if he believes it, or knows it's not true.

[lovelyrita]

98. Not hearing how this protects or benefits the US

[harun]

104. Me either.

[nc4bo]

99. Much appreciative that I can just view this thread than to listen to it

and get to cussing out my tv and anyone else within earshot.

Seriously - Thank-you all!

[LooseWilly]

100. He said something about the "fundamental link between the fight in Afghanistan...

and insurgents in Pakistan" ... but I didn't catch any details. Anyone?

[Individualist]

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Where have we heard that before?

[NightWatcher]

101. "new attacks being plotted as we speak", YAY MORE TERRA TERRA TERRA

[medeak]

111. oh no...not the FEAR thing n/t

[Name removed]

Deleted message

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

[Name removed]

145. Deleted message

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

[medeak]

197. personal attack

and I have my 27 yr old son who has written 2 thesis on the middle east having civil discourse with me so I don't need you making personal attacks..it doesn't further your pov.. alerting mods.

[tridim]

105. DU is infested. Fuck this.

First time ever unrec'ing a live post.

[The Straight Story]

117. Infested how?

If it were bush saying this live, you would agree with it all?

[tridim]

128. Bush never wanted his wars to end. Period.

Obama does.

Bush would never have given a speech like this.

[Sebass1271]

152. Absolutely agree with you

[The Straight Story]

153. Obama says it all better than bush to be sure

but that does not mean he is saying a lot different in substance. More troops, more money, until we finally 'win'.

I trust Obama more, have more hope with him, but he is simply continuing the same thing, for the same reasons.

What it boils down to is - do you believe Bush was right to go in, and do you believe now that we should stay there?

[tridim]

163. HE IS ENDING BOTH FUCKING WARS IN HIS FIRST TERM. nt

[RoccoR5955]

188. I'll believe that when I see it. n/t

[tridim]

195. No you wont, I'm sure you'll still find something to complain about. nt

[Sebass1271]

196. so, see it happen it first, and then freaking complain!!!

[RoccoR5955]

203. Maybe many of us will get out into the streets

and DEMAND that he ends both wars, and that's how he ends them. No time to sit on my ass, it's time to organize against war, in general. War never solves anything. If you kill these terrorists, you don't get rid of them. They become martyrs, and for every one that is killed, ten more terrorists are born.

[Sebass1271]

148. infested by ignorant so -called liberals.. who are now

trashing the president because MOST OF YOU ARE JUST LIKE FUCKING REPUBLICANS.. ONE ISSUE FUCKING VOTER!!

[The Straight Story]

160. One issue voter????

I can talk about a lot of issues - and I have my thoughts on this one. I agree with him on others, not so much on this one.

How does that make me a one issue voter?

[Sebass1271]

167. you are a one issue voter, didn't you hear during the campaign?

he said he would take care of Afghanistan durig the campaign over and over and over, werent' you listening to him??
he's been askign for troops escalation since 2004!!!!

[Sebass1271]

168. you are a one issue voter, didn't you hear during the campaign?

he said he would take care of Afghanistan durig the campaign over and over and over, werent' you listening to him??
he's been askign for troops escalation since 2004!!!!

[Sebass1271]

173. to president obama, thisis not a war of choice, this to him

is a war of necessity. you are not the president, he is. he is the one being briefed DAILY.. you don't know what the fuck it is to be in his position. He thought this thru. He cares, he is not fucking bush.. why are you fucking guys acting this way, that can't make see reality that there are ppl that really HATE US??

[SammyWinstonJack]

Heh.

:evilgrin:

[Parker CA]

120. Unbelievable, huh? I'm following more out of a curious interest of how far it'll go. Sad. nt.

[mzmolly]

135. Withdrawal to begin July of 2011.

Trying to remain optimistic....

[tridim]

137. Anti-Obama Underground simply doesn't care.

They don't even try to listen any more.

[MineralMan]

138. Assholes aren't even listening to the words. They're

commenting on some speech they're hearing in their heads. This is Democratic Underground, not Anarchist Underground. I'm sickened at the attacks.

[RoccoR5955]

166. I'm listening to the words, and all I am hearing is Bush Lite! n/t

[MineralMan]

194. Really. I'm listening to, and can't hear Bush at all. Perhaps you have

Bush on your mind.

[RoccoR5955]

204. and perhaps you are not hearing the Imperialistic propaganda. n/t

[MineralMan]

205. I'm hearing a reasoned, planned speech that is about

finding a way out of this Bushie mess. What's your plan?

[RoccoR5955]

222. My plan is to not kill any more people

because killing one of these people makes them a martyr, and breeds ten more.

[villager]

107. The change! The hope!

n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

108. thread 2

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7129033

[boston bean]

109. 911 911 al qaeda al qaeda booga wooga, terror terror terror.......

[Windy]

123. The problem with invoking 911 was to try and tie it to Iraq, AFGHANISTAN was the right war!

Do a little reading people and stop knee jerking and going on emotion instead of fact!!!!

[boston bean]

147. he is using 911 to prop his warmongering arguments. that is the point. he sound just like GWB.

LISTEN, you might just hear it....

[MineralMan]

146. Speak English, damnit. Either listen to the speech or STFU! Please.

[patrice]

112. Nation Building for TransNatCo Pipelines

[BigBearJohn]

113. Beware of Mushroom Clouds

[lib2DaBone]

114. Not America's war.. that's why Britain is sending only 500 troops..

the rest of the world knows this is bullshit...

[dixiegrrrrl]

115. NOw he is playing the "nuclear weapons" card.

[high density]

116. Did Bush speeches at military venues have so many shots of the audience?

[yeswecanandwedid]

132. LOTS of white kids in the audience. nt

[yeswecanandwedid]

134. Their uniforms are intimidating. nt

[bigjohn16]

118. There's a threat to the US. Trust me!

We have to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here.

[Gold Metal Flake]

121. How do we pay for this?

[yeswecanandwedid]

165. China. nt

[harun]

122. I'm expecting to hear about yellow cake any time now.....

[Individualist]

126. +1

[Windy]

139. Are you denying that unstable pakistan does not have nuclear weapons?

Anre you denying that if the taliban/al q got ahold of a weapon they wouldn't use it on India? Do you deny that the US, by screwing up afghanistan didn't cause extremists to to into pakistan and destabilize it????

What the hell! Are some of you that ignorant of world issues????

[bigjohn16]

158. Then pull out of Afghanistan and provide technical and monetary support to Pakistan.

We can secure Pakistan's border easier than we can secure Afghanistan.

[harun]

174. You think Pakistan is that unstable? If Pakistan was that worried it would allow the

U.S. troops to cross its borders to pursue its targets. It isn't because it doesn't need the help.

[lovelyrita]

124. How is the safety of the American people in danger?

[yeswecanandwedid]

129. 9/11 2.0? nt

[Windy]

143. Do a bit of reading.... you may learn something! nt

[patrice]

131. 2011

[Sebass1271]

136. You guys are a bunch of whiners!!!

there ARE people outthere that REALLY want to fucking kill us, what is wrong with you people?? are you all this naive????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[bigjohn16]

141. 9/11!!!!!!!!!

[Name removed]

161. Deleted message

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

[bigjohn16]

164. Get off?

[TK421]

202. "uhhhhhhhh....is that what she said"?

[RoccoR5955]

149. That, my friend is a big load of bovine fecal matter!

We can defeat them from getting here to do anything to us, by providing proper internal domestic security. Bush ignored warnings, and that's why we are in this mess. Had Bush put in effect, better internal security, and listened to people, things would be different.

Oh, and if there are so many of them that want to kill us, can you name three of them who are here, and not in custody?

[DesertRat]

150. Do you ever think about WHY

they want to fucking kill us?

[Sebass1271]

183. YES, but DOES IT MATTER NOW? they want to kills us

FOR OUR PAST governments but what are we going to do now? let them kill us? Obama is the president, he shouldn't paid the price for pasts administrations mistakes, his job is to take care the load of shit he found...

[eShirl]

157. there always have been, and there always will be

[harun]

181. So go fight em.

[Sebass1271]

184. very easy to complain behind a computer huh????

[xiamiam]

142. gonna be a long war..pakistan and afghanistan..point 3..nt

[omega minimo]

144. How many here refused to endorse investigating/impeaching Bushco?

[lovelyrita]

151. We are occupying them!

[xiamiam]

159. outright fucking lie.,,blaming afghanistan for 911 is not true..im amazed..nt

[RoccoR5955]

171. Yep, it was Saudis who funded the people who attacked on 9/11

Most of them were even from Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia. Why the heck are we not going after Saudi Arabia?

[oregonjen]

179. OIL?

[Sebass1271]

185. he didnt' blame them for 911, but the taliban did harbor them

did you forget??

[lovelyrita]

169. Broad coalition? Is that the 500 troops from the UK?

[Prism]

172. You forgot Poland n/t

[yeswecanandwedid]

176. Poland! FTW! nt

[xiamiam]

180. this speech is a shock to me..i would have bet even an hour ago that he would never do this..nt

[yeswecanandwedid]

182. He has to be doing what he thinks is rignt. This is a tough choice. Lives at stake. nt

[Sebass1271]

192. agree with you. these are just complainers..

as usual behind a computer, seating in a comfort of home, its always easy to trash and complain.

[RoccoR5955]

201. I may be behind my computer tonight, but I plan to be in the streets

this weekend, calling for an end to war. In general. War never proves anything. The Dalai Lama once said, "War is obsolete." We only have one planet, with limited resources and a fragile environment. We all have to get along, or none of us will get along. Killing these type of terrorists does not get rid of them, it merely makes them martyrs, and breeds more terrorists.

[patrice]

221. It's just more detail in the picture of who owns us: China. We have been hired to

get their pipeline for them. This is what President Obama was hired to do (hence little or no leadership on anything else).

We were put in this position by the de-regulation of Wall Street (which started under Reagan) and Union busting (also Reagan), the corruption of our Trade policies, and the historic lies that put us in Iraq and, thus, made getting in and then out of Afghanistan nearly impossible.

[bigjohn16]

187. So he's going to spread freedom around the world. That sounds familiar.

[RoccoR5955]

191. It's called Imperialism! n/t

[patrice]

189. This IS what us exceptional Americans asked for.

[RoccoR5955]

198. Not what I really wanted, but it sure beats the alternative.

If Panama John and Caribou Barbie been in charge, there would have been a massive deployment sooner.

[patrice]

217. John & Sarah would have sold us for a lot less, BUT sold we were, a long time ago. They have just

been haggling over the price.

[RoccoR5955]

223. no foolin' I said it before, so I'll say it again, "Kucinich/Sanders 2012. Take Back America!" nt

[lovelyrita]

190. Hard not to be partisan when there are no jobs!

[patrice]

193. This explains a lot about him.

[Pab Sungenis]

199. Why is he talking about Afghanistan

in front of Starfleet Academy?

[yeswecanandwedid]

200. You made me spit up coffee on myself. That's what I was thinking.

I mean, those uniforms were a bit spooky. If I was in some other country watching this, it may seem scary.

[LooseWilly]

206. "At stake is the reputation of NATO..."

I can't help but think this might be a major reason why there will be an escalation.

He mentions having picked up people sent from the Pakistani Border Regions to attack... which means, to me, that al Qa'eda doesn't need Afghani territory in order to plan and launch attacks... so denying safe haven makes no real sense...

[Odin2005]

209. I see the "Obama = Bush" trolls are out.

AQ was based in Afghanistan and was supported by the Taliban and was behind 9/11. WTF is the freak-out about?

[shadowknows69]

211. If it quacks like a duck......

[Turborama]

225. Mary Matalin seems to agree with them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8V8LqSWGhM&feature=sub">Matalin Laments Obama Speech Just 'A Rehash of the Bush Doctrine'

[Peace Patriot]

213. Just to remind everybody, Obama promised to move the Forever War from Iraq to Afghanistan

during the campaign. That's what he said. And if you voted for him without listening to what he said, don't claim shock and disillusionment now. I listened to what he said, closely, and I voted for him for two reasons: 1) He was the last candidate standing who had opposed the Iraq War, and 2) He seemed to represent an insurgency/grass roots movement within the Democratic Party to fight the corporate/DLC takeover of the party. But I understood that these two things represented hope not substance, and that he would not be ending the Forever War but perhaps would be more judicious in his use of the US war machine.

I will say one thing for Obama. He has not lied. In so far as he was specific, he has done pretty much exactly what he said he was going to do. I did worry, though, that many of his supporters did NOT listen to him, and, having projected their great desire for peace and justice into him, would be in for a grave disillusionment that could have dire consequences, including a return to apathy and feelings of powerlessness among most Americans, and setting up a rightwing scenario for blaming Obama and "the liberals" for eight years of non-stop looting and other Bushwhack crime, thus to a narrative of his "failure" and 'Diebolding' someone worse than Bush into the White House in 2012.

I do completely understand people being disgusted with this speech, and with insurance corp-run health care, and similar developments, indicating our continued rule by global corporate predators and war profiteers, but I think we should be wary of being "played" by the corpo-fascist media, and try to understand the larger, overarching realities of our condition as a country and as a putative democracy.

Hugo Chavez has said that Obama is "the prisoner of the Pentagon." I think he is right. Whatever Obama's personal views are, of peace and social justice, his hands are tied by our true rulers, and perhaps by deals he made not to be "Diebolded' in 2008, perhaps thinking that he could do more good with the power of the White House, than not. I don't think he's a bad guy at all--however much this speech may remind us of Bush. I think he does NOT have full control of our government and military, does NOT have the full powers of the president and is too beholden to the lethal powers within our corpo-fascist establishment to go it alone and implement what he may think are the best policies. And if he does not do their bidding, he will, for certain, be out in 2012. They have that capability, and we have no recourse against it.

My advice: Focus energy on our democratic institutions--such as restoring transparent vote counting. With our democracy in the miserable state that it's in--barely worthy of the name democracy--we cannot expect to elect leaders who will act in our interest. It is not possible. It will not be permitted. So we must work to make that possible again, by slowly, painfully and for however long it takes, restoring the basic conditions of democracy--transparent vote counting, free, open and wide spectrum political debate, community strength and organization and so on.

[Cleita]

214. I got the impression he's moving it to Neverland, Pakistan. n/t