Obama Camp Disputes Some Perceptions Abroad

I agree.

Another long national nightmare begins.

It’s good he’s staying strong and clear; it can’t be easy with the mess the Republican White House left.

I’m a European who hopes Obama will cool down the USA’s love for Poland, a country that gets a LOOOT of money from the European Union these days but in no way lives up to European standards for democracy and human rights. Poland is a country to keep a very critical eye on, for its strange mix of communist nostalgia and ultra right wing and extremist catholic movements. The USA should work on a strong bond and friendship with particularly the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Better keep Poland at some distance until that country has truly become a modern western democracy. Latvia might be a more reliable partner, though it is of course very small.

Interceptor missiles are nice, but what brought us down were boxcutters. Obama will be no pushover. He will win over a lot of his critics.

REDHOTTforPOLITICS..yes but when that ideaolgy was around only the US and USSR had long range ballistic missiles. The list of countries with nukes and long range missiles continues to grow as we speak.

A politician lie – who would have thought? It’s unheard of for a politician to lie or change their mind.

A little tough talk with Poland; a complete lack of tough talk, or even comment, to Russia for threatening to put up missiles. Too often, these liberal’s idea of diplomacy is to back down.

Tom it has been the U.S. threatening to put up missles – have you missed something?
You know like Bush and Cheney?

These are dangerous times. The cut and run libs will ruin this country. God help us all.

Oh yes that’s right Tom – defensive.
If someone was going to come and attempt to place ‘defensive’ missles right next to the United States, you wouldn’t be threatened at all.
Get real.

KansasGirl:
Here’s how the Republicans ran the government.
REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
$421 Billion OVER BUDGET (2002)
$555 Billion OVER BUDGET (2003)
$596 Billion OVER BUDGET (2004)
$554 Billion OVER BUDGET (2005)
$574 Billion OVER BUDGET (2006)
This includes RECORD overspending.
Where did the Republicans think this money was going to come from? The moon?
From 7/11 and Macdonalds workers?

Yeah, those facts about Republican overspending are pretty hard to take for right wingers to take.
Still, you’re big men – you can take it.

pefros…
does it make you feel good to come in here and bash republicans?! seriously? IT DOSENT MATTER ANYMORE. you can sit and make up lies that the “republicans ruined our country”, and all the other nonsense you spew. it dosent change the facts. BOTH parties are at fault, for many different issues, for many years. its not black and white like you seem to believe. i wish obama the best. we are all AMERICANS. buti feel sorry for you. you apparently are sooo brainwashed by obama and the dems, that you really seem to think they are going to fix things. THIS ISNT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY THAT IT USED TO BE. not even what it used to be a decade ago. it is being taken over by the extreme left, and you dont seem to notice or care. i dont see one major issue that these guys will improve. just my humble opinion.

No Tim, not dealing in my opinion or guesses. I’m just posting facts about the previous Republican government.
It illustrates the difficulties we face and how we got here, and it counters some of the nonsense arguments still being made here by right wing extremists.
Do I have complete faith in the Democrats and Obama?
Give me a break, I don’t have faith in any politicians after what the Republicans just did.
But I wish them the best.

Tim, that was 6 straight years of the Republicans controlling the White House, Congress and the Senate – they can take full responsibility for their deeds – and for those HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of DOLLARS of deficit they rang up.
You can say whatever you want about the last 2 years; they were a mess in large part because of the previous six. The Republicans set new standard for overspending.

I don’t trust Bush’s decisions. It might look very “cool” to place missile defenses next to Russia, just like his “shock and awe” stunt in Iraq, but if it doesn’t meet the purpose, it is useless. The Iraq blunder and current economic problems have created some weaknesses in USA. We need to first take care of these weaknesses before bluntly challenging Russia.

The first thing he needs to do is get control of Pelosi and Franks from further eroding our economy as they have done the last two years of democratic control. Franks needs to go to jail over Fannie and Freddie since he made millions from them.
Then he needs to reverse the subprime mortage problems that the democrats put into place in the Clinton years so only those that can afford a home actually can buy one.
Then to stop future problems he can forget all the promises he made to get elected that will cause additional layoff’s and job loss’s that are happening now in preparation of his higher taxes.
He needs to worry about our economy since that is why he was elected and not get off into international affairs, I don’t believe community organizing covered those issues and he will be in over his head.

Obama didn’t campaign for universal health care. His only mandate is for children. That means if you have children, you will be required to get them coverage as well as pay for all those without children via that mandated coverage you will be forced to buy. He and Hillary debated that aspect of his health care plan a number of times, and he admitted that hers was a better plan if universal coverage of everyone was the goal. Gosh, didn’t you even pay attention to your own candidate?

Still voting “present”, I see.

I notice that some here say that Obama, Reid & Pelosi are going to ruin the country because they are ‘extreme left’ liberals.
What’s amazing is that it seems these same folks think that things are great in America now, after the 8 years of ‘far-right’, Republican/neo-Con fundamentalist dogma and policy.
Everything is peachy keen right now in America…… right?
Since the ‘far right’ has brought the country to this moment, maybe, just maybe, it will take the ‘extreme left’ to fix it.

and 1 more thang:
Republicans read this…. then…..
shut the hell up and quit yer bit*hin’…
‘the Bush administration/campaign and the Republican party declared Bush’s 2004 election victory a popular mandate to enact his radical agenda:
* Private investments accounts for Social Security
* A new tax system to reward savings and investment
* Reducing the costs to business of lawsuits and regulations
* Appointing more conservative judges
* Rallying the nation behind a pre-emptive, interventionist foreign policy, overlaid with a moral imperative to spread American-style democracy
On election night 2004, House Majority Leader Tom Delay declared, “The Republican Party is a permanent majority for the future of this country. . . . We are going to be able to lead this country in the direction we’ve been dreaming of for years.”
At a news conference two days later, Bush declared that his election was evidence that Americans supported his plans to reform Social Security, simplify the tax code, limit lawsuits and fight the war on terror. He pledged bipartisan cooperation with “everyone who shares our goals.” “I earned capital in this campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it,” Bush said. “It is my style.”
‘When you win, there is … a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view. And that’s what I intend to tell Congress, that I made it clear what I intend to do as the president; now let’s work.’

Obama had time to talk to 15 tin-pot countries but is yet to talk to China and India. I can see his foreign policy inexperience oozing…

Two Sides, One Mouth. Get used to it.

Obama already planning first steps in the White House. Compiled at least 200 executive orders made by Bush that he will change.
Posted by: MM | Nov 9, 2008 1:26:50 AM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ogona will probably downsize the CIA and FBI and not let them speak to each other and share info. That seems to be the way of the Democrats. Remember Clinton? I feel so much safer…hum.

I was rather disappointed at president-elect Obama’s first news conference. Although president elect Obama is good at making prepared speeches, he still not good at crispy, impromptu exchanges that’s a must for a President of the United States. We all know he made great acceptance speech, which he abruptly ended, for some reason─ breaking the excellent rhythm he kept. I think his first news conference was a near disaster. And his self-deprecating comment about “Mutt like me” was in very poor taste and completely inappropriate for the dignity of the office he now holds. I was shocked at that statement. And besides he made a snide remark about Nancy Reagan’s “Séances” for which he had to call her and apologize! I still think that Sen. Hillary Clinton would have done a much better job as the President of the United States─ from the get go!

There was nothing wrong with Senator Obama press conference. It went well. The language like mutt like me is a joke on himself and signals that he is going to be free discussing about race. And we all should be free discussing about race. Secondly, the joke about Nancy Reagan was not out of taste but felt so only because Nancy Reagan never really engaged in seances but Hillary Clinton did. Thirdly, Ronald Reagan is not alive and it may just bring memories back. The question was stupid in the first place.

Does Obama think he can Play other nations leaders, as he did the American people?
They do not think he is God and does no wrong, they have watch all the wrong he did across America, They witnessed the lies, and the Rhetoric. They witnessed him going behind his countries back to other nations and playing games on the people.
They will not tolerate it. The American People should stop tolerating the double standard. Of how Obama disrespects his own Country and the American People with NAFTA.
He can not brainwash the entire world.

Shutting down the missile defense system? What!? Why?! I guess he has to pay for all of his welfare-sold-as-tax-cuts somehow… Reading some of these comments and listening to Mr. Obama himself, it sounds like he thinks of diplomacy as simply talking; how wrong he is. Diplomacy involves using leverage to get cooperation whereas militarism involves using leverage to force results. When Obama dismantles the missile-defense system, he’ll be destroying our leverage abroad. International relations does not operate in some hippie fantasy like the UN; it operates in anarchy. Hopefully Obama will understand this, or America could accelerate down the Bush decline.

I wish the Republicans would understand that the election is over and we won. Further, you can stop posting you crying statements. Join the conversations in a positive manner, Thank You Very Much!!

lilly
re” Look how many voters he got…with a following of that magnitude, …”
you betcha, gosh darn it…. wink wink…
lil community organizer beat the ‘mighty’ repubs..

Blue:
My question was not directed to you.
But, the democrats were in charge for the past two years…
Barney Franks, Maxine Waters, Pelosi, Reed and the list goes on: Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and their bs didn’t stop there. I blame them for the financial crisis completely. I know, you will blame Bush, but remember if he did, he did not do it by himself…the democrats were in power!!!
Where would you be today if George W. Bush had not restored the CIA and FBI and let them share information, and restored and inacted other security measures after 9/11. Your beloved Clinton had almost destroyed the security in this country.
Well, get ready.

liily
my my, you are sounding very ‘teste’,
with Bush & Cheney in office, and Repub obstructionism, hardly anything could get done.
neither party is perfect…..but
we will indeed see if the Dems ‘in power’ can make things better…… even considering the
mess the Repubs have left them….

JC, what the hell is wrong with you kids? Grow up! Obama has NOT taken office, and won’t until 20 Jan, so stop acting as though he has already issued any ‘official’ proclamations or orders.
As far as all the ‘SORE LOSERS’ speaking here, the election is over and the people have spoken. [As a much older female, I know the disappointment of losing lots of elections. How do you think all the Dems felt in 2000 when we still believe Bush stole the election? How do you think we felt in 2004 when we believed Kerry won, and on that Tuesday night went to bed knowing he was our POTUS, only to awaken to find out Kerry lost? It was all horrible, but we had no recourse and got over it, and now you do too!]
Until Bush is out of office, Obama must remain in limbo and stay off the radar as much as possible so as not to step on Bush’s toes. So stop bickering and fighting like the children you show yourselves to be. He did not give a ‘yeh or nay’ to the Polish on the missle defense system, and inasmuch as I would like him to ‘dump the missle system’ entirely, there has been no decision voiced by Obama.
BTW, Obama is NOT a kid, he is almost 50 years old! He is extremely intelligent, will have the best advisors and actually wanted this job, so give it up! Just give him a chance to at least take office before raggin all over him.

Sounds pretty moderate…I hope he sees that the missile shield tech is feasible and goes on with it.
Otherwise, I am hopeful that Obama will continue to stand strong on certain issues like dealing with Hamas, other state supporters of terror.
I am giving him the benefit of the doubt…Obama has a great opportunity to lead this country in a new direction. Now that the campaign is over, the rancor and exaggerations can stop, and the learning curve can begin…

Pls keep in mind that president Kaczyński is not very smart and does not understand the good manners in world politics. Kaczyński tried to use the phone-call with Obama for his local political fights against the local government. For the last several month the Polish president has been in an open confrontation against the Polish government. Obama is being used.

Deploying a missile shield is one thing. Taking a clearly provocative step like deploying it in Poland, where it can only serve a useful purpose against Russia, not an Islamofacist threat such as Syria or Iran, is quite another. I’m hopeful that Obama will take a more realistic and less antagonistic approach with Russia, a nuclear power whose cooperation we need against Islamist elements who might actually *want* to nuke us. Obama’s campaign rhetoric gives scant evidence of this, but we can still hope…

I see no point in deploying a missile defense shield that’s unproven. Furthermore, the two national leaders pushing for it, Bush and Kaczynski of Poland, are both deeply unpopular. I agree with Pacific Moderate that we need Russian along with international engagement in eliminating terrorism. The missile defense system would only further bankrupt our economy, while significantly obstructing badly needed international cooperation. I’m confident that Obama will move us from the entrenched unilateralism of the previous eight years, much to the chagrin of some.