Some Thoughts on President Obama’s Iranian Outreach

I think he is trying. I also think pour past approach wasn’t working.

Initially, I would have been opposed to the move but its exciting to hear that the POTUS message was heard unfiltered by the Iranian citizens. This should be considered a success if this, in any way, further marginalizes the combative leadership of Iran and cools their rhetoric.

It is a completely new approach executed well. After the failure of the last one it makes sense to try something new. Ultimately, the final grading is based on results – but based on the F our past policy gets, there is no where to go but up.

How much money is Obama going to send them

The President sends a signal to the opposition in Iran that “it’s over”
A Nuclear Islam: Change you can believe in

“Initially, I would have been opposed to the move but its exciting to hear that the POTUS message was heard unfiltered by the Iranian citizens.”
The second part of your statement is an interesting point.

TobB:”You mean if Iran gets the bomb and uses it, it can’t be worse than the Bush years? I think Bush hurt us in his foreign policy, too, but saying there’s no where to go but up sounds out of touch. In the nightmare scenario where the bomb is used on America…I wouldn’t say that is “up.” ”
Bush had ZERO success in stopping Iran’s drive towards a nuclear bomb. Absolutely none. If they get a bomb, that would mean Obama is doing just as bad as Bush, not worse just because he’s coming in at the end (when it is harder to have an impact now Iran has won so many diplomatic victories already).

jhw539—I am not arguing about whether Bush was effective with Iran, I don’t think he was, either. I just take issue with you saying if *nightmare scenario* Iran nukes the U.S. how that is just “not worse” than Bush’s record. This is just a staggering statement to me.

“Is that true? Is the Iranian internet not censored?”
Wiki has a pretty good article discussing the methods of internet censorship by Iran.
The short answer is Iran’s internet is heavily censored.

Thanks, RyanC. I’d love for Jake or his Dubai contact to clarify that for us.

After 8 years of Bush/Cheney the world is happy Obama is the President.
It won’t take 100 days to change the the negative impression the world has of the USA after Bush buts its a start.

Ah, another “teleprompter-tizzy” from the right wing. LOLOLOL

you know, i dont really blame george bush that much for anything ,and heres my reasoning.
presidents get elected ,and he was elected not once BUT TWICE. arguably the 2nd time was not altogether convincing ,but he did serve his 2nd term in full with no threat of censure or impeachment .
the above proves 2 things clearly :
1) the american voter ,at least a very sizable portion of them , approved of his policies/agenda and their subsequent implementation. he really only did what he was mandated to do by contract extension due to popular demand .
2) the average american voter is ,in general , not in a position to make the best choice for themselves, intellectually speaking.
there should be a better , more thorough way to educate the public on this very important issue, i.e. the american elections process and using voting rights prudently and intelligently.
i realize there must be classes in public school to teach such principles ,but evidently they are either not working at all ,or are distinctly deficient.
obviously electing a president is more important than a drivers license but you have to take several classes usually before you can operate an automobile on a public roadway ,while anyone with a pulse can vote.
voting should be considered a privilege ,not an absolute right than can be flaunted in the face of truth ,ethics and morality. thanks for reading and best to you!

You too, Phil Hoover! “Anything is better than the last eight years of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld’s foreign policy.”
If they get the bomb and use it (not saying that will happen) that is “better” than Bush? I agree with Regan’s tact, but man, I wish we’d stop speaking in hyperbole. It makes your statements look ill-conceived.

Is that true? Is the Iranian internet not censored?
~~~
Iran is one of the most censored places on the country.
Now let’s think about how much impact a freely dispensed message from Ahmadinejhad would have on the US population – spoken in Farsi.
Gimme a break.

i think we (the usa ,and to some extent ,its allies) are beaming satellite internet to places like iran and n korea 24/7/365 .
where theres a will ,theres a way and i would bet the internet ,while censored no doubt , is still fairly accessible in iran ,for that fairly small portion of iranians with computers anyway.

Obama and the USA have way more to do before Iran is less hostile to them.
The CIA in Iran in 1953 started the hostilities. The Hostage Crisis in 1979 was also the USA’s fault.
What Iran are asking for is an acknowledgement of grieviances the USA has done so that the slate can be wiped clean. To say sorry and to pledge respect to their republic, like the USA citizens want their republic to be respected.
Then you will find that other hostile nations will fall away and Iran will be much more civil to the USA.
Cause and effect – it is as simple as that.

It is good that the Iranian people support the words of the President. But lets ask an even bigger question.
There are only 2 things that will stop Iran from getting nuke weapons.
1) The capabilites to enrich uranium or weaponize anything nuke is destroyed.
2) The Iranian people have a massive uprising to change the regime.
Would Obama throw support into either of those scenarios? If yes, then strikes on Iran are on the table, and supporting revolution is on the table, or we accept an Iran with nukes, which will lead to the entire middle east with nukes as Sunni nations such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan will not tolerate Shia Iranian nuke hegemony in their region.
So which outcome is the most acceptable one?

“where theres a will ,theres a way and i would bet the internet ,while censored no doubt , is still fairly accessible in iran ,for that fairly small portion of iranians with computers anyway.”
Iran is 2nd to Israel in terms of number of people online but their internet is heavily censored.

Plumber, you don’t know ANY history?
You don’t know that the CIA went into Iran to forment a military coup against Prime Minister Mossadeq in 1953 (to protect USA oil interests). Mossadeq, who was democratically elected by the Iranian people?
That’s common knowledge!
You didn’t know that the Hostile Crisis that cost President Carter the election was a direct consequence of the Iranian Revolution, whose 30 year anniversary was celebrated by the Iranians a few weeks ago?
You didn’t know that a USA warship blew an Iranian passenger jet airliner carrying 290 people out of the sky in 1988? Or that the USA supported Saddam Hussein against Iran?
These are ALL common knowledge.
This is why the USA needs to apologise and forge good relations with Iran.

if one computer in iran gets the video all the censorship in the world wont matter if the people really want to see it.
two words …flash drives!

Posted by: Bel | Mar 20, 2009 1:36:02 PM
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Bel ,its really not his fault ,the american education system is just not teaching the basic essentials of the american political system and its proper implementation via the right to vote/elect representatives , including the president. proper implementation ,meaning a well informed voter pool with access to as many cogent facts as possible not hyperbole and rhetoric laden propaganda ,as is usually the case these days.
“keep ‘em dumb , so they will believe most anything you tell them “…that has been the status quo that has kept the republicans in power (for too long in my opinion )
now, hopefully the american people will get more chances to access better (more truthful ,less biased) education on the pertinent issues so they can make better informed choices in the first place.

“now, hopefully the american people will get more chances to access better (more truthful ,less biased) education on the pertinent issues so they can make better informed choices in the first place.”
One of the results of our bi-polar political system is that you get one side of the story. Both sides so called “intellectuals” do their best to influence the masses into their belief system. So as a result, people get filtered information on both sides. Most of the issues that they talk about so simplistically have very complex dynamics that can’t be easily explained in a snappy speech or talking points fed to the pundits. Somewhere amongst all of the mess is the full persepective, something few American people get.
I’ve worked in the military for over 12 years now and my education comes from getting as much information as possible, regardless of what are the political leanings the source has, but there is always a political leaning, I can garantee you that. No source of news is untainted. The only way to get full perspective is to poke around in as many places as you can, discount the emotional based rantings, and sift through the words designed to influence.
Truth is neither party is giving you the full picture, neither has the monopoly on “intellectual” thought, and neither has all the answers. One thing is constant, whoever is in power will pursue their own politically based agenda, which is inherently singular polar execution, thus denying full perspectives and at least some truths. There are no true moderate agendas.

well i will disagree with you there , the republicans have a tendency to cut basic welfare programs that educate and nurture ,its a fact .
honestly look (that means do some real unbiased research ,on your own ,not on fox.com ) at which party has versus which party has not funded education reforms and budget increases over the last 50 years ,then argue your “equality of blame ” point.

many college civics course are the first to go when public colleges lose federal $$ because of republican spending cuts to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest.
this has been happening frequently in smaller colleges ,and is ,i believe one reason there are so many under informed voters , they just are never taught to be astute and observant stewards of the nations well being (i.e. well informed voters) because the education funding for those classes (along with ethics and morality ,evidently) just arent there ,thanks to republican ideology .
thats what i think ,based on the last 40 years of independently verifiable democrats and republicans track record(s).

“many college civics course are the first to go when public colleges lose federal $$ because of republican spending cuts to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest.”
Bogus tying any class to federal funding. State funds and tuition dwarf higher education funding. If they drop those courses it’s probably because no one is taking them.

“educating (without undue bias) the general public is the nexus of the problem ,and that IS the job of the government ,since it is legally required for all.”
Educating withuot bias is part of the problem. Because of such things as separation of church and state, our youth are not learning about the religions not only of our country, but of the world. This lack of understanding makes it extremely difficult for Americans to understand and comprehend the different cultures of the world. Also, when we do educate on the cultures of the world, they tend to only teach the rosey picture and koombayah information, leaving out the brutality and destitute status of most of the world. Government also inhibits education being a government institution.
“records clearly show which party has consistently promoted education and which party has not. the facts are out there ,it is up to you to interpret them correctly ,without partisan bias.”
Records clearly show who throws money at education while we still rank 26th, near last in the industrialized world while spending twice as much per student than the closest nation. It also shows that privately run education institutions far out perform government schools. So if one party is responsible for that, I’m not so sure that’s a badge of honor.

Records clearly show who throws money at education while we still rank 26th, near last in the industrialized world while spending twice as much per student than the closest nation. It also shows that privately run education institutions far out perform government schools. So if one party is responsible for that, I’m not so sure that’s a badge of honor.
Posted by: KR | Mar 20, 2009 3:53:05 PM
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really? could you please look over the last 40 years of which party consistently voted to augment public (and private) education at all levels and which party consistently voted to cut education programs .
as any unbiased observer can see , the facts are out there ,and on this one particular issue they are more than crystal clear.
my view is that the american voter is never taught to think critically and without bias thus they are largely under informed /misinformed ,not the best voters they could be. i personally believe education cuts over the last 40 years ,enacted by republican majorities , led to the inability of the american voter to differentiate between propaganda and legitimate facts.
whether or not the republicans have patently or tacitly tried and succeeded in “dumbing down” the american voter i would not attempt to argue ,even though a pretty good argument could be made for that assertion.
i would argue however that unbiased education is the start of true intellectualism ,and without that a voter is never really fully complete,no matter what they learned “down on the farm” ( fyi, i grew up on a farm,milk dairy to be precise )
your view may be different ,but do you have some facts to back up your side of the argument or just opinions,semantics and spin?

“Ahhhh the government as nurturer.
I missed that part in the Constitution. Can anyone help?”
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

“really? could you please look over the last 40 years of which party consistently voted to augment public (and private) education at all levels and which party consistently voted to cut education programs”
So after posting that throwing money at education has not improved it, your measure is that those who voted to throw money at education deserve accolades for it. That’s ok, thats your perspective, we agree to disagree.

kr ,please show where this country has been “throwing money” at public education during ANY republican majority since reagan (who wasnt super pro education himself ,but was better than most republicans).
the republicans cut spending on education. consistently and regularly.
thats a fact. cutting education is bound to lead to under educated non astute citizen/voters.
thats a big part of why voters in this country are so easily duped.
(that part is not really a fact ,just my assertion ,coming from “down on the farm ” and hearing “it it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck etc etc…)
when i look at the public records that show republicans at all levels of government ,local state and federal , underfunding or cutting out altogether education funding, it does make me take note to wonder if the republicans and their “cut education to fund tax cuts for the wealthy ” ideology truly have the best interests of the country and its citizens at heart.

“Could it be that they (like private schools) pay their teachers a real wage and hold teachers in high regard as opposed to the right wing nitwits in this country who freak out if their religion is not reinforced? ”
My wife grew up in Germany. There school system is structured very differently. They have standardized testing at multiple levels, as well as specialized courses. They also do not have teacher unions as most nations don’t allow unions to be part of the government. Just about everything above has been fought in this country by?
Teacher unions.
I’m not saying teacher unions are bad, ok yes I am. Tenure is a stupid thing. Merit based teaching should be the primary measure, not how much time you spent in the classroom churning out sub par education and draggin all the good teachers down with you.

“My wife grew up in Germany. There school system is structured very differently. They have standardized testing at multiple levels, as well as specialized courses. They also do not have teacher unions as most nations don’t allow unions to be part of the government. Just about everything above has been fought in this country by?”
Germany has teachers unions.
As do many other countries that rank far ahead of us in education.

As do many other countries that rank far ahead of us in education.
Posted by: Ryan C
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The other countries do not have dopes that would of voted for Obama

Sorry Frank k, check out the federal Dept of Education budget on their web site:
1992 $32.17 M <-Last year of Bush 1
1994 $29.06 M <-Year 2 of Clinton, full Dem congress
2000 $37.52 M <-Last year of Clinton
2002 $56.18 M <-Year 2 of Bush 2, full Rep congress
2005 $72.24 M <-Year 5 of Bush 2, full Rep congress
Easier to slander, than to use facts, eh?

Don’t underestimate the power of an unclenched fist. This is a wise move.

IDEAS CANNOT RISE TO THE OCCASION BECAUSE THERE ARE JUST TOO DAMN MANY OF THEM. ONCE WE ELECT A PRESIDENT WE ARE STUCK WITH HIM FOR THE DURATION. THIS COMMUNITY ORGANIZER HAS MESMORIZED THE NATION.

Way to break Godwin’s rule and imply teacher unions equal nazi.
By that “qualification”, every aspect of German life from 1933 to 1945 equals nazi given the pervasiveness of it.”
Oooh touchy subject. Glad you brought it up. The regime knew that a complacent populus was key to long term power. The teachers union were seen as an important tool to control what was taught to new generations of Germans. This was a nasty sticking point after the war and what restrictions would be placed on the roles of teacher unions and government relationships. The Germans became very sensative after the war on the relationship between teachers and state. So yes, its different.
“Because private teachers are paid better.”
I said that is a valid assumption, you edited out of my quote.
“Considering how often you bring up the private vs public school aspect over and over do you believe that we should dissolve public education and only having private schools?”
I don’t think you could only have private schools. I can tell you this, the property tax where I live is enough for me to send 3 kids to the best private school around. Unfortuantely, I cannot stop paying those taxes to send my kids to that school. I would like that option. Giving the parents leeway to choose their kids education, now that I am for.
You and I could both argue over the details, but bottom line I either let my kids get sub par public education or I pay double to go private. Talk about only the rich getting the best education.

And by the way, government controlled education being used to influence future generations is nothing new. Russia in 1919 totally reformed the education system into an indoctrination system. Same for Germany in WW2, China, North Korea, Japan, its an important tool for power and control over the populace, and it can be abused. I’m not sure we are doing a good enough job to keep it out of our schools given that teachers unions endorse a political party. In fact, it’s very dangerous to our nation.
I know some argue our schools already indoctrinate more than they educate. There is some truth to it, but I don’t beleive it’s as bad as some say. But as politics creep into the classroom, we breech an important tenant of impartiality in our education system. Would you be happy if your kid came home and the teacher made them read the latest book by Bush or Cheney? Then you shouldn’t be surprised at outrage when kids come home and the teacher has made someone elses kid read Obamas book. It should be kept out of the classroom and our books should be selected very carefully, and our teachers should be held to the highest standards of impartiality. That is not being done.

btw gillian ,cuts or increases are calculated by percentage ,not total.
so, the government could actually spend more money overall /per year ,i.e. a total cost increase in the education funding ,but it might ,and often times under republican “leadership” is , less allocated per student for actual education than the previous year ,i.e. a cut.
republicans use the current flawed education system as an industrialist go-to lever for contractors and education materials providers to get rich (like the medical industry) while providing sub -standard care at increased cost per person.
you see a relationship here?

Obama’s appeasement makes the US look like fools, at least the government that is.
Obama surrendered to Russia on placing a missile defense system (only attacks other missiles, not people). In return Russia, Venezuela and Cuba have organized the place of offensive, nuclear capable weapons in Cuba and Venezuela, well within striking distance of the US. Obama does not seem to recognize this new Cuban missile crisis, and will likely do nothing while we are placed in mortal danger.
Now, with that success under his belt he appeases Iran. Iran will laugh as well and continue on it’s mission of destruction and nuclear dominence. It is part of the charter. Obama is naive, doesn’t care, or thinks the US deserves it’s fate. Any of those scenarios bode deathly ill for us. I hope to hear multitude “I told you so’s” from nay sayers, but I don’t think that will happen.
But hey, they are moving forward on that internal security force thing. I am pasting details of a new bill passed in congress, a forced draft bill, with pretty words to make it seem as though it is something else.:
The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, known as the GIVE Act, was passed yesterday by a 321-105 margin and now goes to the Senate.
Under section 6104 of the bill,
entitled “Duties,” in subsection B6, the legislation states that a
commission will be set up to investigate, “Whether a workable, fair,
and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able
young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be
implemented

Only the one you’ve created. Under Republican and Democrat rule, education performance hasn’t changed.
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Not so. No child left behind showed demonstrable improvement in student scores, especially in washington, DC. MInority students in DC who showed the most improvement under the Bush administration were rewarded in the Omnibus spending bill when the dems and Obama yanked the DC plan out from under kids who had been in it for years.
Thank goodness they can no longer attend school with Obama and other legislators.
We would hate to see Obama’s kids slumming with the riff raff.
Dems don’t really care about education progress, they killed the one program that worked.
The DC plan cost 12 million dollars, far less than most of the 9000 earmarks. The republicans tried to pass an amendment to the bill to prevent ripping the dreams and hopes for the future out from under these kids, but alas, dems voted it down, unanimously. IF anyone wants to look it up it was known as the Durbin amendment, the great Illinois senator who preferred to defer to the unions instead of worrying about the kids. After all those kids cannot vote, they cannot donate to his campaign, and they certainly can’t fill out voter registration cards fraudulently.

“Obama surrendered to Russia on placing a missile defense system (only attacks other missiles, not people). In return Russia, Venezuela and Cuba have organized the place of offensive, nuclear capable weapons in Cuba and Venezuela, well within striking distance of the US. Obama does not seem to recognize this new Cuban missile crisis, and will likely do nothing while we are placed in mortal danger.”
ROFLMAO!
One usually thinks of Dr. Strangelove as parody.
Who knew it was a documentary on right wingers?

“Oooh touchy subject.”
You just implied that teacher unions equal nazis.
Of course its a touchy subject.
The military was also taken over by the nazis so I guess we can imply that you are a nazi as a member of the military regardless of how stupid of inflammatory it is.
But hey I am just using your logic.

The rest of the world is cringing at the spectacle of a President of the United States lecturing anyone about not realizing their objectives by force of arms, and all the worse because he is hypocritically nagging a country which hasn’t attacked anyone in hundreds of years.
It would be laughable if it wasn’t so sickening. How dare he?

This president seems to be looking for a reach-across. He’ll be lucky if he gets a reach-around.

Good Idea to wake the A. Khomeni up!

An astute poster said: So, the Iranians pretty much told him to go to ####.
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The American people are doing the same thing.

Trajan 1:16:41 am,
Don’t forget playing with the swing at his play ground.

How is Obama going to get a trillion dollars to pay for his spend a thon.
Obama is going to steal our money by printing off all this cash!
By devaluing the dollar, Obama making the money that people have worked for their whole lives worth less and less.

Score: Khamanhi — 1
Obama — 0
Obama’s E.R.A. is going to balloon.
If he keeps pitching like this, he’ll
be back in the minors in two months.

Michael Moore the fat slob is the spokes person for the Democrats.

why has not this president undergone a psychological and psychiatric evaluation. Let’s face it something is definitely wrong here,

OK….
Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Dennis Praeger, Michael Savage and Anne Coulter Tough Talking Faux-Patriots…
Bush was such a Great Intellect, Economically Sound & Great Military Strategist…Huh
—————
1. 6 Years in Iraq & Afghanistan to the Cost of Over…
2. 20 Billion Dollars Per Month, with Interest, to…
[[Communist-Socialist China]]
3. Over 5,000 US Soldiers Lives, Thousands of Dis-Membered US Soldiers, Thousands of Forced Amputations, due to Military Action, Multiple of US Enlisted Committing Suicide, Hundreds of US Soldiers Returning Home, Injuring themselves via [[Self Inflicted Wounding]]
4. And over 1,000,000 Innocent Iraqi Citizens. Infants, Boys, Girls, Women, Teenaged Children, Women, Men and the Elderly Killed, under Blatant Deceptions, Falsehoods and Stellar LIES.
5. President Bush in his [[8 Years]] as President…
NOTE: NEVER, EVER VETOED A SPENDING BILL AND YOU ANTI-BIG SPENDING BILL…
EXPANDED “BIG GOVERNMENT” TO ITS LARGEST SIZE…EVER, WITH THE HELP OF HIS MAJORITY RULING REPUBLICAN SENATE AND CONGRESS OF [[6 YEARS]]
PRESIDENT BUSH IN 2001, IMPLEMENTED A [[1 TRILLION DOLLAR STIMULUS]] AND NONE OF YOU FISCALLY SOUND, ANTI-BIG SPENDING, WORRIERS OF “GENRATIONAL DEBT” MADE NOT A SOUND, NOT EVEN A WIMPER…
JUST “YEAH BUSH WERE WITH YA” !!
YOU HYPOCRITES…
NEED TO INVENTORY THE PAST [[8 YEARS]]
UNBELIEVABLE !!

K+ R = Wrong
Bush Partied, Destroyed the Economy and Killed, all at the Same Time and You Never Blinked an Eye Lash…..
An None of You had a Problem Covering or Overting your [[EYE LIDS]] from the…
[[Generational Debt]] being Passed Down by his Former Republican President, George W. Bush Jr…
Dead Silent on these Glaring Numbers !!
————————–
United States Total Debt (Split)
End of Fiscal Year Intra-Governmental Holdings Debt Held by the Public
1999 2.020 trillion 3.636 trillion
2000 2.269 trillion 3.405 trillion
2001 2.468 trillion 3.339 trillion George W. Bush Jr.
2002 2.675 trillion 3.553 trillion
2003 2.859 trillion 3.924 trillion
2004 3.072 trillion 4.307 trillion
2005 3.331 trillion 4.601 trillion
2006 3.664 trillion 4.843 trillion
2007 3.958 trillion 5.049 trillion
2008 4.216 trillion 5.809 trillion George W. Bush Jr.
2009* est 5.900 trillion 6.400 trillion
———————–
Bye Now