The Big Debate: Is US Safer Under Obama?

Yes the world is safer under Obama..his approval ratings are very high in the Arab world and America is not as hated as it was under George I never made a mistake Bush..America is no longer the laughing stock of the world and the world has taken notice since Obama’s election and is looking to America for leadership again. President Obama is doing a fantastic job and has the potential to be the best president we have ever had. AMERICA IS SAFER UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA!

I know you’re not there to grill Liz Cheney, but just please stop her when she goes on with her talking point.
Be prepared George. Please site the White House response to Al Gore in 2002 when he was publicly going out against the Iraq invasion. Double standard?
When Liz Cheney launches in the “ticking time-bomb” or “another 9/11 next Tuesday” situation, ask how imminent was this potential attack when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in Mar. ’03 but wasn’t tortured until Aug. ’03. So debunk Liz Cheney on that L.A.’s U.S. Bank Tower attack. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed wasn’t capture until Mar. ’03 but the Bush 43 administration said they had already uncovered that plot in 2002 and also that al-Qaeda had abandoned the plot since it would now be harder to hijack a plane since everybody on abroad would know what was going on and stop it à la United 93.
Also, Liz Cheney is big on this “Why would torture unless it was to save American lives” BS. How does she respond to recent reports that the Office of the V-P order torture because they were trying to get confessions that links Iraq with 9/11.

Liz Cheney?
You couldn’t get the old man?

George Bush is the best president we ever had! And America was safer under Bush

Why is Liz Cheney of all people being given a platform? ABC like other news outlets (more like outlet STORE) want to stir the pot to make more news. Lizzie is just trying to keep her monstrous father, albeit a father nonetheless, out of prison. He needs to pay for his war crimes though. Liz will have to do without daddy for awhile.
Cheney is a war criminal. Bush was a Manchurian Candidate. His ineptitude shouldn’t preclude him from prosecution, however.

What kind of POTUS values “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” more then the Geneva Conventions?

It’s only a big debate if we are safer if you listen to disgraced Republicans, and the news media that are trying to stay relevant, even if it means stirring the pot, and creating unrest.
We are safer. It’s that simple.

jamrad: what SPECIFIC facts do you have that President Obama is “making our defense weaker by the day?”

If America was so safe under Bush then somebody explain why the horrible day of 9/11 took place. He completely ignored terrorism until we were hit, and then somehow managed to convince so many of you only he could keep you safe?

Ed, Let me give you specific facts-
1)The President has shown our hand to our enemy and has told them the limits of our methods to extract information from them.
2) The President has committed to a hard date for withdrawing US forces from Iraq, regardless the conditions on the ground
3) The President has done nothing so far to stop Iran from developing the bomb
4) NK has kicked out the UN inspectors and vows to test more ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons
Have these policies made us ‘safer’?
Have they strengthened America’s defense?

NO we are not safer. How can we be when we broadcast our top secrets to the world. There are things that should never be transparent and that is the bottom line. I think even Obama is now having second thoughts based on intel he is now getting briefed on and I hope he puts the Country first and not his reelection!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obama is already failing……….. the changes he has in mind effects all AMERICANS,
not just Democrats and not just Republicans…….
Your allowing yourself to be locked into Democrat against Republican.
As high as 70% of all American Businesses are Small Business……. you tax them and burden them more
than they are already, they will not expand and hire more employees or they may cut back on
the ones they have…………or prevent new Business from even starting.
When taxes are fair it promotes growth and HONESTY………
We are in danger of putting our Nation at risk for dishonesty and we will become a corrupt
Nation that is as corrupt as some of our leaders.
They are showing us how much they respect paying taxes……. aren’t they?
You only need to have 2 brain cells to rub together to see that.

Oh and by the way, I’m hearing the old “where else are the liberals going to go” mantra starting back up again. Don’t believe it.
Liberals don’t have to go anywhere. All we have to do is vote independent or stay away from the voting booth due to lack of reason to vote and let the democratic party fall due to lack of support from their base. Fear isn’t going to be enough next time.

The question “Is the US safer under President Obama?” can only be answered “No”. The reason has nothing to do with our current president or any president to follow. Unless I’m mistaken, there have been no attacks on the US since 9/11. Therefore, no president, Republican or Democratic, could make the US safer than no attacks. The question should be “Is the US just as safe under President Obama as it was under President Bush?”.

Actually check and at the exact same time Rahm Emanuel was calling Jon Huntsman, Jr. to offer the ambassadorship, David Plouffe mentioned Huntsman as the biggest fear for Democrats. The line that sticks out by Plouffe is that “Huntsman speaks a lot of truth”.
I have my doubts that Plouffe didn’t know about it…
At the very least, it’s a question I’d ask the next time Plouffe does a speaking engagement

Clinton kept the country safe for 7 1/2 years after the first wtc bombing, without resorting to the ‘special methods’ that Republican keep pushing. Stop pointing that out with Bush as if e did something special!

Katrina is right that the furor over Pelosi is an organized effort by the architects of the torture policy to redirect attention away from the essential issues. But Pelosi has done little to help counteract this. She should have clearly stated her version of the facts at the outset and used every subsequent public statement to hammer away at the essential message: torture was wrong, had made us less safe, …
That’s what the apologists for torture are doing so well. Having successfully diverted the discussion they use every opportunity to reiterate the position that the techniques used were effective, saved lives and kept us safe.

What a sad lineup today! Carville is the best you can do? He’s nothing but a Clinton apologist and a Scooter Libby defender. Today’s guests are just so many leftovers from the Cheney/Bush administration that George Will had to step up with some balancing common sense. Of course we love it when the Cheneys and Rush and Gingrich are out there as the desperate face and voice of the GOP, but it’s the national media’s business-as-usual distraction from the real issues. George S. where were you and the national media when this nation was being lied into war with Iraq? Where were you when the Cheney bunch ignored the real threat in the summer of 2001? Where were you when warrantless wiretapping and torture were being committed and our troops were being sabbataged by no-bid contracters? Get on the real issues – health care, banking and SEC regulations, the meltdown of the American middle class and gosh, if you want to try and dig some really important issues, let’s get on why this new administration isn’t going after the lawbreaking/constitution-crumbling/election-fixing politicalizing of the Cheney administration’s justice department? Let’s get at the release of the minutes of Cheney meetings with energy corporations to set the nation’s energy policy. Let’s find out how billions and billions of dollars for defense-spending disappeared into thin air while veterans went without care and veteran’s families were hassled trying to get services for their injured soldiers.
Looking at your lineup today just illustrates why the national media, print as well as broadcast, is becoming so irrelevant, the younger generation is better off getting its news from the Daily Show,progressive radio and blogs, the Onion and Steve Colbert. How sad that the once powerful press has been so bought-off and domesticated, that it can no longer do the vital mission our nation requires.

time will tell

A new low in the roundtable this week. I look forward to this segment to get above the “talking points” level of discourse, but Ms. Cheney, Ms. Vandenheuvel and Mr. Schmidt don’t seem to have any ability to get to the meat of a matter, only to work constantly to stay on message.
Mr. Carville tends that way as well, but will make the intellectual leap to original thought if pressed.
Fortunately, Mr. Will doesn’t take the bait (as much), and offers original, personal thought on the day’s issues. Someone such as he, from the left, would be quite refreshing.
Please seek out people on all sides of issues who can bring new analysis to the table, not just the approved message from a particular camp. At this point you are only adding to the noise level.

You have to be kidding me!! Are we safer than we were under the former President? The answer to the question is a resounding YES! Since November, have we heard from Bin Laden? Nope. We finally have a gentler president leading us to no longer be viewed as the bully as the world. The angry old man club is finally gone and we are safe. Perhaps we should follow the President’s lead and be kinder and gentler to the rest of world and to each other. As for the comment “Obama is the worse President we ever had?” Let us look at what he has done in the short time he has been in office. He has done much more than the last sitting president in eight years. Unless you count that the last sitting president lead us to an nonsensical war, a recession, lost of jobs, hatred, and making us the laughing stock of the world. He was not making us a healthy country but rather, like him, a an angry country. Give Obama a chance. Moreover, if you have a job, be thankful that you have it. If you lost your job, blame the former President not this one.
He is only cleaning up a mess that was left from the previous administration.

Liz Cheney was a train wreck! She completely ignored the show’s format and insisted in interrupting and talking over others. I like This Week because it is typically marked by civil debate and thoughtful dialogue. This sounded more like one of those other ‘news hours’ where it’s always a free-for-all. Please don’t have her back unless she promises to follow the rules and, if she breaks them, make her wear an Obama ’08 t-shirt for the rest of her earthly days.