| Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys | |
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laststandchili Underachiever
Number of posts : 1101 Location : Centralia, PA Registration date : 2008-05-07
| Subject: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:56 pm | |
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i95 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4315 Registration date : 2008-03-07
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:42 pm | |
| Sorry to get all political but such reminded me of this GREAT op-ed by the National Review's Jonah Goldberg and which ran in USA Today last week (note especially the line, "this might lead to a painful realization for Obama. While he may think words are everything, for our enemies and even our friends, words are still just words."). Obama's word play The administration has created a lexicon that masks reality through the gauzy world of euphemism. To the world, its just words.
By Jonah Goldberg
President Obama had a grand time in Europe. He wowed the press, met the queen, gave some wonderful news conferences and got virtually none of the major policy concessions he wanted. But he did do a lot of talking, for what that's worth.
(Stopping in Prague: President Obama speaks before an estimated 20,000 people Sunday./ Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)
And for Obama, that's worth a lot. During the campaign, then-Sen. Obama made it clear that he thought words meant a great deal. "Don't tell me words don't matter," Obama proclaimed. " 'I have a dream' just words? 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' just words? 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself' just words? Just speeches?"
Give the man points for consistency. He has put rhetorical innovation on an equal footing with policy innovation. Exhibit A: "Overseas contingency operations." That's the Obama administration's term of choice to replace "the long war" or "the global war on terror." No doubt they were inspired by the famous Leo Tolstoy novel, Overseas Contingency Operations and Cessation of Overseas Contingency Operations, later dumbed-down by the publisher to War and Peace.
Janet Napolitano, head of Obama's Department of Homeland Security primarily created to deal with terrorist attacks in the wake of 9/11 has decided "terrorist attack" is too hard-edged. It's "man-caused disasters" now. "That is perhaps only a nuance," Napolitano explained to a German newsmagazine, "but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur."
Meanwhile, the White House has announced that prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will no longer be called "enemy combatants." No word yet on what the new term will be. No doubt the poetic euphony of "man-caused disasters" and "overseas contingency operations" sets a very high bar for Obama's Office of Euphemism Generation. But surely "Men Prone to Disaster Causation" or "Overseas Counter-Contingency Operators" are the most obvious choices. My friend Mark Steyn, however, suggests going another way: "Future Facebook Friends."
'Morally tone-deaf'
And that points to just one of the problems with the Obama administration's effort to use words to shape reality. It's morally tone-deaf. Maybe Napolitano is right about the need to bleed fear from our politics (a directive Obama didn't seem to have in mind when he suggested that failure to pass his budget would lead to catastrophe, er, man-caused disaster). But these phrases are morally meaningless. Public safety is an important government function, but, regardless of whether "war on terror" was the right term, it's surely wrong to use language better suited for a salmonella outbreak to describe a conflict with evil men who have American blood on their hands.
We've seen this before. Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton's secretary of State, famously declared that countries such as North Korea would no longer be called "rogue nations" but instead "states of concern," which sounded an awful lot like various poses from a photo shoot with Dr. Phil. One can hope that the problems that came with the Clinton administration's lawyerly approach to terrorism won't be replayed by this administration. President Clinton was very good at vowing to hunt down our enemies after terrorist attacks, but when he left the podium, he was more interested in how his comments played in polls and focus groups than what we were doing to catch the bad guys.
So far it's hard to say definitively how Clintonite Obama's approach really is. His approach toward Iraq and Afghanistan is better than his critics on the right expected and worse than his fans on the left hoped. Indeed, despite the change in jargon, in the war formerly known as "the war on terror," Obama's policies are shockingly in sync with Bush's.
However his policies turn out, it's clear that Obama still puts a great amount of stock in the power of words his words. In particular he continues to have a candidate's relish for denigrating George W. Bush and a left-wing academic fondness for finding fault with America. In Europe last week, he pledged more "humility" and apologized for America's "arrogance."
Symbolism over substance
Similarly, as befits a very symbolic president, his administration enjoys symbolic gestures. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked on the Russians before the Group of 20 summit by giving them a giant red button with the word "reset" on it (or that was the plan; they used the wrong word in Russian). In a meeting with the Russian president, Obama followed up by lamenting the "drift" in Russian-American relations. Putting aside the oddness of giving a big red button to an antagonistic country with a boatload of nuclear weapons, it's still an odd tack to take with the Russians. After all, whatever mistakes the Bush administration may have made, Russia was hardly the aggrieved party. America didn't make Russia invade Georgia, aid Iran or crush democracy. President Bush famously, and naively, saw Vladimir Putin's soul in the Russian leader's eyes. Obama's naivetι may rest in his own belief that his words amount to some kind of Jedi mind trick.
Indeed, Obama spent the week telling Europeans everything they wanted to hear, but got little for it. The French and the Germans still belittled America's "Anglo-Saxon" capitalism and refused to follow our lead.
This might lead to a painful realization for Obama. While he may think words are everything, for our enemies and even our friends, words are still just words.
Jonah Goldberg, editor at large of National Review Online, is a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.
Posted at 12:15 AM/ET, April 07, 2009 in Forum commentary, Politics, Government - Forum | Permalink | |
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i95 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4315 Registration date : 2008-03-07
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:45 pm | |
| Oh and just to restore order here, this is Sarkozy's wife: | |
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pastrami-on-wry Needs Help
Number of posts : 3289 Registration date : 2008-03-05
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:58 pm | |
| I sure hope she likes grapes. | |
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pastrami-on-wry Needs Help
Number of posts : 3289 Registration date : 2008-03-05
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:16 pm | |
| Not to get all political and shit but I assume you don't see any humor in the fact that when the French were shitting on W we got all "Fuck The French!" and Freedom Fries-y on their ass but now that Sarkozy is dissing Obama you are so willing to see his point. Yep, that's what I call fair and balanced. | |
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laststandchili Underachiever
Number of posts : 1101 Location : Centralia, PA Registration date : 2008-05-07
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:00 pm | |
| - i95 wrote:
Oh and just to restore order here, this is Sarkozy's wife: I just knew that wouldn't take long. 95 you have exceptional timing. Mr. POW, there was a whole different Frenchy French fella in charge during most of the Bush administration. Change. | |
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pastrami-on-wry Needs Help
Number of posts : 3289 Registration date : 2008-03-05
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:18 pm | |
| So let me make sure I've got this straight. Before our guy was good but their guy was bad and now our guy is bad and their guy is good. Got it. Viva La France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |
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Agent 13 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4130 Location : Inside mailbox at bus station Registration date : 2008-03-04
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:26 pm | |
| - pastrami-on-wry wrote:
- So let me make sure I've got this straight. Before our guy was good but their guy was bad and now our guy is bad and their guy is good. Got it. Viva La France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Having just returned from my annual pilgrimage to mail my taxes with all the other late filers...I contend they are all bad. | |
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laststandchili Underachiever
Number of posts : 1101 Location : Centralia, PA Registration date : 2008-05-07
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 6:46 am | |
| - pastrami-on-wry wrote:
- So let me make sure I've got this straight. Before our guy was good but their guy was bad and now our guy is bad and their guy is good. Got it. Viva La France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See, I knew we agreed. | |
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pastrami-on-wry Needs Help
Number of posts : 3289 Registration date : 2008-03-05
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:04 am | |
| - Agent 13 wrote:
- Having just returned from my annual pilgrimage to mail my taxes with all the other late filers...I contend they are all bad.
The voice of reason, I tells ya. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:11 am | |
| Just wanted to point out that i95 reads the McPaper. That is all. |
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Agent 13 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4130 Location : Inside mailbox at bus station Registration date : 2008-03-04
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:45 am | |
| - The Goddess wrote:
- Just wanted to point out that i95 reads the McPaper. That is all.
Maybe he lives in a hotel and they leave it outside his door. | |
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Agent 13 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4130 Location : Inside mailbox at bus station Registration date : 2008-03-04
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:47 am | |
| - i95 wrote:
Oh and just to restore order here, this is Sarkozy's wife: Is that really his wife? If so, I have a new respect for the french. Well...not really...but she is easy on the eyes. | |
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pastrami-on-wry Needs Help
Number of posts : 3289 Registration date : 2008-03-05
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:17 am | |
| - Agent 13 wrote:
- The Goddess wrote:
- Just wanted to point out that i95 reads the McPaper. That is all.
Maybe he lives in a hotel and they leave it outside his door. Or maybe he likes the big, easy-to-read colorful graphs. | |
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i95 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4315 Registration date : 2008-03-07
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:44 am | |
| - The Goddess wrote:
- Just wanted to point out that i95 reads the McPaper.
Actually, I don't but must've been on travel that day of Goldberg's op-ed (and which I was clearly taken with). - Agent 13 wrote:
Is that really his wife?
It is, indeed. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:02 pm | |
| - Agent 13 wrote:
Is that really his wife?
If so, I have a new respect for the french. Well...not really...but she is easy on the eyes. But I believe she is Italian... |
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pastrami-on-wry Needs Help
Number of posts : 3289 Registration date : 2008-03-05
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i95 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4315 Registration date : 2008-03-07
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:17 pm | |
| - pastrami-on-wry wrote:
- The Goddess wrote:
But I believe she is Italian... No. Her hands are able to adequately cover everything so she's definitely not Italian. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:40 pm | |
| Maybe she has a good waxer/landscaper?? |
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Agent 13 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4130 Location : Inside mailbox at bus station Registration date : 2008-03-04
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:45 pm | |
| - pastrami-on-wry wrote:
It is my opinion that you are expending way too much drool over a woman with breasts this small.
While I hate to strongly disagree in these political discussions lest people think I am an extremist of some sort, I must say I think you are wrong. While there are clearly many virtues to large breasts, writing off a nice ass like that because it is attached to a small breasted body is shortsighted. Again, sorry for the overtly political discourse here. | |
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pastrami-on-wry Needs Help
Number of posts : 3289 Registration date : 2008-03-05
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:18 pm | |
| 13, in discussing the body politic I guess it's each to his own but to me there is nothing womanly about Ms. Bruni. She is totally shapeless. My guess is the reason she has her hands covering her pubic area is that there is nothing there at all. She is just an anatomically incorrect mannequin. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:24 pm | |
| And she's pigeon-toed.
Just sayin'. |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:59 pm | |
| Calling that idiot hack Jonah Goldberg is like calling David Hasselhoff a great actor. The right wing is simply going bat shit because they just can't get over losing. It happened in the nineties too, if you remember. And fuck the french. |
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i95 Needs Help
Number of posts : 4315 Registration date : 2008-03-07
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bitch slapped by the surrender monkeys Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:18 pm | |
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