quote:

ORIGINAL: cloudboy

The piece was written by Thomas Friedman -- who I don't particularly love b/c he supported the IRAQ war. (From the beginning.)

Anyway, he was able to spend an hour with Obama privately to interview him about world affairs, and his article was a very good read and quite illuminating.

I found myself agreeing with pretty much all of Obama's positions, and as usual he was well spoken, measured, reasonable, and highly informed.

The highlight portion was this: (this portion was about the USA and what it can gleam from world affairs domestically)

At the end of the day, the president mused, the biggest threat to America — the only force that can really weaken us — is us. We have so many things going for us right now as a country — from new energy resources to innovation to a growing economy — but, he said, we will never realize our full potential unless our two parties adopt the same outlook that we’re asking of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds or Israelis and Palestinians: No victor, no vanquished and work together.

“Our politics are dysfunctional,” said the president, and we should heed the terrible divisions in the Middle East as a “warning to us: societies don’t work if political factions take maximalist positions. And the more diverse the country is, the less it can afford to take maximalist positions.”

The rest of the article is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/opinion/president-obama-thomas-l-friedman-iraq-and-world-affairs.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

Just to take a an easy swipe at Sanity and his ilk, after reading this ^^^ you can clearly see that Obama is not sleeping on the job and that he is paying close attention to foreign and domestic issues. Workers who don't take breaks, relax, and refresh themselves burn out and become incapacitated -- and this is probably 50 times more true for US Presidents. If golf keep's Obama sane, lucid, and calm -- I say "tee it up." The coolest thing about Obama is not the golfing, it's how he plays 5-5 basketball.

The other coolest thing about Obama from a foreign policy standpoint is he'll never remind anyone of Sarah Palin and he probably regards John Bolton as a asshole.

quote:

ORIGINAL: subrosaDom

Having Tom Friedman interview Obama is like having Selena Gomez interview Justin Bieber (before they broke up, of course).

quote:

ORIGINAL: cloudboy


You've got "0" to say on the substance? So who are you foreign policy wonks?

Sorry, but this was a good read because it helped unite and bring into focus so many issues that are going on and what Obama thinks about them. I rated the article GRADE A for it's depth and insight at getting Obama to explain himself.

Who else would you have preferred? Brian Williams? Tom Brokaw. Walter Conkite is dead, but you'd probably have hated him too.

quote:

ORIGINAL: cloudboy
The piece was written by Thomas Friedman -- who I don't particularly love b/c he supported the IRAQ war. (From the beginning.)
Anyway, he was able to spend an hour with Obama privately to interview him about world affairs, and his article was a very good read and quite illuminating.
I found myself agreeing with pretty much all of Obama's positions, and as usual he was well spoken, measured, reasonable, and highly informed.
The highlight portion was this: (this portion was about the USA and what it can gleam from world affairs domestically)
At the end of the day, the president mused, the biggest threat to America — the only force that can really weaken us — is us. We have so many things going for us right now as a country — from new energy resources to innovation to a growing economy — but, he said, we will never realize our full potential unless our two parties adopt the same outlook that we’re asking of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds or Israelis and Palestinians: No victor, no vanquished and work together.
“Our politics are dysfunctional,” said the president, and we should heed the terrible divisions in the Middle East as a “warning to us: societies don’t work if political factions take maximalist positions. And the more diverse the country is, the less it can afford to take maximalist positions.”
The rest of the article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/opinion/president-obama-thomas-l-friedman-iraq-and-world-affairs.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

quote:

The United States is not going to be the air force of Iraqi Shiites or any other faction.

quote:

The United States launched another round of airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq Friday, using drones and a fighter jets to attack a mortar position and vehicle convoy near Erbil, the Pentagon said. The strikes came a day after they were threatened by President Barack Obama.

quote:

Just to take a an easy swipe at Sanity and his ilk, after reading this ^^^ you can clearly see that Obama is not sleeping on the job and that he is paying close attention to foreign and domestic issues. Workers who don't take breaks, relax, and refresh themselves burn out and become incapacitated -- and this is probably 50 times more true for US Presidents. If golf keep's Obama sane, lucid, and calm -- I say "tee it up." The coolest thing about Obama is not the golfing, it's how he plays 5-5 basketball.
The other coolest thing about Obama from a foreign policy standpoint is he'll never remind anyone of Sarah Palin and he probably regards John Bolton as a asshole.

• A Conservative interpretation of the US Constitution
  
• Personal Responsibility
  
• Help for the truly needy
  
• Limited Government
  
• Consumption Tax (non-profit charities and food exempt)
  

quote:

ORIGINAL: subrosaDom

quote:

ORIGINAL: cloudboy


You've got "0" to say on the substance? So who are you foreign policy wonks?

Sorry, but this was a good read because it helped unite and bring into focus so many issues that are going on and what Obama thinks about them. I rated the article GRADE A for it's depth and insight at getting Obama to explain himself.

Who else would you have preferred? Brian Williams? Tom Brokaw. Walter Conkite is dead, but you'd probably have hated him too.

Jake Tapper. A real reporter. a liberal, but actually able to put aside his views in order to have a real story. There are others, but few and far between. Friedman is pretty much a homer.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri
Every President needs some sort of stress relief. Unless he's out playing while there is something going on that needs his attention (and he went out after his attention was needed, and he knew it), I don't have a problem with them doing something to reduce that stress. It's healthy.

quote:

ORIGINAL: subrosaDom

quote:

ORIGINAL: cloudboy


You've got "0" to say on the substance? So who are you foreign policy wonks?

Sorry, but this was a good read because it helped unite and bring into focus so many issues that are going on and what Obama thinks about them. I rated the article GRADE A for it's depth and insight at getting Obama to explain himself.

Who else would you have preferred? Brian Williams? Tom Brokaw. Walter Conkite is dead, but you'd probably have hated him too.

Jake Tapper. A real reporter. a liberal, but actually able to put aside his views in order to have a real story. There are others, but few and far between. Friedman is pretty much a homer.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri
Every President needs some sort of stress relief. Unless he's out playing while there is something going on that needs his attention (and he went out after his attention was needed, and he knew it), I don't have a problem with them doing something to reduce that stress. It's healthy.

It's always a bogus criticism. The President can run the affairs of state from where ever he is. They make sure of that. If things get real heavy then he gets on AF1 and flies back to D.C.

If a man under that much stress plays some golf or cuts some brush or rides a horse or goes out on his boat or gets a blow job from an intern it really is none of our concern as long as he keeps doing the people's business well.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri
Every President needs some sort of stress relief. Unless he's out playing while there is something going on that needs his attention (and he went out after his attention was needed, and he knew it), I don't have a problem with them doing something to reduce that stress. It's healthy.

It's always a bogus criticism. The President can run the affairs of state from where ever he is. They make sure of that. If things get real heavy then he gets on AF1 and flies back to D.C.
If a man under that much stress plays some golf or cuts some brush or rides a horse or goes out on his boat or gets a blow job from an intern it really is none of our concern as long as he keeps doing the people's business well.

• A Conservative interpretation of the US Constitution
  
• Personal Responsibility
  
• Help for the truly needy
  
• Limited Government
  
• Consumption Tax (non-profit charities and food exempt)
  

quote:

ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Of course there's a foreign policy. It's mainly Bush's. Yet Bush Lite is a Socialist Muslim prick.

Naw, no perception problem on your end.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Of course there's a foreign policy. It's mainly Bush's. Yet Bush Lite is a Socialist Muslim prick.

Naw, no perception problem on your end.