One of his advisers described the President’s actions in Libya as “leading from behind.” That’s not a slogan designed for signs at the 2012 Democratic Convention, but it does accurately describe the balance that Obama now seems to be finding. It’s a different definition of leadership than America is known for, and it comes from two unspoken beliefs: that the relative power of the US is declining, as rivals like China rise, and that the US is reviled in many parts of the world. Pursuing our interests and spreading our ideals thus requires stealth and modesty as well as military strength. “It’s so at odds with the John Wayne expectation for what America is in the world,” the adviser said. “But it’s necessary for shepherding us through this phase.”
What the hell is “this phase”? Where are we “reviled” and by whom? Syria? Russia? Yemen? Somalia? Cuba?
There is no such thing as “leading from behind”, that is called “following”.
C_Miner >
“I still think it’s more important from a transparency view than a can-he-legally-be-president view”
I agree with that. The birther issue goes beyond transparency and official candidacy for me though. It’s about the lie’s, deceit and personal million dollar effort by the man to be deceitful. The question of his legitimacy is overshadowed by his compromised position for blackmail, or any other unknown reasons that such a person would go to such lengths to not be forthcoming about his past.
This is not someone to be trusted with any leadership position, forget the top global economic & military position.
ping at 6:06pm, that is a psychotic statement. My friends, ping is crazy. Stop feeding it.
Posted by: The Phantom at May 7, 2011 7:40 PM ”
well fartdome, seems to me the conspiratists are the nut cases. why didnt the BO respond to incessant demands for a birth certificate? for the same reason hollyweird celebrities do NOT respond to the outrageous and totally fabricated tabloid claims.
feel free to have one of your psychotic associates explain how that works.
Regarding “…weird and twisted lettering”
Thanks everybody for the feedback, that’s the problem, I have been unable to update lately for some reason(maybe a virus) so it’s time for this computer illiterate doofuss to take it to the shop.
Posted by: ping at May 8, 2011 8:42 AM
The trump birth certificate sideshow was just that: a sideshow. He’s enjoying the media fame tweaking maobama, but it has no further implications to addressing the serious state the US finds itself in, under the stewardship of its worst president ever.
Even had the certificate shown BHO was not US-born, it’d take an act of impeachment to throw him out. Any speculation as to how much the house and senate would cooperate on that?
Forget the birth certificate and the loser’s grades. You only have to see his performance to date to know he’s either fundamentally stupid, or woefully undereducated and unprepared for his role as POTUS. Conservatives want to defeat this disaster exactly on his merits, or lack thereof: punitive anti-capitalist and anti-business policies, hostility towards any effective energy policy, laughable foreign policies… the list goes on, seemingly forever.
And ping is just another left-wing loser screaming “racism” when his leftard demigod is shown to have the feet of clay that most conservatives predicted, but hoped would prove otherwise.
Predicatable, and boring.
mhb23re
What do you expect from a guy who was raised as Indonesian?
Obama is no more American than the Euro.
His formative years whee spent hating the US. So yeah, Syria, Chad, or Nigeria’s opinion matters.
JMO
Chris:
“Leading from Behind” was what the Russian officers at Stalingrad did.
The soldiers had to march forward, some without weapons. Anyone who advanced was shot by the Germans. Anyone who retreated was shot by the Russians.
There are actually many instances where you lead properly from behind. The rule is that a leader must be at the place where he can best see and control his resources. In a Civil War bayonet charge, that was in the front. In a squad attack, the leader is with the Assault Team. In strategic battles, the leader is often in the rear where he is not under fire, and can collect reports, maintain logistics and communications, and direct reserves.
But I’m sure that’s not how My Hero, Zero meant it.
He just meant that the US would not appear to be passing out orders to other countries or shouldering the burden by itself. The first runs counter to Zero’s view of America as “arrogant” and the latter runs counter to American’s view of having to bear all the costs.
He’s taking the sniveling middle ground between foreign opinion and domestic opinion.
ping >
“..for the same reason hollyweird celebrities do NOT respond to the outrageous and totally fabricated tabloid claims”
Genius analogy! Simply genius.
Are the hollywierd celebrities applying for the top national job? You know the one that requires top national security clearances, and a resume of birthplace by constitution.
I doubt they would spend nearly 2 million dollars of their own money to suppress their past, but of course they are not public servants either, required by the constitution to be American born.
The question isn’t “was he born in America”. The question is “Why would you go to such great lengths and personal finances to hide your credentials”? This is a big problem for the position he has been given that only an idiot would not recognize as a problem.
ping >
The biggest problem with people like you, is that you don’t have the capacity to distinguish between a Hollywood celebrity and the President of the United States.
Honestly there is a difference in the real world.
We are reviled by our betters. Those countries where it is still possible to control what their people know.