Just imagine the media and public reaction if it had been George Bush bowing to the Saudi King or the Japanese Emperor.
Remember what the WH said, to explain Obama? Well, the first wasn’t a bow; he was picking something up from the ground. The second WAS a bow but he was ‘following protocol’. What? There isn’t a single picture, of over 40 heads of state, that shows a single bow. Only Obama. What protocol?
Or being unable/refusing to answer whether it was right to have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.
I’d bet that Obama’s real answer would have been ‘No, it was wrong’…he was afraid of the resultant anger in the US.
What if it had been Bush who presented an ipod of his own speeches to the Queen?
Or gave a present of unworkable old American movies on DVD to the UK Prime Minister?
The ignorance and arrogance of Obama is incredible, and I think the left can’t face acknowledging it.
meh…politics is all that blather is….
the plain truth is THAT enemy got off lucky considering their multitude of sins..now put an end to that horseshit..
but the guilt thingy everyone tries to lay on whitey(as they intentionally misperceive our ‘culture’ to be)is in action here…as it always is…
does the U.N. ring any bells ?
the enemy is unimaginitive in their critique of our western ‘sins’…WE have always(the yanks especially) welcomed EVERYONE on board the freedom train to the promised land…
bring us your skilled and imaginative..your creative and freedom loving true liberals…your secular humanists of every colour and faith….and then agreeing on the truly agreeable matters we shall ALL march forward for our children and their children too…
he could have done worst, and apologized for making the Japanese travell so far to bomb Pearl Harbour!!
and it’s incredible that the fool thinks he’s so competent in so many areas when he appears to have no skills in any, other than lie
Obama’s non-answer simply reflects what an intellectual light-weight he is, in his knowledge of history and in his ability to think on his feet or present himself coherently (although arguably the latter would be extraordinarily difficult since he doesn’t actually seem to stand for much other than his own hyper-inflated ego).
Any student of history could easily address such a question and could at the same time use it to touch on the origins of post WWII pacifism in Japan.
Even if he genuinely wanted to duck the question or felt that the A-bombing of Japan was a mistake (and there were senior US generals who believed it was unnecessary) and use a lefty’s perspective he could do worse than to paraphrase Trudeau’s “It is the business of government to govern well in its own time not right the wrongs of the past.” with something along the lines of, “I believe it is the duty of government to govern well in its own time and not second guess the dilemmas faced by our predecessors.”
While I personally believe that the A-bombings were fully justified and have never shrunk from saying so publicly or privately, and indeed, there are Japanese who feel the same, my point is that Obama’s utter inability to address any of these issues points up what a complete empty shirt he really is. This guy would bomb, pardon the pun, in a high-school debating competition.
Give ’em Hell Harry!
If Owe was 1/4 the president as Harry the USA would be a much better place.
Imagine Owe being that badly outpaced by a failed haberdasher.
What? Defend America? He might lose ticket sales for his “World Apology Tour”.
Allan he recitation would only need to he done once. As far as I know it has never been done – ever. IOW no one has told the the Japanese off to their face. The Nazis were given the nuremburg trials – we owe it to the japanese to make them lose face over this at long last.
“It would also be nice for a president to recite the atrocites committed by imperial japan” I don’t think that would be the proper thing to do. No matter what he’d have to give a “politician” answer.
Posted by: allan at November 15, 2009 6:41 PM
Agree allan, that would be diplomatically verboten. This was NOT a tough question; in fact, a very easy one; and STUMBLING over this totally predictable question reveals again the rank amateurism of the Obama presidency.
Here’s what he should have said, which would have offended nobody:
“I believe both our nations and the world at large greatly benefited from the immediate cessation of the war [see Kate’s thread title] brought about by this event; the loss of life, as horrific as it was, would have been unimaginably higher had the war continued”.
It disgusts me he won’t defend his country’s history, but it also disgusts me he won’t say what he thinks and stand behind it.
Instead, he votes “present”, just as he has done in earlier tight moments. He’s going to find it harder and harder to do that.
biff jupiter:
“It disgusts me he won’t defend his country’s history”
The One would have to know something about history before he could defend it. He doesn’t.
This would have been a complete softball question for anybody who had a shred of common sense, and basic historical perspective.
Of course, we’re talking about Bam Bam here, so it doesn’t surprise me he deliberately avoided answering the question. It’s pretty clear Bam Bam views American military history through the lens of left-wing moonbats — i.e. America has always been wrong.
Given the situation, the questioner was impolite.
O could have pointed out that he was not there, not privy to the national sentiments in America, nor Japan, troop strategic analysis projected costs in lives,and equipment, yada yada, and so on and so forth.
The urinalist who asked the question, had an agenda, and embarrassed only himself in asking the question.
I am no fan of the “empty shirt”, but I take a dim view of sandbagging someone to score personal points.
Hey he’s an easy target already, why pile on!!!
On the one hand, it surprises me not at all that he would try to slide out of that question. I’m sure he thinks he could have ended WWII with a phone call to Tojo, so using the A-bomb would be silly.
On the other hand, I’m stunned to see this guy braving the backblast he’s going to get over this. He could have slid out of it with a “gosh gee whiz you can’t second guess history, hindsight is 20-20” pile of manure, instead he goes for the “I can’t condone it but I wasn’t there” America is bad answer.
This guy is not bright, and he’s not a skillful politician. Harper or even Count Iggy would eat him for a snack in the back room wars.
The bomb also stopped the USSR Communists from seeking world dominance.. They stopped in Berlin.. Cold War… etc
If you were a EU communist, like Obama, how would you answer that question?
Good point, Phillip G Shaw.
“It disgusts me he won’t defend his country’s history”
I didn’t know they asked him about kenya.
You’d think that someone from Hawaii of all places would have a little understanding about WWII.
Hmm, better check that birth certificate again.
Ahhhhhhh Japan, remember Battan Death March.
My father sure did.
So don’t give me this (why did you drop the bomb BS)
Don’t start wars!
Now I am really confused. Just when I thought I new what kind of sight this was. If the hat fits.
JJM
[..]Arrest The War Bloggers: “[I]t is fair game to ask if western civilization would be in such rapid decline had Germany won. I argue that we would be much freer today if Germany had won, and that we fought on the wrong side.”
And with that lunatic statement replayed before the jury, the case of the Crown versus “Arrest The War Bloggers” was proven.[..]
That proposition has been much debated with little resolution….NOT PROVEN!!
Posted by: sasquatch | November 11, 2009 9:57 AM
“Or being unable/refusing to answer whether it was right to have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.
I’d bet that Obama’s real answer would have been ‘No, it was wrong’…he was afraid of the resultant anger in the US.”
I think ET has nailed it.
“Meh. Telling the Japs is was right to nuke their country would be kind of impolite, him being a guest and all.”
Hjb, your kidding right?
The truth hurts, and the question was asked. It is much ruder to patronize the Japanese people by skirting the question as you might a child asking what “tea-bagging” means. The Japanese are not children; BO need not worry about their self-esteem.
“Hjb, your kidding right?”
oops, that should say:Hjb, you’re kidding right?
Indy @11:13 – “The Japanese are not children…”
According to the infallible Wikipedia, 13.5% of the Japanese population is 14 years of age or under. So some of them are, in fact, children. Nowhere near enough to make Mark Steyn relax, but still.
And you can’t throw things at me because I’m hiding behind a computer. Hah!
correction
And you can’t throw (yourself) at me because I’m hiding behind a computer. 🙁
Was Truman right in ending the war by using the atomic bombs? Anyone with any knowledge of history would agree with Truman’s decision. The Japanese fought ferociously to defend their positions on small, desolate islands miles from Japan. Can you imagine the fight they would have put up to defend their homeland? One has only to look at the casualties resulting from the invasion of Okinawa. There were more Japanese soldiers and civilians killed during this battle than the combined deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Of course, those so ignorant of history that they feel compelled to demonize Truman probably think that Okinawa is a valley in British Columbia.
POTUS is a POS. What else can one say?
Okinawa is a valley in British Columbia.
very clever biffjr 🙂
All Americans would benefit from reviewing the decision-making process that President Truman faced in evaluating the best way to defeat the Japanese in WWII. He listened to many opinions and made the final decision based upon careful analysis of many studies, reports and “facts”, much of which appeared to be contradictory.
Similarily, those who are trying to impute some imagined motives to the current US President would do well to try to put themselves in his shoes. What would you do when confronted by the bewildering array of problems that this country now faces?
Here is a quote I try to remember when I myself am tempted to leap to hasty conclusions:
“For every complex, difficult problem, there is a simple solution; which is usually wrong.”
A “gaffe-tastic” defense minister resigns over A-bomb remarks:
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUST33633720070702
Discuss.
No one is expecting Obama to relish in the bombings. He only has to justify history.
Just imagine the media and public reaction if it had been George Bush bowing to the Saudi King or the Japanese Emperor.
Remember what the WH said, to explain Obama? Well, the first wasn’t a bow; he was picking something up from the ground. The second WAS a bow but he was ‘following protocol’. What? There isn’t a single picture, of over 40 heads of state, that shows a single bow. Only Obama. What protocol?
Or being unable/refusing to answer whether it was right to have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.
I’d bet that Obama’s real answer would have been ‘No, it was wrong’…he was afraid of the resultant anger in the US.
What if it had been Bush who presented an ipod of his own speeches to the Queen?
Or gave a present of unworkable old American movies on DVD to the UK Prime Minister?
The ignorance and arrogance of Obama is incredible, and I think the left can’t face acknowledging it.
meh…politics is all that blather is….
the plain truth is THAT enemy got off lucky considering their multitude of sins..now put an end to that horseshit..
but the guilt thingy everyone tries to lay on whitey(as they intentionally misperceive our ‘culture’ to be)is in action here…as it always is…
does the U.N. ring any bells ?
the enemy is unimaginitive in their critique of our western ‘sins’…WE have always(the yanks especially) welcomed EVERYONE on board the freedom train to the promised land…
bring us your skilled and imaginative..your creative and freedom loving true liberals…your secular humanists of every colour and faith….and then agreeing on the truly agreeable matters we shall ALL march forward for our children and their children too…
he could have done worst, and apologized for making the Japanese travell so far to bomb Pearl Harbour!!
and it’s incredible that the fool thinks he’s so competent in so many areas when he appears to have no skills in any, other than lie
Obama’s non-answer simply reflects what an intellectual light-weight he is, in his knowledge of history and in his ability to think on his feet or present himself coherently (although arguably the latter would be extraordinarily difficult since he doesn’t actually seem to stand for much other than his own hyper-inflated ego).
Any student of history could easily address such a question and could at the same time use it to touch on the origins of post WWII pacifism in Japan.
Even if he genuinely wanted to duck the question or felt that the A-bombing of Japan was a mistake (and there were senior US generals who believed it was unnecessary) and use a lefty’s perspective he could do worse than to paraphrase Trudeau’s “It is the business of government to govern well in its own time not right the wrongs of the past.” with something along the lines of, “I believe it is the duty of government to govern well in its own time and not second guess the dilemmas faced by our predecessors.”
While I personally believe that the A-bombings were fully justified and have never shrunk from saying so publicly or privately, and indeed, there are Japanese who feel the same, my point is that Obama’s utter inability to address any of these issues points up what a complete empty shirt he really is. This guy would bomb, pardon the pun, in a high-school debating competition.
Give ’em Hell Harry!
If Owe was 1/4 the president as Harry the USA would be a much better place.
Imagine Owe being that badly outpaced by a failed haberdasher.
What? Defend America? He might lose ticket sales for his “World Apology Tour”.
Allan he recitation would only need to he done once. As far as I know it has never been done – ever. IOW no one has told the the Japanese off to their face. The Nazis were given the nuremburg trials – we owe it to the japanese to make them lose face over this at long last.
“It would also be nice for a president to recite the atrocites committed by imperial japan”
I don’t think that would be the proper thing to do. No matter what he’d have to give a “politician” answer.
Posted by: allan at November 15, 2009 6:41 PM
Agree allan, that would be diplomatically verboten. This was NOT a tough question; in fact, a very easy one; and STUMBLING over this totally predictable question reveals again the rank amateurism of the Obama presidency.
Here’s what he should have said, which would have offended nobody:
“I believe both our nations and the world at large greatly benefited from the immediate cessation of the war [see Kate’s thread title] brought about by this event; the loss of life, as horrific as it was, would have been unimaginably higher had the war continued”.
It disgusts me he won’t defend his country’s history, but it also disgusts me he won’t say what he thinks and stand behind it.
Instead, he votes “present”, just as he has done in earlier tight moments. He’s going to find it harder and harder to do that.
biff jupiter:
“It disgusts me he won’t defend his country’s history”
The One would have to know something about history before he could defend it. He doesn’t.
This would have been a complete softball question for anybody who had a shred of common sense, and basic historical perspective.
Of course, we’re talking about Bam Bam here, so it doesn’t surprise me he deliberately avoided answering the question. It’s pretty clear Bam Bam views American military history through the lens of left-wing moonbats — i.e. America has always been wrong.
Given the situation, the questioner was impolite.
O could have pointed out that he was not there, not privy to the national sentiments in America, nor Japan, troop strategic analysis projected costs in lives,and equipment, yada yada, and so on and so forth.
The urinalist who asked the question, had an agenda, and embarrassed only himself in asking the question.
I am no fan of the “empty shirt”, but I take a dim view of sandbagging someone to score personal points.
Hey he’s an easy target already, why pile on!!!
On the one hand, it surprises me not at all that he would try to slide out of that question. I’m sure he thinks he could have ended WWII with a phone call to Tojo, so using the A-bomb would be silly.
On the other hand, I’m stunned to see this guy braving the backblast he’s going to get over this. He could have slid out of it with a “gosh gee whiz you can’t second guess history, hindsight is 20-20” pile of manure, instead he goes for the “I can’t condone it but I wasn’t there” America is bad answer.
This guy is not bright, and he’s not a skillful politician. Harper or even Count Iggy would eat him for a snack in the back room wars.
.sodahead.com/united-states/should-we-call-him-obowma-now/blog-191801/
.sodahead.com/religion/
The bomb also stopped the USSR Communists from seeking world dominance.. They stopped in Berlin.. Cold War… etc
If you were a EU communist, like Obama, how would you answer that question?
Good point, Phillip G Shaw.
“It disgusts me he won’t defend his country’s history”
I didn’t know they asked him about kenya.
You’d think that someone from Hawaii of all places would have a little understanding about WWII.
Hmm, better check that birth certificate again.
Ahhhhhhh Japan, remember Battan Death March.
My father sure did.
So don’t give me this (why did you drop the bomb BS)
Don’t start wars!
Now I am really confused. Just when I thought I new what kind of sight this was. If the hat fits.
JJM
[..]Arrest The War Bloggers: “[I]t is fair game to ask if western civilization would be in such rapid decline had Germany won. I argue that we would be much freer today if Germany had won, and that we fought on the wrong side.”
And with that lunatic statement replayed before the jury, the case of the Crown versus “Arrest The War Bloggers” was proven.[..]
That proposition has been much debated with little resolution….NOT PROVEN!!
Posted by: sasquatch | November 11, 2009 9:57 AM
“Or being unable/refusing to answer whether it was right to have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.
I’d bet that Obama’s real answer would have been ‘No, it was wrong’…he was afraid of the resultant anger in the US.”
I think ET has nailed it.
“Meh. Telling the Japs is was right to nuke their country would be kind of impolite, him being a guest and all.”
Hjb, your kidding right?
The truth hurts, and the question was asked. It is much ruder to patronize the Japanese people by skirting the question as you might a child asking what “tea-bagging” means. The Japanese are not children; BO need not worry about their self-esteem.
“Hjb, your kidding right?”
oops, that should say:Hjb, you’re kidding right?
Indy @11:13 – “The Japanese are not children…”
According to the infallible Wikipedia, 13.5% of the Japanese population is 14 years of age or under. So some of them are, in fact, children. Nowhere near enough to make Mark Steyn relax, but still.
And you can’t throw things at me because I’m hiding behind a computer. Hah!
correction
And you can’t throw (yourself) at me because I’m hiding behind a computer. 🙁
Was Truman right in ending the war by using the atomic bombs? Anyone with any knowledge of history would agree with Truman’s decision. The Japanese fought ferociously to defend their positions on small, desolate islands miles from Japan. Can you imagine the fight they would have put up to defend their homeland? One has only to look at the casualties resulting from the invasion of Okinawa. There were more Japanese soldiers and civilians killed during this battle than the combined deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Of course, those so ignorant of history that they feel compelled to demonize Truman probably think that Okinawa is a valley in British Columbia.
POTUS is a POS. What else can one say?
Okinawa is a valley in British Columbia.
very clever biffjr 🙂
All Americans would benefit from reviewing the decision-making process that President Truman faced in evaluating the best way to defeat the Japanese in WWII. He listened to many opinions and made the final decision based upon careful analysis of many studies, reports and “facts”, much of which appeared to be contradictory.
Similarily, those who are trying to impute some imagined motives to the current US President would do well to try to put themselves in his shoes. What would you do when confronted by the bewildering array of problems that this country now faces?
Here is a quote I try to remember when I myself am tempted to leap to hasty conclusions:
“For every complex, difficult problem, there is a simple solution; which is usually wrong.”