We're 6 months into Obama's first term and these usual suspects are busy creating news and constructing straw men.
Watch this...
The end of Obamania
On his overseas trip, the president was met with a lot less cheering and a lot more tough talk.
Doyle McManus
July 12, 2009
Barack Obama has fallen back to Earth.
When he ran for president, Obama said his election would be "the moment the rise of the oceans began to slow." And when he made his first big foreign trip in April, he was hailed by adoring crowds -- and almost-as-adoring politicians -- in Britain, Germany, France and the Czech Republic.
But last week, in Russia and Italy, Obamania was little more than a pleasant memory. Yes, his international polling numbers are still high, but the president encountered hardly any adulation in the streets of Moscow or anywhere else. Instead, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin reportedly gave him a tongue-lashing over a two-hour breakfast, and the tent-bound refugees from Italy's April earthquake mostly wanted to know whether he could rebuild their homes. ("Yes, we camp," their banner said, pointedly.)
And the oceans are still rising too. At the Group of 8 summit, the developing countries said no to a timetable to stop global warming, the reason for the waters' rise.
That's not to say the trip was a bust; it wasn't. But it was far from a triumph, and that's a new experience for Obama's foreign policy team.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mcmanus12-2009jul12,0,7010231.column?vote47996294=1After reading the entire column, I starting thinking of a recent thread here at DU and how what McManus was putting forth as fact re: Obama's Russian trip was somehow lackluster and without any real accomplishments was at complete odds with his counterpart at the moscowtimes.com .
Obama introduced a completely new political style. He did not put his arm around the shoulder of his “friend Dima” or his “friend Volodya,” nor did he “look into their souls.” Obama was very professional and held firmly to his position, and he walked away a winner. It appears that the Kremlin elite were caught off guard. They clearly underestimated Obama and were not prepared to do business with such a smart and well-prepared partner.
No U.S. president has ever spent so much time meeting with Russian civil society as Obama did. At his meeting with members of the Russian opposition, at which I was present, Obama stated directly that he intends to have contact with not only the leaders of other countries, but with members of society as well. In his speech at the New Economic School, Obama stressed that the time when a handful of state leaders would decide the fate of the world had passed. At our meeting, Obama said he would actively support broader contacts between nongovernmental organizations. Obama also explained that he values democracy above all else because only democratic countries can be true advocates of peace and progress. It is hard to imagine a time when Russia ever received more open support for democracy, human rights and civil society than it did on Obama’s second day in Moscow.
At the end of our meeting with Obama, where we discussed the biased judicial system and in particular the highly politicized convictions of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his former business partner Platon Lebedev. We discussed the problems of political prisoners, freedom of speech, the murder of opposition members and journalists, the censuring of the mass media and repressive measures against opposition parties.
Obama has been in office for only six months, but the world has already started to change. The new U.S. president represents a good balance between national interests and personal values. He is able to conduct a pragmatic dialogue with the ruling authorities while simultaneously supporting civil society and the opposition. His leadership style is businesslike and friendly. Obama is able to reach out to millions of people all over the world, and he symbolizes the new, improved image of the United States. In short, Obama presents a new form of politics — the politics of change. As a result, the entire world is changing as well.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, a State Duma deputy from 1993 to 2007, hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio.
full post here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8523758Several of the posters on Babylonsisters thread (above) wondered if the perspective of a Russian journalist get any press or would the American MSM create their own reality.
Well, I think McManus and several others have answered that question...for me at least.
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