Who was Obama making fun of, regarding "world peace"?

[Enrique]

"And gosh, we haven’t yet brought about world peace and — (laughter.) I thought that was going to happen quicker."

Seriously, who is he talking about? Our country is involved in two major wars, and typically presidents face protests from peace activists when we are involved in wars. But Obama seems to have been spared.

Has he ever even seen a Code Pink demonstration against him? They are currently still protesting against Karl Rove, I think Obama doesn't have to worry about them.

So who is he talking about?

[Jackpine Radical]

1. My friends in the local peace movement are still at it,

demonstrating every Saturday in beautiful downtown Chippewa Falls. I sympathize and admire them but can't muster the energy and just plain bullheadedness it takes to actually get out there & do it any more.

[sandnsea]

4. They are in my town too

Of course they're all people who hate Obama anyway and have opposed everything he's done since Jan 21, so I just stay away from them altogether. But they're definitely out there.

[ClassWarrior]

7. Actually, a lot of them are people who like Obama, and worked to elect Obama...

...and hoped for more from Obama. And I know that at least a few of these people wrestle with the question of whether to volunteer inside the Obama event or picket outside of it.

:shrug:

That's reality.

NGU.

[sandnsea]

12. You know the people in my town?

Really??

[sandnsea]

2. They're at every event he attends

There are anti-war protesters along just about every road he travels on. He sees "Out Of Afghanistan" just about every single day. I'd be happy to start posting the pool reports when they mention protestors, if you would like to be guaranteed that he's seeing protestors.

[Enrique]

6. please do post those reports

I had no clue that those protests were happening. The media is not reporting them, and no one at DU is reporting them. It seems a shame for them to be so ignored.

[Enrique]

67. go ahead and post these reports

we need to see what these people are doing. If these protests are happening then they are being totally ignored on DU, which would be wrong.

[Sheepshank]

76. why?

acting as if these anti Obama protests are being ignored, is just as ingenious and the msm that are ignoring the Pro Obama rallies. Just what is you agenda and why do you feel the need to do it on DU?

[tridim]

3. He's talking about you. Nobody else, just you.

:nuke:

It's a simple metaphor, he's not talking about anyone specifically. The point is obvious.

[Tunkamerica]

5. Yeah, you missed the point.

World Peace is a well-worn metaphor for something that is near impossible; and, if possible, would take a long a time and hard work.

He's just saying everything can't be done in two years. And people are mad he hasn't created Utopia on Earth in his time in office.

I think it's a legitimate point.

[jenmito]

8. EXACTLY! n/t

[Pirate Smile]

9. Right. He's making a point about unrealistic expectations.

[Cha]

10. They didn't miss the point..they're

jumping on it so they can whine about the President. It never fucking ends.

[EFerrari]

11. So, he was recycling an empty cliche for a laugh

at the expense of the actual peace movement.

The more people try to rationalize this, the worse it gets.

I remember and tried to diffuse the "hanging on to guns and God comment". Maybe this is just what he does under pressure.

[CBR]

13. Are you perpetually offended? He was RIGHT about that Gods and Guns comment. nt

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Enrique]

14. it was the same joke Gibbs made

“They will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”


It's not a metaphor. It's a message: liberals are ridiculous.

[EFerrari]

16. Right. They sure spend a lot of time bashing liberals

considering what a "marginal" group we are.

I guess they've kissed off the youth vote now that they have Citizens United.

[ClarkUSA]

19. No, they are correctly zeroing in on the Democrats who are unrealistic aka. 4ever-outraged PUMAs.

<< I guess they've kissed off the youth vote now that they have Citizens United. >>

You guess wrong... unless you have proof, which I highly doubt.

[EFerrari]

57. These thought crimes must stop!

LOL

[ClarkUSA]

18. "It's a message: liberals are ridiculous." No, this liberal thinks that's your perfidious parsing.

I think it's funny how so many Hillary "Lobbyists Are People, Too" Clinton supporters like Jane Hamsher and her fans have decided to attack President Obama from the left.

[Enrique]

29. again with the Jane Hamsher

what IS this preoccupation with Jane Hamsher? :crazy:

[ClarkUSA]

32. Well, she & her fans are exactly the kind of perpetually-offended "Democrats" Obama described in CT.

And he obviously hit a huge nerve, given the dozens of outraged OPs I've seen lately. :rofl:


GObama! :D

[treestar]

52. Those things are both pipe dreams at this point

No serious liberal would expect anything near that to be happening now.

[COLGATE4]

34. Oh, Jesus

give it a rest. It's a silly, tired metaphor for something virtually impossible - nothing more.

[treestar]

51. Big deal, who doesn't do that?

What harm does it cause? None.

[rug]

17. Escalating the war in Afghanistan is one way to do it.

[ClarkUSA]

20. I'm sure you'll change your mind when the first troops are out by July 2011?

If it were up to warmonger SoS Hillary, we'd have been in Afghanistan for another 10 years and 80K troops would have been gone in as per her hero Gen. McChrystal's recommendations.

Thank goodness President Obama didn't take Hillary's advice, eh? He sure deserves that Nobel Prize. :)

[vaberella]

22. Probably go mum. they do it often. n/t

[rug]

24. We can count on you to keep the talking points burning.

[vaberella]

64. What talking point?

I figured when they said a good number of troops would be released this summer that was true, right?! I don't hear anyone disputing that--if it happens to be true next year. What talking point am I burning. :eyes:

[rug]

23. Tell me. Why did he send 30,000 in in December to remove - some - next July?

Bloodletting aside, since your prime concern is an election, do you think that makes any military sense? What will you say in July, if things remain as fucked up as they are, keep them? What will he say? They are now designated noncombat support staff? This isn't a shell game.

BTW, there are still 50,000 troops, excuse me, noncombat missionaries, in Iraq who will be there another ten years. Afghanistan will be no different.

[ClarkUSA]

25. Write a letter to President Obama and ask him. I've made my point and am content. nt

[rug]

26. Ok, go mum. Next time don't open your mouth if you don't want a response.

[ClarkUSA]

27. "Next time... if you... want a response" don't offer baseless speculation as I don't go there.

:)

[rug]

28. You brought up July 2011. I went there.

[ClarkUSA]

33. lol! Yes, you did. We finally agree.

:rofl:

[rug]

35. You might as well go there too. We'll be there for a long time, way past July.

[ClarkUSA]

38. Yeah, we're still in Germany & Japan, too, "way past" 1945 but Truman still ended the war..

As President Obama will end the Afghanistan war in July 2011, just as he ended the Iraq War recently, as promised.

He sure deserved the Nobel Prize. :)

[rug]

41. Somebody forgot to tell the Iraqis the war is over. Oh, maybe you can.

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

Only 3 dead yesterday. Way to go!

[ClarkUSA]

42. How do you know that? Your willingness to use troop deaths to make a flippant point is distasteful.

Do you know exactly what circumstances led to the deaths? Hmm?? Prove that the Iraqis don't know the war is over. I doubt you can.

Perhaps you should Google for images of Iraqis celebrating on the day President Obama ended the war. Ending the US combat mission doesn't stop Iraqi sectarian violence nor does it stop Al-Qaeda or Iran-backed Shia militia from targeting US soldiers while the troops assist Iraqi security forces while on training missions.

No amount of cheap snark changes the fact that President Obama ended the Iraq war recently.

Just ask the Iraqi PM, the UN, or the EU if you don't believe me. Ring up the Nobel Peace Prize Committee while you're at it.

Go ahead. Knock yourself out.

[rug]

45. Defending a war for political gain is more than distasteful.

"President Obama ended the Iraq war recently." Not even he claims that.

[ClarkUSA]

47. No proof? Moving the goalpost now? Spouting more baseless claims?

:rofl:

<<"President Obama ended the Iraq war recently." Not even he claims that.>>

Really? Well, you're wrong. Unlike you, I can prove my point (with a headline from a highly reputable liberal news source from outside this country):

"Barack Obama ends the war in Iraq. 'Now it's time to turn the page'
US president delivers on key election promise and thanks troops for 'job well done' – but cautions against triumphalism"

Read more facts: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/01/obama-formally-ends-iraq-war

:hi:

[rug]

53. "Tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended."

That won't get you a ticker tape parade, George.

[ClarkUSA]

56. You really aren't interested in facts, are you? Well, I am, and it's clear you got nuthin'.

You said: "President Obama ended the Iraq war recently." Not even he claims that.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=447658&mesg_id=447967

Really? Well, you're wrong. Unlike you, I can prove my point (with a headline from a highly reputable liberal news source from outside this country):

"Barack Obama ends the war in Iraq. 'Now it's time to turn the page'
US president delivers on key election promise and thanks troops for 'job well done' – but cautions against triumphalism"

Read more facts: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/01/obama-formally-ends-iraq-war

[rug]

61. If you think a unilateral declaration of the end of a combat mission is ending a war, your problem

is not simply with facts.

[ClarkUSA]

62. ROFL! Iraqi PM Maliki, the UN, the EU, and ME leaders would dispute your false characterization.

:rofl:

[jenmito]

31. He's doing what he campaigned on doing-withdrawing troops in Iraq and escalating troops

in Afghanistan for a while (and then withdrawing them). He's keeping his promises so far. Keeping 50,000 non-combat troops in Iraq for another ten years may be YOUR idea-but it's not OBAMA'S idea. Nor is it his promise.

[rug]

36. It's destructive and pointless no matter who campaigned on it.

And I'm not the one keeping them there, it's the Commander-in-Chief.

Nice try though.

[ClarkUSA]

40. Why? Did you forget that OBL & Al-Qaeda fled into the Af-Pak mountain region after 9/11?

Maybe you did. It seems like many people have.

As a New Yorker, I haven't. The CIC hasn't either.

[rug]

43. Uh, nine years ago, allegedly. And that's Bush's rationale you're spouting.

This President's escalation was 8 years later.

As a New Yorker, Manhattan specifically, born and bred myself, this war is not being fought on my account. Not that it's relevant.

[ClarkUSA]

44. Really? Prove that it's "Bush's rationale" I'm "spouting" and not current FP intel analysis. nt

[rug]

46. Lol, prove that OBL is still hiding in them thar hills.

[ClarkUSA]

55. So you can't prove any of your claims, eh? How predictable. Okay, here's my proof, dated 7/25/10:

Mullen says Osama bin Laden in Pakistan
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2010/07/25/mullen-says-osama-bin-laden-in-pakistan

It appears I'm right again. No surprise there. Try to remember this fact the next time you wrongly and falsely accuse an Obama supporter of "spouting Bush's rationale".

Oh, and if you're interested in "spouting" anything more than empty rhetoric and baseless claims, try educating yourself as to exactly why President Obama is sending troops into the Af-Pak region and what he hopes to achieve:

Paper no. 3316

22-July-2009

UNITED STATES “AF-PAK POLICY”: EFFICACY AND LIKELY DIRECTIONS IN THE NEAR FUTURE

By Dr. Subhash Kapila

(Presentation made by the Author at Indian Army VAJRA Seminar on July 10-11, 2009)

http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers34/paper3316.html

The AfPak Strategy and its Implementation
by Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, University of Mumbai (India)
Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences (2009) Vol 1, No 3, 1001-1009

http://www.japss.org/upload/31.Mahapatra.pdf

You're welcome. :D

[jenmito]

48. No "nice try" about it. YOU are making claims that Obama hasn't made and you have

NO reason to believe. So far, he's done just what he SAID he'd do.

[rug]

54. Wrong. I'm not criticizing his claims, I'm criticizing his action

That fact that he campaigned on it as well is all for the worse. Would you support this war expansion if Bush had ordered it?

[ClarkUSA]

58. Why are you "criticizing his actions"? OBL is in the Af-Pak region and al-Qaeda is resurgent there.

Mullen says Osama bin Laden in Pakistan
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2010/07/25/mullen-says-osama-bin-laden-in-pakistan

Once again, I suggest that you educate yourself as to exactly why President Obama is sending troops into the Af-Pak region and what he hopes to achieve before "criticizing his actions" again:

Paper no. 3316

22-July-2009

UNITED STATES “AF-PAK POLICY”: EFFICACY AND LIKELY DIRECTIONS IN THE NEAR FUTURE

By Dr. Subhash Kapila

(Presentation made by the Author at Indian Army VAJRA Seminar on July 10-11, 2009)

http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers34/paper3316.html

The AfPak Strategy and its Implementation

by Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, University of Mumbai (India)

Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences (2009) Vol 1, No 3, 1001-1009

http://www.japss.org/upload/31.Mahapatra.pdf

[jenmito]

59. You're criticizing things YOU claim that Obama will do-keep our troops in Afghanistan

and keep our troops in Iraq despite his claims to the contrary. I always supported the war in Afghanistan and I still do.

[rug]

63. If you always suppoerted the war in Aghanistan you should be tickled pink. I didn't.

And I'm not claiming he's keeping troops in Iraq, they're there.

[jenmito]

68. The Afghanistan war was supported by the vast majority of Americans. I'm one of them.

And what you said was, "BTW, there are still 50,000 troops, excuse me, noncombat missionaries, in Iraq who will be there another ten years. Afghanistan will be no different." You are making things up.

[proteus_lives]

69. And bingo was his name-o.

[HughMoran]

74. +1200

[vaberella]

21. Are you trying to make me angry at him? It's not happening.

I figured his statement is stemming from a sense of frustration and exasperation that he can't meet all the high goals and demands we as the base demands. I see nothing wrong with exhibiting such frustration. Your indignation and instigation of indignation is ridiculous.

[CakeGrrl]

65. Exactly. People have stopped using common sense and are

just spinning whatever he says into an excuse to be offended and stay angry. Tiresome.

[ret5hd]

30. you...

not "you" in the generic sense, but "YOU". See ya' next week!

[CakeGrrl]

37. You?

:eyes:

[Alenne]

39. Beauty Queens? nt

[Clio the Leo]

49. People without a sense of humor?

Or who take themselves too seriously?

[treestar]

50. Have you been part of this culture for the past thirty years?

We all use that phrase to denote a state of perfection, utopia.

[Enrique]

66. no. Gibbs made the same joke about antiwar folks

they're not making fun of utopianism. They're making fun of antiwar folks, which is odd because I think the antiwar folks have mostly given Obama a pass.

“They will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”

[Jakes Progress]

60. Democrats.

[phleshdef]

70. Its painfully obvious that he was exaggerating to make a point.

And you know that too.

[AtomicKitten]

72. *

:thumbsup:

[Recursion]

71. The Nobel committee, maybe?

He seemed kind of bemused by that award when he got it.

[HughMoran]

73. He's talking about ass holes who talk, but have no responsibility

Simple really.

[jillan]

75. He was just being funny - I thought he was making a joke at his own expense.

I didn't find that joke insulting or insinuating at all. That's my interpretation anyway.