Kathianne
06-07-2009, 08:35 AM
Friday a friend and I went out after school. One of the things we talked about was 'the speech'. She was concerned that Obama is Muslim, I said I didn't concern me what religion he claimed, whether Muslim or the Church of Rev. Wright. Truth is, Obama is narcissism personified, in a way rarely seen even in the elite political realm.
Two related articles caught my eye this morning, both noting the same:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/06/04/barack_obamas_10_mistakes_in_cairo
Barack Obama's 10 mistakes in Cairo
Posted By: Toby Harnden at Jun 4, 2009 at 22:05:25 [General]
Barack Obama's speech in Cairo was quite a moment. I say moment, but it lasted some 56 minutes and contained more than 6,000 words. Too long. Yes, he said a lot, ensuring to some extent that it could be all things to all people - almost everyone can take something away from it to feel good about.
That doesn't mean, however, that it was an effective speech. It was, of course, very well-delivered and contained many fine phrases. But we know that Obama can do this and he's subject to the law of diminishing returns. The more I think about it, the more potentially problematic I find the speech. Here, for starters, are 10 mistakes he made:
1. "Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail." With this phrase, Obama dismissed the notion of American exceptionalism, the belief that the United States occupies a special place among nations. Obama clearly doesn't see the United States as a "Shining City upon a Hill" or its history, constitution or way of life giving it special qualities or responsibilities in the world. When asked in Strasbourg whether he reduced "American exceptionalism" - a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville - as mere patriotism. "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." By trying to reduce US status to that of just another nation, Obama diminishes the role of American leadership.
2. "I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk." While watering down America's status in the world, Obama has consistently sought to elevate his own status to that of a universal, healing symbol as if his very being, his inspiring life story, his Muslim background, his father from Kenya, his childhood spell in Indonesia will square the circle in the Middle East. If only it were as easy as that. This comes across as naive, even pandering.
3. "Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust.... On the other hand..."
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/06/023743.php
NOTES ON OBAMA'S MESSAGE TO THE MUSLIMS
June 6, 2009 Posted by Scott at 1:27 PM
Barack Obama's message to the Muslims provides a specimen of what passes for liberal higher wisdom with unique Obamian twists. So much good commentary on it has already appeared, including that of Paul Mirengoff here, I wish only to record a few tentative reactions and impressions, subject to correction and refinement, in the spirit of Toby Harnden's "10 mistakes in Cairo."
1. If Obama were General-Secretary of the United Nations, the speech might have been passable. Coming from the president of the United States, it was an embarrassment. Obama runs down the country he represents while puffing himself up as a transcendent figure. He humbles the United States while glorifying his personage. This aspect of the speech seemed to me indecent.
2. Despite the cosmopolitan sheen in which Obama enveloped the speech, his conception of an address to the Muslim world seems blinkered. Obama speaks from a perspective consistent with Islamic belief. Thus his address to the "ummah" -- a big thing to al Qaeda -- and thus his endorsement of the Muslim account of the founding of Israel as a catastrophe for the Arabs of the Palestinian mandate.
3. Obama is an obsequious apologist for Islam. Put this in the category of "truths'" that are not exactly self-evident: "the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles -- principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." Bush's critics falsely accused him of "cherry-picking" intelligence to justify the war against Saddam Hussein. Obama cherry-picks from the "Holy Koran" to present Islam as a religion of peace.
4. The speech engages in striking linguistic and historical revisionism. As for linguistic revisionism, for example, "terrorism" drops from sight, to be replaced by "violent extremism in all its forms." Why?
...
Two related articles caught my eye this morning, both noting the same:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/06/04/barack_obamas_10_mistakes_in_cairo
Barack Obama's 10 mistakes in Cairo
Posted By: Toby Harnden at Jun 4, 2009 at 22:05:25 [General]
Barack Obama's speech in Cairo was quite a moment. I say moment, but it lasted some 56 minutes and contained more than 6,000 words. Too long. Yes, he said a lot, ensuring to some extent that it could be all things to all people - almost everyone can take something away from it to feel good about.
That doesn't mean, however, that it was an effective speech. It was, of course, very well-delivered and contained many fine phrases. But we know that Obama can do this and he's subject to the law of diminishing returns. The more I think about it, the more potentially problematic I find the speech. Here, for starters, are 10 mistakes he made:
1. "Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail." With this phrase, Obama dismissed the notion of American exceptionalism, the belief that the United States occupies a special place among nations. Obama clearly doesn't see the United States as a "Shining City upon a Hill" or its history, constitution or way of life giving it special qualities or responsibilities in the world. When asked in Strasbourg whether he reduced "American exceptionalism" - a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville - as mere patriotism. "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." By trying to reduce US status to that of just another nation, Obama diminishes the role of American leadership.
2. "I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk." While watering down America's status in the world, Obama has consistently sought to elevate his own status to that of a universal, healing symbol as if his very being, his inspiring life story, his Muslim background, his father from Kenya, his childhood spell in Indonesia will square the circle in the Middle East. If only it were as easy as that. This comes across as naive, even pandering.
3. "Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust.... On the other hand..."
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/06/023743.php
NOTES ON OBAMA'S MESSAGE TO THE MUSLIMS
June 6, 2009 Posted by Scott at 1:27 PM
Barack Obama's message to the Muslims provides a specimen of what passes for liberal higher wisdom with unique Obamian twists. So much good commentary on it has already appeared, including that of Paul Mirengoff here, I wish only to record a few tentative reactions and impressions, subject to correction and refinement, in the spirit of Toby Harnden's "10 mistakes in Cairo."
1. If Obama were General-Secretary of the United Nations, the speech might have been passable. Coming from the president of the United States, it was an embarrassment. Obama runs down the country he represents while puffing himself up as a transcendent figure. He humbles the United States while glorifying his personage. This aspect of the speech seemed to me indecent.
2. Despite the cosmopolitan sheen in which Obama enveloped the speech, his conception of an address to the Muslim world seems blinkered. Obama speaks from a perspective consistent with Islamic belief. Thus his address to the "ummah" -- a big thing to al Qaeda -- and thus his endorsement of the Muslim account of the founding of Israel as a catastrophe for the Arabs of the Palestinian mandate.
3. Obama is an obsequious apologist for Islam. Put this in the category of "truths'" that are not exactly self-evident: "the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles -- principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." Bush's critics falsely accused him of "cherry-picking" intelligence to justify the war against Saddam Hussein. Obama cherry-picks from the "Holy Koran" to present Islam as a religion of peace.
4. The speech engages in striking linguistic and historical revisionism. As for linguistic revisionism, for example, "terrorism" drops from sight, to be replaced by "violent extremism in all its forms." Why?
...