Annelise Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Obama interview with the NYT: [url="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/us/politics/08obama-text.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all"]http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/us/polit...;pagewanted=all[/url] Tetchy about the S word I notice, maybe with the interviewer for trying to corner him and giving validity to it by asking. [quote]Q. The first six weeks have given people a glimpse of your spending priorities. Are you a socialist as some people have suggested? A. You know, let’s take a look at the budget – the answer would be no. Q. Is there anything wrong with saying yes? [...] At 2:30 p.m., President Obama called The New York Times, saying he wanted to clarify a point from the interview. Here is a transcript of that brief call: President Obama: Just one thing I was thinking about as I was getting on the copter. It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question. I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn’t under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn’t on my watch. And it wasn’t on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement – the prescription drug plan without a source of funding. And so I think it’s important just to note when you start hearing folks through these words around that we’ve actually been operating in a way that has been entirely consistent with free-market principles and that some of the same folks who are throwing the word socialist around can’t say the same. Q. So who’s watch are we talking about here? A. Well, I just think it’s clear by the time we got here, there already had been an enormous infusion of taxpayer money into the financial system. And the thing I constantly try to emphasize to people if that coming in, the market was doing fine, nobody would be happier than me to stay out of it. I have more than enough to do without having to worry the financial system. The fact that we’ve had to take these extraordinary measures and intervene is not an indication of my ideological preference, but an indication of the degree to which lax regulation and extravagant risk taking has precipitated a crisis. I think that covers it.[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Progressive Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Stem-cell research is back, and the medical "conscience" rule will be repealed as science trumped ideology again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annelise Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 [quote name='Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt' post='1713885' date='Mar 9 2009, 15.13']Stem-cell research is back, and the medical "conscience" rule will be repealed as science trumped ideology again.[/quote] My conservative buddy emailed me about this: [i]"Something I can actually applaud Barack Obama for..."[/i] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatuous Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 [quote]Q. The first six weeks have given people a glimpse of your spending priorities. Are you a socialist as some people have suggested? A. You know, let's take a look at the budget, the answer would be no. Q. Is there anything wrong with saying yes? ... Q. So to people who suggested that you are more liberal than you suggested on the campaign, you say, what? ... Q. In terms of spending. ... Q. Is there one word name for your philosophy? If you're not a socialist, are you a liberal? Are you progressive? One word? A. No, I'm not going to engage in that. Q. Mr. President, we need to turn it to foreign policy.[/quote] He tried everything except for "Socialistsaywhat?". This wasn't an interview, it was an interrogation; "Are you now or have you ever been a socialist? How about now? Is there anything wrong with saying yes? If you're not a socialist, can you describe yourself with a different single worded term that could be synonymous? Mr. President, it's time we turn to foreign policy." "Are you a socialist as some people have suggested?" As a probable socialist, I find that question offensive. If anything, I don't think he's taxing and spending enough. Plus, I know who those "some people" are and we really shouldn't take them seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annelise Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Obama: [quote]Just one thing I was thinking about as I was getting on the copter...[/quote] Is he still using Marine One, anyone know? I ask considering that story a week or two ago, about the security breach. [quote]An Internet security company claims that Iran has taken advantage of a computer security breach to obtain engineering and communications information about Marine One, President Barack Obama's helicopter, according to a report by WPXI, NBC's affiliate in Pittsburgh.[/quote] [url="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10184558-83.html"]http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10184558-83.html[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 British Press irked by lack of thought in gifts from Pres. Obama to P.M. Brown and family: [url="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101561670"]http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...oryId=101561670[/url] This was poorly handled by the Obama Administration in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bittersteel Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 [quote name='Ser Scot A Ellison' post='1714039' date='Mar 9 2009, 16.15']British Press irked by lack of thought in gifts from Pres. Obama to P.M. Brown and family: [url="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101561670"]http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...oryId=101561670[/url] This was poorly handled by the Obama Administration in my opinion.[/quote] Perhaps...but it also reflects deep-seated insecurity in the British media. I have an enormous amount of trouble believing that the British people actually give a fuck about what type of helicopter model Michelle Obama gave Gordon Brown's children - and if they do, the "special relationship" needs to be reevaluated. Have some pride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Bittersteel, A basket full of DVDs as opposed to a pen set made out of a the HMS Resolute? Is that really the best Pres. Obama's foreign policy team can come up with for our closest European ally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bittersteel Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 [quote name='Ser Scot A Ellison' post='1714066' date='Mar 9 2009, 16.48']Bittersteel, A basket full of DVDs as opposed to a pen set made out of a the HMS Resolute? Is that really the best Pres. Obama's foreign policy team can come up with for our closest European ally?[/quote] The point is: it shouldn't even be something the foreign policy team thinks about. There are obviously instances where gifts have enormous symbolic value...if Obama offered a Taiwanese delegation something, for instance. But unless Gordon Brown had given Obama a dump in a brown paper baggy, this story wouldn't have even cracked the American media landscape. The entire episode is an interesting commentary on the one-sidedness of the "special relationship" and the need for the British to branch out and flex their muscles. Hugh Grant, where are you? Edit - This sort of reaction is unhealthy for any country. Remember when House Republicans brought us "freedom fries" and turned France (France!) into a conservative bogeyman? That presaged 4-5 years of absolutely disastrous foreign policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigima Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 It seems pretty classless to complain about the free shit you're given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Inigima, Yeah, the failure of class was the PM who had pens of special symbolic value crafted as a gift for the new president. Not the Foreign policy team who popped by Blockbuster for the 3 for $20 special when a foriegn head of State of the U.S's closest European ally made his first visit of the new administration. This quite clearly isn't the end of the world, I'm simply asking, do we not have more class and taste than this? I thought Pres. Obama was putting the best and brightest on his various teams? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokisnow Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 particularly when you're gettting an awesome selection of movies for free. ;) I bet they get more enjoyment from their films than Obama gets from a fancy pen probably in a display case he's unlikely to ever use. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 lockesnow, [quote name='lockesnow' post='1714094' date='Mar 9 2009, 18.05']particularly when you're gettting an awesome selection of movies for free. ;) I bet they get more enjoyment from their films than Obama gets from a fancy pen probably in a display case he's unlikely to ever use. ;)[/quote] Well, if we're going for practical we should have just gotten PM Brown a gift card for Applebees. He and his family could have dinner at the airport before they flew home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigima Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 [quote name='Ser Scot A Ellison' post='1714089' date='Mar 9 2009, 18.02']Inigima, Yeah, the failure of class was the PM who had pens of special symbolic value crafted as a gift for the new president. Not the Foreign policy team who popped by Blockbuster for the 3 for $20 special when a foriegn head of State of the U.S's closest European ally made his first visit of the new administration. This quite clearly isn't the end of the world, I'm simply asking, do we not have more class and taste than this? I thought Pres. Obama was putting the best and brightest on his various teams?[/quote] Was it a good choice? Probably not, but that doesn't make it any less tacky to bitch that your gifts aren't good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Inigima, Well, we should have just given the PM a Colorado "Turd Bird" then. Let him bitch about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sariel Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 how are they going to play american dvds back home in england? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 But did they made sure that the DVD's were playable on British DVD players? ETA: Awesome crossposting. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sariel Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 [quote name='Slick Mongoose' post='1714145' date='Mar 9 2009, 23.39']But did they made sure that the DVD's were playable on British DVD players?[/quote] aha! beat you to it :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palaeologos Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 [quote name='Ser Scot A Ellison' post='1714138' date='Mar 9 2009, 15.34']Inigima, Well, we should have just given the PM a Colorado "Turd Bird" then. Let him bitch about that.[/quote] I have a long enough memory to remember that in the first year or so of Bush's presidency, when the Democrats felt powerless and disgruntled, they brought up similarly trivial complaints about the Republicans. If this is the most they have to complain about, let 'em complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zap Rowsdower Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 [quote name='Ser Scot A Ellison' post='1714039' date='Mar 9 2009, 14.15']British Press irked by lack of thought in gifts from Pres. Obama to P.M. Brown and family: [url="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101561670"]http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...oryId=101561670[/url] This was poorly handled by the Obama Administration in my opinion.[/quote] I think the most insulting aspect of this incident was that every one of those DVDs was a copy of the movie [i]U-571[/i]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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