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Tag Archives: Obama

The Middle East: Inferno

01 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Terrorism, The Middle East, United States

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

credibility of Congress, Dante's Inferno, Gustave Doré, James Foley, John Boehner, Obama, retaliation, the astronomical cost, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the lawsuit against the President

President Obama

President Obama

On Friday, I wrote a post that I did not publish. It was about the systematic obstructionism and scapegoating Barack Obama has faced from the moment he was elected to the presidency of the United States. The word systematic is my keyword. Extremists Republicans seem to have gathered to plan President Obama’s demise. The post I wrote will no be published because we know that whatever goes wrong, it’s always the President’s fault or the fault of his administration.

We also know that the main motivation on the part of Congress is avoidance of taxation. Taxes are the “the freedom we surrender” to live in safety. (The Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes, 1651) and safety includes the creation of social programmes. Responsible citizens do not invite a government shutdown costing billions simply to ensure they get tax cuts, which is unlikely to be the case if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act survives constant attacks. I believe it’s there to stay.

Dante is lost in Canto 1 of the Inferno. Gustave Doré

Dante is lost in Canto 1 of the Inferno.
Gustave Doré

The President Hesitated

First, yes the President Obama hesitated.

Having said the above, let’s look at inferno: the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis). 

http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/29/senior-pentagon-officials-say-obama-hesitated-on-james-foley-rescue-mission/

Yes, there was an attempt to save journalist James Foley, but President Obama hesitated before entering Syria and he did so for good reasons. He was attempting to rescue Jim Foley, but entering a sovereign nation can be interpreted as an act of war and invite retaliation. I realize that there are air strikes as I write and that the U.S. is protecting agencies dropping food to victims of Isil, but, unfortunately, intervention can be perceived as interference.

It would appear James Foley was executed on 19 August 2014, in the Syro-Arabian desert, by a terrorist who has been identified as a Londoner. But there may have been two executioners.

In other words, no sooner was Osama bin Laden found and killed, that terrorists regrouped and named themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), or Is, which is extremely alarming. One thinks terrorism is over, just as the war is over, but a new breed of terrorists emerges and, although there are no boots on the ground, “[a]fter a strike, one can expect anything.” Our new terrorists are rebels without a cause who are accepted by Isil, as though flesh alone a terrorist made.

Dante's Inferno, Plate 22 Hoarders and Wasters, Gustave Doré

Dante’s Inferno, Plate 22
Hoarders and Wasters,
Gustave Doré

“We don’t have a strategy yet”

Second, the President said: “We don’t have a strategy yet.” I watched CNN and happened to hear high-ranking military personnel comment on President Obama’s so-called “gaffe.” They explained that devising a strategy can take a very long time, but also said that the U.S. is prepared to face attackers. After the horrific attacks of 9/11, the U.S. has got tougher. In short, the Pentagon is ready.

However, because of its current debt, the U.S. cannot afford to spend $7.5 m a day on its operation in the Middle East. There have been 100 strikes and the Republicans in Congress would like the United States to adopt a more “aggressive strategy.”

“Republicans in Congress have led calls for a more aggressive strategy against Isis, beyond the strikes which the Obama administration has confined to the north of Iraq, around the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil and the Mosul dam.” (The Guardian)

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/30/john-kerry-global-coalition-isis-iraq-syria-nato

Suing the President

Given that Mr Boehner, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, is suing the President, can advice on his part or on the part of extremist Republicans in Congress be taken seriously. The lawsuit will cost taxpayers $500 an hour. Barack Obama is the duly elected President of the United States of America. That does not confer upon him “divine rights,”[i] but it has earned him a degree of respect that he also fully deserves. Suing the President has seriously jeopardized Mr. Boehner’s credibility as well as the credibility of like-minded members of the Republican Party. Mr. Boehner has provided little, if any, evidence that he is a statesman.

http://time.com/3222601/iraq-cost-us-pentagon/

I realize that the U.S. is not acting as a single nation and I am aware that agencies dropping food, water and other supplies to a beleaguered people require protection. However, if the conflict escalates I fully expect Mr. Boehner to blame the President. Moreover, if the U.S. adopts a more aggressive strategy, more money will be spent and the Republicans in Congress will also blame President Obama.

London Counts on Safe-Haven Appeal…

http://www.thenational.ae/business/property/london-counts-on-safe-haven-appeal-for-middle-east-real-estate-investors

If matters degenerate, there may be a few happy individuals, people such as CIT in London, England. They are building or have built a perfect safe-haven for the very rich who may need to escape turmoil.

Given the amount of money these refugees are willing to pay and can pay for a safe-haven, not only are London “developers” hoping to rescue enormously wealthy customers from the Middle East, but apartments have already been sold to wealthy customers in Vancouver and Toronto at prices only royalty can pay. Besides, two save-havens are better than one.

Releasing the Prisoners

I would like the prisoners Isis has captured to be released and for all endangered Americans or foreigners to be pulled out of inferno as soon as possible, if it is possible. However, Isil terrorists are asking for exorbitant ransoms the United States will not pay.

Strikes are very dangerous and one cannot defeat sectarianism. Inferno!

My kindest regards to all of you.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Suing President Obama: Related Posts (4 August 2014)
  • Suing President Obama! (3 August 2014)
  • “After a strike, one can expect anything” (15 September 2013)
  • Syria on my Mind (9 September 2013)
  • Taxes: the “freedom we surrender” (15 October 2012)
  • The Social Contract: Hobbes, Locke & Rousseau (13 October 2012)
  • Mutiny in Congress: Ship them to Guantanamo (21 December 2011)
  • The US: Obstructionism and Scapegoating (7 November 2011)
  • “It is the fate of princes to be ill-spoken of for well-doing” (15 September 2011)

____________________

[i] “divine right of kings.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 31 Aug. 2014.<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/166626/divine-right-of-kings>.

—ooo—

GF Händel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759)
Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia
Suite No. 9 in G Minor
Sviatoslav Richter (20 March 1915 – 1 August 1997)
 
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a statement from Martha's Vineyard
 
© Micheline Walker
August 31, 2014
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The Art of Alfred Thompson Bricher & Posts About the United States (2)

19 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, United States

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Alfred Thompson Bricher, Barack Obama, Hudson River School, National Academy of Design, New York City, Obama, United State, William Morris Hunt

Blue Point, Long Island, by Alfred Thompson Richler

Blue Point, Long Island by Alfred Thompson Bricher

 

The Hudson River School

The United States has produced great artists. Members the Hudson River School  enjoyed landscape painting as did, for instance, members of the Barbizon School in France.

Alfred Thompson Bricher

Alfred Thompson Bricher (10 April 1837- 30 September 1908) was an American painter associated with White Mountain art and the Hudson River School. He studied at the Lowell Institute and with Albert Bierstadt, William Morris Hunt, and others. By 1858, he made art his profession. He opened a studio in Boston, but in 1868 he moved to New York City and showed “Mill-Stream at Newburyport” at the National Academy of Design.  He had first worked with oils, but ended up switching to watercolors. In 1873, he became a member of the American Watercolor Society. As did other members of the Hudson River School, Bricher painted landscapes mainly, but in the 1870s, he started to paint seascapes and these are the paintings that earned him renown.

The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century school. Therefore, Bricher was a late member. As Modern Art gained prominence, he was nearly forgotten, but he later regained notoriety as a marine painter. In the 1890s he purchased a house near the sea in the New Dorp section of Staten Island. He could view the Atlantic Ocean and Raritan Bay. He remained active until his death, in New Dorp in 1908.

 

1st List of Articles in Support of President Obama

The Art of Andrew Wyeth & Posts on the United States (1) (29 June 2012)

2nd List of Articles in Support of President Obama

“Perish if you wish; I am safe” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) (28 October 2012)
Bullying President Obama! Shame on Mr Romney (22 October 2012)
On the Second Debate, the News 21st October 2012 (21 October 2012)
Thoughts on the United States (18 October 2012)
President Obama for America (17 October 2012)
Taxes: the Freedom we Surrender (15 October 2012)
Nationhood: Watching the United States (11 October 2012)
The Voter Purge and the Folia (30 September 2012)
Sandra Fluke, I agree with you… (25 August 2012)
Resilience: From the French Revolution to the Interstate Highway System (18 July 2012)
A New Marshall Plan for the United States (18 July 2012)
A Glimpse at the Obama Years: Statesmanship (30 June 2012)
Response to Mr Limbaugh: Abstinence for All (6 March 2012
Musing on the State of Women (3 March 2012)
Mutiny in Congress: Ship them to Guantanamo (21 December 2011) 
Respect for life: on Anti-Abortion Extremism (28 October 2011)
 
Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897)
“Variations on an Original Theme”  
 
A Wintry Day, 1862

A Wintry Day, 1862

© Micheline Walker
19 October 2013
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“I have a dream…” (Martin Luther King)

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in United States

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Anthony McGill, Barack Obama, Barack Obama's Inauguration, Gabriela Montero, Itzhak Perlman, Martin Luther King, Obama, Simple Gifts

President Barack Obama
Official portrait of President Barack Obama 2013 (Photo Credit: Pete Souza)

that the dream should come true in my lifetime…

I just watched President Obama’s inauguration and was again very impressed. He is an intellectually superior and knowledgeable individual. He is trying to unite his nation and praises his nation. After all, although it was a very difficult endeavor, he was re-elected.

He talks about what he is doing and plans to do rather than demolish his opponents. He does all he can to help his country in very difficult times: social programs, job creation, extending the period during which an unemployed individual can receive benefits from the government.

He is compassionate. He went to visit the people of Newtown and he talked with each family, not only as their President, but also and mainly as another human being, a father who knew how painful it would be to lose a child. Losing a child is devastating. He has already signed orders that should decrease the number of deaths by gun: a month and two days!

When Sandy devastated the east coast, he visited the victims and did so hours before Americans would vote. He knew what his duties were. His team works extremely hard. Joe Biden is committed to his work and solid as a rock. Michelle and Jill have rolled up their sleeves when in fact they could be shopping in Paris.  Not these women!

Yet, these are hard times!  Congratulations America.

The News

  • The New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/ 
  • The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/liveblog/wp/2013/01/20/liveblogging-the-inauguration/
  • CNN News: http://www.cnn.com/ 
  • CNN News International: http://edition.cnn.com/
 
 

Air and Simple Gifts (from Barack Obama’s Inauguration)

Maestro John Williams arranged a piece based on Aaron Copeland‘s arrangement of the old Shaker Tune “Simple Gifts” as “Variations on a Shaker Melody”. Yo-Yo Ma performs along with Itzhak Perlman on violin, Gabriela Montero on piano and Anthony McGill on clarinet.
Simply beautiful and amazing!

 
 
 
 
Related articles
  • Inauguration is centerpiece of Wichita’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration (kansas.com)
  • If Martin Luther King were alive today… (philebersole.wordpress.com)

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Orders for Gun Law Reform Signed

17 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in United States

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Barack Obama, Henry Wood, Joe Biden, Newtown, Obama, United State, Washington, Washington D.C.

Yesterday I watched and heard President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

On January 16, a month and two days after the massacre at Newtown, December 14, 2012, the Vice-President and the President had a plan to announce and orders to sign so the plan would go into effect immediately.

The plan does not go all the way.  People may still bear arms walking down the street,  but it may be that the President went as far as he could go given the circumstances of his Presidency.  I therefore remain congratulatory.

So, let me repeat that a month and two days after the Newtown massacre and despite the holiday season the President signed orders that should decrease deaths by gun.

Sitting in the audience and introduced to us were parents of Newtown who had lost a child.  We learned that the President had actually visited with the bereaved parents.  That may not have been very ‘presidential’ of Barack Obama, but it was the human thing to do.

The people of Newtown will always remember that the President of the United States of America sat down with them, grieved with them and listened.

Behind the desk where he signed the necessary orders, there were children.  He had read their letters.  These children will never forget that they can talk with the President of the United States and that he will hear them and act.  Again, it was the human thing to do.  (See first Related Articles for photograph.)

Ironically, although he faces obstructionism in Washington, in the eyes of the world President Obama is viewed as a great leader.  In most instances, he is, in fact, at the very top of the list, including my list.  I am so grateful to him, to Vice-President Joe Biden, to Michelle and to Jill for helping the people of Newtown.  In fact, they are the people of Newtown.

Yet, let me repeat that the plan does go far enough and add that, if such is the case, it is, to a certain extent, that the people of the United States will not let the Vice President and the President go further.

Given the opposition he faces in Washington, the President has to know that the people want him to go further.  If he doesn’t know this, his successor may revoke the security measures his administration has put into place.  Good presidents act in the best interest of the people, but good presidents prefer not to go beyond the expressed will of the people.

Many individuals enjoy collecting firearms, but I presume these are not loaded.  Many individuals also like target shooting.  It’s a sport.  But again, I would presume that target shooters practice and compete in an enclosed area and that, for security reasons, they do not carry home loaded weapons.

Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes would not agree with me.  Yet, I would also presume that people know that their freedom ends where the freedom of others begin as do their “rights.”  Rights and duties are like the opposite sides of the same coin as are reason and instinct.

* * *

I remember my mother telling me that the nice thing about turning seven was that a child had finally reached the age of reason.  I hate to say this, but when will members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) turn seven?

Micheline Walker©
January 17, 2013
WordPress
 
 
Bach-Wood ‘Lament’ – Slatkin conducts
Publiée le 17 janv. 2013
Sir Henry Wood‘s ‘Suite No. 6’ is a set of six Bach transcriptions, arranged from various sources, that includes this heartfelt ‘Lament.’ It is the ‘Adagio’ from Bach’s ‘Capriccio on the Departure of His Most Beloved Brother’ in Bb major, BWV 992. In this recording, the BBC Symphony is conducted by Leonard Slatkin. (With all due acknowledgements to Chandos Records.)
 
Related articles
  • President Signs Executive Orders for Gun Law Reform (theepochtimes.com)
  • Obama to Congress: If Newtown moved you, act on guns (cbsnews.com)

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Endorsements for President Obama…

03 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in United States

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Barack Obama, Chris Christie, Colin Powell, Mitt Romney, Obama, Republican, United States, United States Secretary of State

Outstanding Republicans, Colin Powell (Former Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey, The Economist (‘Romney Doesn’t Fit the Bill’), and more newspapers, magazines and individuals who make a difference (James Taylor, etc.), are endorsing President Obama’s candidacy for a second term as President of the United States.  I’ve watched Colin Powell for years and he would have been my choice as leader of the Republican Party.

As for Chris Christie, I wrote a blog in praise of him a few months ago.  He’s a good, reliable person.  I saw him shake hands with President Obama a few days ago.  Both were visibly very concerned for United States citizens whose homes were destroyed by Sandy.  As we used to say, they seemed “on the save wavelength,” i.e. the people, shattered people.

I heard a speech during which President Obama said (this is a paraphrase) that there was no “Republican” America and no “Democrat”  America, but the United States of America.  This video was published by the Obamacrat: http://theobamacrat.com/.  There are other fine analyses at: http://teapartyslayer.com/.

This link, if it still works, also takes you to good news, not only for the United States, but for the rest of the world.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/17992/latest-election-polls-tea-party-candidates-will-destroy-republican-hopes-in-2012

I am now stepping off my soapbox, in order to attend to daily life.

Dream a Little Dream of Me, 1931 (music by Fabian Andre & Wilbur Schwandt; lyrics by Gus Kahn).
 
Micheline Walker©
November 3rd, 2012
WordPress

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The Art of Alfred Thompson Bricher & Posts About the United States

03 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, United States

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Alfred Thompson Bricher, Barack Obama, Hudson River School, National Academy of Design, New York City, Obama, United State, William Morris Hunt

Time and Tide, by Alfred Thompson Bricher, 1873, Dallas Museum of Art
Blue Point, Long Island, by Alfred Thompson Richer

I have been asked to compile all my articles on the United States.  Some had been compiled.  So here is half of my complete list.  Mutiny in Congress: Ship them to Guantanamo was a favorite.  For added pleasure, I thought you might enjoy a video featuring Alfred Thompson Bricher’s art.  The United States has produced great artists.  Members the Hudson  River school enjoyed landscape painting as did, for instance, members of the Barbizon School in France.

I hope to feature more paintings by the artists associated with the Hudson River school.

© Micheline Walker
November 3rd, 2012
WordPress 
 

1st List of Articles in Support of President Obama

Watching the US: the Collection, so far (June 29, 2012)

2nd List of Articles in Support of President Obama

“Perish if you wish; I am safe” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) (October 28, 2012)
Bullying President Obama! Shame on Mr Romney (October 22, 2012)
On the Second Debate, the News 21st October 2012 (October 21, 2012)
Thoughts on the United States (October 18, 2012)
President Obama for America (October 17, 2012)
Taxes: the Freedom we Surrender (October 15, 2012)
Nationhood: Watching the United States (October 11, 2012)
The Voter Purge and the Folia (September 30, 2012)
Sandra Fluke, I agree with you… (August 25, 2012)
Resilience: From the French Revolution to the Interstate Highway System (July 18, 2012)
A New Marshall Plan for the United States (July 18, 2012)
A Glimpse at the Obama Years: Statesmanship (June 30, 2012)
Response to Mr Limbaugh: Abstinence for All (March 6, 2012
Musing on the State of Women (March 3, 2012)
Mutiny in Congress: Ship them to Guantanamo (December 21, 2011) 
Respect for life: on Anti-Abortion Extremism (October 28, 2011)
 

Alfred Thompson Bricher

Alfred Thompson Bricher (April 10, 1837- September 30, 1908) was an American painter associated with White Mountain art and the Hudson River School.  He studied at the Lowell Institute and with Albert Bierstadt, William Morris Hunt, and others.  By 1858, he made art his profession.  He opened a studio in Boston, but in 1868 he moved to New York City and showed “Mill-Stream at Newburyport” at the National Academy of Design.  He had first worked with oils, but ended up switching to watercolors.  In 1873, he became a member of the American Watercolor Society.  As did other members of the Hudson River School, Bricher painted landscapes mainly, but in the 1870s, he started to paint seascapes and these are the paintings that earned him renown.

The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century school.  Therefore, Bricher was a late member.  As Modern Art gained prominence, he was nearly forgotten, but he later regained notoriety as a marine painter.  In the 1890s he purchased a house near the sea in the New Dorp section of Staten Island.  He could view the Atlantic Ocean  and Raritan Bay.  He remained active until his death, in New Dorp in 1908.

Brahms “Variations on an Original Theme”

Related articles
  • Poll shows 90 percent of Europeans would vote for Obama (earththreats.com)
  • How the power of superstorm Sandy is painted into a nation (guardian.co.uk)
  • The Five Presidents: Comments on the Final Debate (michelinewalker.com)
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When Nature takes over…

01 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, United States

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Barack Obama, Commander-in-chief, Natural disaster, Needless, Obama, Sandy, Toronto, United States


CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/before-after/sandy/

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/thousands-in-toronto-without-power-after-sandy-1.1014770

Sandy: When nature takes over…

There may be an election on November 6th, but, in my opinion, it may be delayed.

Sandy is devastating and as one can observe listening to President Obama’s speeches, for the time being, he is not thinking about the election.  This storm is disastrous.  It has done considerable damage and President Obama is reacting as he should.  As Commander-in-Chief, he is focussing on a natural disaster.

He is not campaigning. Needless to say, that would be an insult to grieving Americans whose houses have been destroyed or who have lost a loved-one.  This storm is a killer.  So President Obama is too busy looking after this disaster to even think about the elections.

Still life by Bartholomeus Assteyn, private collection, 1635

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The Five Presidents: Comments on the Final Debate

24 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in United States

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Barack Obama, diplomacy, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Mitt Romney, Obama, Romney, Ugly American, United States

File:Five Presidents Oval Office.jpg

President George W. Bush meets with former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 in the Oval Office of the White House. (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

The Final Debate

Mr Romney lost the final debate, held on October 22nd, 2012.

THE MIDDLE EAST: Mr Romney

Mr Romney made it perfectly clear that, under his presidency, the United States would stand behind Israel.  One cannot object to his standing behind Israel, but can he play favorites, thereby alienating the Arab world?  If Mr Romney plays favorites or takes sides, the United States will remain an enemy in the eyes of other countries in the Near and Middle East.  As a result, he would not be protecting but endangering Israel.

Moreover, by taking sides, he would endanger the United States.  The events of 9/11 and the disastrous wars fought in the wake of these attacks dictate prudence in the Middle East.  There are countries in the Arab world that harbor considerable ill feelings against the United States.

Mr Romney also stated that “[w]e need to indict Ahmadinejad.”  In what capacity could the President of the United States do this?  Ahmadinejad is not an American citizen and Iran is a sovereign nation.  Indicting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would have to be done using the proper international channels.  The President of the United States does not rule the world.

China: Mr Romney

Mr Romney’s comments on China were also alarming.

“That’s why on day one, I will label them a currency manipulator, which allows us to apply tariffs where they’re taking jobs. They’re stealing our intellectual property, our patents, our designs, our technology, hacking into our computers, counterfeiting our goods.” (Mitt Romney)

The United States borrowed a great deal of money from China and may need to borrow more.  If Mr Romney and other very wealthy Americans will not pay their fair share of taxes, if they deposit their money in offshore accounts, if they continue to expect tax cuts, if they export too large a number of jobs to China and other countries, thereby taking jobs away from Americans and, by the same token, depriving the US of tax-payers, how will the debt be repaid?  Mr Romney may have to learn Chinese.

In short, Mr Romney is fomenting dissent in the Middle East and inviting retaliatory action from China.  His behaviour suggests that he would be a reckless President and that as President of the United States, he would not give sufficient attention to domestic issues.  He would in fact bully the world: sanctions here, sanctions there.

The Middle East: President Obama  

“[O]ur security is at stake.” (President Obama)

Contrary to Mr Romney, President Obama’s main concern is for the safety of his people.  For instance, he stated that:

  • his administration is “going to continue to keep the pressure on to make sure that they [Iran] do not get a nuclear weapon.  That’s in America’s national interest and that will be the case so long as I’m president.”

President Obama is right.  It is in America’s national interest to make sure than Iran and other countries do not get nuclear weapons.  This matter is, in fact, a global issue and should be addressed as such.

President Obama also stated that “[t]hey [Egypt] have to abide by their treaty with Israel. That is a red line for us, because not only is Israel’s security at stake, but our security is at stake if that unravels.”

Leadership

According to Mr Romney, the US “should be playing the leadership role there[Libya]” not on the ground with military[,]” a statement to which President Obama’s response was that they (the US) “are playing the leadership role.”

America remains the one indispensable nation. And the world needs a strong  America, and it is stronger now than when I came into office.

English: President Obama had called on the two...

English: President Obama had called on the two former Presidents to help. During their public remarks in the Rose Garden, President Clinton had said about President Bush, ‘I’ve already figured out how I can get him to do some things that he didn’t sign on for.’ Later, back in the Oval, President Bush is jokingly asking President Clinton what were those things he had in mind. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yes the United States “remains the one indispensable nation,” but a nation where a social contract, albeit tacit, dictates that its president’s main concern be the “safety” of his nation.  That notion has to inform a president’s actions and any candidate to the presidency of the United States who expresses views that stray from this tenet does not seem a suitable candidate.

So the United States now knows that if it elects Mr Romney, it may well elect a warmonger who is indeed prepared to barge into other countries thoughtlessly and will revive the image of the “ugly American:”  a “pejorative term used to refer to perceptions of loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless and ethnocentric behavior of American citizens mainly abroad, but also at home.  Although the term is usually associated with or applied to travelers and tourists, it also applies to US corporate businesses in the international arena.” (Ugly American, Wikipedia)

After four years of careful negotiations with the Middle East and a rapprochement, America might again be sending soldiers into battle, young Americans who will lose their life or whose life may be ruined.

* * *

What comes to my mind is that picture of President elect Obama entering the White House surrounded by former presidents.  The US suffered under the former president’s administration, but President Bush was President of the United States and he was President on 9/11, a calamity that can lead and led to injudicious decisions.  But President Obama treated President Bush in a kind and courteous manner as he did all former presidents.  The “five presidents” was a moment of mutual respect that brought me hope, and hope is the road that takes us into the future.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/22/transcript-presidential-debate-on-foreign-policy-at-lynn-university/#ixzz2A9bUCpPC

© Micheline Walker
October 24th, 2012
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  • Bullying President Obama: Shame on Mr Romney! (michelinewalker.com)
  • The Presidential Election: Mr Romney and Mr Netanyahu (michelinewalker.com)
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Bullying President Obama: Shame on Mr Romney!

22 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in United States

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Arab World, Barack Obama, Daniel Craig, Israel, Middle East, Mitt Romney, Obama, United State

Famous posthumous portrait of Niccolò Machiave...

Famous posthumous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

War

As I reported in my last blog, Mitt Romney seems to have entered into some alliance with Israel, which is dangerous.  For the Arab World, Israel is an American presence in the Near and Middle East.  As a result, hatred for the US is immense.  Therefore, the US cannot take sides. It has to work with the support of the world in order to eliminate nuclear threat everywhere.  This would protect Israel.

The Second Debate

With respect to the second debate (16 October 2012), I have written that Mitt Romney acted in a Machiavellian fashion.  This approach is a “do-anything-to-become-President-of-the-United States.”  The end justifies the means.

Some people have not had the opportunity to read Machiavelli.  I will therefore introduce a word everyone will understand: bullying.   It appears Mitt Romney is a bully and bullies can break people.  I have discovered that others consider Mr Romney a bully.  I’m not alone.

President Obama’s ethnicity

I will have to do a little digging on this issue, but I recall a statement on the part of Mr Romney to the effect that his ethnicity would give him an edge over President Obama.  It had to do with Mr Romney’s ability to understand people better, white people I believe.  This is a statement he made in the UK.

Combined with voter suppression, this statement leads me to believe that Mr Romney hasn’t much use for persons of color.  In fact, even if my memory does not serve me well regarding the UK remark, voter suppression alone would indicate that Mitt Romney does not respect persons of colour sufficiently to be elected into the office of President of the United States.  At any rate, his poor opinion of persons of colour would make it easier for him to bully President Obama.

Interrupting the debate

If the next debate turns into a quarrel, as moderator of that debate, I would end it.

Conclusion

Daniel Craig [James Bond] declare[d] his support for President Obama: ‘I trust him.’ (see deGrio.com).  I’m with Daniel Craig.  I trust President Obama.

Micheline Walker©
October 22nd, 2012
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Related articles
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  • Mark Hamill on Romney repeatedly interrupting President Obama: ‘It’s bullying of the highest degree’ (current.com)
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The Presidential Election: Mr Romney and Mr Netanyahu

22 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Sharing, United States

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Middle East, Mitt Romney, Netanyahu, Obama, United States

On 17 October 2012, The Korea Herald reported that “Mr Netanyahu [was] foolish to take sides in U.S. election.”

If you wish to read the entire articles, please click on the following link:
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20121017000815

However, allow me to quote from the above-mentioned article:

Benjamin Netanyahu is so eager to see Mitt Romney elected president that he’s making a fool of himself.

For the last couple of weeks, the Israeli prime minister has been the featured player in a Republican-sponsored TV ad playing in Florida. It shows excerpts from Netanyahu’s United Nations speech last month in which he tacitly attacks President Obama for his failure to set a clear red line for Iran’s nuclear program.

“The world tells Israel: ‘Wait, there’s still time,’” he says. “And I say, wait for what? Wait until when?”

No, Netanyahu didn’t plan or buy the campaign ad. Secure America Now, a group run by longtime Republican strategists, put it up. But Florida is filled with Israeli emigres and American Jews. There’s no question that Netanyahu knows all about the ad and has made no effort to criticize or blunt it. An anonymous Israeli official did tell the news media that the prime minister’s office had nothing to do with the ad and did not approve of it. That’s all.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu called for early elections to take place early next year. How would he like it if an opponent began airing TV ads that showed Obama openly criticizing him? And then, when asked about it, an anonymous White House aide managed to say something banal, like: “Oh, we didn’t authorize that.”

If Netanyahu has no interest in taking sides in the American presidential election, then he should issue a strong statement or hold a press conference to declare that he does not support the use of his U.N. remarks in a partisan campaign ad.

But he didn’t say a word. Not one. And the reason is clear: He does not like Obama, and Obama doesn’t like him. Remember the Group of 20 summit in France late last year, when Obama was overheard chatting with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president? Neither knew the mike was open.

“Netanyahu, I can’t stand him,” Sarkozy leaned over and told Obama. “He’s a liar.”

Obama responded, “You are sick of him, but I have to work with him every day.

In my last post, entitled The Second Debate & the News, 21 October 2012, I quoted a  New York Times article, now dated 21 October 2012:

“Mr. Romney has repeatedly criticized the president as showing weakness on Iran and failing to stand firmly with Israel against the Iranian nuclear threat.”

I suggested that the above statement be rephrased: “The world must stand firmly in opposing nuclear threat.”   In fact, the original statement (NY Times) is not altogether accurate.  The United States is opposing nuclear threat, but it cannot create the impression that Israel is an American presence in the midst of the Arab world.  (See The Ottawa Citizen).

How does Mr Romney expect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will react?  Moreover, in what capacity did Mr Romney talk with Mr Netanyahu.  Mr Romney is not the President of the United States.  This seems an “I’ll-stoop-to-anything-to-get-votes” scenario, the Machiavellian scenario.

The Diplomatic Way

It would be my opinion that the diplomatic way of dealing with factions in the Middle East is not to take sides.  Under the Bush (R) administration, the US waged two disastrous wars in the Middle East.  That was a mistake, but the 9/11 attacks were destabilizing.  President Bush found himself in a real dilemma.  However, the time has come for the United States to mend fences, which the US has done from the time Mr Obama was elected to the presidency of his country and Hillary Clinton accepted to be his Secretary of State.

Mr Romney adopted a Machiavellian approach during the last debate, the debate that took place on October 16th, acting rather dishonorably.  But given that he may have entered into some alliance with Israel, I believe he may also be a threat to the United States.

composer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (18 March 1844 – 21 June 1908)
piece: Scheherazade 3rd movement – The Young Prince & Princess
performers:  Berliner Philharmoniker & Michel Schwalbé
conductor:  Herbert von Karajan

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