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16 Dec 09

Obama's Afghan Surge Proves He's Trying to Lose, Say Rightbloggers - New York News - Runnin' Scared

response to Obama West Point speech

blogs.villagevoice.com/...obamas_afghan_s.php - Preview

Afghanistan

But they were vastly outnumbered. Many rightbloggers were enraged that Obama did not use the word "victory" in his speech. "Word Count: 'I' - 45, 'Afghanistan' - 39, 'Victory' - 0," said Charlie Foxtrot. Michelle Malkin also used command-F: "Self-referential 'As your Commander-in-Chief's = 2. References to global jihad = 0." "The Commander-in-Chief of the United States military refuses to use the words 'win' or 'victory!'" said Right View Wisconsin.
"Obama never did say 'victory,' and that is telling," said Jennifer Rubin at Commentary. "It's not his thing
14 more annotations...
- what Obama believes in is leaving."
- America will have to show our strength in the way that we end wars and prevent conflict," Rubin said, "I'm sure the Taliban are delighted to hear that.")
- None of these commentators defined what victory in Afghanistan would look like, though Rubin said, "We show strength in victory," which suggests the U.S. might redeem itself by holdng a bodybuilding contest before evacuating.
- "We have a weak, vacilliating President who's clearly not committed to victory," lamented Right Wing News.
- "And the president asked for no effort from the 99 percent of Americans who are not in our military," said Kori Schake at National Review. "We are still not a country at war, we are a military at war." One wonders what Schake expected: an expeditionary community organizing force?
- "In the first part of his speech he sounded like Winston Churchill," said former Presidential candidate Fred Thompson. "In the second part of his speech, he sounded like Lady Churchill." Lady Churchill was quite a formidable Briton, but Thompson apparently means this as a dis, because, you know, she's a lady.
- National Review's Andrew McCarthy saw the hand of the late Saul Alinsky in Obama's speech. "The president is an Alinskyite," he said, "so steeped in the ideology of the seminal community organizer that he became a top instructor in Alinskyite tactics for other up-and-coming radicals."
- ingle, animating ambition," McCarthy went on, "is to overthrow the capitalist social order, which they claim to see as racist, corrupt, exploitative, imperialist, etc. Apart from that goal, everything else -- from the public option to Afghanistan -- is negotiable..."
- RedState's Dan Spencer threatened to withdraw his support for the war in protest. "I do not know if I can continue to support a war effort that Obama previously referred to as a 'necessary war' and now calls a 'vital national interest,'" he said, "but is nevertheless only willing to continue for 18 more months." No response yet from CENTCOM.
- wanted uplift, but was disappointed: "The words were meant to be inspirational," she divined, "but there was no lift... no lift of a driving dream. Is he tired of being Obama? Or was it the vibe in the room? I don't think those West Point folk liked him too much."
- But Professor Althouse probably needn't worry: there appears to be a general exemption for rightbloggers who found the cadets inattentive, and approved. "Obama faced a room full of scowling faces that seemed filled with a mistrust bordering on animosity," said The Robalution. "One also need not be a mind reader to determine only from the looks on their faces that they were thinking that they had no faith in this leader that they had to follow into battle," said Conservative Thinkers. "To say the cadets were underwhelmed by President Obama's Afghanistan speech is a gross understatement," said Bluegrass Pundit.
- In fact, Foxmuldar asserted that "West point is the enemy camp for Obama and his Socialist, Communist party... I doubt the men and women at West Point were happy to be part of Obama's Photo op." Nonetheless he was enraged that Matthews "screwed up once again by shooting off his big fat mouth before ever thinking of what garbage was coming out... but since Matthews works on one of the Obama networks, he doesn't have to worry about being canned." If this seems contradictory, bear in mind that for rightbloggers an idea may be right or wrong depending on who expresses it.
- Some did find one positive in the speech: "Savoring the Left's Tear-Stained Tweets Over Obama's Afghanistan Speech," said David Horowitz's NewsReal. NewsReal didn't approve the speech either, of course ("But as the court-martial of 3 Navy SEALs for giving a brutal terrorist 'a bloody lip' goes forward... Will these 30,000 troops be allowed to fight effectively?"), but found consolation in the disapproval of their enemies.
- What would have pleased the rightbloggers? 40,000 troops? 50,000? Some swagger, a flight suit, a call to "bring 'em on"? The short answer is nothing. We didn't hear much from them about Afghanistan this year until Obama mentioned it, and it's difficult to believe they care. The only victory they think about happens on first Tuesdays in November, far from Afghanistan.

Althouse: "We must deny al Qaeda a safe-haven. We must reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow the government."

commentary on his Afghaistan speech altho only caught end of it - see comments

althouse.blogspot.com/...ny-al-qaeda-safe-haven-we.html - Preview

Afghanistan Althouse

I only got a chance to watch the last 15 minutes or so. (Office Christmas party.) But I'll say what I thought: He sounded oddly stern, like he was lecturing us. Annoyed at us. The words were meant to be inspirational but there was no lift... no lift of a driving dream. Is he tired of being Obama? Or was it the vibe in the room? I don't think those West Point folk liked him too much. He made some pauses that felt awkward in advance of grudging applause, and the response at the end was minimal. The camera searched among the faces and found only grim ones. No one glowed with the fire of Obama-love.
ND: "America – we are passing through a time of great trial." I wanted to feel that line, but the delivery was cold and perfunctory. I had to imagine Reagan saying it to understand what it was supposed to mean.