Why listen to Obama's speech on Syria?

Yahoo! News ^ | 9/9/13 | Christion Science Monitor's Editorial Board

[NormsRevenge]

In the oft-admired model of a decisive lone warrior, President Obama could have ordered strikes on Syria without asking Congress. Instead, the commander in chief chose to ask lawmakers. At the least, all Americans should now reciprocate. They could suspend judgment and listen to what Mr. Obama has to say in his Tuesday evening address to the nation.

In decisions of war, bravery is needed in knowing when to be humble – in listening for one’s biases and evaluating new evidence. “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen,” said Winston Churchill.

Obama is hardly a warmonger, thus he deserves attention to his arguments for a “limited” attack on Syria’s military. He has not told other nations “if you are not with us, you are against us.” He is being a listener in chief even as he asks Americans to join him in pursuing the goal of curbing Syria’s use of chemical weapons and reestablishing a global norm.

“I’m not itching for military action ... and if there are good ideas that are worth pursuing, then I’m going to be open to them,” he told one reporter, in a statement that suggests he is the type of leader who is comfortable with his doubts.

...

Tuesday’s speech should be an opportunity for Americans to ultimately listen to Obama’s case for a military strike. The strike itself would be done by old-style command-and-control management. But the decision to do it must be done by a new style of leadership, one in which leaders and followers have a conversation in which listening is as important as talking.

[matginzac]

Ain’t gunna on in this domicile...no way, no how.

[maddog55]

I don’t listen to any thing that POS has to say. It’s all lies.

[Diogenesis]

This post postively grovels to Obama and his terrorists.

"The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong
to some man as his absolute property - either as a child,
a wife, or a concubine - must delay the final extinction of slavery
until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men."
[Winston Churchill, 1899, "The River War"]

---

"Bust of Churchill Returned by Obama
"After the September 11th attacks our British allies loaned President George Bush
a bust of one of the greatest Britons the world has ever known, Sir Winston Churchill.
It was a gesture to show their support for the United States in one of its darkest hours.
The bust sat prominently in the Oval Office for the balance of President Bush’s tenure there,
and once President Obama took office, the British offered him the opportunity to keep it for the length of his term.
His response was cold and most likely sent tremors through the British diplomatic community."
....
"Diplomatically this is a faux pax that only an unseasoned politician could make.
The British have stood by our side as strong allies for decades and we need to maintain that relationship,
especially in a world that is becoming increasingly dangerous (See Is Nuclear Weakness on the Horizon)
If he did not want to look at it in the oval office he could have displayed it elsewhere in the White House
and not slapped the British in the face in such a blatant disregard of political etiquette."

[grania]

I’ve suggested on other threads: watch IDIOCRACY on DVD instead. With each passing day, this satire looks more and more like a documentary.

[tet68]

Gag me with a spoon.

[sockmonkey]

Blecchhhh, and double blechhh. The plots on my telenovelas are more believable than anything the CiC has to say. If Telemundo bumps my Mexican Soaps for his address, I will be totally PO’d.

[NormsRevenge]

It's all in the preparation.. Preparation O..

[blueunicorn6]

“All Americans should now reciprocate”

You know, that looks like something you would read in the old Pravda.

[23 Everest]

Ain’t gunna on in this domicile...no way, no how.>>>>>>>>>>>>

Right with you on that. Everything that will come out of his mouth is going to be a lie.

[Cementjungle]

This should have a “barf alert” warning on the title.

[CityCenter]

Why you ask? Exactly.

[alloysteel]

As much as anything, this will be a concession to the Russian Federation that the US now forfeits any moral authority it may have had in the Middle East, and the region becomes a de facto hegemony of the regenerated Russian state.

Russians may have stopped being Communists, but they have never stopped being Russians. The confrontation between Mother Russia and that rather irregular federation that now sits in governance of the territory formerly known as “the United States of America” is ongoing and largely an unending source of friction for two cultures on one hand is the archetype of paranoia, and on the other hand, the Code of the Cowboy.

[Travis McGee]

Why so Syrias?

[blueunicorn6]

I don’t know. Is he going to say there are 57 states again? That was a laffer.

[RetiredArmy]

Where is he giving it from, the 18th Tee??

[faithhopecharity]

I’m sorry but as much as I’d LIKE to like him, his speeches make me barf up my dinner

[jazusamo]

Can’t think of a single reason to listen and haven’t found one for years.

[skeeter]

Why should I listen to this lightweight tonight? Is he suddenly going to start telling the truth?

[Mortrey]

I have more constructive things to do than listen to Taquiyya; like picking fleas off my dog.