Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why Is Obama Apologizing for America?
The Daily Beast ^ | 4/8/09 | Nicole Wallace

Posted on 04/09/2009 9:10:00 AM PDT by lewisglad

Europeans aren’t better than Americans—so I can’t figure out why our president is saying sorry to them instead of explaining what makes our country great.

I guess I had it coming to me. I mean, I did insult Old Europe this week when I said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that President Obama’s suggestion that we should celebrate Europe’s union was “ridiculous.” I mocked the idea of celebrating Europe, saying, “What should we do, have a ‘celebrate Europe’ stamp?”

What Obama describes as “American exceptionalism” sounds like a political-science professor’s definition of nationalism, not a belief in America’s unique accomplishments and history.

So when a German tourist wound up his arm and slugged my 35-pound dog on Wednesday morning in Central Park for greeting him with too much exuberance, I should have been prepared. When I turned to him and said, “We don’t hit animals in this country,” he sneered at me and said, “I am German. I am lawyer.”

I called the cops and, God bless them, they were on the scene in less than five minutes. “Were they tourists?” the cops asked me when I explained what happened.

“Yes, Germans,” I said.

“Mmmhmm,” the cop said.

“Mmmhmm, what?” I asked.

“It happens a lot,” the cop said.

So, nasty European tourists have been known to hit dogs in Central Park. Who knew? It got me thinking. Of course, not all European tourists are dog beaters—most of them are pleasant, and I imagine more than a few of them love dogs. But they are not better than us, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell our president is over there apologizing for.

Republicans have paid close attention to clues this week about Obama’s working definition of American exceptionalism. This examination does not mean we suspect he is anti-American, as some on the left have suggested. Waking up to news Tuesday that he’d visited our brave troops in Iraq before returning to Washington, D.C., I am quite certain, as I was Monday and the day before that, that Barack Obama loves his country.

But his definition of American exceptionalism differs from that of most Republicans. At just about every stop on his weeklong tour, Obama missed opportunities to remind audiences of America’s generosity and compassion by emphasizing our shortcomings and failures. He is wildly popular overseas (and at home), but instead of spending some of his abundant personal and political capital to deliver a clear and direct message that promoted and defended American values, he muddied the message by emphasizing occasions in which America had been “arrogant, dismissive, and derisive” toward Europe.

Liberals found it refreshing. Conservatives found it offensive. The way we see ourselves as Americans and the role of America in the world today is one of the greatest philosophical divides in this country.

Asked if he believed in American exceptionalism during his overseas trip, Obama said, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”

His suggestion that a belief in American exceptionalism is akin to the Brits’ belief in British exceptionalism and the Greeks’ belief in Greek exceptionalism played well in foreign capitals and at the United Nations. But what Obama describes as “American exceptionalism” sounds like a political-science professor’s definition of nationalism, not a belief in America’s unique accomplishments and history of unrivaled freedom, generosity, productivity, innovation, militaristic and diplomatic strength, and record as liberators, protectors, and defenders


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: backstabber; couricbiotch; couriclover; couricminnion; dirtbagnicole; nicoleisaho; palinbackstaber; rino; scumbucketwallace; sellout; tratior
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-91 next last
To: SonOfPyrodex
I'm not kidding.

Can you back it up some...

41 posted on 04/09/2009 10:33:26 AM PDT by GOPJ (Quisling:politicians who favor the interests of other nations or cultures over their own.Wikipedia)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: lewisglad
Barack Obama rejects Normandy trip to avoid offending Germany (Telegraph.co.uk April 2, 2009 Toby Harnden, US Editor, and Henry Samuel in Paris)
42 posted on 04/09/2009 10:38:35 AM PDT by a fool in paradise ( “Saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause.”NYTimes Bill Kell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia

She’s got an underbite like a bulldog.


43 posted on 04/09/2009 10:39:33 AM PDT by Lady Jag (Hezbollah - Al Qaeda - Obama - Stone Age)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

Comment #44 Removed by Moderator

To: RepubRep

I have no doubt that if I were to send a complaint to the White House, we would be audited by the IRS (which we’ve been through before). this administration seems very vindictive (sp?) to me, I do not think they appreciate the 1st Amendment (or any for that matter).


45 posted on 04/09/2009 11:24:11 AM PDT by KEmom (Please send viable Conservative candidates to Massachusetts!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: SonOfPyrodex

Great find!!! You should make this a stand alone post. I’m not the only freeper who’ll be amazed.


46 posted on 04/09/2009 11:25:35 AM PDT by GOPJ (Quisling:politicians who favor the interests of other nations or cultures over their own.Wikipedia)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Lady Jag; Calpernia

What about her high school photo? She was a girl then. Although looks totally different now. The underbite is the same, and brow ridge.


47 posted on 04/09/2009 11:53:11 AM PDT by little jeremiah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: little jeremiah

I’ve seen quite a bit of photo shops from the Obama camp. I don’t know if her high school picture is her or a manufactured pic.


48 posted on 04/09/2009 11:54:54 AM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia

Ah, that is so. It would be interesting if someone could get hold of a yearbook from that high school, a whole yearbook.


49 posted on 04/09/2009 12:03:28 PM PDT by little jeremiah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: little jeremiah; Calpernia
Okay, if you say so.

Brow ridge is a masculine trait.


50 posted on 04/09/2009 12:04:10 PM PDT by Lady Jag (Hezbollah - Al Qaeda - Obama - Stone Age)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: lewisglad

Maybe he’s apologizing for America because he knows AMERICA IS SURE AS HELL APOLOGIZING FOR HIM.

He is most comparable to the worst SKID-MARK I’ve ever had.....


51 posted on 04/09/2009 12:07:28 PM PDT by catchem
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lewisglad

Maybe he’s apologizing for America because he knows AMERICA IS SURE AS HELL APOLOGIZING FOR HIM.

He is most comparable to the worst SKID-MARK I’ve ever had.....


52 posted on 04/09/2009 12:07:47 PM PDT by catchem
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lady Jag

What do you mean by a brow ridge?


53 posted on 04/09/2009 12:07:48 PM PDT by Texas_shutterbug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: lewisglad

If her dog got too close to me, I’d have to consider not under control and clobber it. Bunch of crap.


54 posted on 04/09/2009 12:08:55 PM PDT by Stentor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lady Jag

Are there any more photos of her younger years?


55 posted on 04/09/2009 12:09:38 PM PDT by little jeremiah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia
Is it me or does she really look like a man?

It's not you and probably Barry's "next best thing".

56 posted on 04/09/2009 12:11:03 PM PDT by Stentor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: lewisglad

“I am a German. I am a lawyer”. So were Otto Ohlendorf, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Artur Seyss-Inquart [the latter Austrians], and Hans Frank. Looks like this asshat shares the same personality.


57 posted on 04/09/2009 12:27:50 PM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: snarks_when_bored

As John Bolton said on the Laura Ingraham show, “He’s [Obozo] not pro-American. He’s post- American.”.


58 posted on 04/09/2009 12:29:18 PM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Lady Jag
And bein' First Lady don't pay too good.

Compared to a made-up position back in Chicagostan.


59 posted on 04/09/2009 12:38:50 PM PDT by PhilDragoo (Hussein: Islamo-Commie from Kenya)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Texas_shutterbug

Men develop bony ridges above their eyebrows, it’s a sexual/hormone trait.

An individual with a brow ridge can rest their glasses up on it, those without can’t; might help you notice it in the future should you choose to.


60 posted on 04/09/2009 12:40:11 PM PDT by Lady Jag (Hezbollah - Al Qaeda - Obama - Stone Age)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-91 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson