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Helen Thomas: "Obama’s 100 Days As President - Obama Must Deal With Bush Legacy" [GRAPHIC IMAGES]
TheBostonChannel.com ^ | 29 Apr 09 | Helen "Thank You, Mr. President"Thomas

Posted on 04/29/2009 6:18:44 PM PDT by seanmerc

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama’s 100 days in office have not shaken the world, but he has been compelled to focus on the legacy bequeathed by former President George W. Bush: the worst economic slump since the Great Depression and two wars.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, avoiding any credibility-destroying urge to praise his boss with ridiculous extravagance, gives the president a "B-plus" on his report card. "What the president has achieved is something we’re proud of," Gibbs said, adding: "There is room for improvement."

Probably the biggest change Obama has brought about is the country’s new hopeful spirit, an attitude that we can deal with these problems and that government action can help solve society’s ills.

That view is in sharp contrast to the Republican political philosophy that government is the problem. That laissez faire perception led us down the garden path -- to the extent that our present economic crisis was brought about by the loosening of regulations on business and banking.

In his short time as the nation’s chief executive, Obama has rammed through Congress a nearly $800-billion stimulus package and started the ball rolling in health care reform, energy and education.

Among his legislative victories was passage of a bill to expand child health insurance -- which Bush had vetoed -- and a bill ensuring equal pay for women workers. He also reversed limits on stem cell research and is moving ahead to fight global warming and other environmental challenges.

Domestically, he is living up to his promise of "change" but on the war front, he is following in the footsteps of Bush, who to this day has not explained his tragic decision to invade Iraq.

Obama expects to pull American combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010 but will keep 50,000 U.S. military men and women there -- just in case.

But he is repeating Bush’s huge mistake by sending thousands more Americans into the Afghanistan quagmire. The tribal religious extremists know their impossible turf of caves and mountains far better than any American could possible learn.

Just ask the heavily armed Russians who were forced to retreat in the 1980s after several years of bitter fighting there. And before them in the 19th century, the British conquerors learned the same painful lesson.

If we do not learn from the mistakes of the past, we are doomed to repeat them.

Now we hear that the U.S. is building a mammoth embassy in Kabul, supposedly a symbol of long-term commitment, just as we did in Baghdad. The questions are: Why? And what price are we willing pay in human and financial costs to maintain our long-term neo-colonial presence there?

Obama has already made several trips abroad to embellish America’s image with allies and foes. He has won respect from world leaders by banishing torture of prisoners and by releasing damaging Bush administration legal memos designed to justify the abuse of captives at prisons under our control.

Obama is using his honeymoon to reach out and start new chapters in relationships with those who were enemies of past U.S. regimes.

He has already started edging toward an eventual diplomatic relationship again with Cuba.

Reversing the tide after 47 years of hostility with the island nation 90 miles from Florida, Obama is now permitting travel between Cuban-Americans and their families and allowing financial support to families in Cuba.

Obama also wants to "reset" relations with Russia and plans to start out with disarmament talks to shrink the nuclear arsenals of both superpowers.

He will travel to Moscow in July to seal a new arms reduction treaty and to confirm a new post-Cold War relationship.

On the incendiary Middle East, Obama faces a major problem if he pushes a two-state solution and demands a halt to the Israeli land grab for more settlements on the West Bank, a step he should take. The new Tel Aviv government is dominated by hardliners opposed to a Palestinian state.

Obama has established himself as the man in command. His eloquence which enchanted the nation during his presidential campaign remains his chief asset and he is out on the road at least once a week to bring his bully pulpit to the public.

His speeches are laced with the big "I" to stress who is in charge. Outwardly he maintains his cool and self restraint. He’s walking softly and trying to carry a big stick.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; Israel; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 100days; barackobama; bho2009; bho44; blamebush; bush; chairmanmaobama; democrats; dims; dumbocrats; first100days; georgebush; georgewbush; gop; helenthomas; israel; itsallbushsfault; liberalmeathead; newsbabe; obama; obamalamadingdong; obamarama; obamatruthfile; rats; senileoldbat; thomas
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To: mimaw

Now that right there is FUNNY!


21 posted on 04/29/2009 6:41:53 PM PDT by seanmerc
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; george76; ...
Probably the biggest change Obama has brought about is the country’s new hopeful spirit, an attitude that we can deal with these problems and that government action can help solve society’s ills. That view is in sharp contrast to the Republican political philosophy that government is the problem. That laissez faire perception led us down the garden path -- to the extent that our present economic crisis was brought about by the loosening of regulations on business and banking.
The lies just keep on coming.
22 posted on 04/29/2009 6:42:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: seanmerc

The over sight is forgiven. I was over joyed to see the warning before I was ambushed by the Horror.

: )


23 posted on 04/29/2009 6:42:57 PM PDT by katiekins1 (I Bow to No One)
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To: seanmerc
The two words that comes to mind is, knee pads. Presidential knee pads, right Monica?

5.56mm

24 posted on 04/29/2009 6:44:17 PM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: seanmerc

Nobody I know of has ever accused Helen Thomas of being particularly intelligent or on intimate terms with reality, but her assertion that Zero is ‘compelled’ to ‘deal’ with the ‘Bush legacy’ shows she is becoming delusional/senile.


25 posted on 04/29/2009 6:50:47 PM PDT by Post Toasties (Conservatives allow the guilty to be executed but Lefties insist that the innocent be executed.)
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To: seanmerc

Helen of Thomas: The face that launched a thousand quips.


26 posted on 04/29/2009 6:55:18 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
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To: seanmerc
Helen Thomas, Hearst White House columnist propagandist.

Fixed it.

27 posted on 04/29/2009 6:57:27 PM PDT by smokingfrog (Don't mess with the mocking bird!)
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To: seanmerc

I had a pretty good idea what was in store for me, so I made sure the kids were in bed before I clicked on this thread. Ugh!


28 posted on 04/29/2009 7:10:30 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican ("During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." --Orwell)
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To: seanmerc
"What the president has achieved is something we’re proud of," Gibbs said...

Yeah, well, I had a two-year old child that was real proud, every time he "made doody".

All rama-lama-ding-dong obongo obama has done is make doody.

29 posted on 04/29/2009 7:19:08 PM PDT by OldSmaj (I am an avowed enemy of islam and Obama is a damned fool and traitor. Questions?)
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To: seanmerc
...legacy bequeathed by former President George W. Bush: the worst economic slump since the Great Depression and two wars.

Shitty grammar like that is a sign of senile dementia.

30 posted on 04/29/2009 7:20:12 PM PDT by Petronski (For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden. -- Cdl. Stafford)
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To: smokingfrog

Helen Thomas: Hearst’s worst needs a hearse.


31 posted on 04/29/2009 7:25:27 PM PDT by Post Toasties (Conservatives allow the guilty to be executed but Lefties insist that the innocent be executed.)
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To: Dallas59

Thanks. I needed that.


32 posted on 04/29/2009 7:44:31 PM PDT by markomalley (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus)
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To: seanmerc
*sigh*
The (Semi-Official :) Helen Thomas "Eyewash" Spread....*snicker*

now I have to fumigate the house b/c of "Stench" of Helen Thomas.

33 posted on 04/29/2009 7:44:52 PM PDT by skinkinthegrass (just b/c you're paranoid, doesn't mean "they" aren't out to get you.. :^)
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To: seanmerc

if she was any younger i’d say she’s angling for knee pads


34 posted on 04/29/2009 7:51:46 PM PDT by machogirl (not one of Rush's top-ten gal names)
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To: seanmerc

“For those on the East Coast, pleasant dreams! For those on the West Coast, enjoy your dinner!”

Now that made me laugh; good 1! LOL


35 posted on 04/29/2009 7:59:41 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Technological progress cannot be legislated.)
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To: ken21

Please. People like that make me sick. Bush said within days of 9/11 that there was an “axis of evil” that included Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

Whew; she’s lucky Bush never did attack the latter 2, for some strange reason. What would she think? She’d been apopletic and be dead by now, that’s what.


36 posted on 04/29/2009 8:02:24 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Technological progress cannot be legislated.)
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To: katiekins1

Uummm....Enjoy your prime-time shows?


37 posted on 04/29/2009 8:03:37 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Technological progress cannot be legislated.)
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To: seanmerc

“enjoy your dinner!”

Yikes! I needed to lose a few pounds anyway.


38 posted on 04/29/2009 8:17:23 PM PDT by Melian ("Now, Y'all without sin can cast the first stone." ~H.I. McDunnough)
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To: the OlLine Rebel
Uummm....Enjoy your prime-time shows?

I did not watch any prime-time shows tonight. Obama’s Alynski double talk makes my WI. Blood boil! Therefore,I watched the movie Fargo Dontcha know.
U betcha!

39 posted on 04/29/2009 8:22:34 PM PDT by katiekins1 (I Bow to No One)
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To: seanmerc

Oh, why not. Would you ping me?


40 posted on 04/29/2009 8:30:37 PM PDT by holly go-rightly
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