Posted on 11/16/2009 12:42:26 PM PST by NormsRevenge
It was a town hall, but this time Barack Obama was not in Iowa or New Hampshire. There were no hay bales, no bunting and no activists with questions about universal health care, clean coal or legalizing marijuana. This forum, after all, was being held in a nation controlled by the Communist Party.
Instead of being greeted by voters mulling their options, Obama on Monday met with several hundred well-dressed, attentive and relentlessly on-message students, handpicked by Chinese authorities for the occasion. They listened attentively, nodding in agreement at some of his answers and laughing at his jokes. Most of their questions were something less than challenging. "What measures will you take to deepen this close relationship between cities of the United States and China?" asked the first questioner, a young woman whom Obama picked randomly from the crowd. "What's the main reason that you were honored with the Nobel Prize for Peace?" asked another. A third followed up on the Nobel Prize line of inquiry. "What's your university/college education that brings you to get such kind of prizes?" ..
It was the first time a U.S. President had ever hosted a town hall in the Communist Party–controlled state, and the terms of the event were carefully negotiated between diplomats from both countries. The selection of the audience aside, Chinese authorities also picked three questions that had been submitted over the Internet - including one that was sharply critical of U.S. support for the Taiwanese military. U.S. ambassador Jon Huntsman read an additional question, which the White House said had been randomly selected from a group of online submissions acquired by the U.S. government.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The list, ping
No, Obama certainly isn't the best America can produce.
What's embarrassing is that he WAS elected president.
TV was on in the background when he was introduced.
Did he open his comments with the words “No How”?
Could have sworn he really botched Ni Hao.
As the ambassador left the podium, Obama stopped him, and was obviously doing a last second practise of Ni Hao.
When he spoke to the students, it came across muffled.
Stupid tourist. I know nothing of Chinese, only that I wouldn’t attempt it if I wasn’t sure of myself.
He got TWO questions on why he got the Nobel Peace Prize. To the first one, he answered that really, in all humility, it was for the American people for voting for him! Didn't that astound you? I nearly sank through the floor in mortification!
And the second question was about how someone would go about getting a Nobel. Like, what courses he took, what were his degrees.LOL!
I do not think that the Chinese were happy with him getting that award, since all of those "students" were PRC approved.
And bragging about all of the different races in his family was also a blunder, because the Chinese do not like that. I am not saying that a mixed-race marriage is wrong at all. But bragging (#1 error) about it (#2 error) was really stupid diplomacy.
Plus, he talked to those students like they were 5 years old.
It was just SO embarrassing!
I’m speaking slowly so you slow-pokes can understand me..
I can’t believe he’s been to university. There was no connection with the students in any area...Hey, I know you guys are sharp, I better be prepared; Where are the stories of his own college days?;no humour; the students were just props.
Oh, and how about how he explained the history of the Chinese-American relationship, like they didn’t know?
And those two questions which were not about global warming but that’s all he talked about....
And the talking like a rube about all of the sites he was going to see...
I am sure I will remember more.
I don’t think he is smart at all. He has the gift of being able to read a speech well off of a teleprompter. That’s it, nothing else.
Have you read MAO The Unkown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday?
When Obama delved into Chinese history, my stomach churned.
He’s like a thoughtless teenager trying to be funny on a cancer ward.
Sorry I took so long to reply. I am dealing with a puppy here.
No, I have only read excerpts of the book about Mao, but I know the things I read were distinctly creepy and unsavory.
Your analogy is a good one. Inappropriate joking in an inappropriate place.
And you were right to observe his total disconnect with the students. Actually, he has a disconnect with all people. I really think he doesn’t like most of us (and I don’t mean just conservatives). I think he doesn’t like people, whoever they are. I have noticed that he rarely touches anyone except for when he is trying to be dominating and places his hand on a foreign leader’s back.
Years from now, the American crowd reaction to Obama will be case studies in mass hysteria. I think a lot of the young people wanted someone fresh and more their age and so they convinced themselves Obama was smart, funny, hip, exciting. He was none of that (not to mention being a Marxist) but the crowd fed on itself and convinced each member that what they wished for so much was coming true.
I imagine a lot of those people are looking at Obama the way a lot of people looked at pet rocks back in the 70’s: “What was I thinking?”
We were in the US Army, Germany. The war generation was still in the workforce, and we frequently heard, “We didn’t know.” They were marked by those war years, we could see it in their faces and attitude.
Their children were kept from the truth until they could hide no longer. As adults, they went crazy for materialism to keep from thinking.
The grandchildren are a mess.
It’s my humble observation, and I say this with all compassion, they have never recovered what their souls lost under Hitler.
It makes me wonder how young Chinese deal with the history of China, the land that has endured so much suffering.
We too, have a puppy. I am old, and he is young...a furry toddler. At least he seems to have a sense of humour and makes me laugh.
Coincidentally, my son was born in West Berlin in 1968. I saw the same things you did. My landlady’s husband died on the Russian front, and she had no children.
I think you make a good point. They lost their faith, too, except for pockets like Bavaria where Pope Benedict grew up.
Maybe it’s because so many priests and ministers were killed in the camps.
Isn’t it odd how the left wants us to carry guilt forever because of slavery, but has no problem in dealing with far worse things from their side? It’s like Pol Pot never existed, and Mao has become a fashion icon.
We live in strange times.
That bolshie ponce is so in his element in China, I wish he'd stay.
During those years we met people who escaped the Russians, into the West. They were so grateful for the American soldiers who helped them. Their gratitude would move us almost to tears.
Hard for us to comprehend “Americans” who hate this country, hate freedom.
I had a German neighbor who was a child during the war. The Nazis abandoned several box cars full of people on the siding near her home. Her memories were heart wretching. She was very, very pro American! In fact, isn’t amazing, that in spite of their troubles, how pro American many, many Germans were!
Indeed it was.
Good night. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.
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