Posted on 09/23/2012 11:02:24 AM PDT by smoothsailing
September 23, 2012
Obama campaign adviser and former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs defended President Barack Obama’s decision to not to meet with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu or any other world leaders during their upcoming visits to the United States for the United Nations general assembly meeting, saying that the United States President doesn’t need to meet face-to-face with foreign leaders – phone calls are sufficient.
Gibbs made the comments on Fox News Sunday in response to criticisms from host Chris Wallace that the President was making time in his schedule for “The View” and “The View” host Whoppi Goldberg during the trip to New York, but not for foreign leaders.
“Chris, they have telephones in the White House.” Gibbs said, adding that since the September 11 strikes on US embassies in Libya and Egypt President Obama has spoken on the phone with both the Libyan and Egyptian Presidents. “We don’t need a meeting in Washington just to confer with leaders.”
He tried to turn the tables on Wallace, saying that if Obama was doing an interview with him instead of the ladies of “The View,” Wallace would “probably have no problem with that.” (Wallace used that opportunity to point out that the President hasn’t even done an interview with him, “but that’s not the point.”)
The former Obama administration official said that he has “no problem” with the President’s decision not to meet with foreign leaders in lieu of appearing on “The View” because he will still be “actively involved” in the conference.
By actively involved, Gibbs means the President will merely be giving a speech during the international affair, Wallace pointed out.
Gibbs explained that even though the President himself would not be meeting with world leaders, other qualified administration officials would be taking meetings on his behalf.
“Well, look Chris, I think that we have schedules, leaders have schedules, and in many cases those schedules aren’t going to overlap,” Gibbs claimed. “But understand that Ambassador Rice will be seeing many people and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be seeing people.”
He also tried to put the incident in a broader context, saying that,”This isn’t just about one meeting on one particular day in New York. The President’s actively involved and engaged in the most dangerous place in the world every single day of the week.”
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About Francesca ChambersFrancesca is the Editor of Red Alert Politics - an online publication written by and for young conservatives. Red Alert Politics is a product of Clarity Media Group, the parent company of The Washington Examiner and The Weekly Standard. She is also a contributor to The Examiner's Campaign 2012 coverage and its Beltway Confidential Blog
Francesca is a veteran of several political campaigns. She has also worked in new media at The Leadership Institute, at the Republican National Committee and on Capitol Hill. She has been featured as a speaker at Leadership Institute and the Cato Institute and she is a regular guest on the "Big Picture" with Thom Hartmann on Russia Today and on "Powers to the People" with Tony Powers on S.C. FOX affiliate WNRR.
Francesca graduated from the University of Kansas with BAs in Political Science and Journalism. At KU she was an editor of the University Daily Kansan and an active member of Student Senate.
That is the funniest satire I have seen in a while.... wait, it IS satire right??
Rock Chalk Jayhawk. Glad to see a good conservative writer coming out of the Daily UDK.
Aren’t we lucky to have this moron.
Bibi now knows when his phone don’t ring he knows its Obama.
Sadly, it’s not satire we are really living in this real hell the Democrats created for us.
"Uhhhh, President Morsi? ... Hullo? ... Damn, first that iPhone, now this!"
He can stay in the white house and not fly all over the nation at taxpayers expense campaigning as he can tweet or phone his supporters.
***************
Ummm-Hmmmm....
On the Oval phone, shoes on the Oval desk.
What’s the plastic vile on his desk for ? Walmart drug test kit ?
Where’s that pic of home brandishing a baseball bat while on the phone in the Oval Office?
LOL!
>>>So that means he doesn’t need to raise re- election campaign funds because he has a phone ?>>>
A very good juxtaposition of his spokesperson’s words. I agree.
Maybe Netanyahu should just watch the Spew, since butt boy gets so many tough questions on that show.
These idiots are TEENAGERS!!!!
EVERYTHING they do - is JUST how selfish, self-serving, irresponsible teenagers behave.
Obama to Nentenyahu: “If The Phone Don’t Ring, It’s Me Not Calling You Up”.
Even with Obama, I certainly wish this was parody.
How can a President do absolutely EVERYTHING so backwards??
so we have an empty chair with a teleprompter and now we need a phone next to the empty chair?
come on Romney....don't pull a Mccain on us...CAMPAIGN HARD!
Totus + Cotus <= P-otus
I'm convinced that everything he does is by design.
For a second I thought the headline read: “The president doesn’t need to meet with foreign leaders - because he is one.” :)
He’s got that iPad for his daily briefings too. Maybe he and Shelly can just stay out at their new house in Hawaii after Christmas no matter how the election turns out.
Caption: "What do we do now Ms. Jarret?"
Obama: Do we want anchovies on the pizza?
One of the first rules of success - if a meeting is important, do it f2f. Body language is 1/2 the communication.
White House pimp referral service for the Secret Service maybe ?
And as soon as he can figure out how to use it...
And the same President can skip over half of his daily presidential briefings because he has an iPad.
It must be great to be such a genius.
That’s actually believable.
Well, the guy did want to meet the “Pimp with a limp”, and I bet he has met many pimps before it
I'm convinced that everything he does is by design.
And a LOT of hard work!
“phone it in” -
Perform an act in a perfunctory, uncommitted fashion, as if it didn’t matter.
There is so much truth there!
Yep, that’s our president—when he isn’t hoping to fundamentally change our Constitution and deflate the position of America in the world.
Yah, he can just text them.
Used to be, Presidents met with presidents, prime ministers, heads of state.
Obama meets with agitprop media whores. I feel that America is so embarrassed by this islamist communist jerk.
It’s all or nothing with Obama. He’s the all, we’re the nothing.
Oh please someone make a picture of an empty chair with a red phone sitting on it.
Now put a red telephone on the chair.
Phone on Chair Rings.
Voice Over: “There’s a man on the phone”, what if that man has something important to say, Shouldn’t we talk to the man?
Remember “there is a bear in the woods”?
I actually agree that the POTUS does not need to meet with foreign leaders except on very rare occasions. In fact, there is a whole litany of things the POTUS should not do, because it overloads their job with inefficiency and waste.
How about this for a list?
1) The State of the Union was given in writing from Thomas Jefferson to Woodrow Wilson. Today it wastes a huge amount of time and money to give a pathetic dog & pony show. Go back to giving it in writing.
2) The POTUS should delegate ceremonial and recreational activities, like throwing out baseballs. He should limit even military memorials to Memorial Day.
3) The most common reason to meet foreign leaders should be to sign treaties. The background to such treaties should be done in advance by functionaries of both governments.
4) The POTUS, by act of congress, should be forbidden from visiting disaster areas, or even flying over them at low altitude. All he can do there is get in the way, and he is *less* capable for helping there than he is back in his office.
5) The length of the presidential campaign should be limited by act of congress, so that the POTUS doesn’t have to spend the last year or more of his time in office campaigning.
Fine, so let him call David Letterman,Joy Behar,Whoopie Goldberg and go Meet with BiBi in Person and Devise a Plan to annihilate the Muslim Horde!
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