Obama blew speech [President did disservice to U.S. with condescending appeal to Muslims]

Toronto Sun ^ | 2009-06-06 | Peter Worthington

[Clive]

The trouble with U.S. President Barack Obama's boffo speech in Cairo to the Muslim world was not what he said -- but that he said it.

To explain: The content was generally fair, rational, evenhanded and fitting for a moderator, arbitrator or neutral adjudicator.

But that's not what Obama is. He is, or should be, the embodiment of his country and its interests. When he appoints himself the go-between who sees all sides and takes no sides -- who chastises all conflicting parties equally and impartially -- he does a disservice to himself, his country and to truth.

His speech has generally been applauded. Superficially, at least.

But on reflection it was arrogant, condescending. A "father knows best" speech of moral and practical equivalency.

It was a speech that the world's moderate middle could relish and feel good about. But it was also a speech unlikely to appease extremist factions of any side. A speech that simply didn't ring true in many ways.

All civilizations are not equal. All cultures are not equal. Some are more benign than others, some more lethal. Some crueler and less deserving of tolerance.

Fine for Obama to stress the tolerant, benign nature of Islam, but whatever it was in the past it is not that tolerant or benign now -- and I'm not thinking of 9/11, or suicide bombers, or its bigotry towards women. Sunni and Shiites often cannot tolerate each other, and kill over the issue of who are the true followers of Mohammed.

Avoiding the word "terrorists," Obama chose the gentler word "extremists", which clouds what he's saying and softens the impact.

He slighted America by failing to mention that after 9/11, his countrymen showed remarkable generosity and grace by rejecting reprisals against Muslims and, in fact, going out of their way to absolve Muslims of blame.

There was nothing resembling the flavour of internment camps that were imposed on Japanese-Americans in the early days of the Second World War, when hysteria reigned.

MISLEADING

By his laboured impartiality, Obama seemed to imply that before his coming to presidential power, America was somehow lacking, negligent or derelict in generosity and decency. Nothing could be further from reality.

Stressing America's "unbreakable" bonds with Israel while pledging "we will not turn our backs" on the "intolerable" situation of Palestinians who endure "the daily humiliations that comes with occupation" is grotesquely misleading.

Good politics if it works, and effective diplomacy, but it's dishonest. Until the Arab countries attacked Israel in 1967, the West Bank and Gaza were "occupied" by Egyptians and Jordanians.

In his series of speeches around the world, Obama seemed intent on denigrating his own country by apologizing to other countries for its actions. Now he is setting himself up as the arbitrator and source of all wisdom in dealings with the Muslim world.

If he were UN secretary general rather than the president of the United States, his efforts might be more appropriate. But he isn't. Yet.

At least the Toronto Star is an Obamaniac -- witness its headline: "A speech that might change the world." Hmm. Wanna bet?

Hardliners around the world are unlikely to buy Obama's message. How he handles the next terrorist incident will be his big test

[jwparkerjr]

I wonder if perhaps his reluctance to provide a birth certificate has to do with his age and not his citizenship. Maybe he's not 45-years-old, and that would make him just as ineligible to hold the office as would him not being a natural born citizen.

Gotta wonder what's behind it though. There's something there and he's probably misleading everyone on purpose, just to send them chasing after no issues.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He'll apologize for the litter we left behind on D-day.

[Chode]

wouldn't surprise me if he blew more than just a speech while he was there...

[kabar]

The basic presumption of the speech was flawed. This isn’t about the United States and Islam, it is about militant Islam and modernity. Islamic fundamentalists are not only attacking the United States and Israel, they are attacking the West, India, the Philippines, Thailand, etc. and their fellow Muslims. The problem is within Islam.

[AmericanVictory]

As we understand it, Islam is just another ethnic group to be incorporated in the Ci-cago machine by the One with a smile and promises of everything, none of which will he ever deliver. We doubt if that will work on any level.

[Mouton]

This guy is so full of himself to make me want to puke. The author is right, he should be a champion of the US. No, he would rather be king of the world.

When one floats too high on his pride, he is apt to make the fall that much farther. It cannot come to soon for me. I cannot wait for it and hope he does not take the entire country down with him.

[ConservativeOptimist]

We are headed towards socialism and runaway inflation as we fall into the economic abyss while radical Muslims get nukes with the approval of the man child in the Oval Office who never even took one economics class.
I miss Ronald Reagan. Hell, I even miss George W.
This reversal of evolution probably means the next leader of the Free World will be a 23 year old Nigerian orphan with a two digit I.Q.