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Posted on 07/10/2016 4:52:19 AM PDT by HomerBohn
MADRID - It took the White House more than seven years to lock in Spain on President Barack Obama's foreign travel schedule. But events beyond Mr. Obama's control have turned his first and only visit to Spain, the largest European country that had yet to welcome the president, into a rushed one.
Instead of spending two days sightseeing in southern Spain and tending to more official business in the capital of Madrid, the White House scrapped some of Mr. Obama's events - including a staple of his foreign travels, a question-and-answer forum with young adults - and crammed the rest of his schedule into Sunday. He had been scheduled to travel to Seville for cultural events, but that was among the plans canceled.
In a statement announcing the change of plans, the White House said the president had accepted an invitation from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to visit had been accepted.
"Later in the week, at the White House, the President will continue to work to bring people together to support our police officers and communities, and find common ground by discussing policy ideas for addressing the persistent racial disparities in our criminal justice system," the statement read.
Deadly shootings last week of black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, followed by the sniper killings of five police officers in Dallas, the president to make the unusual choice to return to the White House late Sunday, a day earlier than originally planned.
Mr. Obama has been loath to tear up his schedule in response to previous acts of violence, saying repeatedly that altering his plans would be tantamount to giving in to terrorists. But terrorists didn't strike in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, near St. Paul, Minnesota, or Dallas. The assaults followed June's deadly shooting at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub and the rise in so-called lone-wolf terrorism, heightening fears about public safety.
The president noted the "difficult week" as he made small talk Sunday with King Felipe VI after arriving at Spain's Royal Palace for a meeting.
The king thanked Mr. Obama for visiting under the circumstances. The stop in Spain is the last leg of what is likely the president's final trip to Europe before he leaves office in January. He arrived late Saturday from Poland, where he attended a NATO summit.
The White House said the visit will highlight security cooperation between the trans-Atlantic allies, as well as political and economic ties.
Mr. Obama was also scheduled to meet with acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy before heading to Naval Station Rota, in the south. He planned to tour the USS Ross, one of four guided-missile destroyers based there, and address troops there before the flight home.
Spain has been gripped by a political stalemate for months, with Rajoy unable to garner the necessary support to form a new coalition government following a late-June election. It was the country's second round of inconclusive balloting in the past year.
Rajoy's party also won an election in December, but no other major party was willing to help him form a government.
Mr. Obama addressed the political situation in an interview Saturday with the El Pais newspaper, saying he hopes Spain's next government will be just as committed to strong relations with the U.S. and Europe. The president has recently stressed the White House's belief in a stronger European Union in the wake of the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom.
In Spain, Mr. Obama said the world needs Spain's contributions to the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS,) to counterterrorism efforts that prevent attacks and to its fellow NATO members.
"The relationship between Spaniards and Americans goes back centuries," he said. "We're connected by the ties of family and culture, including millions of Americans who celebrate their Hispanic heritage. Spain is a strong NATO ally, we're grateful for Spain's many decades of hosting U.S. forces, and we're major trading partners."
"That's why the United States is deeply committed to maintaining our relationship with a strong, unified Spain," the president said.
Mr. Obama said he has longed to return to Spain ever since he passed through while backpacking across Europe decades ago, during his 20s, a point he underscored just before his private meeting with the king. He said he could not have imagined that he'd return years later and be greeted by royalty.
"I wish I was staying longer," Mr. Obama said Sunday.
All the weeks this worthless alien has been referred to as president have been more than difficult for Americans.
If this President continues on his perverse path of "brining us together" the country will erupt into a race war. The best thing for the country would be for him to resign in disgrace, accept his responsibility for the murdered policemen, and disavow BLM. He is turning our country into the same disaster he turned Iraq and the Middle East. Enough is enough.
“I wish I was staying longer,” Mr. Obama said Sunday.
So do we.
I wish he was staying longer too How about 6 months?
President: Really? Was the killer carrying a Confederate flag?
Advisor: No Sir, it appears he was an angry black man.
President: Who were the cops, where they white or black?
Advisor: All white Sir.
President: Uhm huh...Ok, Michelle, can you please pass the butter?
I guess he must need to hurry back home, so he more effectively criticize the Louisiana cops for daring to arrest a BLM activist.
No golf in Spain for the Big O?
If Obama goes to Baton Rouge, will he be arrested as an accessory after the fact?
He does not dare go to Baton Rouge
We don't want or need your "help".
Not so sincerely,
Texas
It took seven years to get an appointment with Spain? Took less time to get an appointment with Castro. Guess Spain isn’t communist enough.
Michelle and the girls and grandma were just in Spain.
So why did the mayor of Dallas invite the President to come? He can accomplish nothing….but the Democrat mayor of Dallas, who has been on stage since the massacre, will be on stage with the president. Does he plan to parlay his notoriety into a run for governor? Inquiring minds want to know. The answer with Democrats is always “politics.”
Western Union Telegram, circa 1940:
DEAR BHO:
PLEASE STAY WHERE YOU ARE STOP WE DON’T NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE STOP BETTER YOUR LEADERSHIP IN EUROPE THAN HERE STOP WE WISH TO HEAL THE NATION AS IT WAS BEFORE 2008 STOP DO NOT COME BACK STOP YOU HAVE INFLICTED ENOUGH DAMAGE ALREADY STOP...
I wish he was too. Like forever....
Yeah it has been a difficult week for him in that he cannot community organize from overseas.
He needs to come back to stand up for his followers.
He is simply getting ready to hand this very troubled country over to Mr. Trump.
HELP SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC
Amen
It’s OK Mr. President....you can stay where you are. No need to come home. Ever.
So what was this ‘rare move’? To call for a national federal police force? We been there before - Gestapo, SS, and all that. Yeah, that’ll work out real fine. If you want to read further go to the Turner Diaries.
He’d better get home and calm down his “sons” in the BLM (blacks love mayhem)movement!
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