Colonel Jack Jacobs Opines On Obama For Imus
ChanX CliffsNotes
Imus asked Col Jack what he thought of the Obama Iraq trip. According to the Colonel, Obama will not have any information he did not have before the trip. Nobody does, there is no substance to it at all. Would be no different if McCain went to Iraq. “It’s all eye wash” is how the Colonel summarized the trip.
The Colonel also took issue with Obama’s Iraq plan. Obama withdrawing one to two brigades a month until they are all gone, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It is not logistically possible to do. It is not a strategically viable thing to do. Giving props to Obama, credits the plan ” We’re going to get ‘em all out” as a good campaign slogan!
On the New York Times hammering Obama over changing positions. Col Jack’s take? “These guys are professional politicians, they don’t have positions”.
On the New Yorker cover of Obama and his wife. According to the Colonel there is no doubt about the political bent of the New Yorker or the article it related to. It wasn’t funny, wasn’t suppose to be funny. It is satire of a nature which is infrequently funny.
What’s going on in Iraq? The Colonel observes we’ve had real success there. The surge has worked where we flooded the area and kept a lot of troops there. Now the bad guys have left to go somewhere else. Casualties are down. Iraqi Army is doing much better. The population is starting to disdain the militia.
Talking about Iraq, Imus admitted to loving Muqtada al-Sadar. Having described him as a “the fat little nut”. He looks like John Belushi in of those Saturday Night Live skits. Col Jack declared Muqtada can be a great media star. He predicts al-Sadar will come out of his mouse hole when we leave Iraq.
Colonel Jack Jacobs
Click | Here
Like Col. Jack – but Surge Smurge – we shoudn’t have gone on a pre-emptive stike into Iraq in the 1st place. We should have gone to where the 911 terrorists were hiding in Tora Bora. Sheesh!
‘It’s all eye wash’ – It’s lock-step Bush-speak.
Wondering what Brian Wilson has been up to? Good and Mad Productions.
I thought you might enjoy checking out this video on MySpaceTV! You don’t have to join MySpace.com to view the video. Just use the link below.
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=39200244
> BrucesMySpacePresentations
Here is the Nine O’Clock Hour today July 24, 2008
BrucesMySpacePresentations
Thanks Bruce for the input.
What planet is this guy on anyway…
This link, from the BBC News, has the whole speech (with video included). It’s interesting. There’s food for thought here …for those that are open to that.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7522738.stm
What is the percentage of our GDP that goes to our Military? Our U.S. Military, that is stationed around the world for NATO and the U.N. What is Canada’s 5%, why can all these western countrys spend their money on their social programs for their citizens, and not worry about keeping a strong military because they rely on the Americans. Ask the Germans if they want our troops pulled out of Germany, and you will hear a big fat NO. There are dollars where American Military Bases are located, they support local enconmys ect..This is why in Puerto Rico, they wanted the Navy to stop using an island for Naval Bombing Practices but when the suggestion was made, then lets close the Naval Base. The Govt of Puerto Rico was up in Arms NO way we need the Naval Base it generates Dollars for Puerto Rico’s economy. Obama can’t be this GREEN. America has fought in many of Europe’s Wars. I believe Bill Clinton, stopped a big one (War) when Bill Clinton, Invaded Bosnia WITHOUT THE U.S. BEING ATTACKED- A PRE EMPTIVE STRIKE George W Bush was not the first. World Wars start in Eastern Europe, and he stopped genocide. Genocide went on inside Iraq, mass graves were uncovered, are Iraqis, not as deserving as Bosnians?
When Robert Taylor was finally toppeled in Liberia, the Liberians stated, we are the descendents of Americans please help us America, we sent in Marines. Liberia is pro American. When Saddam Invade Kuwait all the messages coming out of Kuwait, where are the Americans. I gets real old using the American Military, when they want something, see Pakistan’s earthquake and Iranian earthquake, see Indonisia after the Tsunami hit and the surrounding area, who came in first? The Americans. Hati, you name it someone needs help, who is usually the first to respond and the first in? Europe? Really like when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast , the Europeans, were johnny on the spot? I don’t think so. You know who respond to Katrina before she even hit, Puerto Rico and Oklahoma, they kept asking Gov. Blanco (D) if they could send her their National Gaurd. She was busy deciding what she should where on camera.
I guess I’ve got to do this cut and paste thing again. I posted a link to an article on the BBC News website. It’s about Obama’s Berlin speech. It had a video included of the speech. I thought there was some “food for thought” in the speech. The excerpt ChanX posted is from the same speech. My link will probably show up in a couple of days. So until then …cut and paste…
‘Intertwined world’
“While the 20th Century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history,” Mr Obama said.
The crowd waits for Mr Obama’s speech in Berlin
Thousands turned out for the speech
“In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common,” he continued.
“In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe’s role in our security and our future.
“But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together,” he added.
He said that partnership and co-operation among nations was “not a choice”.
“It is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity,” he argued.
He spoke on Afghanistan, a sensitive issue in Germany because of pressure for it to send more troops.
Mr Obama said it was time to renew nations’ resolve to “rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets”.
“The Afghan people need our troops and your troops… we have too much at stake to turn back now,” he said.
Now, another take on the speech
here’s a famous story in American media and politics told by Lesley Stahl, the longtime CBS television reporter. During the Reagan administration, she did a very tough piece on the effect of Reagan’s budget cuts to nursing homes and facilities for children with disabilities. After it aired, she got a call from Dick Darman, a Reagan official.
She was braced for a blast of criticism, but lo and behold Darman told her the segment was great. Stahl asked: what are you talking about? He explained that the segment’s visuals had consisted of pictures of Reagan smiling while cutting ribbons at healthcare centres and nursing homes, and the visuals were all that mattered: “Nobody heard what you said.”
I’m not sure that’s quite as true today as it was in 1984. I think people are somewhat savvier news consumers now. But assuming it’s mostly still true, then Barack Obama probably got what he needed today out of the much-hyped Berlin speech.
As speeches go, it was a long way from being Obama’s best and may not even merit a spot on a 12-cut greatest hits compilation. In Obama’s best speeches, he says something you didn’t quite expect to hear from a politician. He substitutes – not all the time, but frequently enough to make things interesting – the first-reflex political euphemism with language that’s more specific and imagistic, at times even quasi-literary.
This speech, though, relied on a lot of first-reflex rhetoric. It was all nice stuff about world cooperation at a time of intense interconnectedness that has produced both good effects and bad. It’s useful that he said it on a prominent world stage. I don’t think I disagreed with a word.
But it just wasn’t said very memorably. The famous Berlin speeches by John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan each had at least one memorable, timeless line: “Ich bin ein Berliner” and “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” As I type this sentence, it’s only half-an-hour after the speech ended, and I can’t remember such a line.
But on the Stahl principle, the words in such a case are probably less important than the pictures. So how were they?
Well, as they came across on American television, they were certainly positive but less than overwhelming. Speeches like these, especially when given outdoors, are recorded in a way that tends to lessen crowd noise and render the words of the speaker much louder than they are to people actually there (after the infamous Howard Dean scream, which sounded borderline-insane on television, I was amused to be told by some reporters who were there that, live, you could barely hear it). I assume that there was a mood on scene in Berlin that just didn’t come across on TV.
But it’s not as if Americans are going to see clips of this speech on their newscasts tonight and fall to their knees in obsequy. It will show them, somewhat prosaically, a presidential candidate who is intent on telling the world that America wants to rejoin it, and an audience that is highly receptive to that message. That’s not terribly remarkable, given that most sentient Americans already know that a) Obama holds these positions and b) the world welcomes that.
The more interesting questions are subconscious, or pre-conscious. Does the mere picture of Obama giving an obviously presidential-type speech have the effect of persuading people that he’s presidential? Does it contrast favourably with John McCain standing in front of packages of processed cheese? Perhaps, counterintuitively, Obama’s grand backdrop contrasts unfavourably with McCain among the Muensters, because McCain in a grocery store – an everyday place, where people go all the time – triggers the notion that he’s in touch with everyday concerns and is “like them”, whereas Obama’s historic backdrop, which obviously looks too old to be America (“Doris, that sure isn’t in Wilkes Barre!”), subconsciously marks him as exotic.
I think the pictures from earlier in the week, in Iraq, will end up being worth a whole lot more. In the meantime, we can take substantive heart in the fact that we in America actually might elect someone who believes the things Obama said in Berlin and won’t tell the rest of the world to go screw itself.
Michael Tomasky
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday July 24 2008
When did the US ever tell the whole world to go screw itself? The US has been an extraordinary global citizen. Defending people, rebuilding nations and economies of its allies and enemies.
The US has stood strong with Germany from 1945 on. We owe Germany neither excuses nor apologies for our actions. After two world wars as well as a cold war, if anything is owed it is the other way around. BHO does not understand the sacrifice of blood and treasure the US has made to Europe. That’s why he must be from another planet.
“When did the US ever tell the whole world to go screw itself?”
I believe that the perception is, among some, that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney (a more likely candidate for this) did that.
It is an interesting and peculiar comment, though, by that writer …who I’m not at all familiar with.
The Term “European” plays different in America, then it does say in England. In our Calvert Family Genealogy group, we have many English Calvert members, and when they identify themselves, they state I am English. I am not a Brit, and I am certainly not a European, they don’t identify with a Continent for their National identity. The Welsh are Welsh, the Scots are Scottish ect.. yes they all make up Great Britain but they remind their American cousins, before there was a Great Britain, there was an England. This is the crowd listening to Obama’s speech, on Europeans as what generic Continent dwellers? They really dislike this thing called a European Union, their response “what is it”
We had the most interesting discussion the other night about the Blackwatch, the Queen’s Blackwatch Brigade served in Iraq, and they would be considered British Subjects but they are Scots. The Germans referred to them as “The Ladys from Hell” during WWII. One of the Calverts went to the play in London about the Blackwatch, and recommended that if we ever get the chance to see the play, we should. This Calvert went with her husband, and his old roommate from College, he was an officer in the Blackwatch and had been knighted. Pretty Cool. I had heard the Germans, had a special name for the Blackwatch, and asked the Calvert member to ask her friend, what that was. She told me, “The Ladys From Hell” and I stated, that must have been because of their kilts, she said yes, and their vocabulary….
My point is this Europe is a Continent. North America is a Continent, I am a United States Citizen. The Press isn’t covering things very well, why? That isn’t the “Perception” they want the American people to take away from Obama’s tour. That specific countrys in Europe, don’t all feel or agree with the so called “European discription of America” If Obama is elected Europeans will love America they didn’t love us before George W Bush and they are not going to love us after him.
Imagine if the foreign press, came over to the U.S. and referred to us as North Americans, how would that go over or maybe they could call Canadians -Americans or Mexicans -Americans. I bet the Canadians and the Mexicans would just love that.
I remember when Benazir Bhutto was assasinated, the same newscycle, there was a member from the UN, and a member from the European Union, that were expelled from Afghanistan. The reason they were trying to make deals with the Taliban, in one of those Southern Provinces, the ones that grow poppys. They said, it was a misunderstanding. I think we have C.I.A. all over that part of the World and Somehow, I don’t think there was a mistake. So do I care what the Europeans think of my Country, which ones?
I am not getting a tingle, not even a little one. Photo ops sure, this is the nature of Politicians, I am not swayed. I am waiting to be impressed maybe Obama should try campaigning in America.
That may be a “perception” but the reality is the US has stood strong for our allies.
Ahh, it was also a concert. Summer in Europe an experience not to be missed.
I was looking for our GNP not GDP % for our Military and found this.
Military expenditures as a percentage of gross national product. The U.S. spends a lot on its military but has a lot to spend. Some other countries don’t have much but spend it on the military anyway. World leader: Eritrea, which spends 27.4 percent of its $757 million GNP (world rank: 155) on the armed services, most of it presumably to fight its archenemy, Ethiopia. The balance of the top ten, with percentages ranging between 21.2 and 8.8: Angola, North Korea, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Congo, Qatar, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Israel. U.S. rank: 52nd, at 3 percent.
Wow but look how engaged we are in humanitarian and force protection Wow. I wonder about this 3% because I remember hearing about Canada spending 5% of its GNP this came up in discussion about Canadian contributions to Afghanistan. You can only contribute what you have, and can support. I should look that up, Canada peace loving Canada, can’t be out spending us.
Oh thank goodness the Canadians only spend 1.1%. For a minute, I thought it was time for opperation “Canadian Bacon”
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBR/is_3_34/ai_n6363976
I wonder if this play will come to America?
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article4081125.ece
One last post (honest) about Obama’s trip …this one might give you a little chuckle.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4392846.ece
Hayes Carll – She Left Me for Jesus YouTube | Click Here
Thanks Chanx! Already sent to my favorite singer.
Guess it’s best not to b*tch about the Iman being off the air again…………..
Be careful what you ask for;
Hey wait a minute the NYT offers a critical analysis of Barrack?
Apparently running for President of the Earth requires more transparency and less vagueness then simply being President of the United States.
mtnherbal, Judging from Imus’ reaction to Newsmax over the past several months it’s hard to believe they pay to be on the program. But that’s Imus.
Tune in for the daily Newsmax S & M portion of the show!
ChannelXRFR
The reason I brought up the % of the GNP for Military, for different countrys is because we are like a Blanket in Western Europe. What does France spend on keeping up a Military, Germany, Spain ect..they can rely on us being there. They can allocate more of their money, for things like Social Programs. I read somewhere that the British, were the only ones keeping up their Military strength.
Who are these “Europeans” they keep mentioning? Europe is a Continent, are they asking Scots and Irish and Welsh, English ect.. then they ask French, Spanish, Germans, Swedes..oh how about the Dutch, they are “Europeans” how do the Dutch feel about Obama’s approach to foreign policy. It might be different from other Europeans, inhabiting the same Continent.
Newsmax beat downs, continues….
Excellent point Ree, Obama refers to Europeans as if they are a monolithic political group which is so far from reality. From a national point of view Europeans are not monolithic with numerous calls for elections.
More energy policy stuff (if we’re still interested in the subject).
This seems to be, at least to the uneducated on the topic (that would be me), a good synopsis and analysis of the two candidates positions so far…
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/candidates-energy-policies-akin-putting/story.aspx?guid=%7B0738B7CE%2D2A9E%2D4E75%2D8F22%2D522B71298513%7D
ChannelXRFR,
The European Union, isn’t as popular as the Mainstream Media would like us all to believe. Tom Friedman wrote “The World is Flat” the internet, lets folks who couldn’t easily communicate before to communicate with ease now. Obama can make any kinds of pronouncements he wants it doesn’t make it a reality in anyway shape or form it is his position. Which brings me to this next youtube video “Pretzel Logic” I would like to dedicate to, Obama’s take on the effectiveness of the Surge.
All: This is sort of ‘off topic’ but Estelle Getty aka Sophia on Golden Girls’ died this week. They are playing re-runs in tribute to Estelle today – and am smiling all the while. Lifetime channel. I had forgotten just how amusing Golden Girls were/are. It’s funny because Bush Sr. policies or lack thereof were mentioned often. Sheesh! The ‘apple does not fall far from the tree’. George 1 & 2 are removed from ordinary citizens but Bush Jr. awful – the worst President we ever had. Estelle was a Democrat & a wicked good talent. God rest her soul!
Laree: You mentioned Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic – my son George has ‘Kid Chalemagne’ inscibed on his tombstone . August 22nd 1964 – November 7th 1990. We loved Steely.
stdomsgirl,
I love Steely Dan, “Hey 19″ Sylvia La Touche, friend section on I Man myspace page, had a live tribute to Estelle Getty, let me see if I can get the link through the spam filter.
Sylvia Douche, check the blog section for Estelle Getty, this is a comedian site it also offers an off myspace site.
Where did I get “La Touche” too funny, it’s like I did a word scramble.
http://www.myspace.com/sylviadouche
Results from the Surge ” I Will Fight Al Qaeda in Afghanistan” the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/help-against-bin-laden-is-proffered/79524/
Laree:
* Kid Charlemagne – sheesh! It’s a good thing – I didn’t mis-spell it on my kid’s tombstone. Jaysus!
Stdom’s,
If I’m not misunderstanding your post, I’m sorry for your loss. Those who’ve experienced it say losing a child is the worst…your heart never completely heals. Thanks for telling us about George…it sounds like your memories are good ones.
Imus on the Nines. July 25, 2008
And for those that do not like the song Don played 4 times during the 4 hour program. Just ignore that 4 minutes in the first segment.
Spread this around if you wish. Thank you
You don’t have to join MySpace.com to view the video. Just use the link below.
BrucesMySpacePresentations
AW! Frec: Sweet of you to comfort me – it’s been 18 years now but it feels like only yesterday. He was only 26 & a musician. He was a beloved cherished son. Boy! did we both love music! It’s a long story – but he was a victim of a mistaken identity – thus: the Steely song ‘Kid Charlemagne.’ The day he died – I felt as though I had aged 50 years & my heart is still broken. Ah! But there are SO many mothers who have lost children! It’s a group – one never wants to be part of. Thank-you, Dear Heart.
StDom’s,
I actually had typed “I bet it seems like yesterday,” but I deleted that thinking, how presumptuous of me to assume how she feels…but I know that’s how my Mom feels to this day about my sister’s death, and that’s after she’d also buried two husbands.
They always speak of “grieving and moving on,” but I don’t know how you do that… How many mothers of “Imus Ranch Kids” have had to walk that path?
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/07/25/video-16-months-sounds-like-a-pretty-good-timetable-says-mccain/
Frec: It brings to mind Paul McCartney’s – ‘Yesterday’. Bittersweet memories. I feel for your mother as well. The sadness never goes away – there is no such thing as getting ‘over it’ or ‘moving on’. The pain in the soul – gets a bit muted – but never goes away. I just hope that there really is ‘the other side’ & that when my time comes – my dear son George takes my hand & leads me across.
StDoms & Frec,
Listening to Imus this week and seeing his pain and empathy for these siblings was heart-wrenching. As a survivor in a time when therapy was frowned upon, I experienced the effects on my parents and our family. Life is tough, but what can be worse than losing a child? As with any loss, the pain is eased, but never erased. My heart goes out to all parents who have suffered such a loss. My hopes are the same as yours StDoms. On days like this, I can feel my brothers’ spirits even tho’ it’s been more than 40 yrs.
I think it explains why Imus was so grouchy this week. There is no good explanation for why these things happen. It is one of the things that makes me so d*mn angry about this war! So many young people.
Billions of dollars spent & 4,100 + dead sons & daughters of America led into death by the diabolical lie of the White House- Iraq caused 911. On March 19th 2003 St. Joseph’s Day {Jesus’s father – they say}
we began the march to death in Iraq. Avenging Angels. I remember those testosterone laden days. 18 year old American boys – kids joining the military with it’s new technology – playing computer games in real time instead of virtual. War by remote. Tommy Frank with his rolled up shirt sleeves {probably with a pack of cigarettes in the sleeve} executed the mission from computers in Florida. Shock & Awe. What the ‘Embeds’ reported & filmed were our Army uniformed kids happily shouting with glee when they hit the target & ‘took it out’. Rumsfeld & Tommy Frank killing Iraqis by remote. Sheesh! They should have been targeting the mountains of Tora Bora. Osama. But see, those brave hearts – in the front lines that died for us – our country- will live on in our mind’s eye. God rest their souls. God bless our troops. Bless all of the Mothers who have lost a child.
Check out my neice Erica Promo for Universal Studios Tours, Cool.
http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/park_overview.html
Erica’s promo sheesh.