I'm Sorry...... So Sorry!

[Warph]

Earlier today, President Obama addressed the Parliament of Turkey.  What made news were his positive references to Islam:
"Let me say this as clearly as I can," Obama said. "The United States is not at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject."

This is, of course, indistinguishable from many similar pronouncements that were made by President Bush.

What I want to focus on is Obama's continuing attack on his own country, unprecedented, to my knowledge, for a President on an overseas tour.  Here are Obama's comments on his own country's history:
Obama:  "An enduring commitment to the rule of law is the only way to achieve the security that comes from justice for all people. Robust minority rights let societies benefit from the full measure of contributions from all citizens. I say this as the President of a country that not too long ago made it hard for someone who looks like me to vote."

This is untrue.  A minority of states did "make it hard" for someone who "looks like Obama" to vote until "not long ago," but most did not, and the federal government certainly did not.  There has never been a time when it was hard for people who look like "Barry" to vote here in, let say, Minnesota, for example.

As we've seen before, Obama appears to betray a surprising lack of knowledge of AMERICAN HISTORY.  It seems that instead of actually having studied his own country's history, Obama has merely absorbed the ignorant, left-wing narrative that is peddled by Jeremiah Wright and others of his ilk.  As a result, Obama not only confesses his country's sins overseas, he confesses
wrongly:
Obama:  "But it is precisely that capacity to change that enriches our countries. Every challenge that we face is more easily met if we tend to our own democratic foundation. This work is never over. That is why, in the United States, we recently ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed, and prohibited -- without exception or equivocation -- any use of torture."

Torture has been illegal for a number of years, and President Bush insisted just as strongly as Obama that the U.S. does not torture.  There was a legitimate debate about waterboarding, which does no physical injury, and which I do not believe constitutes torture.  But according to press reports, only two or three top-ranking terrorists were waterboarded, none after 2003.  And waterboarding has been banned by the U.S. military since 2006.  So what was Obama's purpose in implying that until he came along, his own government was engaged in torturing prisoners?  His speech was carried live by Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, broadcast into countries where "torture" doesn't mean getting your face wet.  Obama at least impliedly exaggerated the supposed sins of his predecessors and the "change" brought about by himself.  Why?  For what purpose?  Isn't the campaign over?  Guess not:

Obama:  "Another issue that confronts all democracies as they move to the future is how we deal with the past. The United States is still working through some of our own darker periods. Facing the Washington monument that I spoke of is a memorial to Abraham Lincoln, the man who freed those who were enslaved even after Washington led our Revolution. And our country still struggles with the legacy of our past treatment of Native Americans. Human endeavor is by its nature imperfect. History, unresolved, can be a heavy weight. Each country must work through its past."

These words were a lead-in to Obama's comments on "the terrible events of 1915," i.e., what Obama himself has referred to as the "Armenian genocide" where one & a half million Armenians were killed.  The Armenian Genocide is the second most-studied case of genocide after the Holocaust.  So what was the point of Obama's gratuitous reference to "our past treatment of Native Americans?"  Did he mean to suggest that it was somehow equivalent to the Armenian genocide?...(this will probably get some comments)... If so, once again, he needs to be better educated about WORLD HISTORY.  If not, why on earth is he throwing it into this part of his speech as a mea culpa?

Obama's seemingly compulsive need to apologize to foreign audiences on behalf of the United States cannot be explained as a rational approach to diplomacy.  The roots of Obama's "America-bashing" seem to lie in a combination of ideology and psychology.

In my way of thinking, maybe he doesn't need to return to the States after rubbing our American noses in the dirt on this infamous tour!  What do y'all think?

[pam]

  I've been ruminating on this.........The modus operandi of the United States has always been holier than thou. We have always selectively remembered "how it was". We have always held ourselves up as "the shining example" ignoring the heinus episodes in our own past which DO exist whether anybody wants to acknowledge them or not.
  We DO have plenty of things to be ashamed of in our past. They have been glossed over....denied....twisted into more flattering shapes.......and then convienently forgotten.
  I love my home, my country, my people.......but I know they are not perfect and never have been. To pretend they are is ridiculous.
  My relationship with my heritage and my country is like the relationships I have with people. The ones who matter are the ones who see your "warts" accept them...forgive them...and love you anyway.
  Maybe it's time we admitted in public what they all say (and we all know) in private anyway. Maybe they will see our "warts" are like theirs and things can be done to remove the "warts".
  But I know this is all gonna be taken badly by most of you.......frankly I don't care....it's true.

[larryJ]

I, too, love my country and my extended family.  None of them are perfect in that they (country and family) haven't made mistakes.  Everyone makes mistakes along the way-------------well----------except me!  You know, I thought I made a mistake once, but I was wrong!!     HOWEVER, our president (I won't say leader :: ) should not be apologizing to anyone for past boo-boos.  It is true that we (the country) has made some terrible decisions, but like mama said, "don't air your dirty linen in public".  I am sure that the world is aware of our history as a nation and the mistakes we made, but there is no need to apologize for that.  I personally feel somewhat abashed by "Barry" saying all that stuff.  It is like the school bully saying that he is not as tough as you think he is.  Perhaps a better way to say things would be:  "yeah we made some doozies over the years, but don't be mistaken if you think we are going to roll over and die".  I agree with Warph in that we should let them fight it out with each other while we hold their coats or turbans or whatever.  So, apologize----NO, shrink back in cowardice-----NO, PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR FREEDOM AND OUR DEMOCRATIC WAY OF LIFE---------YES!!!!!!  Sorry to rant on, but blame it on Pam because she is so right on most of the time and gets me all fired up!   

[pam]

Perhaps a better way to say things would be:  "yeah we made some doozies over the years, but don't be mistaken if you think we are going to roll over and die".  I agree with Warph in that we should let them fight it out with each other while we hold their coats or turbans or whatever.  So, apologize----NO, shrink back in cowardice-----NO, PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR FREEDOM AND OUR DEMOCRATIC WAY OF LIFE---------YES!!!!!!

Lol, I especially agree with the first part of that. AND the last part...........

[mtcookson]

  I've been ruminating on this.........The modus operandi of the United States has always been holier than thou. We have always selectively remembered "how it was". We have always held ourselves up as "the shining example" ignoring the heinus episodes in our own past which DO exist whether anybody wants to acknowledge them or not.
  We DO have plenty of things to be ashamed of in our past. They have been glossed over....denied....twisted into more flattering shapes.......and then convienently forgotten.
  I love my home, my country, my people.......but I know they are not perfect and never have been. To pretend they are is ridiculous.
  My relationship with my heritage and my country is like the relationships I have with people. The ones who matter are the ones who see your "warts" accept them...forgive them...and love you anyway.
  Maybe it's time we admitted in public what they all say (and we all know) in private anyway. Maybe they will see our "warts" are like theirs and things can be done to remove the "warts".
  But I know this is all gonna be taken badly by most of you.......frankly I don't care....it's true.

I don't see that as being the problem... the problem I'm seeing is that Obama seems like he's trying to make our "warts" look like leprosy, making everything sound even worse than it is and worse yet not even getting the history correct as can be seen above.

[pam]

I say this as the President of a country that not too long ago made it hard for someone who looks like me to vote."

i'm playin devils advocate here people.............

black MEN got the "right" to vote in the late 1800's. Exercising that right was a whole other kettle of fish. That was not "SAFE" until fairly recently. He never said the federal government kept them from it.

Torture has been illegal for a number of years, and President Bush insisted just as strongly as Obama that the U.S. does not torture.

I mean seriously.................does anybody actually believe the US never tortured anybody? Give me a break. It's ALWAYS been illegal but we all know it happened.

These words were a lead-in to Obama's comments on "the terrible events of 1915," i.e., what Obama himself has referred to as the "Armenian genocide" where one & a half million Armenians were killed.  The Armenian Genocide is the second most-studied case of genocide after the Holocaust.  So what was the point of Obama's gratuitous reference to "our past treatment of Native Americans?"  Did he mean to suggest that it was somehow equivalent to the Armenian genocide?..

What the europeans did to the natives WAS genocide. When the first ones "found" this "deserted" continent there were approximately 12 million of various tribes just in north america. By 1900 there were approximatley 250,000. Today there are between 2 and 3 million. It was just AS bad if not worse.

I never said he was right to say those things in public, but actually I think it's time we broke the barrier of silence and denial in this country. I get the "don't air your dirty laundry in public" thing. Seriously tho how long are things just supposed to stink in the closet before you clean it out?

[Varmit]

Gloss it over? Since when?  How Yes, we have made some mistakes in our history.  Yes, there were wrongs on both sides, whites and indians.  But it seems when the subject comes up that part is always forgotten isn't it?  I mean seriously, how many times do we hear of how whites were kidnapped and made slaves or tortured by indians??...anyone...don't be shy, just shout out the answer if you know...oh yeah, thats right...HARDLY EVER!!!

Yes, the U.S. had african slaves, yes this was bad.  But how often do we talk about how it was spain and england who started the slave trade, or lay even partial blame at their feet...Never.  And this little doozie is my personal favorite,  how often to we discuss the fact that a very large number of slaves were bought or traded for from other AFRICANS?  Again never.  The blame is always layed at the feet of those evil, white, arrogant, males. 

I won't get into how the U.S. has saved bailed out the world more times than anyone can count, only to have those who it saved spit in her eye.  Maybe we pull every soldier back home and tell those countries to fend for themselves.  Oh, and why we are at we should stop all immigration, illegal and legal, since we are such an evil country that no one wants to live here.

That S.O.B that occupies the oval office has no right to apologize for Real American Presidents who took the unpopular road of keeping this country safe.  I think the only thing this country has done wrong (recently) is in not going far enough, we left some of those whom we were fighting alive.  Have we tourtered for information yes, were we justified in doing so if it kept americans alive, YES.  Did we chop peoples heads off with butcher knives and put the video of it on the internet???  Did we drag enemy troops through the streets until they were dead???

To quote Pam here...But I know this is all gonna be taken badly by most of you.......frankly I don't care....it's true.

[pam]

 Frankly Varmit you are preachin to the choir here again. i believe the word I used was EUROPEAN, that covers quite a few races. I have ancestors on BOTH sides I KNOW what was done by BOTH sides.

I don't see ANYthing in my post about evil arrogant WHITE anything.

[Varmit]

Sorry Pam, I should have claified.. I was not refering to just your post..although I did use it as a starting point.  I was talking about all the things I have heard since I was old enough to understand what they were talking about. 

Oh, and the evil white arrogrant thing was an inferance by the Brazilian pres. and a congressman from (not sure) philidelipha I believe.

With a population around 300 million, I'm sure the number of "Native" Americans is much higher than 3 million.  That would mean that there are 297million non-native or naturalized americans.  Take me for instance, my ansestors were from norway, greenland, and germania, but I was born in Ponca, hence my "native american" claim.  I believe anyone born here after the "America" name was given to this contient is a Native.

[pam]

  I agree about your "native" definition. Guess I could use indigenous maybe to refer to that side of my family.

  So....according to the 2000 census there were 2,475,956 "indigenous" native americans. That's back up from 250,000 in the 1900 census.

   The world is rampant with idiots in the political positions of power right now. I can't believe they got out of grade school much less elected to national office ANYwhere.