TelePrompTer 08'

[USRufnex]

Kinda wild to see the GOP take the NIMBY position on closing GITMO....
I like hearing Cheney's perspectives.... but then again, I liked hearing Michael Moore's perspectives.... which one is "propaganda"?... and which one is "patriotism and love of country"?... Buehler, Buehler?...

There is a debate to be had here..... and a reasonable debate between adults over policy is preferable to pithy little soundbite wars over teleprompters and gaffes....

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But you can't do that in Church of England, you can't say, "You must have tea and cake with the Vicar, or you die!" You can't have extreme points of view, you know. The Spanish Inquisition wouldn't have worked with Church of England.

"Talk! Will you talk!"

"But it hurts!"

"Well, loosen it up a bit, will you? Fine..."

Cause that's what it would be. "Tea and cake or death? Tea and cake or death? Tea and cake or death!" Students with beards, ( mimes demonstrating with picket signs ) "Tea and cake or death! Tea and cake or death! Little Red Cookbook! Little Red Cookbook!"  Cause, "Cake or death?" That's a pretty easy question. Anyone could answer that.

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[USRufnex]

Bwahahahahahaha. "[O]bama 's speech this morning blew Cheney 's away" (FIFY). I really liked that Sec. of Defense William Gates comment (and he had TOTUS). As for Cheney, here he is lacing into the plan, or lack thereof, for closing Gitmo:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?iref=videoglobal

As a side note, since his own Director of National Intelligence has stated that EIT saved lives, I wonder how many American lives Obama is willing to sacrifice in order to uphold his opinion as to American core values?

Maybe you should stop listening for gaffes and playing right wing gotcha games... and focus on the substance of Obama's arguments...

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"...my single most important responsibility as President is to keep the American people safe. That is the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It is the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.

This responsibility is only magnified in an era when an extremist ideology threatens our people, and technology gives a handful of terrorists the potential to do us great harm. We are less than eight years removed from the deadliest attack on American soil in our history. We know that al Qaeda is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time, and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it.

Already, we have taken several steps to achieve that goal. For the first time since 2002, we are providing the necessary resources and strategic direction to take the fight to the extremists who attacked us on 9/11 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are investing in the 21st century military and intelligence capabilities that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy.

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We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe. Time and again, our values have been our best national security asset - in war and peace; in times of ease and in eras of upheaval.

Fidelity to our values is the reason why the United States of America grew from a small string of colonies under the writ of an empire to the strongest nation in the world.

It is the reason why enemy soldiers have surrendered to us in battle, knowing they'd receive better treatment from America's armed forces than from their own government.

It is the reason why America has benefited from strong alliances that amplified our power, and drawn a sharp and moral contrast with our adversaries.

It is the reason why we've been able to overpower the iron fist of fascism, outlast the iron curtain of communism, and enlist free nations and free people everywhere in common cause and common effort.

From Europe to the Pacific, we have been a nation that has shut down torture chambers and replaced tyranny with the rule of law. That is who we are.

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After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era - that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law; that our government would need new tools to protect the American people, and that these tools would have to allow us to prevent attacks instead of simply prosecuting those who try to carry them out.

Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. And I believe that those decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that - too often - our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford. And in this season of fear, too many of us - Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens - fell silent.

In other words, we went off course.

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As Commander-in-Chief, I see the intelligence, I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation. What's more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America. They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle, and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured. In short, they did not advance our war and counter-terrorism efforts - they undermined them, and that is why I ended them once and for all.

The arguments against these techniques did not originate from my Administration. As Senator McCain once said, torture "serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us."

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As our efforts to close Guantanamo move forward, I know that the politics in Congress will be difficult. These issues are fodder for 30-second commercials and direct mail pieces that are designed to frighten. I get it. But if we continue to make decisions from within a climate of fear, we will make more mistakes. And if we refuse to deal with these issues today, then I guarantee you that they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future. I have confidence that the American people are more interested in doing what is right to protect this country than in political posturing.

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For over seven years, we have detained hundreds of people at Guantanamo. During that time, the system of Military Commissions at Guantanamo succeeded in convicting a grand total of three suspected terrorists. Let me repeat that: three convictions in over seven years. Instead of bringing terrorists to justice, efforts at prosecution met setbacks, cases lingered on, and in 2006 the Supreme Court invalidated the entire system. Meanwhile, over five hundred and twenty-five detainees were released from Guantanamo under the Bush Administration. Let me repeat that: two-thirds of the detainees were released before I took office and ordered the closure of Guantanamo.

There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is America's strongest currency in the world. Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law. Indeed, part of the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law - a proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected. Meanwhile, instead of serving as a tool to counter-terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.

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There are no neat or easy answers here. But I can tell you that the wrong answer is to pretend like this problem will go away if we maintain an unsustainable status quo. As President, I refuse to allow this problem to fester. Our security interests won't permit it. Our courts won't allow it. And neither should our conscience.

Now, over the last several weeks, we have seen a return of the politicization of these issues that have characterized the last several years. I understand that these problems arouse passions and concerns. They should. We are confronting some of the most complicated questions that a democracy can face. But I have no interest in spending our time re-litigating the policies of the last eight years. I want to solve these problems, and I want to solve them together as Americans.

And we will be ill-served by some of the fear-mongering that emerges whenever we discuss this issue. Listening to the recent debate, I've heard words that are calculated to scare people rather than educate them; words that have more to do with politics than protecting our country.

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I understand that it is no secret that there is a tendency in Washington to spend our time pointing fingers at one another. And our media culture feeds the impulses that lead to a good fight. Nothing will contribute more to that than an extended re-litigation of the last eight years. Already, we have seen how that kind of effort only leads those in Washington to different sides laying blame, and can distract us from focusing our time, our effort, and our politics on the challenges of the future.

We see that, above all, in how the recent debate has been obscured by two opposite and absolutist ends. On one side of the spectrum, there are those who make little allowance for the unique challenges posed by terrorism, and who would almost never put national security over transparency. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: "anything goes." Their arguments suggest that the ends of fighting terrorism can be used to justify any means, and that the President should have blanket authority to do whatever he wants - provided that it is a President with whom they agree.

Both sides may be sincere in their views, but neither side is right. The American people are not absolutist, and they don't elect us to impose a rigid ideology on our problems. They know that we need not sacrifice our security for our values, nor sacrifice our values for our security, so long as we approach difficult questions with honesty, and care, and a dose of common sense. That, after all, is the unique genius of America. That is the challenge laid down by our Constitution. That has been the source of our strength through the ages. That is what makes the United States of America different as a nation.

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Unlike the Civil War or World War II, we cannot count on a surrender ceremony to bring this journey to an end. Right now, in distant training camps and in crowded cities, there are people plotting to take American lives. That will be the case a year from now, five years from now, and - in all probability - ten years from now. Neither I nor anyone else can standing here today can say that there will not be another terrorist attack that takes American lives. But I can say with certainty that my Administration - along with our extraordinary troops and the patriotic men and women who defend our national security - will do everything in our power to keep the American people safe. And I do know with certainty that we can defeat al Qaeda. Because the terrorists can only succeed if they swell their ranks and alienate America from our allies, and they will never be able to do that if we stay true to who we are; if we forge tough and durable approaches to fighting terrorism that are anchored in our timeless ideals.

This must be our common purpose. I ran for President because I believe that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together. We will not be safe if we see national security as a wedge that divides America - it can and must be a cause that unites us as one people, as one nation. We have done so before in times that were more perilous than ours. We will do so once again. Thank you, God Bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

[Gaspar]

Holy Crap.  Ruf IS the TOTUS.

I knew it.

[guido911]

We must end privacy in the Gulf of Aden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoGPfXai0b0&feature=related

The Constitution was written 20 CENTURIES ago, says noted law professor:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiRhHqlzaG4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fhotair%2Ecom%2Farchives%2F2009%2F05%2F27%2Fobamateurism%2Dof%2Dthe%2Dday%2D44%2F&feature=player_embedded

[USRufnex]

Thanks for proving my point, Guido.

Focus on gaffes over substance at your peril.

And equate Obama's to Bush's....

David Axelrod would like to thank you and all of freeper-nation.... 

[Conan71]

If gaffe-spotting hadn't been such a popular past time during the Bush admin, I don't think people would be so hard on gaffe-masters Obama and Biden.  Everyone is getting their paybacks, not just liberal Olbermann spooners

[USRufnex]

I guess I'm more in line with the liberal John Stewart jocksniffers.... /snark.

I am a Boortz and Gibson spooner.

Matthews and Olbermann will undoubtedly be masturbating under their desks this evening.

Matthews and Olbermann will undoubtedly be masturbating each other   under their desks this evening.

Some of y'all need to get laid.
Seriously, dudes. 

[guido911]

Some of y'all need to get laid.
Seriously, dudes. 

If that's an offer soocerboy, sorry, I'm straight.  As for Axelrod, f*ck that mysoginist. Here's that dooshnozzle (who obviously must be gay) calling Carrie Prejean a dog.

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/classy-axelrod-prejean-is-dog-audio.html

Where is NOW with a response? crickets.

[guido911]

Via drudge:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31051003#31155804

[FOTD]

Via drudge:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31051003#31155804

[guido911]

TOTUS destroyed:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/07/if-a-teleprompter-falls-in-the-white-house-does-it-make-a-sound.html

[guido911]

Obama's teleprompter being racist once again:

[FOTD]

Obama's teleprompter being racist once again:

Doe Doe, you had to search long and hard on your network of right wing news analyzers to come up with that 5 second gaff. Certainly, that doesn't compare to Dumbya's daily slip ups on Letterman shows every evening for 8 years.

[FOTD]

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obamas_home_teleprompter

[guido911]

Jon Stewart re: TOTUS

http://videos.mediaite.com/video/Even-Jon-Stewart-Goes-After-Oba