Obama's Middle East Speech
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
May 19, 2011 at 8:59am
In honor of the Middle East, he's late.
If anyone else is watching--and if this ever happens--this thread's for you.
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Comments :
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
Trending: #WhyObamaIsLate.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
The constant tardiness is very unAmerican. No consideration of other peoples' valuable time.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
While drinking out of his new birth certificate mug, Obama spilled coffee on his birth certificate shirt. #WhyObamaIsLate
May '10
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
My only regret is that this conference comes too early for a drinking game. Maybe Obama's trying to bump it past 5 pip emma.
Ben Smith at Politico has been reporting two things: a lot of Israel talk (cause there's nothing actually important going on in the Mideast he could spend time talking about), and it will be really long.
So he's going to spend a long time talking about Israel, while being late. I salute the editorial decision not to host a live chat.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
My favorite recent tweets:
"At this rate, Obama's going to have to make a speech about the Arab Summer."
and
"So is this speech delayed because they're deciding whether to give the Herald credentials or not."
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
Does anyone else sense that something's freaking him out? He looks distracted and anxious. He's stumbling on key words.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
I don't know but it is seriously WEIRD. Way too much "nothing" for a "serious" speech, right?
May '10
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
What baffles me is that the speech kept getting changed for last-minute edits. Nobody, absolutely nobody wanted this speech anyway. Why not wait to figure out what you want to say? Not like you'll disappoint anyone.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
This is generally not bad at all so far ... but why does he seem so nervous?
Oct '10
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
He's nervous because the teleprompters are further to the sides than he's used to. He's almost turning 180 degrees to each side as he speaks!
I'm waiting for the part on formalizing property rights and the rule of law in the arab world.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
What is going on here? I've never seen him look quite so unnerved. It's not just me, right?
May '10
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
I'll let others watch and comment - I can't bear to listen to him.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
I'm appreciating the mention of religious freedom.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
There's a lot to appreciate in this speech. Apart from my sense that he's about to cry or vomit--he's said many things I appreciate.
Jun '10
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
I'm stunned. This is either horrible or a genius masquerade.
May '10
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
Though let's be honest, you would've appreciated it more if he'd cried or vomited.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
Okay, speech just ended and I've got three kids hollering for dinner, so very quickly: No whopping new policy statements. He reiterated that the US is calling for two states based on the 1967 lines. He did stick his neck out a bit on the expected Palestinian unilateral declaration of statehood, coming out against it, and mentioned the Hamas-Fatah pact as less than helpful -- he actually made the point that it's a bit much to expect anyone to try to make peace with a party that refuses to recognize its right to exist. He once again drew an obstacles-to-peace equivalence between settlements and violence, but that's to be expected from him. Oh, and he called out Assad by name and backed up Hillary's claim of a few weeks back that Iran is stirring the pot in Syria. Some welcome talk about women's rights and battling corruption in the Arab world, with assorted fuzzy references to "promoting" various good things without specifying how. Emphasized the economic element in the Arab uprisings, which is accurate but could mean lots of US tax dollars heading their way.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
One phrase that might have had another meaning: Israel is capable of defending herself, by herself. Could be an early warning.
May '10
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
Hang in there til January 2013, Judith! Maybe even before then, as there's a pretty solid veto-proof bipartisan pro-Israel majority in Congress.
I was a little alarmed by the idea of a "contiguous Palestinian state" but then figured it's all a pipe dream anyway, so who cares what he says. Though I obviously don't live in Israel.
Re: Obama's Middle East Speech
Things that in a more honest world would have been stressed much more heavily, or at least mentioned: Iran is the biggest threat to the region. When it comes to the repression of women, the Saudis have no equal. Hezbollah has swallowed up Lebanon. We all saw what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and the risk of something similar happening in Tunisia and Egypt is very high. We all know Assad is not going to pursue the path of reform, and the reason we have not decided to kill him is we're too afraid of what might happen without him--probably rightly so. He did not mention Bahrain. Iraq seemed to barely warrant more than a nod. Not one word about Turkey, though I appreciated the reference to Internet freedoms; that was taken as intended here, I think.
But this speech could have been much worse. The words "corruption," "bribery," "cronyism"--those are critical. The statement that these, in conjunction with the repression of women and the obsession with Israel, have rendered the region an economic basket case--that's extremely important.