Assessing the President

Obama's Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting A bad week for Democrats compounded by an awful moment for Barack Obama. By ROBERT A. GEORGE

President Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.

After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.

But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner."  Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?

Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That's the least that should occur.

Indeed, an argument could be made that Obama should have canceled the Indian event, out of respect for people having been murdered at an Army post a few hours before. That would have prevented any sort of jarring emotional switch at the event. 

Did the president's team not realize what sort of image they were presenting to the country at this moment? The disconnect between what Americans at home knew had been going on -- and the initial words coming out of their president's mouth was jolting, if not disturbing.

It must have been disappointing for many politically aware Democrats, still reeling from the election two days before. The New Jersey gubernatorial vote had already demonstrated that the president and his political team couldn't produce a winning outcome in a state very friendly to Democrats (and where the president won by 15 points one year ago). And now this? Congressional Democrats must wonder if a White House that has burdened them with a too-heavy policy agenda over the last year has a strong enough political operation to help push that agenda through. 

If the president's communications apparatus can't inform -- and protect -- their boss during tense moments when the country needs to see a focused commander-in-chief and a compassionate head of state, it has disastrous consequences for that president's party and supporters. 

All the president's men (and women) fell down on the job Thursday.  And Democrats across the country have real reason to panic.

God Bless

The ethical man knows right from wrong (his head), while the moral man does right over wrong (his head & heart).
So you can be ethical and not have any morals? You know better, but dont apply it.
Ethics are based on a code of conduct.
Morals are based on various codes of ideology.
An ethical man is ethical in how he conducts his life and his business affairs.
A moral man knows right from wrong and choose right.
An ethical person considers the context (motive, consequences, urgency) of his actions. A moral person acts in accordance with principles which he may never have examined. Both attempt to live rightly. I think of the first as wise and the second as good. I like best the person with an ethical morality.

I need; Your post runs in opposition to the dictionary entries for the words “moral” and “ethical”…Click these links;

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moral

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethical

The dictionary holds that these words are synonyms…They mean the same thing, but you seem to want them to be different and maybe even that they may be anonyms.

In light of the true meaning of these words, are you trying to establish new meanings for these words or are you trying to make some other more subtle point?...Judging from your next post (a big red heart with President Obama imbedded), I would assume the latter, but I have no idea exactly what you are trying to say…Could you be more explicit?

Peace

PatD,

I read your analysis of "I need some change" as well as your exchanges with froggy and considering our little discourse, I find your methodology tedious.

While you are correct in your assertions for clarity of the common definitions in the use of the English language and there intended meanings, your search inevitably leads to a rather myopic discourse that looses, misplaces or ignores the true message.

It reminds me of the search for Truth with a capital "T" versus truth with a small "t'. To me this thread is designed to promote opinions, beliefs and the exchange of both between people. Not necessarily a class on rhetoric, spelling and English composition. Which you seem to value at the expense of the message the person is trying to convey.

However, you are civil and while I do find your methodology tedious and mundane you are in fact exchanging ideas. So, good luck with that.

Peace to you and yours

the bruce 

p.s.

Froggy just likes a good fight and he has a penchant for letting others redirect the focus and this irritates him, so he will say what is on his mind which can and does lead to statements involving character assessments.

In short, he is passionate about his beliefs, of which I agree, for the most part.

the bruce

Bruce;

I must thank you for giving me words to describe very clearly how I felt reading your posts… In this case, the word “tedious” is, indeed, very descriptive and very accurate.

“While you are correct in your assertions for clarity of the common definitions in the use of the English language and there intended meanings, your search inevitably leads to a rather myopic discourse that looses, misplaces or ignores the true message.”

I took this to mean that my definitions of the words in question are correct, but I missed the point…If this is what you meant, then I would point out that lacking the intended meaning of the words, given the usage is incorrect, I have no idea exactly what the point might be.

“It reminds me of the search for Truth with a capital "T" versus truth with a small "t'. To me this thread is designed to promote opinions, beliefs and the exchange of both between people. Not necessarily a class on rhetoric, spelling and English composition. Which you seem to value at the expense of the message the person is trying to convey.”

This paragraph seems to mean that you feel that I am paying much too much attention to the meaning of the words and that I am ignoring the message, which is about the same thing that you said in your first paragraph…So again I must point out that if the message is hidden or blurred in incorrect spelling, grammar, and sentence composition, I am risking a false interpretation of the message and thus I would answer a question not asked or address an issue not in question.

“However, you are civil and while I do find your methodology tedious and mundane you are in fact exchanging ideas. So, good luck with that.”

Thank you for the compliment; I think.

My issues with Frogbutt go much deeper than merely communications.

Peace.

To bad we don't have firing squard

FT. HOOD ATTACK WAS TERRORISM

In his nationally televised remarks following the horrendous killings at Ft. Hood, President Obama never mentioned the T word.  The attack was an act "of violence."  No mention of terrorism.

In fact, the Ft. Hood shooting is the first terror attack on American soil since 9-11.  But Obama, reluctant to take the rap for inadequate protections against such attacks, is doing everything he can to make it look like an adult version of the Columbine school shootings.  We are treated to stories about the killer's dread of being sent back to Afghanistan and his deformed personality. 

But, the fact is that Major Nidal Malik Hasan jumped on a table, yelled "Alah Hu Akhbar" and began the shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 30 more.

Ilana Freedman, CEO and Senior Analyst for the Gerard Group International, which provides intelligence analysis for business and homeland security, describes Hasan as a "lone wolf terrorist" who acts without apparent coordination with any other person or organization.  But that does not make him any less of a terrorist.
   
The dividing line, of course, between a terrorist and a psychopathic killer is political motivation.  His statements right before opening fire would indicate that Hasan was motivated by fanaticism and a commitment to Islamic fascism, even though President Obama bends over backwards to avoid saying so.

Obama's refusal to call the attack terrorism, and to heed the warning signs about the porous nature of our security system that allowed it to happen on a military base, recalls President Clinton's deliberate decision to downplay the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.  He did not visit the site of the attack and treated it as a crime, promising to find those guilty and punish them, rather than to attack the international groups that funded and enabled them.

There may be no groups behind Major Hasan's attack, but the fact that he was an officer in the Army, with full access to a military base and its arsenal of weapons, while holding the views he did, is the first indication of a laxity in security under President Obama.  This attack did not take place in a shopping mall or a school, where security procedures are, understandably, relaxed.  It happened on the highest security place of all - a military base!  That the military failed to spot the possibility of an attack and had no measures in place to prevent it must be laid at the feet of the commander-in-chief of that military: President Barack Obama.
    
Many commentators have warned that the diminution of security and the weakening of our anti-terrorist protections would leave us vulnerable to be hit again.  Now it has happened.  And the president is doing everything he can to blur the distinction between murder and terrorism.

It was his failure to understand the difference between an act of war and a crime that undermined President Clinton's administration's anti-terror efforts and led directly to 9-11.  It would appear that President Obama is going down the same road of denial and minimization of political harm.  There may be casualties at Ft. Hood, but Obama is determined that his popularity will not be among them.

AMERICA'S CHALLENGE

Since the Election of a Community Organizer, Americans have witnessed an unprecedented change in "Our" Country. 

White Apologists, along with ACORN, helped get this Selfish Chicago Style Politician Elected, and they will ignore everything he does against our Constitution for their own selfish pride.

Obama, as we ALL know was mentored by a Communist like Frank Marshall Davis, a Racist like Reverend Wright, and Obama even stabbed Former Senator Alice Palmer in the back after she groomed & mentored him as her replacement.

Obama has now brought those Communist and Radical views he grew up with, to the White House. 

The Plan is Simple ... Keep Americans Dependent, And They Will Always Need You.  Keep Taking Care of Them, And They Will Continue To Elect You.  Destroy Capitalism because that gives Americans Independence & Determination.  And that's not what a Controlling Government needs.
The problem for the Liberal Democrats is this ......
They Rally the Poor, the Minorities and their Liberal Base.  The problem with that strategy is these aren't the people that make the Economy Grow, nor do they contribute to society.  They are the Government Dependent Group.
The Conservatives, Small Business Owners, and the Wealthy are the ones that make this Country Grow.  They are clearly not behind Obama's Government Control Agenda.  The Rich will hold their money and not invest.  Where will the Democrats get their Money to provide for their followers ???  Certainly not from their pockets.
The problem that Self Absorbed Liberals have is, they think EVERYONE is on board with their Socialistic Plan ... I cannot wait to see the disappointment on their faces.
Don't let these Self Absorbed Liberals fool you ... They are not as powerful as you think they are.  I speak to several people a week, and of all ages.  I spoke to a 70 year old man a couple of weeks ago that admitted to voting for Obama.  I asked him why ...
HIS ANSWER:  "I thought McCain was to old and we needed younger blood in charge."  He admitted to never researching Obama's history or past.  He just thought he spoke well and communicated well.  Today ... He feels it's one of the biggest mistakes he's made.
Believe this ... That story is a common one across the Country.  Many Americans, Young & Old, bought into Obama's ability to read speeches well and promise greatness. 
The Majority of the Country is Conservative in Principles and Values.  They will eventually get enough of government dictating to them how to live and raise their children, and there will be more Tea Parties, but even larger than before.  Americans are going to stand up and say, "enough is enough." 
For Conservative America, it's time that "WE" stop allowing the "minority" Liberal Cult to speak above our Patriotism.  It's time we hold them accountable for everything they do against the foundation of this Great Country.  Expose them daily, for their hatred towards the way our Founding Fathers had intended our Great Country to be. 
"WE" cannot allow Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Dennis Miller, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingram, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter, Michelle Mulkin, and other Conservatives to be the only voices against this Anti-American Machine.  "WE" need to do our part EVERYDAY.  Don't keep quiet anymore ... Don't bite your tongue anymore ... Don't turn the other cheek this time ...
The Liberal Cult is not going to win this battle.  They lack discipline, work ethic, and intelligence  ... Sure they feel empowered at the moment, but Conservative Principles DOMINATE this Country.  We just need to make sure they hear us from here on out.
Liberals don't have the power they insinuate they have  ... They've just been shouting louder than "WE" have for the past decade.
Spread This Message Conservatives ...