thebin
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Post by thebin on May 29, 2009 11:11:46 GMT -5
There was a lot of talk about how this new face of American power would repair the damage supposedly done by Bush. It would be nice if they could stop blatently insulting our closest ally in the world while they are at it. (Those of us who travelled in Europe during the Clinton days can of course attest to a broader anti-Americanism that has been prevalent in some form on the continent for centuries but was quite pungent in the mid-90s when Bush was Governor. ) But the president's press secretary's bizarre attack on the entire British media establishment was reprehensibly stupid and uncalled for. What was that all about? blogs.telegraph.co.uk/nile_gardiner/blog/2009/05/29/robert_gibbs_should_apologise_to_the_british_press_for_his_sneering_rant |
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thebin
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Post by thebin on May 29, 2009 11:19:16 GMT -5
blogs.telegraph.co.uk/james_delingpole/blog/2009/05/29/memo_to_obama_attack_dog_robert_gibbs_stop_pooping_on_our_lawnThis is another valid and blistering attack that I sympathize with. Particularly point 4.... "Your treatment not just of the British media but of Britain generally smacks of a risible ineptitude. First, you let President Obama send back the Winston Churchill bust. Then, you insult our visiting prime minister with a dismally low-key reception (worthy of a minor African head of state, not your closest and most loyal ally) and shoddy gifts (those DVDs). Then you compound the insult by having one of your monkeys declare, Chicago-politics-style, ""There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment." OK so we know Obama's not much interested in foreign affairs and has a special loathing for Britain because it roughed up his Kenyan granddad during the Mau Mau insurrection. But don't you realise, that one of your jobs as his press secretary is to make out like he loves us so much even his underpants have a union flag on them?"
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TC
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Post by TC on May 29, 2009 11:28:45 GMT -5
Shocking that the author of "Welcome to Obamaland: I Have Seen Your Future and It Doesn't Work" (released January 26, 2009 - before any of this happened) would find fault with Obama.
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theexorcist
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Post by theexorcist on May 29, 2009 11:47:21 GMT -5
I loathe Obama, but this is an attack on the press, not the country. And the one comment about a "money" (won't touch that one) isn't named.
And Gibbs has had a few nasty exchanges with the US press (though it doesn't beat the absolutely awesome Tony Snow, who once thanked Helen Thomas for "the Hezbollah viewpoint".
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thebin
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Post by thebin on May 29, 2009 13:22:35 GMT -5
Helen Thomas could be counted on to provide the Hezbollah viewpoint. That's just calling a spade a spade.
Since he's the friggen PRESS SECRETARY, there is no difference between the UK as a nation and the British Press. He should attack neither as a whole, and do so less lamely than he did if he really must offend the entire diverse group. Inexcusably offensive to the people who report on America to 60 million Brits.
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quickplay
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Post by quickplay on May 29, 2009 14:35:27 GMT -5
Since he's the press secretary, there is no difference between the UK as a nation and the British Press? Huh?
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rosslynhoya
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Post by rosslynhoya on May 29, 2009 15:25:43 GMT -5
Shocking that the author of "Welcome to Obamaland: I Have Seen Your Future and It Doesn't Work" (released January 26, 2009 - before any of this happened) would find fault with Obama. That's those nutjobs at DailyKos for you, proud members of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. |
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thebin
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Post by thebin on May 29, 2009 15:31:37 GMT -5
Since he's the press secretary, there is no difference between the UK as a nation and the British Press? Huh? Try to keep up, if a press secretary insults the entire national press that represents US news to the British people, that's a bad thing generaly speaking. Play your stupid semantic games if you wish to pretend that Gibb's childish rant was even in the ball park of acceptable. |
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TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by TC on May 29, 2009 18:06:29 GMT -5
Try to keep up, if a press secretary insults the entire national press that represents US news to the British people, that's a bad thing generaly speaking. Play your stupid semantic games if you wish to pretend that Gibb's childish rant was even in the ball park of acceptable. When Sarah Palin launched attack after attack on the US media, I didn't take it as an attack on the American people in general. The Brits think their press is garbage too. |
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thebin
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Post by thebin on May 30, 2009 11:44:18 GMT -5
Try to keep up, if a press secretary insults the entire national press that represents US news to the British people, that's a bad thing generaly speaking. Play your stupid semantic games if you wish to pretend that Gibb's childish rant was even in the ball park of acceptable. When Sarah Palin launched attack after attack on the US media, I didn't take it as an attack on the American people in general. The Brits think their press is garbage too. I have nothing left to conclude other than that you have no idea what a press secretary is or what he or she is meant to do. |
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on May 30, 2009 13:41:56 GMT -5
As some of you here know, I'm a huge F1 racing fan, and the primary English language source for F1 news is the British media. Aside from a few bastions of sanity (the Autosport empire and the BBC), the British media is complete and total garbage. They feast on sensationalist and unsubstantiated headlines. The British media is to the media world what the American airline industry is to the airlines of the world. It sucks and it's an embarrassing smear on an otherwise wonderful country.
Compare the top circulating newspapers in the US and the UK. The top paper in the US is the USA Today, which isn't great but at least has some news value. The top paper in the UK is News of the World - the worst of the worst of tabloid journalism. After that it gets even worse. #2 in the US is the NY Times, followed by the Wall Street Journal #2 and #3 in the UK are The Sun and the Daily Mail - both of which are total garbage.
In other words, any criticism of the British press is totally justified.
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quickplay
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Post by quickplay on May 30, 2009 19:25:35 GMT -5
When Sarah Palin launched attack after attack on the US media, I didn't take it as an attack on the American people in general. The Brits think their press is garbage too. I have nothing left to conclude other than that you have no idea what a press secretary is or what he or she is meant to do. I think you're going so far out of your way to find faults in the Obama administration that your legitimate concerns are overshadowed by your more ridiculous claims. It was a rude thing to say. It has not started an international incident. There is a difference between the British press and the British people. Even IF something is said by the US Press Secretary. A press secretary is not the Living Word of America. |
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thebin
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Post by thebin on Jun 5, 2009 12:09:38 GMT -5
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Jun 5, 2009 12:29:21 GMT -5
My synopsis of the conversation in Dresden this morning:
Obama: So, uh, you, uh, heard I'm closing, uh, Guantanamo, uh, right?
Merkel: Yes Mr. President. I and the German people completely support you in your efforts to close this detention facility.
[silence for a few minutes]
Obama: So, uh, can I, uh, ask you a ques.....?
Merkel: NO!!
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Cambridge
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Post by Cambridge on Jun 5, 2009 12:59:20 GMT -5
I am British by birth, American by choice and I have no problems with the criticisms of the British media. It is garbage, for the most part, and most Brits would agree.
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thebin
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Post by thebin on Jun 5, 2009 13:06:38 GMT -5
The Telegraph is better than any American newspaper save maybe the Journal. And this is besides the point. It's not an appropriate attack for a presidential press secretary. I think you all know that.
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Post by redskins12820 on Jun 7, 2009 10:12:34 GMT -5
Let's not go overboard with the criticism of the british press. I'll let you know that I read many a London Paper during my time abroad and it was fantastic! How else am I supposed to know which celebs went to which club, and which ones got into sloppy drunk fights with photographers. The NY Times and WSJ lack such valuable insight  |
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thebin
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Post by thebin on Jun 15, 2009 12:00:09 GMT -5
The new administration's latest salvo in what sure seems like an attempt to anger our most important ally. Or is it just extreme malfeasance? Or is this still the fault of the tawdry English press? www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/americas-bermuda-solution-angers-britain-1704147.html"Privately Whitehall officials accused America of treating Britain, with whom it is supposed to have a "special relationship", with barely disguised contempt. One senior official said: "The Americans were fully aware of the foreign-policy understanding we have with Bermuda and they deliberately chose to ignore it. This is not the kind of behaviour one expects from an ally." " |
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Jun 15, 2009 12:51:01 GMT -5
Given the fact that the situation with the Palau plan doesn't exactly seem to be going swimmingly at the moment, I would venture to say that there was nothing deliberate from the Obama administration about this Bermuda deal with respect to the UK....
...they simply didn't consider it.
This whole program is beginning to smack of desperation. It is rushed, unplanned and extremely sketchy. And these are just the Uighurs.
I'm not sure I share the opinion of many on the left who say these people are no danger at all. Maybe that's true, I'm just saying "not sure." They were found not to be a threat to the US, that's truen but it's also true that they were trained in alQaeda training camps, so saying "no danger" seems like it might be too optimistic. But, wherever they fall on that spectrum, there seems to be quite a bit of consensus that, of everyone still at Gitmo, these are probably the "least" dangerous.
Now the President of Palau is saying, "uhhhh......50/50" after his citizens and his media laid into the government for agreeing to this.
The UK is pretty steamed as are members of the Bermuda Parliament.
The State department has thrown the Bermuda premier under the bus.
Obama has no friends in Congress on this issue, and very few friends in the international community.
It will get worse from here.
(either that or Obama will abandon this plan but still claim that he closed Gitmo because the the release of 17 Chinese Muslims).
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