http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/940c78c8-b763-11de-9812-00144feab49a.html

LMFAO!!!!!!

you just can't make this shit up.

"Just five years ago, Barack Obama was still a local politician in Illinois, preparing for a run for the US Senate. His office wall in Chicago at the time was decorated with the famous picture of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston, after knocking him out in a heavyweight title fight. Ali famously boasted that he could “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” But now that Mr Obama is president, he seems to float like a butterfly – and sting like one as well.

The notion that Mr Obama is a weak leader is now spreading in ways that are dangerous to his presidency. The fact that he won the Nobel Peace Prize last Friday will not change this impression. Peace is all very well. But Mr Obama now needs to pick a fight in public – and win it with a clean knock-out.

In truth, the Norwegians did the US president no favours by giving him the peace prize after less than a year in office. The award will only embellish a portrait of the president that has been painted in ever more vivid colours by his political enemies. The right argues that Mr Obama is a man who has been wildly applauded and promoted for not doing terribly much. Now the Nobel committee seems to be making their point for them.

The rightwing assault on the president is based around a number of slogans that are hammered home with damaging frequency: Obama the false Messiah; Obama, the president who apologises for America; Obama, the man who is more loved abroad than at home; Obama, the man who never gets anything done; Obama the hesitant; Obama the weak.

Of course, this is the kind of stuff that was always going to be hurled at a liberal, Democratic president by the Republicans. The danger for Mr Obama is that you are beginning to hear echoes of these charges from people who should be the president’s natural supporters.

One leading European politician warns that Mr Obama is looking weak on the Middle East: “If he says to the Israelis ‘no more settlements’, there have got to be no more settlements.” And yet it is the White House, not the Israeli government, that has backed down.

Even before the Nobel announcement, liberal American columnists were sounding increasingly sceptical about the man they once supported with such enthusiasm. Richard Cohen wrote in the Washington Post that the president “inspires a lot of affection but not a lot of awe. It is the latter, though, that matters most in international affairs where the greatest and most gut-wrenching tests await Obama”. Now Saturday Night Live – the slayer of Sarah Palin – has turned its fire on President Obama, portraying him a do-nothing president.

How has this impression built up? The promise of bold changes of policy on the Middle East and Iran – without much to show for it – has not helped. The public agonising over policy towards Afghanistan has been damaging. The slow pace of progress on healthcare has hurt.

Even the president’s strengths can begin to look like weaknesses. His eloquence from a public platform has begun to contrast nastily with his failure to get things done behind the scenes. I winced when I heard him proclaim from the dais at the United Nations that “speeches alone will not solve our problems”. This, from a man who was due to give three high-profile speeches in 24 hours in New York. I winced again, when Muammer Gaddafi of Libya told the UN that he would be happy “if Obama can stay forever as the president”.

Obviously, the gloom can be overdone. Mr Obama has been dealt a very difficult hand. He arrived in office when the entire global financial system was still shaking. The American economy remains in deep trouble. The president inherited two wars that were going badly and a deep well of international resentment towards the US. The Nobel committee’s decision was silly, but it reflected something real – the global sense of relief that the US now has a thoughtful, articulate president, who has some empathy for the world outside America. Mr Obama’s conservative critics might deride him as “Hamlet” because of his indecision over Afghanistan. But President Hamlet is still preferable to President George W. Bush. At least Mr Obama makes decisions with his head, rather than his gut.

It is worth remembering that the presidency of Bill Clinton also got off to a very rocky start. Mr Clinton failed over healthcare, blundered around over gays in the military (an issue that President Obama is now revisiting) and suffered military debacles in Somalia and Haiti. And yet he went on to be a successful president. Mr Obama has not yet suffered setbacks comparable to the early Clinton years – and he still has plenty of time to turn things around.

But momentum matters. The president badly needs a quick victory or a lucky break. He also needs to show that, at least sometimes, he can inspire fear as well as affection. Mr Obama can charm the birds off the trees. He can inspire crowds in Berlin and committees in Oslo. But – sad to say – he also needs to show that he can pack a punch."

 edit-- I remember Biden at the VP debate saying this man has a spine of steel...LMAO!!!!

Yes, Faxxer, you just can't make up .... some two-bit analyst's point of view. LMAO, indeed.

Has the level of discourse from our friends on the right slipped so far that linking to half-assed analysis and passing it off as some sort of fact-based news is "LMAO" worthy?

Originally posted by kobie173

Yes, Faxxer, you just can't make up .... some two-bit analyst's point of view. LMAO, indeed.

Has the level of discourse from our friends on the right slipped so far that linking to half-assed analysis and passing it off as some sort of fact-based news is "LMAO" worthy?

I laughed alot reading that so ya... LMAO times TWO.

Read it to my girl over the phone...she laughed alot ...LMAO times THREE.

anyone else let me know if you enjoyed it too eh?

Originally posted by Faxxer

Originally posted by kobie173

Yes, Faxxer, you just can't make up .... some two-bit analyst's point of view. LMAO, indeed.

Has the level of discourse from our friends on the right slipped so far that linking to half-assed analysis and passing it off as some sort of fact-based news is "LMAO" worthy?

 

I laughed alot reading that so ya... LMAO times TWO.

Read it to my girl over the phone...she laughed alot ...LMAO times THREE.

anyone else let me know if you enjoyed it too eh?

I would definitely like to see Obama be more aggressive. Frankly, I wish he'd give up this notion of attempting to include the Republicans in the process of fixing our broken health care system, because it is blatantly obvious that they are not willing to do anything if it is politically beneficial to Obama, even at the cost of American lives. They don't give a rat's ass, and quite frankly, if I was Obama, I'd show them my middle finger and concentrate on fixing health care with as little Republican input as possible.

However, I'm not sure what you're laughing at. If it's the content of the article, I didn't see anything that resembled what was intended to be humor, so you must be laughing because you agree with the analysis regarding someone you didn't vote for. And if that's what makes you LYAO, hey, more power to ya.

Originally posted by Faxxer

 

Have you looked around at all the news?  Nothing is good news if you're a democrat or lib.

EVERY thing makes them look like boobs.

Good times LMAO!

edit:  Just how many months of having full dem control in all branches do you get before you can't blame bush anymore anyway?

What do you expect when all they do is promote socialism. The dems just KEEP trying to ram socialism down our throats. We conservatives believe what we want to believe. We believe it for good reasons like "it's the way I was raised", "that's the way it's always been", and "the Bible told me so". We don't care about facts or studies or historical relevance. Dems trying to force us to pay attention to these things is pure socialism and we won't stand for it! Our freedom to believe what we want  is under attack. Unite conservatives! Protect our freedom and stop the socialist agenda of forcing you to betray the Bible and listen to the facts!

Originally posted by KarlRove

Originally posted by Faxxer

 

Have you looked around at all the news?  Nothing is good news if you're a democrat or lib.

EVERY thing makes them look like boobs.

Good times LMAO!

edit:  Just how many months of having full dem control in all branches do you get before you can't blame bush anymore anyway?

 

What do you expect when all they do is promote socialism. The dems just KEEP trying to ram socialism down our throats. We conservatives believe what we want to believe. We believe it for good reasons like "it's the way I was raised", "that's the way it's always been", and "the Bible told me so". We don't care about facts or studies or historical relevance. Dems trying to force us to pay attention to these things is pure socialism and we won't stand for it! Our freedom to believe what we want  is under attack. Unite conservatives! Protect our freedom and stop the socialist agenda of forcing you to betray the Bible and listen to the facts!

Originally posted by kobie173

Originally posted by Fishermage

Originally posted by xanphia

Honestly, it's not about which party control it's about making the country better. Here's a big hint: your party doesn't have all the answers and same with the D's. So stop bitching about one side and be a little critical about your side as well. You're really not helping the country by polarizing us even more.

 

Thus far the democrats are not doing anything to make the country better. Neither did the Repulicans, but everything that was wrong with the Republicans the democrats are much, much worse.

Republicans are a glass of water spiked with poison. The Democrats are a full glass of the killer liquid.

The Republicans claim to be for limited government, but are hypocrites and liars.

The Democrats are openly dedicated to destroying liberty and openly embrace bigger government.

So which is worse, hypocritical evil or open, honest evil? hard to say.

Ah, Fisher. I see in my self-imposed exile from MMORPG.com, you've remained just as full of it as ever.

And I see that you still can't show how I am wrong.

Originally posted by kobie173

Originally posted by stillkillin

2010 and 2012 will be sweeps for us on the right

I will bet real American money that this is not the case. The Dems don't look so great right now, but the Republicans look worse.

Not much of a risk then. The way Obama is printing the stuff it will soon be cheaper to wipe your butt with dollar bills than it would be to take the dollar bills and buy toilet paper.

Originally posted by Faxxer

Originally posted by kobie173

Yes, Faxxer, you just can't make up .... some two-bit analyst's point of view. LMAO, indeed.

Has the level of discourse from our friends on the right slipped so far that linking to half-assed analysis and passing it off as some sort of fact-based news is "LMAO" worthy?

 

I laughed alot reading that so ya... LMAO times TWO.

Read it to my girl over the phone...she laughed alot ...LMAO times THREE.

anyone else let me know if you enjoyed it too eh?

Initially I was about to give Faxxer the credit for being able to count to three, but as I re-read his post - doh!  I laughed a lot reading this so ya... LMAO times two.  My man two LMAO or even three LMAO does not equate to laugh a lot now four or more LMAO in the course of one article has been scientifically attributed to a laugh a lot. 

edit: Had to take out the girl comment not cool.