Did Obama really walk back his mosque comments?

Earlier this morning, we wrote that President Obama on Saturday appeared to walk back his Friday-night comments on that mosque near Ground Zero. "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there," he said. "I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding."

Greg Sargent argues that Obama's remarks weren't a walk-back.

Was [Friday's] speech an "endorsement" of the project? In one sense it certainly was. He voiced strong support for the group's right to build it, and he went beyond that: He asserted that the group not only has the legal right to proceed, but that we should also welcome those with different faiths, not merely tolerate them because the law mandates it. And he declared that to do any less is un-American.

That last aspect of his speech, as I said below, is what made it powerful. Simply vouching for the group's legal rights is a no-brainer. The crux of Obama's message is that we should do more: We should welcome and respect people of all religious faiths.

Is that message diminished by what Obama has now said about the center? The "clarification" [Saturday] would be a walkback if he had previously "endorsed" the project in the sense of declaring it a good idea. But he never "endorsed" it in that sense. Nor is it his place to do that.

Rather, Obama's "endorsement" of the project consisted entirely of a declaration that now that the group has decided to proceed, American ideals demand that we welcome and respect such people in situations like these. He hasn't backed off that core assertion. Nor is it contradicted by a refusal to comment directly on the "wisdom" of the project itself.

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The President did not walk back his Friday statement. Even some Fox News reporters got it correct after the Friday speech. Friday was all about the constitution and one of our founding principles, freedom of religion.

However some reporters and pundits framed it as a Presidential approval to build the mosque near ground zero. So, on Saturday the President felt it necessary to make it clear that he was not talking about the wisdom to build the mosque there but their constitutional right to do so.

Unfortunately far too many reporters are used to years of “simple” speak and not intelligent speeches. And the media in a rush to get an eye and ear catching headline do not take an extra few minutes to evaluate what was actually said. Or, worse yet, the media twist the words and meaning to make their headline.

Even Rep. Peter King agreed what the Friday speech was about but is angry that the President, in speaking out on the issue, implied approval of the building of the mosque. King says the President is trying to have it both ways. Maybe, maybe not

And Sarah Palin, the half term governor, dared the president to state if he is for or against building the mosque near ground zero. Dared! What, is she still in middle school? What a twit.

  • 15 votes
#1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:05 PM EDT

Oh, goody-another comment from the "every word from Obama is like the Sermon on the Mount" crowd.

Get real. He tried to change the meaning of what he said, and it failed.

Stating that his original comments were really about the 'right' to build there wins the award for the bleeding obvious. It was never about their 'rights'-it is about common decency and respect for the feelings of others.

Not to mention that they are ignoring city and federal law by failing to disclose the sources of the funding for this mosque. I notice that you, like your Messiah, choose to ignore this aspect of the discussion.

It does not fit into your dogma.

  • 14 votes
#1.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:10 PM EDT

Great analysis, FR and Dennis. I agree completely.

Why is it that those on the Right are so determined to label President Obama as "the Messiah", "the Annointed One", and similar derisive comments? NO ONE on the Left refers to him in those terms. Nearly EVERYONE on the Left is unhappy with some decision or another made by the Administration. Liberals see him as not perfect, but the best we're likely to get and pretty good on the whole.

I think it's important to recognize that this is code language aimed at the Religious Right. By referring to him sarcastically in those terms they wish to portray that his backers are following a false Redeemer. It is, in short, a way to label Barack Obama as the Antichrist without actually calling him such. To use the word Antichrist would immediately brand them as crazy in the secular world. By coding it you have a clear message to the evangelical fringe while at the same time producing an epithet those less religious can latch onto and spit like a swear word.

  • 18 votes
#1.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:18 PM EDT

Dennis,

Man get over the teaparty crap. They were not the one reporting that he walked it back. Politicians do this everyday. Obama is no different: HE IS A POLITICIAN!

BTW: Simple speak can be very Intelligent. Just because someone discovers a new word in the dictionary and write an elongated paragraph as opposed to one sentence, does not make that it an intelligent ramble. People in hear ramble on and on and use up half of the bandwith when it could have been said in one sentence.

  • 10 votes
#1.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:20 PM EDT

Dennis, you're correct. President Obama was changing the conversation on a national level. He's been tackling Tough problems for over 18 months Now, this is nothing new. It's the naysayers, who long for the Status Quo of yesteryear .

As for the GOP, nothing Ever changes for them & thier ME Too way of things. Example, Mitt Romney driving around ala Scott Brown. Now the Boston Globe says other GOP candidates are doing the same thing. hey it worked for him, i'll doit too. They can't or won't think of New ways of doing things. Change Scare's them, but in the same vien, they welcome the Change of the Skies opening up & going Home.

As for President Obama vactioning, when America is Attacked, while he's Vactioning, then & Only then, will I Condem him for that. All this other stuff is just a Distraction from which the GOP & thier Minions Hope America pays attention to.

You Betcha!

  • 12 votes
#1.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:25 PM EDT

Hey, John? I can't speak for others, but I ONLY refer to a few of the regular posters here as Obama worshippers. You are not one.

Dennis is.

I assume you have the ability to differentiate between policy you agree with and policy you do not, despite the president.

Dennis does not.

Dennis is in that minority of folks who would find a way to excuse Obama's strangling a puppy. You are not.

Perhaps there are those who seek to appeal to 'the religious right' by referring to Obama as the Anointed One, etc. I am not one of those who do so.

I calls em as I sees em. Dennis is a member of a cult religion with Obama as its object of worship. The fact that much of the media also belongs to this cult is dangerous for America.

Fortunately, most of the people in this country have awoken to the fact that he should never have been elected. Your party will pay at the polls in November for this, whether or not they are culpable. That's how it goes with elections.

As for the cult of Obama-there will be those who cling to him even after he is no longer in office. They'll actually remember these as the 'good old days'. Sad, really.

  • 12 votes
#1.5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:30 PM EDT

Nice job FR... at creating another 'NONtroversy'!

I will give you this... you know what buttons to push to bring the rabid righties out in droves...

I'm not going to play the 'did so' - 'did not' game as I have an appointment to watch some paint dry! lol

Oh... and NoJo - you're right you refer to President Obama as the 'Messiah'!

What's your point?

I'm proud to be an Obama worshipper over a self hating delusional conspiricy theorist anyday! :0p

  • 8 votes
#1.6 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:57 PM EDT

"Why is it that those on the Right are so determined to label President Obama as "the Messiah", "the Annointed One", and similar derisive comments?."

John B- they do it because they hear Rush do it, and think it's somehow cute.

And NoJo- Obama DID say the FIRST time out that he didn't agree with the WISDOM of desireing to build the mosque at that location. He 'walked back' what, exactly?

  • 10 votes
#1.7 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:04 PM EDT

Hey, No Jo, nobody really cares anymore what you neanderthals say about the president. That he has induced raw racism was predictable. That he won 53% of the vote and 365 electoral votes has clearly unhinged people of your ilk. A lot of white people voted for him! Yikes. He will be remembered as a great president who got things done; not a slacker, who took 2 yrs out of 8 off on vacation days, like his predecessor. Run that terrific intellect Palin, who thought Africa was a single country (hard to find a third-grader who would say that), against Obama and he can claim 400 electoral votes with ease. Oh, yes, and keep alienating all Hispanic voters 24/7. That's the Republican way. Limbaugh in his 30 million dollar mansion laughs at you suckers who regurgitate his junk.

  • 12 votes
#1.8 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:11 PM EDT

Ace28

LOL................................OK....................Obama ran against McCain......................That was kind of funny thinking Africa was a country, it ranked below Obama thinking there is 57 States...blah blah blah

"That he has induced raw racism was predictable."

  • 1 vote
#1.9 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:37 PM EDT

drive-thru-window

"Why is it that those on the Right are so determined to label President Obama as "the Messiah", "the Annointed One", and similar derisive comments

Anyone that says they can lower the oceans is on my "Messiah" list. Turns out though that was all just talk, and Obama is more of a "loony-ranter" then he is a "Messiah".

  • 5 votes
#1.10 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:59 PM EDT

Dennis: Excellent Post!! I enjoyed your last line..."What a twit".

  • 3 votes
#1.11 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:57 PM EDT

drive-by-go read the quote. You're wrong. Saying that he did not see the wisdom of building there came in the CLARIFICATION, not the original statement.

Oh, wait, in the Cult of Obama, what he might have meant to say when he said it, even if he didn't mean to say it, but did say it, unless he didn't, makes it fact.

Joanna-thanks for the back-up. He DID actually say that his nomination would mark the day that the seas stopped rising, the earth began cooling, plus a lot of other nonsense. The man is a narcissist.

John: you have a problem with people being called out for blindly worshipping the man? I would think your problem would be with the worshippers, not those who call them out. You reminded me of something that was said about six months after Obama's election: at a family dinner, there was a discussion of the cult-like following Obama had. One of the younger family members, a young man in his 20's, said, "you don't understand. He isn't the successor to George Bush; he isn't the successor to Bill Clinton. He's this generation's Elvis."

I began to read the posts with a different eye after that comment; lo and behold, there was a lot of truth in it.

There are fewer and fewer clinging to the peculiar idolatry that is Obama worship. They are, however, still there.

  • 5 votes
#1.12 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:29 PM EDT

When the right brings up the Messiah, it is comical. Every time I read it, I laugh at how silly and ridiculous it is. It is used when they have no solid arguments--like the teleprompter, and nit-picking vacations. It is also pure jealously. The only ones who call him that are republicans and they wish they could find someone like him. The republicans have never had a John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy or Barack Obama. The closest they came was Ronald Reagan.

  • 4 votes
#1.13 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:56 PM EDT

I was around when John Kennedy,and Robert Kennedy were still alive.

And Barack Obama is not John Kennedy or Robert Kennedy.

And even though Reagan is apparently only a close third, Barack Obama isn't him either.

    #1.14 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:51 PM EDT

    What on earth was President Obama thinking? Did his advisors actually tell him to go “Pro Ground Zero mosque” with 90 days until the midterms when Democrats are about to get sliced up like a Hibachi Steak at Benihana?

    Did someone on his team point to Iran and said, “Don’t worry Mr. President, we can win with 32% of the vote, Ahmadinejad did it, so let’s go pro Ground Zero mosque today?”

    Read this article which satirizes the whole mess.

    VERY FUNNY stuff.

    http://www.dailygoat.com/?p=2653

      #1.15 - Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:02 AM EDT
      Reply

      The media needs to walk it's definition of what actually is being built. It is not a mosque it's a community center. If the President had said I don't support the community then it would be a walk back; since he didn't it's "NOT" a walk back.

      • 10 votes
      #2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:09 PM EDT

      Beverly in Chicago

      The media needs to walk it's definition of what actually is being built. It is not a mosque it's a community center.

      You could call it a tootie-fruity ice cream stand and it still would be a mosque. Your hero Obama called it a mosque, isn't that good enough for you?

      • 12 votes
      #2.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:51 PM EDT

      Beverly,

      I believe it's going to be both a Mosque and community center. First of all it should be a local matter. I don't understand why Obama even mentioned it. Obama has a problem commenting on issues he should stay out of, remeber the Beer Sumit?

      • 5 votes
      #2.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:53 PM EDT

      Paul-Florida

      Beverly,

      I believe it's going to be both a Mosque and community center.

      I guess they were going to have a ping-pong table in the basement, so that would make it a community center.

      Were they also going to have Burga dry cleaning shop? Same day service one would hope.

      • 5 votes
      #2.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:08 PM EDT

      Come on, JoAnna. Just say it. We know you're thinking and feeling it so just say it. It might make you feel better.

      Say it...YOU HATE MUSLIMS!

      Just say it...it sounds more reasonable than any fake BS logic you're trying to use to convince us that you're right and they shouldn't be allowed to build. We know it's the real reason you don't want them to build.

      YOU HATE MUSLIMS!

      • 2 votes
      #2.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:38 PM EDT

      I would like to see if they let non-Muslims in? Since it's a Community Center..............

      • 2 votes
      #2.5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:39 PM EDT

      the beer summit was not the First Amendent, which every President swears to uphold. 57 states? You people are unhinged as well as ignorant. I live in NY; Muslims will be allowed to go in the center, period. Did you folks know that there is a mosque in the Pentagon, that conducts prayer services daily? I actually served in the military, in combat, unlike a lot chickenhawks like Limbaugh and McConnell, and had a Muslim American in my unit. He was a terrific soldier who had our backs just as we had his. Oh, what's the use of communicating with anyone who thinks Angle ought to be a city clerk, much less a senator.

      • 1 vote
      #2.6 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:01 PM EDT

      Yeah, 57 States, Obama said it in a rally without a teleprompter.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws

      The only reason why Obama had those two for beers is because Obama commented on something he knew nothing about and it was a local matter, not his...........

      I too served in Combat unlike Obama and Reid and I even work with the Iraqis last year and in 05/06, so what's your point? I bet there's Americans that are Muslims that think it should be moved down the street.

      • 4 votes
      #2.7 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:13 PM EDT

      Paul-Florida

      I would like to see if they let non-Muslims in? Since it's a Community Center..............

      Of course they let them in! Letting them out though is a different matter.

      • 3 votes
      #2.8 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:27 PM EDT

      Paul - Florida:

      I would like to see if they let non-Muslims in? Since it's a Community Center..............

      If you'd inform yourself just a bit before ranting, you would know that is EXACTLY the intent of this community center to be open to people of all religions. Do you REALLY think they won't let non-Muslims into the cooking school that will be a part of the center?

      • 3 votes
      #2.9 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:43 PM EDT

      I posted this elsewhere. The proposed Islamic cultural center does have a place for prayer. Many hospitals have chapels. The chapels do not turn the hospital into a church, and a prayer space/religious center in the cultural center does not make it a "mosque." The real estate in question is already being used as a prayer space. Do only Christian men go to the YMCA on 92nd street? And yet it is a Young Men's Christian Association.

      • 2 votes
      #2.10 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:47 PM EDT

      Houston,

      I don't know. That's why I asked the question. No rant involved from my end.................

      • 1 vote
      #2.11 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:51 PM EDT

      JoAnnaSmith1

      drive-thru-window

      "Why is it that those on the Right are so determined to label President Obama as "the Messiah", "the Annointed One", and similar derisive comments

      Anyone that says they can lower the oceans is on my "Messiah" list. Turns out though that was all just talk, and Obama is more of a "loony-ranter" then he is a "Messiah".

      and former president george bush was a Messiah for the right, just too bad he did not know it.

        #2.12 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:33 PM EDT

        Paul - Florida

        I don't know. That's why I asked the question. No rant involved from my end.................

        Well, you got your answer: the community center is opened to everyone. You don't seem to like it very much, though.

          #2.13 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:42 PM EDT

          Paul of Fla: my point is that there is surely a place awaiting you and your pals in the 57th state, which is the state of denial. If you really think a man as smart as Obama needs a teleprompter (Beck's lie), I do hope you get the chance to campaign for Palin 2012! About the military: I never minded people who didn't serve in Vietnam, as I did; I minded people who were all for the war -- Bush, 5-deferments Cheney, Gingrich. Limbaugh -- so long as other people fought it and died. But they wouldn't enlist themselves, or allow themselves to be drafted, for a cause they called sacred. And they dumped on people who opposed the war, including returning servicemen like Kerry. Chickenhawks we call them up north.

          • 3 votes
          #2.14 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:42 PM EDT

          Houston,

          OK, if you say so..............but if you look what I said I really don't care.

            #2.15 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:35 PM EDT

            Ace 28,

            OK, I take it you didn't look at the link. So be it, he said it and it was funny. Sorry you didn't, maybe it's denial? No wait that's the 57th State. You talking about Kerry? LOL ok, when he wore his uniform and slammed the Government or the Kerry that dodged paying 500K in taxes while telling the American people it's unamerican not to pay your taxes? Ahhhhh pretty much of the same...

            "my point is that there is surely a place a waiting you and your pals in the 57th state, which is the state of denial."

              #2.16 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:49 PM EDT

              Kate:

              Did you know that the YMCA is now officially just the "Y"? They had to clean up those references to "men" and "Christians".

                #2.17 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:55 PM EDT
                Reply

                To answer your question, in a word, "No."

                • 7 votes
                Reply#3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:10 PM EDT

                President Obama did not walk back his earlier comments. Those are the opinions, yes, opinions of the Tea Partiers. Some media pundits do not seem to know the difference between "clarification" and "walk-back". Looking at you Domenico. Your biases are showing.

                Has it ever occured to FR that the president must defend the Constitution, the First Amendment, and that is exactly what he did!

                • 13 votes
                #4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:12 PM EDT

                Ron'

                I thought you wwere better than that. A POLITICIAN use wordplay everyday. No POLITICIAN is going to ever admit to a "walk-back", they will call it Clarification. OBAMA IS A POLITICIAN.

                He is no different from any other POLITICIAN and the sooner some of you realize it, you will not be so defensive when someone challenges him.

                • 10 votes
                #4.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:24 PM EDT

                IntheMiddle, TX

                He is no different from any other POLITICIAN and the sooner some of you realize it, you will not be so defensive when someone challenges him.

                Except that he is doing more for the people of the United States of American, with the exception of 2 or more Republican't politicians; my brother. He doesn't need to wrap himself in a flag to do it either.

                • 6 votes
                #4.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:31 PM EDT

                You seem to know a lot about TeaParty's. Did you FlyOver the 1 in Arizona over the weekend that had about 400 "Real American's"? Even LooneyTune's Sharon Angle & Rand Paul would'nt Attend! Wonder why that is ITM?

                Do continue "Flying over the Cuckoo's Nest" tho, you're very Amusing from where i sit!

                Hey, here's an idea, maybe You & NJALLBLOW can Fly over Real America & have Pole Dancing for TeaParty's.

                The Disgruntled BlackMan, x military, who'es afraid of Real Women & the Pole Dancing Granny from Jersey. I can see it on the marquee now.

                You Betcha!

                • 5 votes
                #4.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:37 PM EDT

                Obama started out his endorsement of a mosque at Ground Zero on Friday by saying: "Let me be clear", then when the brown stuff hit the fan, Obama did indeed walk it back by making his "clarification" where all of a sudden his endorsement of the Ground Zero mosque turned into something about "religious freedom" and that "No Obama did not endorse the mosque at Ground Zero", which further muddied the waters.

                So, as usual with Obama, when he says "Let me be clear", he's usually anything but.

                • 10 votes
                #4.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:39 PM EDT

                Beverly in Chicago: Except that he [Obama] is doing more for the people of the United States of American

                Really? Like what? Extend unemployment benefits? What a back-handed way to go about your business. Rather then create an economic environment that allows the private sector to produce jobs, Obama would just soon borrow money and pay unemployment benefits, and stand there and tell everyone what a swell guy he is. Health care reform? Yeah, that one is real nice, burden businesses and individuals with mandated insurance purchases with so much of a burden it's ruining the economy, and businesses aren't hiring. What a swell guy Obama is for doing that too.

                Sorry Bev, Obama is not doing anything for the American people, other then growing a debt so large that we'll never get out from under it.

                • 9 votes
                #4.5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:47 PM EDT

                Ron,

                I'm thinking you're a little scared of the TEA Party. Why are you so worried about what they say?

                • 4 votes
                #4.6 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:56 PM EDT

                Paul: Bait me all you wish...I'm not going to bite, not today, not tomorrow.

                BTW, Let's see if you can write an intelligent argument defending Sharron Angle or Rand Paul. Bet you can't.

                • 8 votes
                #4.7 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:06 PM EDT

                JoAnnaSmith,

                Some businesses may be anxious about their future health insurance costs however if a company is not hiring because of a law that takes full affect in 4 years, they arent growing for other reason. Perhaps poor marketing is to blame not Health Care Reform or UI.

                My employer is busy as hell. Summer interns are finally wrapping up and I will be shutting down their network accts soon. We need an ISO 13485 QA pro, SAP analyst, Sys Admin II and at least 2 dozen other positions. Anyone feel free to send me a msg if you are an MFG Engineer or IT Analyst and live in Oregon. --> http://www.twitter.com/blooky

                • 1 vote
                #4.8 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:40 PM EDT

                Ron,

                Bait you? LOL..........just asked you a question. I see you're affraid and that's OK. You don't have to answer it. But I'll answer your question though.

                Well first of all I don't live in Nevada or Kentucky so I don't have an opinion. Now what I do know that these two people scare the HELL out of you and the Liberals, so that tells me they must be doing something right.

                "BTW, Let's see if you can write an intelligent argument defending Sharron Angle or Rand Paul. Bet you can't."

                • 3 votes
                #4.9 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:46 PM EDT

                adidas 503

                JoAnnaSmith,

                Some businesses may be anxious about their future health insurance costs but if a company is not hiring because of a law that takes affect in 4 years, they arent growing for other reasons like poor marketing not due to Health Care Reform or UI.

                Taxes start next year. "Benefits" in 2014. That's how Obama and the Democrats in Congress "balanced" the costs of the HCR bill.

                • 3 votes
                #4.10 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:47 PM EDT

                And here we go with the "We have to do our very best to make Barry look good....

                Man as much as I shouldnt I love listening to you guys defend this guy

                I have a question for Liberals. Do any of you actually have beliefs of your own or do your beliefs reflect what ever Barry the Wunderkid thinks? Im just curious.

                Because as a conservative I have my priorities and beliefs and if an elected official (D or R) does something I dont believe in (like Bush passing the initial stimulus -- Hence me referring to him as a progressive light) I call them out on it.

                So Libs I ask again do you have any beliefs of your own or do you just go along with what Barry says and defend him till the death?

                • 5 votes
                #4.11 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:49 PM EDT

                Ron its fairly simple to defend their stance....

                Your life and welfare is YOUR responsibility not mine. Invest in your own future. Its not the gov'ts place to do that for you. It is yours alone.

                If you are not smart enough or unable to invest on your own (like me) hire someone to do it for you.

                The govt doesnt need to be in the retirement game.

                • 6 votes
                #4.12 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:51 PM EDT

                Ah, the king of "forget you I got mine" has arrived.

                • 3 votes
                #4.13 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:37 PM EDT

                To answer your question Larry, that is what being a Democrat is all about, thinking for yourself, unlike you teabagging republicans who follow Fox and Limbaugh word for word, lie for lie. So if you have anymore of your misguided wisdom please keep it to your self.

                • 5 votes
                #4.14 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:46 PM EDT

                Larry,

                I didn't know you were in the TEA Party Republican? I won't respond though, you were told not too.

                That's the second time I heard the word "Wisdom", hmmmmmmmmm..................when was the first time today?

                • 3 votes
                #4.15 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:57 PM EDT

                JoAnna........."Sorry Bev, Obama is not doing anything for the American people...."

                Have you shared this news with the 30 million people that now have health insurance? - your pal, Drive Thru.

                • 3 votes
                #4.16 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:00 PM EDT

                Drive-by,

                When did you recieve Obama care?

                • 2 votes
                #4.17 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:20 PM EDT

                "So Libs I ask again do you have any beliefs of your own or do you just go along with what Barry says and defend him till the death?"

                Only when he's right, Larry. Only when he's right.

                • 3 votes
                #4.18 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:28 PM EDT

                drive-thru-idiot

                JoAnna........."Sorry Bev, Obama is not doing anything for the American people...."

                Have you shared this news with the 30 million people that now have health insurance?

                Well at least in theory, in 2014, maybe. Ya'see drive-in, there is this question of funding ObamaCare. Seems people, really smart people like the ones we have in government, are looking at how ObamaCare is funded by forcing people to buy private insurance, and those really smart people are saying "That doesn't look like it's Constitutional". So that big idea of Obama's to "Give 30 million people health insurance" probably might not happen.

                Any ideas on what SantaObama will try to "give" the people next drive-in? Besides the shaft that is.

                • 3 votes
                #4.19 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:29 PM EDT

                hey drive-by, (oh, and Bev, while I'm at it), what is so wonderful about the fact that HCR outlaws Medi-Gap insurance? See, my husband's company provides it for all their retirees-except that now they can't, because it is illegal.

                Medigap exists when you have not made the threshold for Medicare to kick in-it also exists when Medicare only pays a portion of the bill. There is also a 'donut hole' in Medicare that no one talks about. That's what Medi-Gap insurance covers-and it isn't cheap, by any means.

                Wel, HCR has rendered those plans ILLEGAL. It doesn't address the out of pocket individuals must accrue before Medicare kicks in, it does not address the out of pocket for what Medicare does not cover-but it does make it illegal to have a Medi-Gap plan.

                Now, I'd love to see you, Bev, and Dennis, (the high priest of your cult) find a way to defend this as somehow 'good' for seniors.

                Since you won't be able to do so, I'm betting you'll ignore it-like you have since last week.

                • 3 votes
                #4.20 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:38 PM EDT
                Reply

                "A war on Islam would make a war on terrorism impossible." - Michael Gerson, op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

                • 7 votes
                Reply#5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:18 PM EDT

                Ron; good point!

                And let's not forget the moral, ethical and leadership ability the President showed. What the media should walk back is the cowardly republican and TBaggers lies about the deficit, wanting to stop businesses to not hire people until after the administration(because Newt Gringrich thinks it would destroy the economy), cutting Social Security, and their hateful, racist, fear-mongering.

                • 11 votes
                Reply#6 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:21 PM EDT

                From an earlier post.

                Obama leaps into
                mosque fray —
                then tries to find
                a way out, hey MSNBC this is another made up bunch of media 20% approval crap. Here are the facts from MMFA, quit making things up you Faux news wanabes

                Obama did not "walk back" on "unshakeable" commitment to religious freedom

                Obama's initial comments on Islamic center: "[O]ur commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable." As part of his speech at the White House Ramadan iftar dinner on August 13, Obama addressed the right of Muslims to build an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero:

                OBAMA: [T]hat's not to say that religion is without controversy. Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities -- particularly New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.

                As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.

                Obama later re-emphasized his support for religious freedom. While vacationing in the Gulf of Mexico, Obama addressed his comments regarding the center and, according to The Washington Post, "reiterated the stand he took on Friday night at a White House dinner." The Post reported on August 15:

                Speaking to reporters during a family vacation visit to Panama City, Fla., Obama reiterated the stand he took Friday night at a White House dinner observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion," Obama said.

                Wash. Post: "White House officials said the president's comments Saturday were not at odds with what he had said the night before." In its August 15 article, the Post further reported that White House officials deny that Obama was "endorsing the construction of the Islamic center" or that he was contradicting himself:

                [Obama] went on to explain that he was not endorsing the construction of the Islamic center. "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there," he said. "I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding."

                [...]

                White House officials said the president's comments Saturday were not at odds with what he had said the night before -- and they insisted they should not be seen as Obama backing down because of political pressure. He was merely clarifying his position, they said.

                Sargent: No "walkback or contradiction here." In an August 14 entry to his Washington Post Co. blog, The Plum Line, Greg Sargent dismissed claims that Obama "walked back his support" of the Islamic community center, writing that Obama "hasn't backed off [his] core assertion. Nor is it contradicted by a refusal to comment directly on the 'wisdom' of the project itself." Sargent wrote [emphasis added]:

                Was yesterday's speech an "endorsement" of the project? In one sense it certainly was. He voiced strong support for the group's right to build it, and he went beyond that: He asserted that the group not only has the legal right to proceed, but that we should also welcome those with different faiths, not merely tolerate them because the law mandates it. And he declared that to do any less is un-American.

                That last aspect of his speech, as I said below, is what made it powerful. Simply vouching for the group's legal rights is a no-brainer. The crux of Obama's message is that we should do more: We should welcome and respect people of all religious faiths.

                Is that message diminished by what Obama has now said about the center? The "clarification" today would be a walkback if he had previously "endorsed" the project in the sense of declaring it a good idea. But he never "endorsed" it in that sense. Nor is it his place to do that.

                Rather, Obama's "endorsement" of the project consisted entirely of a declaration that now that the group has decided to proceed, American ideals demand that we welcome and respect such people in situations like these. He hasn't backed off that core assertion. Nor is it contradicted by a refusal to comment directly on the "wisdom" of the project itself.

                To be clear, I agree entirely with Ben Smith and others who say that today's quote was probably a political misstep. The media is mostly framing this story as: Did Obama "endorse" the project or didn't he? That's an overly simplistic framing, but you work with the media you have, not the one you want. Today's quote was bound to be interpreted as a walkback in the face of intense pressure. What Obama should have said was this: "I'm not commenting on the wisdom of the project. Nor is it my place to do that. But now that they have decided to proceed, we must respect their right to build the center and welcome them in accordance with American ideals."

                That would have been more desirable, and in some ways more directly consistent with his brave stance yesterday. But even so, based on what he did say, I'm just not seeing a serious walkback or contradiction here.

                • 5 votes
                Reply#7 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:22 PM EDT

                No question about it:

                Barry did not walk back his comments from Friday.

                Barry DID tell two different audiences what they wanted to hear. For Muslims he supported their right to freedom of religion. For the 60%+ of the American public that think the mosque developers ought to be sensitive to their feelings, he made the intentional non-statement that he was "... not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there,"

                YAY!!!! Something for everyone!!!!

                Such leadership!!!!!!!!! <swoon>

                BTW, has anyone else noticed that "The first place for key political news and analysis from the NBC News Political Unit" is totally ignoring the news that Barry's DOJ has decided, after SIX YEARS of investigations, that they will not be pursuing charges against the AntiChrist himself, Tom Delay???

                • 11 votes
                Reply#8 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:37 PM EDT

                Nobody cares about Tom Delay anymore.

                • 1 vote
                #8.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:29 PM EDT

                Hey Joe....

                U may be giving the right wingers apoplexy....Pres. Obama has only been Pres for 1 1/2 years....so it must have been Pres Darth Cheneys/oops Pres Bush DOJ that started this investigation...

                Imagine what a breath of fresh air - (and foul mouths) - 8 years of Pres. Obama!!

                • 2 votes
                #8.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:33 PM EDT

                "Nobody cares about Tom Delay anymore."

                Yeah, now that there won't be show trial and public hanging.

                Just imagine how much the FR lefty liberals would care if Barry's DOJ indicted Delay on 5 or 10 charges!!!!!

                There would be FR lefty liberals dancing in the FR streets to the tune of "Happy Days are Here Again"!!!!!!!

                • 2 votes
                #8.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:49 PM EDT

                If Delay had been indicted, Joe in Albany and the rest of the wingnut mob would be screaming that it was a political prosecution. Fortunately attempts to pressure the DOJ into political prosecutions ended when Karl Rove walked out of the White House door for the last time.

                • 3 votes
                #8.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:15 PM EDT

                The Tom Delay reference here is priceless. I interpret it to mean that given this news Maxine Waters and Charley Rangel shall 'walk', too? Right?

                See how the pretzel bends? Spin is So much fun!

                • 3 votes
                #8.5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:26 PM EDT

                Clara, here's a line you can use:

                "Justice DeLayed is justice denied."

                Waters and Rangel won't walk. They actually committed their deeds and the system is hopelessly lined up against African-Americans, especially when Democrats are in charge of the ethics committee.

                • 1 vote
                #8.6 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:03 PM EDT
                Reply

                Did Obama really walk back his mosque comments?

                Who cares!

                We have many fish to fry in this country as it relates to economic issues, two major policing actions in the middle east, unemployment, public education, global warming and so on, and all we can do is concentrate on comments from a President who is supporting this country's commitment to freedom of religion. There is a sickness running through the veins of America. The beginnings of a fall from greatness unless the people in this country get off their high horse and begin working together to solve its problems instead of placing under the microscope every single thing this President says, or does not say. We have become a nation of whining cry babies and finger pointers.

                • 6 votes
                Reply#9 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:45 PM EDT

                CA, Tuscaloosa, AL

                Did Obama really walk back his mosque comments?

                Who cares!

                Yeah, sure "Who cares!" Didn't take long for the Libs to go through their process of denial on this issue. First, the Libs say "Obama didn't say it", then it's "Obama meant something else", next is the Libs meandering around their quotes of the Constitution of which they haven't a clue about what they are talking about, then finally it's "Who cares!"

                The 4 States of Liberal Denial.

                • 7 votes
                #9.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:02 PM EDT

                Ha Ha Ha Ha..deny THIS: Barack Hussein Obama is the best president we've had in a long time!

                SO what it he only lasts one term- he's already done more (good) in 2 years than has been done in, say, the previous 8.

                • 5 votes
                #9.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:11 PM EDT

                JoAnnaSmith:

                I'm not denying Obama said anything. I'm not saying he said this or that or backtracked from earlier statements or did not backtrack from the same. I'm not attempting to defend or to criticize Obama. What I am saying that many in this country including you have become whining cry babies whose only goal in life is to B*#@& and complain about what a President says or does not say, about some Muslims wanting to build a mosque (not on) but near ground zero. So what. Suck it up. Some past Presdients as Washington, T. Roosevelt, Truman, yes even Reagan and others are turning over in their graves moaning as to how folks in this country have become a bunch of whining cry babies.

                • 6 votes
                #9.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:13 PM EDT

                Get used to being told to "Suck it up!" CA. Your side is going to be hearing a lot of that going forward.

                Oh, that and "Who cares!" when pantywaisted libs like you keep complaining about Bush, Palin, and the Republicans.

                • 2 votes
                #9.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:38 PM EDT

                JoAnna Smith1,

                The 4 States of Liberal Denial

                Put a # 4 behind your #1 dumb handle now. De Nile is #4 in Egypt !!! You did know that; riht?

                When you say the President isn't doing anything for others you need to quantity that by saying the President is isn't doing/didn't anything for you.

                • 1 vote
                #9.5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:00 PM EDT

                BiC: When you say the President isn't doing anything for others you need to quantity that by saying the President is isn't doing/didn't anything for you.

                Bev, where did you take English as a Second Language? In the future, that school should be avoided.

                It wasn't at a mosque, was it?

                • 2 votes
                #9.6 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:22 PM EDT

                JoAnnaSmith:

                You're such a whining crying air head. I have always said I could enjoy a beer and a barbeque with Bush. No complaining about Bush from these quarters as it does little good. He is no longer in office. Regarding Palin, I have never complained about Palin but rather just proclaimed, Palin is an idiot, period. Not a complaint, just a fact. As for Republicans, one need not complain about them for they do a good job of identyfying themselves as the do-nothing party on any major issue this country faces. One can't complian when a group of people (Republicans) don't do anything to complain about. They are, well, just there. Like a big void.

                But folks like you. Yeap, you whine and cry Obama this or that, twist your hands in agony because that's all you can do. Complain and b**** like a sniveling baby. Come on JoAnna. Throw some more of that whining this way. Love it when you prove yourself to be the whining whimp you are. Let's hear it , Obama this, Obama that.................................wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

                • 8 votes
                #9.7 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:32 PM EDT

                Don't forget CA, with all of JoAnns whining she keeps trying to convince herself that her and the teabagging republicans are going to take control of our government in November. She'll find out how much disappointment sucks in November though.

                • 3 votes
                #9.8 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:56 PM EDT

                Mo,

                Clearify "our Government"? What does that mean?

                • 1 vote
                #9.9 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:02 PM EDT

                Oh what a stupid question Paul. "Our Government" Represents the interests of all the people of the United States of America, Elected to do the business of it's citizens. I'm sure your definition is quite different than mine but I'm not a teabagger like you.

                • 2 votes
                #9.10 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:37 PM EDT

                Joanna-do yourself a favor and ignore CA.

                This is, after all, the same person who insisted that workers in their 20s and 30s would begin selling drugs if the retirement age was raised to 70. I'm still trying to figure out if, based on that statement alone, all Obama worshippers cracked when his polls started dropping.

                I don't normally talk to Mo, (my mother always told me to steer clear of crazy people), but in 'our government' when you pass legislation without the consent of the governed, there are consequences.

                They become clear in November, but for now, go over to realclearpolitics and take a little look/see at Obama's poll averages.

                Then go have a beer.

                • 1 vote
                #9.11 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:52 PM EDT

                no joe:

                Thats' it. Now we can wait for JoAnna's reply to you. You two folks just keep posting and proving you are the whining crying babies you are. Come on no joe...let's see some more whining, Obama did this, Obama said that , so and so defended Obama, whaaaaaaaaaa.

                We'are waiting no joe.

                • 3 votes
                #9.12 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:08 PM EDT

                By all means no joe all blow, keep relying on poll numbers to make you feel better. But you will see come November these poll numbers mean nothing, just as they didn't before the 2008 elections. You can always find a poll that makes you feel good no joe all blow.

                BTW: with your statement above I'd guess your mother must of steered clear of you.

                • 2 votes
                #9.13 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:14 PM EDT

                Mo,

                No, not really a stupid question. You said "our Government" and now it's all the people of the United States? Sorry, not part of the TEA Party or a Republican for that matter. My definion is all Legal citizens of the United States. Still figuring out 'our Government" though.

                  #9.14 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:48 PM EDT
                  Reply

                  Who the hell is Greg Sargent?

                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#10 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:45 PM EDT

                  The problem with the media is that they follow each other. I heard the "appears to be walking back" statement being made on CNN and then all of a sudden every news outlet was saying the same thing. It's as though CNN, MSNBC, FOX, CBS reporters all sit down together and discuss what they are all going to report as news. If one reporter says one thing, the sheep follow.

                  You would have thought they would have learned something from the Shirley Sherrod debacle.

                  • 7 votes
                  Reply#11 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:50 PM EDT

                  Ramboet: You would have thought they would have learned something from the Shirley Sherrod debacle.

                  I wouldn't bet on it. The modern day media only cares about getting the audience, not getting the truth. Anything that grabs attention of the voter is what the media will focus on, caring nothing about the impact that poor journalism has on the entire nation, and an uninformed public, pathetic.

                  • 7 votes
                  #11.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:26 PM EDT

                  It's mostly their just to lazy to do their own reporting. It's easier for them to read someone elses artical and use it as their own. Todays media is lazy, they don't know how to investagate a real story.

                  • 3 votes
                  #11.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:01 PM EDT

                  Mo-1852032

                  It's mostly their just to lazy to do their own reporting. It's easier for them to read someone elses artical and use it as their own. Todays media is lazy, they don't know how to investagate a real story.

                  Mo. Quit whining.

                  • 1 vote
                  #11.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:10 PM EDT

                  Mo:

                  You whine like a little bytch on here everyday. Go sit your stupid azz down somewhere and grow the F Up and take that hillbilly from Ky with you.

                  You're a frikken follower (bandwagon jumper). Never an original idea, just bottom feed off everyone else's.

                  • 1 vote
                  #11.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:34 PM EDT

                  WOW looks like I hit a nerve with ITM and JoAnn. Sorry guys not whining just stating facts, but I know how facts scare you teabagging republicans.

                  • 3 votes
                  #11.5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:40 PM EDT

                  If I didn't know better...ITM... I would swear you're talking about yourself! ;0)

                  Who the hell are you of ALL people calling someone a whiny stupid azz bottom feeder with NO ideas?

                  From here on out... you will be known as the 'catfish'! You've been added to the cess pool of the large mouth a@@ - Minnow Joe & Flounder....

                  At this rate... we're gonna need a bigger aquarium... lol

                  • 6 votes
                  #11.6 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:42 PM EDT

                  Thanks for the backup Feisty. This is the most fun I've had getting these teabagging republicans all twisted up like a pretzel.

                  • 3 votes
                  #11.7 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:17 PM EDT

                  feisty, we need a name for the aquarium. I am SO loving your humor on this one! Have you named No Jo, yet? Might I suggest Dory? She has that short term memory loss thing going on perfectly. "Boat? I saw a boat." "Poll? I saw a poll."

                  See what I mean?

                  • 3 votes
                  #11.8 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:21 PM EDT

                  Feisty,

                  You know of course that they are out in their Leaky Tiki Hunky Dory, Trolling with their fishing poll trying to lure us into making angry statements so they can say I Told You So,and chumming along with each other hoping to catch us in a spelling error so that they can jump up and try to club us with their meager command of English? Quite the gig, I wonder how much it pays!

                  I am rather glad that this is a public aquarium (Marine Bland?) though, so that the public can see all of their hate, lies, deceit, racism, division and pure chicanery on display, with little name tags to identify the fish in question. The problem is that most of these fish have been caught, are over three days dead and smell to high Heaven, and the Public can see and smell what is going on with them.

                  • 2 votes
                  #11.9 - Tue Aug 17, 2010 2:48 PM EDT

                  I hear you Clara & B. Honest!

                  It is kinda wickedly fun watching them flip flop around before we 'toss' em back isn't it?

                  I'm thinking NoJo is more like Carp as all she does is carp...carp..carp...about how much she HATES President Obama! lol

                  • 1 vote
                  #11.10 - Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:03 PM EDT

                  well, I would consider the large mouth @ss the carp. Dory is at least somewhat endearing,...just saying.

                  Marine Bland is hysterical. Thanks, B.

                  How about "C" World, tee hee.

                  • 1 vote
                  #11.11 - Tue Aug 17, 2010 4:26 PM EDT

                  Fiesty:

                  I see you still have your fascination with the anaconda. Once you come this way you won't go back.

                  I also see you have your little band of f***ts trailing behind you eating your sh!t as usual.

                  I thought your BEST FRIEND IS BLACK....if you knew so much about us, you would know that we like catfish so I guess every black person I know is swimming around in a cesspool of sh!t according to you.

                  Stick with what you know.....trash.

                    #11.12 - Tue Aug 17, 2010 8:47 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    Let's see---The transparency of President Obamas Administration is making everyone, especially the media absolutely crazy!

                    WOW, where was all this transparency during the previous administration? The dark days and secrecy are over. Hopefully everyone should handle it a little differently.

                    Every word, every move, every piece of legislation is massaged ad nauseum by the media.......ENOUGH!

                    Let President Obama get on with the business of the American People!

                    • 8 votes
                    Reply#12 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:59 PM EDT

                    When George Bush Jr. was in office and I heard Tony Blair give a speech I was envious. Now that we have a leader as well versed, people need a layman translator.

                    The US Education system needs help. The University of Phoenix needs to go NON PROFIT just like Heald and other schools that charge students $15,000 for 18 months of entry level training.

                    I once dated a Career Services person at a Massage Therapy school and she would constantly have to work with candidates round up by the admissions dept and were utimately unemployable due to criminal convictions.

                    Perhaps someone should translate the next speech by Obama into George W Bush speak haha!

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#13 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:03 PM EDT

                    When the Pentagon and CIA starting providing President-Elect Obama with daily intelligence and war update briefings, they were used to providing short, no more than a couple pages of easy-speak data. They had to re-learn how to provide a real briefing because Obama sent them back for details and answers to his many questions.

                    • 2 votes
                    #13.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:08 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    addidas; The riechwing drooling dopes of nope teabagger GOBP are to stupid to know the difference.

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#14 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:20 PM EDT

                    When on one day you say, "X" and the next day others report that you said "Y", it's not a walk back when you remind people, no, I didn't say "Y", I said "X."

                    If people want our president to comment on whether this thing should be built, you will be waiting a long time...he's got bigger things to deal with then placate to the crazy righties.

                    Oh, and count this white NY'r as someone who thinks it should be built...its a lovely building and will add greater architectural quality to the area, and target practice for the haters on this blog.

                    • 8 votes
                    Reply#15 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:36 PM EDT

                    I've been trying to understand how the President saying that American Muslims have the right to freedom of worship (just like all other Americans) was contradicted by him saying whether it was a wise decision to build the interfaith center where it was being proposed.

                    We now have an answer: IT wasn't. It was typical Washingon reporter/pundit group-think.

                    GET OFF YOUR FREAKIN' BLACKBERRIES FOR 3 SECONDS AND STOP AND THINK BEFORE YOU TYPE.

                    (Just a thought of my own for you "Washington chattering class" types - and I do say "chattering class" in a pejorative sense, too.)

                    • 11 votes
                    Reply#16 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:37 PM EDT

                    Thank you, Mark Murray.

                    Greg Sargent is correct, President Obama did not walk back his comments. His Friday remarks were on Constitutional rights and respecting the rights of all. His words did not contain an endorsement of it but merely the rights we have to build a place of worship as is guaranteed by the Constitution; Saturday's. It would be nice if people paid attention to what President Obama actually said instead of one side not liking who said it.

                    • 8 votes
                    Reply#17 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:39 PM EDT

                    JoannaSmith1 can say a hundred times that Obama endorsed the mosque Friday night, but that doesn't make it so. I saw no endorsement.

                    • 7 votes
                    Reply#18 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:40 PM EDT

                    Some day the blind will see.

                    Apparently not today though.

                    • 5 votes
                    #18.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:43 PM EDT

                    JoAnnaSmith1

                    Some day the blind will see.

                    Yea, Right. JoAnna, one day righties like you will see the Nile River is in Russia too; ya know like Sarah Palin sees it from her porch.

                    Stop drinking the hater-aide; it's not good for the visually and mentally impaired.


                    • 4 votes
                    #18.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:09 PM EDT

                    Bad weekend Bev? You seem a little cantankerous today That's too bad. So what do you see from your porch, other then street gangs killing innocent bystanders?

                    Duck and cover Bev. Duck and cover.

                    • 3 votes
                    #18.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:18 PM EDT

                    JoAnnaSmith1

                    Some day the blind will see.

                    Hopefully, it starts with you.

                    • 2 votes
                    #18.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:41 PM EDT

                    Repost of Post #13

                    When George Bush Jr. was in office and I heard Tony Blair give a speech I was envious. Now that we have a leader as well versed, people need a layman translator.

                    Perhaps someone should translate the next speech by Obama into George W Bush speak haha!

                    • 1 vote
                    #18.5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:01 PM EDT

                    The only thing JoAnn will see is the lies Fox keeps giving her. She is blind to anything else.

                    • 1 vote
                    #18.6 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:10 PM EDT

                    Mo:

                    There you go again with the Fox obsession.

                    I guess you just repeat the lies you get off of MSNBC and blind to everything else.

                    • 1 vote
                    #18.7 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:37 PM EDT

                    There you go with your MO obsession... lol

                    Must be your lucky day MO - you've seem to have gotten ITM's panties in a wad!

                    • 2 votes
                    #18.8 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:46 PM EDT

                    sounds like Joann1 is like the rock opera Tommy - Deaf dumb and blind - except to the messiahs of fox - limbaugh hannity palin etc.

                    • 1 vote
                    #18.9 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:50 PM EDT

                    There you go again with the MSNBC obsession ITM. At least you know it's the best place to be seeing as how your here everyday. Enjoy but don't get to upset over the facts.

                    • 2 votes
                    #18.10 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:52 PM EDT

                    ITM keeps his panties in a wad Feisty. That's what happens when you listen to Fox.

                    • 2 votes
                    #18.11 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:54 PM EDT

                    PaulS - I fondly refer to them as 'Spinball Wizards'...

                    Dontcha know it MO!

                    • 3 votes
                    #18.12 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:56 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    Of course he did...

                    He had to cover up the fact that he WANTS the section of society RESPONSIBLE FOR 9/11 to have a Mosque and possibly a terrorist recruitment center directly across from where the Twin Towers used to stand.

                    Face it people. Islam is a "religion" (cult is more like it) of violence and will not be satisfied until the whole world is Muslim and Sharia law is the law of the world.

                    These people have no need or right to build a mosque / terrorist recruitment center next to hollowed American soil.

                    Barry just wants to stick it to the American people one more time. he NEEDs the rest of the world to know and believe that he hates thiscountry as much if not more than they do

                    • 5 votes
                    Reply#19 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:44 PM EDT

                    Why anyone would vote for this drivel is beyond me. Saying that the second largest religion in the world (1.5 Billion http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html) is a cult shows a lack of understanding and an unwillingness to do a little research before sticking your foot completely into your mouth.

                    The religion of Islam is a peaceful one based on love, just like Christrianity. They believe in the same God and at their core are the same values. Christians have their terrorists just as Islam does.

                    To say that every mosque that is built is a terroist recruitment center is bigoted and shows a glaring lack of intelligence. It's like saying every Christian church is a recruiting tool for abortion clinic bombers.

                    • 8 votes
                    #19.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:26 PM EDT

                    He had to cover up the fact that he WANTS the section of society RESPONSIBLE FOR 9/11 to have a Mosque and possibly a terrorist recruitment center directly across from where the Twin Towers used to stand.

                    Are you REALLY too stupid to understand that all violent jihadists may be Muslim, but most Muslims are NOT violent jihadists? Your nonstop ignorant hate rants certainly make you sound stupid.

                    • 3 votes
                    #19.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:32 PM EDT

                    Houston he is stupid, he keeps repeating the big teabagger lie that the "mosque" actually it's a rec center is going to be built directly across from the site of the twin towers. For your information lying Larry, it's going to be built two blocks from the twin towers. But as everyone knows if it ain't a lie Lying Larry won't say it. Lying Larry hates the truth, all most as much as he hates President Obama.

                    • 3 votes
                    #19.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:17 PM EDT

                    I'm not really even sure he reads what others post. He keeps saying the same thing after being proven wrong on a daily basis.

                    • 2 votes
                    #19.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:36 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    How surprising, the party that brought on 9-11 now turns around and expolits the tragedy for political gain. It's the Constitution stupid! Read it, and don't discard it when it's "convenient" to your misguided causes.

                    • 3 votes
                    Reply#20 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:54 PM EDT

                    I don't know if it's surprising, but it's certainly disgusting that Bush benefited from the incompetence or slothfulness he exhibited when he ignored the dire warnings of an imminent terrorist attack on the US before 9/11. And then he exploited fear of terrorists after 9/11 to win a second term he would never have won without the fear. G.W. Bush is living proof that life isn't fair.

                    • 3 votes
                    #20.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:04 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    President Obama can't win on this one. If he actually supports the Mosque the right wing will accuse him of being a Muslim (Just like Rev. Wright, LOL). If he says he is opposed to it the same group will scream, what about freedom of religion. By not saying anything particular they accuse him of being afraid to weigh in. Maybe what he has said and done will blow over and people will realize just how ridiculous this argument is in a land that is the bastion of freedom of religion. Many of our ancestors came to America because of oppression against them due to their religious beliefs and practices and we, of all people on the planet, should be tolerant of others religious beliefs.

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#21 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:57 PM EDT

                    On Friday, Obama stepped in it with his right foot...on, Saturday, he tryed scraping it off his left foot. Now he will be tracking all across the US as he stumps for his fellow robots.

                    • 8 votes
                    Reply#22 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:02 PM EDT

                    Obama hasn't stepped in the BS your spreading; you're rolling around in it all by yourself.

                    • 6 votes
                    #22.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:26 PM EDT

                    And the funny thing is Houston, all the other teabagger republicans are standing in line to jump in with him.

                    • 2 votes
                    #22.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:20 PM EDT

                    It amazes me that so many so-called liberal progressive women on here are condoning the Muslim law of treating women as underlings and promotion of shiria law. We can let them abuse their women as it is obviously their right according to liberal' interpretation of the constitution, but we do not have to approve of it...such garbage--sticking up for Male Aggressiveness against women--along with not respecting the dead of 911.....

                    • 2 votes
                    #22.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:01 PM EDT

                    Janey:

                    It amazes me that so many so-called liberal progressive women on here are condoning the Muslim law of treating women as underlings and promotion of shiria law.

                    It amazes me that all those so-called liberal women are writing their endorsements of sharia law in invisible electronic ink that makes them impossible to see on my computer screen.

                    I don't know of ANY progressives male or female who would want to live in a repressive society like Saudi Arabia. But believe it or not, most Muslims don't follow strict shariah law themselves, and even many who do don't necessarily want to impose their rules on everyone else. Only a radical minority do, just like a radical minority of Christians want to impose their way of life on everyone else.

                    BTW: Janey, you really ought to learn how to spell "sharia" correctly if you're going to rail against it. Misspelling it makes you sound like you don't know what the heck you're talking about.

                    • 4 votes
                    #22.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:38 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    Greg Sargent did have one criticism of Obama's second comment on the NY mosque: he said that Obama should have said that it was not his place to approve or disprove of the mosque; addressing zoning issues in New York is clearly not the responsibility of the President of the United States. But in Obama's defense, he was speaking extemporaneously, so it shouldn't be expected that every sentence he uttered be carefully crafted to get all the nuances right. (Wingnuts would ignore such nuances, anyway on account of "nuance" is a French word.

                    Defending the Constitution 5 the president's responsibility, and Obama defended it ably by standing up for freedom of religion against attempts by demagogues to incite the mobs against Muslims.

                    • 3 votes
                    Reply#23 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:08 PM EDT

                    Houston! you have a problem.

                    Obama was not speaking extemporaneously, he was speaking on Friday to a Muslim group on the start of Ramadan with a teleprompter that seemly work just fine. He purposely treaded into volatile waters by mentioning the NY mosque. On Saturday, he "clarified his remarks". In political speak, clarify means what he said earlier was not what he really meant. To me, most of the media and millions of people, both Muslim and non-Muslim, that was backtracking.

                    • 5 votes
                    #23.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:54 PM EDT

                    John, Tucson, AZ sez:

                    Obama was not speaking extemporaneously, he was speaking on Friday ...

                    I was clearly talking about Obama's second comment, and it was NOT a prepared remark. Why don't you try reading the Politico article, dimwit? It has all the rightwing spin I'm sure you'll like, but it also says this about the president's second comment:

                    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41069.html#ixzz0wcqRhCMa

                    That IMPROMPTU ANSWER to a TV reporter covering his trip to Florida prompted a second attempt to clarify his initial statement, this time from spokesman Bill Burton.

                    Emphasis added by me to assist the hard of reading, including John in Tuscon and other clowns, liars, and morons. In case you didn't know it, "impromptu" does NOT mean prepared remarks.

                    • 3 votes
                    #23.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:24 PM EDT

                    It is hard to believe that Obama was not expecting a question from reporters based on his comments the previous night. I am sure that he had already formulated an answer that he was PREPARED to give.

                    • 3 votes
                    #23.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:52 PM EDT

                    John Tucson

                    I am sure that he had already formulated an answer that he was PREPARED to give.

                    And I am equally sure that you can't read the president's mind. For one thing, he has a very fine mind and you don't have any at all.

                    • 2 votes
                    #23.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:45 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    Good Grief, please give this a rest. He did not walk back anything. He clarified, because as usual, what he said was turned every which way but loose by the media to create a maelstrom so then the media could pontificate.

                    • 3 votes
                    Reply#24 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:11 PM EDT

                    This is the "Fox Cycle" in action: some extreme rightwinger with a blog starts a nontroversy about something that nobody would have cared about otherwise. Then the "responsible" media like First Read is supposed to be picks up the story and serves as the echo chamber of the far right's latest thing to be outraged about.

                    Well, in this case, maybe it's not exactly the "Fox Cycle" since even Fox News reporters have said that President Obama did the right thing in defending the right of Muslims to build their community center.

                    • 6 votes
                    #24.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:22 PM EDT

                    That's right. Houston. Now, can we get to the important stuff? I want to know more about ..................TELEPROMPTERS! My God, don't we ALL???

                    • 2 votes
                    #24.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:09 PM EDT

                    Yeah, I want to know why Sarah Palin usually is standing behind teleprompters when she's talking. Is there something wrong with her hands?

                    • 3 votes
                    #24.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:31 PM EDT

                    I'm sorry Houston! But that was flat out... spit out the soda FUNNY!

                    • 3 votes
                    #24.4 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:48 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    I will say this, the builders of the mosque better have one heck of a security system.

                    • 1 vote
                    Reply#25 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:20 PM EDT

                    Ironic, isn't it? The hate that the far right is stirring up (with the help of all the attention they're getting from the "responsible" media) could make this community center the target of a terrorist attack by white "Christians." And it wouldn't be the first such act perpetrated by the far right; they've already increased in number since Obama's election.

                    • 6 votes
                    #25.1 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:37 PM EDT

                    Here's a hypothetical question:

                    If the Islamic cultural center were build several blocks from Ground Zero, would that make another attack on NYC (by Islamic extremists) MORE or LESS likely? Discuss.

                    • 1 vote
                    #25.2 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:19 PM EDT

                    Good question. This community center is being built by moderate Muslims who want to integrate Islam with western culture. Heck, one of the leaders was even sent on missions by G. W. Bush to Muslim countries to convince the people that America was not their enemy, So I think Al Qaeda would be more likely to single them out. They've murdered moderate Muslims in other countries.

                    • 2 votes
                    #25.3 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:38 PM EDT
                    Reply
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