3 ms·

> Guantanamo is still open. The US is military active in Syria, Pakistan, ... Everyday. Eh, have to pin Guantanamo on Congress, not Obama. Contrary to what mig

by mpyne 13y ago

> Guantanamo is still open. The US is military active in Syria, Pakistan, ... Everyday. Eh, have to pin Guantanamo on Congress, not Obama. Contrary to what might be popular opinion in the EU, but he is our President, not our King, and therefore doesn't get to unilaterally do whatever he wants on all things. Oh, and the military is active in Jordan, not Syria. The rebels are active in Syria. Of course the U.S. is screwed either way here. If we get involved then we're warmongers, if we don't get involved then we're just letting 100,000 people and counting kill themselves and stoke up sectarian violence amongst the world's most populous faith, which is apparently obviously the far more ethical alternative.

rdtsc 13y ago
> Eh, have to pin Guantanamo on Congress, not Obama. Obama in 2008 -- "I will close Guantanamo". Don't fucking care what and who and other excuses. He promised, but didn't deliver. That makes him a liar. It is very simple. Now you can dissect that and ask, was he stupid and didn't know that he didn't have the power? Maybe. Well then he is a stupid liar. Was he aware that it wasn't really in his power to do that, well then he is an just a simple run of the mill liar. People are also simple-minded and are easily manipulated. But that is exactly what the hope was about. The hope was that he wouldn't be like others. He wouldn't lie. He would say stuff like "I can't make that promise" if he really couldn't. > if we don't get involved then we're just letting 100,000 people and counting kill themselves and stoke up sectarian violence Apart from PR articles and lobbying campaigns, I can't remember the last time I heard the world in an uproar about US _not_ intervening and invading a country. I knew exactly what he was by his voting record as a senator. He voted to give retroactive immunity to telecom companies spying on American citizens. It was plain and simple, a single action told me more about who he was than a thousand of his warm and sweet promises and hopes.
- mpyne 13y ago
  > Obama in 2008 -- "I will close Guantanamo" You could as well have said that he's a politician. I'll bet you believed Google when they said you'd be able to access your email whenever you wanted to as well. Such grandiose claims always have to be evaluated in the context of reality, otherwise we would have to add asterisks to practically each and every thing we say to cover all the possible pedantry. > I can't remember the last time I heard the world in an uproar about US _not_ intervening and invading a country. I didn't say "invade". I said "involved". Libya is merely the most recent of many examples.

by mpyne 13y ago

rdtsc 13y ago

> Eh, have to pin Guantanamo on Congress, not Obama. Obama in 2008 -- "I will close Guantanamo". Don't fucking care what and who and other excuses. He promised, but didn't deliver. That makes him a liar. It is very simple. Now you can dissect that and ask, was he stupid and didn't know that he didn't have the power? Maybe. Well then he is a stupid liar. Was he aware that it wasn't really in his power to do that, well then he is an just a simple run of the mill liar. People are also simple-minded and are easily manipulated. But that is exactly what the hope was about. The hope was that he wouldn't be like others. He wouldn't lie. He would say stuff like "I can't make that promise" if he really couldn't. > if we don't get involved then we're just letting 100,000 people and counting kill themselves and stoke up sectarian violence Apart from PR articles and lobbying campaigns, I can't remember the last time I heard the world in an uproar about US _not_ intervening and invading a country. I knew exactly what he was by his voting record as a senator. He voted to give retroactive immunity to telecom companies spying on American citizens. It was plain and simple, a single action told me more about who he was than a thousand of his warm and sweet promises and hopes.

mpyne 13y ago
> Obama in 2008 -- "I will close Guantanamo" You could as well have said that he's a politician. I'll bet you believed Google when they said you'd be able to access your email whenever you wanted to as well. Such grandiose claims always have to be evaluated in the context of reality, otherwise we would have to add asterisks to practically each and every thing we say to cover all the possible pedantry. > I can't remember the last time I heard the world in an uproar about US _not_ intervening and invading a country. I didn't say "invade". I said "involved". Libya is merely the most recent of many examples.