I hope to all holy beings that he didn't say that he was against the "terrorist" getting a fair trial.

Two things that should be banned:
1. The word terrorist/terrorism
2. Bumper stickers
Disclaimer: I am kidding, the right to use these should be protected.

I think it can still be tagged eia.
It's more about stupidity than death. <<-- New bumper sticker idea.

Now there's something I'd like to see on a bumper sticker.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I gave the midget AIDS.

My favourite bumper sticker:

"Like the rest of the band, you're following the bass guitarist."

"To Make Money is Our Only Objective."

Sounds like a McCain/Lieberman bumper sticker.

I'll start with saying I'm glad I misread you -- there are so many people here in the US who repeat these kinds of things out of pure partisanship. What was in that clip was no reasoned debate, condemning Obama's use of fear, it was two propagandists for the right-wing party trying to spread Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt about the opposition party's candidate for the Presidency.

I agree with your assessment that the low point of Obama's trip was the Israel leg. He always steps up his rhetoric about Iran, and that makes me nervous. He did the same thing when speaking to AIPAC here in the states (the pro-Israel lobby), and he caught a lot of flak for it from his base.

I think the main thing Europeans have to worry about is the echoes of 9/11 that are still ringing here in this country. They're no longer clearly audible, but it's just below our register, affecting our subconscious. The public in this country will not elect anyone who would not make the appeal to the world to aid us in our so-called "fight against extremism".

However, if you look back at his earlier comments from the beginning of the primary, you'd see he spent a lot of time talking about the need to "change our mindset" and to not act out of fear. That's part of why he's got Hope and/or Change emblazoned on his signs and bumper stickers. Hillary (and the rest of the Democratic field) blasted him for being "weak on terror", and he made a clear turn about a year ago to make sure he kept sounding a tougher line about extremism.

I think he's now in a place where he has to keep the momentum on this going, because he can't win without doing that.

That said, he has made it clear he will listen to our allies more -- so even if he does get carried away, I do think pressure from Europe would affect him. I think if he wins, he will begin the long process of trying to reverse the pervasive fear running through the populace -- fears that Bush amplified for his own purposes.

John McCain on the other hand will happily give Europe the middle finger if they protest an American plan to invade Iran, because many people here think that shows "good leadership" and "independence". He'll also happily continue to perpetuate those fears about terrorism. He has said on many occasions that the "fight against Islamic Extremism is the transcendent challenge of the 21st century."

From what I see, Bush has pushed this country a great distance towards fascism. McCain's a member of the same political party, and it's clear that all the same advisers have gotten their hooks into McCain, because he's gone from a moderate that I actually kinda liked, to being in lock step with Bush, not only on issue positions, but also the combative, disrespectful, fear mongering overtones. He's also got the media propagandists helping him (like the ones in your clip), who dig up ridiculous claims like Obama is a muslim, or a terrorist, or that he wasn't born in the US (which would make him ineligible for the Presidency).

That's why I reacted the way I did to your post.

In reply to this comment by Irishman:
I hope you're following my line of thinking, I'm brainstorming it all right out in full flow...

To Americans, these events will be soaked in pride, hope and patriotism, there is nothing wrong with that.

But to a British politician or to the Lords who have reign over the politicians, it paints a very different picture. It's one thing when Luther King makes speeches about civil rights in this way, it's another when Obama talks about uniting forces against extremism, and even goes as far as talking about Iranian nukes. That's the language of fear, that's the kicker, that's the alarm bell - and I mean that in the most literal sense, this language of fear is one of the things Winston Churchill warned about in the tomes of books he wrote after WW2, about how the world must avoid the same thing happening again, and how he regretted that Britian didn't move sooner against Germany.

These are very specific things contained in Obama's speeches, and I really don't know what to make of it. I think you should be thankful that at least somebody in American media saw this from a perspective of history. WW2 is very fresh in the minds of people in England, the country is soaked in the history of that war in every town and city and bit of countryside and Obama's words are very potent and a bit scary to be frank in that context.

That's why I say it's all about persepective, and what makes it frightening is that Obama's speechwriters couldn't have made it any more potent in the context of WW2.

Phew.

^ beautiful, schmawy. Now I wanna make a bumper sticker that says "If we loved each other like we're supposed to, we wouldn't need any goddamn gods." so nice.

I disagree. I know exactly how he as a person will vote. He was raised a in a poor family by a very strong, very liberal mother, never even knowing his father. He was also raised by Christian grandparents, who instilled in him a love for country and a burning idealism for how Americans can get things accomplished. He is a liberal, and votes his liberal conscious.

However whats great about Obama is that he is brilliant at a few key things which make people who recognize them very excited about his presidency. Lets see, I'll throw out three of them real fast... 1)selecting, managing and inspiring other brilliant people, 2)understanding and engaging both sides of an argument to fairly guide towards compromises that work, and 3)valuing American history, the Constitution and the founding spirit of 'anything is possible'. Towards the last point, I mean, he honestly believe he can get a huge squad of people who disagree together to form a plan to pull us safely from Iraq in 18 months, and another squad of people who disagree to form the beginnings of universal health care over the next 4 years. And, personally I think if anyone is smart enough to direct us out of this ditch, its this guy.

I loved McCain in 2000. The last 3 years have seen him doing everything he can to win votes from the people who brought us GWBushJR, which makes for exceedingly awkward choices like not signing the new GI Bill and dumbing down his opposition to secret military prisons, both for no particularly convincing reason other than thats what he's supposed to do. Its honestly hard for me to watch McCain's speeches and interviews today, because half the time he's not comfortable on the side of the argument he's putting him self, and anyone with a memory stretching back to 2000 or even 2006 will notice he's a changed man; http://www.videosift.com/video/McCain-Debates-Self-on-Bush , http://www.videosift.com/video/Washington-Bureaucrat-Predicts-USA-Politics-For-2009



In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
That's the problem, unless we get republicans back in congress, they are going to run Obama too. He voted with his party 93% of the time. I'll admit that McCain isn't much better since he mistakes stubbornness for principal. But Peloci pushed Obama around when he was a senator and I can see her doing the same if he's elected president.

I feel like I'm trying to choose the lesser of two evils this election season. But my biggest issue with Obama is his double talk, I have no idea what he's going to do because he talks out of both sides of his mouth. He needs to find his issues and stick to them.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
Confession; my car has one bumper sticker on it, and its Obama'08.

He's a smart man. There's a small possibility he could become a Nixon, but a much greater chance he'll work to get congress to bullshit around just a little less.

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
Thanks for the article, it was a good read. I really hope the American public can see how unstable he is before November.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/opinion/20brooks.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=98dbf7f8bae1fe38&ei=5087%0A

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:


He advocates energy independence but pretends this can occur without more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

Of course maybe that's the defining mark of a true politician, being able to speak to one side while the other hears a different message.

That's the problem, unless we get republicans back in congress, they are going to run Obama too. He voted with his party 93% of the time. I'll admit that McCain isn't much better since he mistakes stubbornness for principal. But Peloci pushed Obama around when he was a senator and I can see her doing the same if he's elected president.

I feel like I'm trying to choose the lesser of two evils this election season. But my biggest issue with Obama is his double talk, I have no idea what he's going to do because he talks out of both sides of his mouth. He needs to find his issues and stick to them.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
Confession; my car has one bumper sticker on it, and its Obama'08.

He's a smart man. There's a small possibility he could become a Nixon, but a much greater chance he'll work to get congress to bullshit around just a little less.

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
Thanks for the article, it was a good read. I really hope the American public can see how unstable he is before November.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/opinion/20brooks.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=98dbf7f8bae1fe38&ei=5087%0A

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:


He advocates energy independence but pretends this can occur without more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

Of course maybe that's the defining mark of a true politician, being able to speak to one side while the other hears a different message.

Confession; my car has one bumper sticker on it, and its Obama'08.

He's a smart man. There's a small possibility he could become a Nixon, but a much greater chance he'll work to get congress to bullshit around just a little less.

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
Thanks for the article, it was a good read. I really hope the American public can see how unstable he is before November.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/opinion/20brooks.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=98dbf7f8bae1fe38&ei=5087%0A

In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:


He advocates energy independence but pretends this can occur without more domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

Of course maybe that's the defining mark of a true politician, being able to speak to one side while the other hears a different message.

*doubleinfinitypromote!!! This is amazing! I can't wait to teach high school bio! I saw a great bumper sticker a few weeks ago. It reads: "We have the fossils. We win." This video isn't evidence, but it delineates the probability of evidence. Who's your daddy? Szostak is your daddy.

"Body designs self-painted, will take up most of your spare time...women will decorate their breast with startling colors, while men, will decorate their genitals..the who are politically oriented, will always print body slogans on themselves, and these will take the place of the modern, bumper-sticker."

MINI Cooper? Same gas mileage as you get in your volvo and highest horsepower to weight ratio of anything you can afford.....Then put a Marine Corp bumper-sticker on the back, and wait for someone to heckle you......by the way, also a chick magnet-for when yer med-school gf trades you in for a doctor.....

You've got the ear, dear. I couldn't even be a pretender to the throne there. And as far as bumper stickers go, it's not your fault reality (realty) can't keep up with you.

HAHA! How much you want to bet that guy has a confederate flag bumper sticker on his gas guzzling SUV?