Morning Again

Obama, like Reagan, is speaking directly to foreign populations and ignoring their leaders.

By John Barry | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jul 8, 2009

« Return to Article

Discuss

Member Comments

  • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 07/20/2009 3:27:44 PM

    betsybug- " will, anyway my opinion of obama could fill a page, but I think he is fraudulent and a needs to be vetted. I don't think anyone vetted hm they were so thrilled with his color." His color? You feel that Obama won the presidency because he is black? Not too bright are you? betsybug, Obama was already vetted. And btw, sam the butcher was being sarcastic. Got that?

  • Posted By: betsybug @ 07/19/2009 6:59:09 PM

    this last poster Sam the Butcher, are you for real? or is this a "put on". will, anyway my opinion of obama could fill a page, but I think he is fraudulent and a needs to be vetted. I don't think anyone vetted hm they were so thrilled with his color.

  • Posted By: sam the butcher @ 07/10/2009 11:20:56 PM

    obama is the best president ever, i love him, if i want an abortion, i just go and get one. no questions asked. he is great. plus i dont want to work, and i dont have to now because of him , he is great!!! obama!! palin is stupid she believes in god and stuff, katie couric made her look dumb..

  • Posted By: Reg373 @ 07/09/2009 1:12:46 PM

    This headline reminds me of the '08 Dem debates -
    Obama; "Republicans were the party of ideas"
    Hillary; "Republicans were the party of bad ideas" ;^)
    -- found a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth

  • Posted By: Aditya Mookerjee @ 07/09/2009 11:03:09 AM

    If President Obama can do good to the world, then what could be better? Already, he is being projected as among the most nobly idealistic Presidents who have had the privilege to serve the United States of America. If one endorses the previous view, then who would not wish him every success? As the leader of the world's most prosperous democracy, let him be a guiding light to the rest of the world.

  • Posted By: demlifer @ 07/09/2009 12:23:52 AM

    Yeah, and he's the reincarnation of Lincoln, FDR and JFK, too . Obama and his boosters in the media would be well advised to let Obama be himself and cease this seemingly endless game of touting this president as the "second coming."

    Thus far, Mr Obama seems to be caught up in the hype that he possesses some rhetorical gift that he will be able to use to inspire his listeners to achieve great things and perform great deeds. Such delusions of grandeur need to be discouraged at once and if this president has any real ability he needs to start demonstrating it now while he still has some political capital left to spend.

    Sir Winston

  • Posted By: teenageriot @ 07/08/2009 4:05:43 PM

    This journalist is no student of history. Reagan and Obama would've been absolute political enemies- one believed in the free market and privitizationas well as killing government welfare programs and one ardently seeks to dramatically increase the size of the United States government and to socialize major businesses. Sure, they both went to Moscow and gave great speeches there, but that's terribly irrelevant to comparing their presidencies.

    • Posted By: page-up @ 07/08/2009 4:27:54 PM

      • Posted By: ilya @ 07/08/2009 10:47:28 PM

        For what it's worth, Reagan might have believed in free markets and privatization, but his record shows little success. His tax policy had mixed long-term results -- the US government's budget more doubled during his tenure, average yearly deficit more than tripled, and total public debt tripled. Even adjusted for inflation, these are significant increases. See http://www.cbo.gov/budget/historical.shtml for data, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics for some overviews.

        Only time will tell how Obama's current approaches will change the economic picture of the government and its relationship with business. Right now Obama has inherited a crisis, and is handling it as he sees fit -- we'll see how his budgets for 2012 and 2013 fare, once the bulk of the crisis had (hopefully) passed. I would urge all to remember Clinton, a democrat, who managed to keep budget growth to nearly coincide with inflation, and go from deficit to surplus.

  • Posted By: JDinHouston @ 07/08/2009 10:45:16 PM

    Reagan said many platitudes, Obama is accused of the same. The simple bottom line, talk to the people, the rest will listen.

  • Posted By: Still Free in the USA @ 07/08/2009 4:26:36 PM

    For those of you who take it as an article of faith that Dan Quayle was the dumbest, most out-of-touch vice president who ever served this nation, I???m afraid I have some bad news for you.
    On Independence Day, Vice President Joe Biden [1] attended a naturalization ceremony at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. During the ceremony 237 U.S. servicemen from 59 countries, including Iraq, were sworn in as citizens of the United States of America. At the conclusion of this solemn, undoubtedly moving and inspirational occasion, and in the presence of his own son Beau (currently serving in the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, Delaware Army National Guard), this is what the Vice President of the United States had to say: ???As corny as it sounds,??? he told the troops, ???Damn, I???m proud to be an American!???
    Where to begin?
    OK, if you were really proud to be an American, Mr. Vice President, you wouldn???t find it necessary to preface that declaration with the words, ???as corny as it sounds???. If you were really proud to be an American those words wouldn???t sound corny to you. Then again, if you were really proud to be an American you wouldn???t be serving under a President who spent his last trip overseas apologizing to the world on behalf of America. You wouldn???t be serving under a President who either doesn???t recognize or simply doesn???t understand the concept of American exceptionalism. You wouldn???t, it could be reasonably argued, be a member of the current Democrat Party.
    Joe Biden is known in Democratic circles as a ???shoot-from-the-hip??? type of guy, which means he???s known for shooting his mouth off on subjects he knows nothing about without the slightest regard for where he is or who he???s speaking to. Biden knows virtually nothing about the military despite his (much boasted-about) service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as any English-speaking adult who???s analyzed Biden???s, uh, ???thoughts??? on Iraq could tell you. Like Vice President Dick Cheney (who I???m sure doesn???t think it???s corny to be proud to be an American), Vice President Biden sought and was granted five military deferments during the Vietnam War. So like Senator Barbara Boxer, who recently scolded a brigadier general for (correctly and properly, as it turns out) addressing her as ???M???am???, Biden might be forgiven for the stupidity of today???s remarks on the grounds that???s he???s simply ignorant of military culture. Which I guess would be something else for him not to be proud of. Then again, it could be worse. Michelle Obama only started being proud of her country about a year and a half ago, and she???s the First Lady!

    • Posted By: wiccanwolfess @ 07/08/2009 10:05:14 PM

      Your blog name says it all -- still free in the usa; undoubtedly one of the sh1!s that never fought in any war and has the ba!!s and health to herald it from the roof tops unlike my husband who fought in Vietnam and just found out last week that he has prostate cancer. Thank all the men and women in this great country that you still have the right to be so prejudiced!

      • Posted By: Odysseus65 @ 07/08/2009 10:40:07 PM

        Wiccan, besides hating Reagan, and feeling superior to other Americans based on your name, (or whiteness?), what else do you stand for?

    • Posted By: biglover @ 07/08/2009 8:07:56 PM

      Full of hate aren't you. You must be a miserable sob and a real dickhead

    • Posted By: biglover @ 07/08/2009 8:07:13 PM

      You are a loser. I have just read all your posts and you are at the top of the list of losers

  • Posted By: wiccanwolfess @ 07/08/2009 9:52:29 PM

    Does Obama see himself as the heir to Ronald Reagan?

    OMG -- the 'man' (and I use that word lightly) that spent at least the last 4 years of his presidency in an Alzheimer's induced fog; I certainly hope our current president is nowhere close to channeling Reagan.
    What does concern me is the possibility that Obama could be anywhere close to taking a page from Reagan's economic ideas as those ideas laid the ground for what the US is experiencing at this very moment.
    Unfortunately, I am beginning to see the same 'teflon-coating' on this current president that I saw on Reagan -- and in case anyone out there thinks I'm wrong look at the comment from erisajd.

  • Posted By: erisajd @ 07/08/2009 9:13:11 PM

    Obama is no more Reagan than Clinton was Kennedy. Give it a rest. Reagan was a dazzle in the shining city on a hill; Obama as of right now, is more like the cloud over the sun, apologizing for America supporting freedom a little too enthusiastically. People died and will die and be tortured in Iran because he wants to 'deal' with the leaders. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. Ayatollah Khamenei, well, if you want to listen, perhaps you should be nicer. Yeah, same inner strength.

    If Obama is channeling Reagan he needs one of the new digital TV antennas cause his rabbit ears ain't working.

  • Posted By: ok4u @ 07/08/2009 8:27:18 PM

    Reagan and Obama similar? Yeah, right.

    Reagan: "your generation" "first breath of freedom" "an independent judge, beholden to no government power" "Mr Gorbachev,tear down this wall" "started by two college students, no older than you"

    Clear, direct, outward looking, hopeful, encouraging

    Obama: "By no means is America perfect" "I had no rights" "When I was born" "committment to certain universal values" "Governments that promote the rule of law"

    Fuzzy, apologetic, inward looking, hopeless, discouraging.

    The similarities are overwhelming. Not.

  • Posted By: mac101 @ 07/08/2009 8:14:46 PM

    Try and remember that Reagan was an actor, and the best performance of his life was that of the role of president, but he needed a good script and a good director. He had great stage presence, but little substance, especially during his second term.

    Obama, in comparison, was a community organizer and law professor: he both knows how to motivate people and how to instruct them - he is his own script writer and his own director.

    Obama understands complex and convoluted ideas and can present them to others in a way they can understand. All Reagan could do was play a role, although he played it quite well.

    In these challenging times, I'd much rather have a leader with a brain and charisma than just a man with charisma.



  • Posted By: Still Free in the USA @ 07/08/2009 4:28:05 PM

    - The Vice President of the United States.
    - Surrounded by hundreds of U.S. servicemen and women.
    - Who have just become U.S. citizens.
    - In a war zone.
    - On Independence Day.
    - You stupid moron, you.
    please take a moment to contemplate the implications of Joe Biden???s casual, unscripted (thus, highly revealing) thoughts on what it means to him to be an American. And after careful consideration if you still think an arrogant, grinning, eye-blinking, speech-stealing simpleton like Joe Biden is qualified to be Vice President of the United States??? and Sarah Palin is not!
    As for the rest of you: at the risk of sounding too corny-- may God continue to bless the United States of America.

    • Posted By: biglover @ 07/08/2009 8:06:06 PM

      He's smarter than you any day. I can tell by your name you are a real winner

  • Posted By: suzyku @ 07/08/2009 4:02:17 PM

    Why must you people analyze President Obama's every move, every minute, every hour, every day?! Why do you feel it's necessary to constantly compare him to Reagan, Bush and anyone else? Enough is enough! We are getting very tired of your constant unnecessary talk, gossip, trouble making, talking about things you no nothing about and pretending to be experts on all of it! Ugh! I support our President, I voted for him because he's "himself", he's smart, he's savvy and unlike the previous idiot in office, he can admit to a mistake! The man has been in office for 5 months and you idiots can't stop the trash, it's bad enough from the clueless, stupid right wingnuts.

    • Posted By: biglover @ 07/08/2009 8:04:36 PM

      Thank you suzyku (love your name) for that excellent post.

  • Posted By: usinus @ 07/08/2009 3:50:03 PM

    Candidate Obama promised changes and has stopped way short on furfillment, government hand fed money from lobbyists is still the rule. President Obama has no history but he thinks he will make his own. The problems will be seen by all by the end of this year. I elected him but I am getting nothing but a show that is in three rings and running out of money and credibility.

    • Posted By: biglover @ 07/08/2009 8:03:59 PM

      He;s been in office for 6 months and you expect him to change the disaster of the last 8 years in 6 months. You are pathetic

  • Posted By: ariveria @ 07/08/2009 8:03:52 PM

    i have been telling the republican/conservatives that obama and reagan have the same message and it has nothing to do with tax cuts.

  • Posted By: paulte @ 07/08/2009 3:37:55 PM

    This character Obama is no Ronald Reagan!

    • Posted By: biglover @ 07/08/2009 8:03:15 PM

      And thank goodness for that. RR was one of the worst presidents of our time. The end of democracy as we know it happened under Ronald Reagan

    • Posted By: dwv16 @ 07/08/2009 3:52:40 PM

      Let's all be thankful for that!

  • Posted By: tending @ 07/08/2009 4:44:55 PM

    Huh? Reagan called out Gorbachev, saying, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!", practically COMMANDING him too... I don't see or hear Obama doing anything even REMOTELY similar yet. Granted, there was a buildup to agressive attacks on Soviet leadership, and Obama is a green president(in more ways than one), but give me a break! The article is no more than a blatant attempt to capture the hearts and minds of crucial swing voters by conflating Obama with someone they like who has nothing in common with him. Rebut it if you can.

    • Posted By: biglover @ 07/08/2009 8:02:01 PM

      Ronald Reagan was only a good president for the rich. His presidency was a disaster and the end of democracy in this country. Maybe if you did some reading and research on his presidency rather than drinking the thuglican kool-aid, you might find out something

  • Posted By: twocspirit2 @ 07/08/2009 4:35:09 PM

    Obama is Obama, he speak's to the heart and soul of the people. The difference between Reagon and Obama, is that Reagon's bridge lead to nowhere.

    • Posted By: teenageriot @ 07/08/2009 4:58:15 PM

      Sure, he says many happy things that make the ignorant plebian in us all happy. Not to say that is characteristic of him alone, but that's just what politicians do. Obama's words do not necessarily make him a good leader, nor does continuing forward with a plan make the plan an effective one, but the American public seems to still prefer pretty rhetoric to fiscal reality.
      And it's inconsequential to look at whom his speeches are aimed to please, since he is the biggest ally of big business in the wide history of our nation. People elected Obama largely for disdain Bush's seeming devotion to business intrests, but Obama actually poured hundreds of billions of dollars (which are still unaccounted for) into protecting large businesses from being overtaken by smaller, smarter, and more efficient ones. (Say what you will about my man Ron, but he wouldn't dream of giving such a business absolute government protection)
      If you want to see if this man offers a positive change to American politics, it is more important to look at his actions than to swallow the rhetoric.

      • Posted By: twocspirit2 @ 07/08/2009 7:48:20 PM

        You know what love is?
        It is all kinness, generosity.
        Disharmony prevails when
        we confuse lust with love, while
        The distance between the two is endless.
        When we know love, we shall not forget it, please learn what "unconditional " love is, and we shall all be lover's. Peace and Harmony......................

    • Posted By: rhurc @ 07/08/2009 4:57:15 PM

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse