User Panel
Posted: 4/19/2010 12:03:46 PM EDT
Hey,
Barack Obama insults Poland – again Last week I wrote a piece urging President Obama to attend the funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, the Polish First Lady, and 94 senior officials who perished in the Smolensk air disaster. I noted at the time: The Obama administration has on numerous occasions failed to acknowledge the importance of Washington’s allies, and has often appeared indifferent, even hostile towards America’s closest friends. It is important at this time of tremendous pain and suffering in Poland, that the President of the United States sends a clear message that the American government and people are with them in heart and spirit. The White House did subsequently announce that the president would attend the funeral ceremony in Krakow this past weekend, but like many world leaders he was unable to do so due to the grounding of flights over much of Europe. One would have thought that President Obama might have used the time he would have spent in Poland paying his respects to the Polish fallen. For example he could have visited the recently erected Victims of Communism memorial in Washington, or at the very least have signed the condolence book at the Polish Embassy. But what did he choose to do instead? Play yet another round of golf. As Joseph Curl at The Washington Times reported: On a cool but sun-drenched Sunday, the president and three golfing companions went to Andrews Air Force Base to play 18 holes. It is the 32nd time Mr. Obama has played golf since taking office Jan. 20, 2009, according to CBS Radio’s Mark Knoller. After canceling the Poland trip on Saturday, the White House announced that Mr. Obama had no public schedule for Sunday. He was to have arrived in Krakow in the morning, attend the 2 p.m. funeral and leave for home by 5 p.m., arriving back at the White House after midnight. Mr. Obama has not gone to the Polish Embassy in Washington since the accident, but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. both have. There, they signed a condolence book. Curl also notes that Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, gave up playing golf in the aftermath of the Iraq War: Mr. Obama has played golf far more often than former President George W. Bush. In his eight years in office, Mr. Bush played just 24 times. His last time as president was Oct. 13, 2003. He said in 2008 that he gave up golf “in solidarity” with the families of soldiers who were dying in Iraq. It is hard to think of anything more insulting to the Polish people on the day they mourned the loss not only of their president but much of their political and military leadership, for the president of the United States to be enjoying a round of golf after canceling plans to attend the funeral. It is yet another disgraceful example of crass insensitivity to a close American ally, which has become the hallmark of the Obama administration’s amateurish foreign policy. Just eight months on from humiliating Warsaw by pulling out of the agreement over Third Site missile defence installations in Poland and the Czech Republic, the White House has insulted the Poles yet again. This is no minor diplomatic faux pas – it is a second full-blown slap in the face for a key US partner, whose soldiers are currently laying their lives on the line alongside their American allies on the battlefields of Afghanistan. /end Kevin "" |
|
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes.
|
|
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? I guess. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? I guess. Hard to defend him anymore huh? |
|
I don't defend him. Nitpicking at everything he does is a waste of my time. Just pointing out what every news outlet including Fox said last night as to why he didn't attend the funeral.
|
|
Quoted:
I don't defend him. Nitpicking at everything he does is a waste of my time. Just pointing out what every news outlet including Fox said last night as to why he didn't attend the funeral. He's pissing in the mouth of one of our staunch allies. That ain't nitpicking. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? Why not? Apart from "keeping up appearances" for another head of state, why should he as an individual give two shits about a relative stranger dying on the other side of the world? It pains me deeply to stick up for Obama, but for fuck's sake, you can't expect him to hold a private wake or something. |
|
i doubt he even bothers to make the trip to poland after the ash clears |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I don't defend him. Nitpicking at everything he does is a waste of my time. Just pointing out what every news outlet including Fox said last night as to why he didn't attend the funeral. He's pissing in the mouth of one of our staunch allies. That ain't nitpicking. Doesn't make me want to vote him and all of his commy buddies out of office anymore than I already do. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? Why not? Apart from "keeping up appearances" for another head of state, why should he as an individual give two shits about a relative stranger dying on the other side of the world? It pains me deeply to stick up for Obama, but for fuck's sake, you can't expect him to hold a private wake or something. Yes, having him go over to the Polish Embassy in DC and signing the book of Condolence would be a huge fuckin' hardship. |
|
I'm no Obama fan, but IIRC Bush caught grief for doing the same thing "while our troops were dying overseas."
Plenty of things to dislike about Obama without over-picking at this kind of stuff. |
|
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. Interesting, considering the President of Georgia managed to fly from DC after going to Obummer's nuclear summit to go to the funeral. |
|
Quoted:
I'm no Obama fan, but IIRC Bush caught grief for doing the same thing "while our troops were dying overseas." Plenty of things to dislike about Obama without over-picking at this kind of stuff. Barack Obama plays eight times more golf than George W Bush The "Bush did it" excuse is wearing thin with Obama. He was supposed to be the anti-Bush, right? Looks like he's 8 times worse....and he's got 2 more years to go. |
|
Quoted:
I'm no Obama fan, but IIRC Bush caught grief for doing the same thing "while our troops were dying overseas." Plenty of things to dislike about Obama without over-picking at this kind of stuff. Obama has played more games of golf in 2 years than Bush did in 8. For the record. |
|
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. NO EXCUSE |
|
As much as I hate Obama, I have a hard time mustering outrage about this. It would be entirely different if he had gone to Poland for the funeral and blew off some sort of official function while there to go play golf, but it isn't like he cancelled his appearance so that he could play golf. He could not make the appearance because of the volcanic ash. I do agree that he should have gone and signed the condolence book at the embassy at a minimum. He should have done this at the same time that Clinton and Biden signed it. However, given the insane demands on the president's time (even when the president has no idea what he is doing), I can't begrudge him the opportunity to take a little time to relax after his events for the day were cancelled. I don't expect any president to do nothing but sleep, eat and work. They have to have some relaxation time in there and this seems like it was a perfect opportunity.
I think that if Obama had done the things that the author of this article suggested, the author would have turned around and bashed him for diverting attention away from the state funeral and making himself the center of attention through publicity stunts. There are so many legitimate things to hate Obama for that things like this just seem petty. Let's focus on the big reasons. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? Maybe it's plan C. Did OK tell him to stay away for their anniversary? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I'm no Obama fan, but IIRC Bush caught grief for doing the same thing "while our troops were dying overseas." Plenty of things to dislike about Obama without over-picking at this kind of stuff. Barack Obama plays eight times more golf than George W Bush The "Bush did it" excuse is wearing thin with Obama. He was supposed to be the anti-Bush, right? Looks like he's 8 times worse....and he's got 2 more years to go. Maybe Bush isn't very good at golf. That would explain why he doesn't play as often. Also, I think that nitpicking is silly. Fault him for the big things...like COMMUNISM. Not playing golf... |
|
If I were to attend a funeral for a very close associate and could not make it due to a legitimate reason ( the volcano situation is legit in my book) I would have found a different way to honor the memories of those lost instead of going golfing.
32 times THIS year? and W only went 24 times in his entire presidency, yet people complained about it? That's embarassing for Zero. |
|
|
|
Quoted:
Maybe Bush isn't very good at golf. That would explain why he doesn't play as often. Also, I think that nitpicking is silly. Fault him for the big things...like COMMUNISM. Not playing golf... So pissing off one of the few allies we have fighting next to us A-stan is nitpicking? Obama goes golfing instead of attending Kaczyńskis' funeral US President Barack Obama went golfing at the Andrews Air Force Base yesterday, it was reported, just hours after Poles had laid their late president to rest. "On a cool but sun-drenched day, the president and three golfing companions head[ed] to Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday to play 18 holes. It is the 32nd time Mr. Obama has played golf since taking office Jan. 20, 2009, according to CBS Radio's Mark Knoller," reported the Washington Times on Sunday. In an article posted on its website, the newspaper also reported that while US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden had taken the time to visit the Polish Embassy to sign a book of condolences, President Obama had not yet taken the time out to do so. The plumes of volcanic ash that ruined travel plans throughout Europe last week kept other world leaders away from the funeral, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy - though there was no word as to whether they too had taken to the links. Other world leaders found ways to attend the funeral, including Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, who made an 18-hour drive, while Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus travelled by car and train. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych also attended. The late president's close friend, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, also managed to attend, flying in from Georgia through Rome. /end |
|
To my Polish friiends, my condolences and my heartfelt shame at the actions of El Presidente'
|
|
If we make it to November, everything is going to be all right I know.
|
|
I saw this on Drudge and it's crap like this that give conservative a bad name. He couldn't fly there because of the GIANT cloud of ash covering most of northern Europe. Who cares if he went golfing? It's not like he blew off the funeral to go play 18 holes with Tiger or something.
I personally despise Obama but stupid articles like this only make Conservatives look like buffoons.....I'm sure it will be on the Daily Show tonight with Jon Stewart making us look like morons because some stupid website made a big deal of him going golfing when he couldn't even fly to Poland due to an act of God. |
|
Quoted:
If we make it to November, everything is going to be all right I know. Yeah, we'll see about that. My tinfoil hat tells me if the polls keep trending the way they've been, the wave is going to be so huge, something just might have to happen on November 1st. Sorry! Elections have been postponed for a few weeks, for the good of the Country...or for the Children, or some shit. |
|
Quoted: I saw this on Drudge and it's crap like this that give conservative a bad name. He couldn't fly there because of the GIANT cloud of ash covering most of northern Europe. Who cares if he went golfing? It's not like he blew off the funeral to go play 18 holes with Tiger or something. I personally despise Obama but stupid articles like this only make Conservatives look like buffoons.....I'm sure it will be on the Daily Show tonight with Jon Stewart making us look like morons because some stupid website made a big deal of him going golfing when he couldn't even fly to Poland due to an act of God. You didn't read the articles, did you? |
|
Quoted:
I saw this on Drudge and it's crap like this that give conservative a bad name. He couldn't fly there because of the GIANT cloud of ash covering most of northern Europe. Who cares if he went golfing? It's not like he blew off the funeral to go play 18 holes with Tiger or something. I personally despise Obama but stupid articles like this only make Conservatives look like buffoons.....I'm sure it will be on the Daily Show tonight with Jon Stewart making us look like morons because some stupid website made a big deal of him going golfing when he couldn't even fly to Poland due to an act of God. Is that cloud of ash preventing him from taking an hour and go signing the condolence book at the Polish Embassy? Hmmmm? |
|
Quoted:
Well, yea...
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? Obviously! |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I saw this on Drudge and it's crap like this that give conservative a bad name. He couldn't fly there because of the GIANT cloud of ash covering most of northern Europe. Who cares if he went golfing? It's not like he blew off the funeral to go play 18 holes with Tiger or something. I personally despise Obama but stupid articles like this only make Conservatives look like buffoons.....I'm sure it will be on the Daily Show tonight with Jon Stewart making us look like morons because some stupid website made a big deal of him going golfing when he couldn't even fly to Poland due to an act of God. Is that cloud of ash preventing him from taking an hour and go signing the condolence book at the Polish Embassy? Hmmmm? No the 9th hole is. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? Why not? Apart from "keeping up appearances" for another head of state, why should he as an individual give two shits about a relative stranger dying on the other side of the world? It pains me deeply to stick up for Obama, but for fuck's sake, you can't expect him to hold a private wake or something. Yes, having him go over to the Polish Embassy in DC and signing the book of Condolence would be a huge fuckin' hardship. I guess that would have interfered with his tee time. What a piece of work. Vulcan94 |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I saw this on Drudge and it's crap like this that give conservative a bad name. He couldn't fly there because of the GIANT cloud of ash covering most of northern Europe. Who cares if he went golfing? It's not like he blew off the funeral to go play 18 holes with Tiger or something. I personally despise Obama but stupid articles like this only make Conservatives look like buffoons.....I'm sure it will be on the Daily Show tonight with Jon Stewart making us look like morons because some stupid website made a big deal of him going golfing when he couldn't even fly to Poland due to an act of God. Is that cloud of ash preventing him from taking an hour and go signing the condolence book at the Polish Embassy? Hmmmm? Yes, he should have at least signed the book at the Polish Embassy but other than that, who cares? As much as I hate this guy, WTF do I care what he does on his day off? This jackoff is doing enough crap on his own without having to ridicule his personal time. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I'm no Obama fan, but IIRC Bush caught grief for doing the same thing "while our troops were dying overseas." Plenty of things to dislike about Obama without over-picking at this kind of stuff. Barack Obama plays eight times more golf than George W Bush The "Bush did it" excuse is wearing thin with Obama. He was supposed to be the anti-Bush, right? Looks like he's 8 times worse....and he's got 2 more years to go. Curl also notes that Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, gave up playing golf in the aftermath of the Iraq War:
Mr. Obama has played golf far more often than former President George W. Bush. In his eight years in office, Mr. Bush played just 24 times. His last time as president was Oct. 13, 2003. He said in 2008 that he gave up golf “in solidarity” with the families of soldiers who were dying in Iraq. I guess he missed this little gem in your OP. Vulcan94 |
|
Quoted:
Yes, he should have at least signed the book at the Polish Embassy but other than that, who cares? As much as I hate this guy, WTF do I care what he does on his day off? This jackoff is doing enough crap on his own without having to ridicule his personal time. The Poles care, as the above article shows. I care. Ogabe is purposefully alienating our allies [UK, Israel, Poland] and embracing our enemies [Iran, N. Korea, Venezuela]. About what and what can't be ridiculed about Obama, I'll borrow the Left's tactic they used against Bush: Ridicule Everything. Criticize Everything. Give not one millimeter of slack. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: Yes, he should have at least signed the book at the Polish Embassy but other than that, who cares? As much as I hate this guy, WTF do I care what he does on his day off? This jackoff is doing enough crap on his own without having to ridicule his personal time. The Poles care, as the above article shows. I care. Ogabe is purposefully alienating our allies [UK, Israel, Poland] and embracing our enemies [Iran, N. Korea, Venezuela]. About what and what can't be ridiculed about Obama, I'll borrow the Left's tactic they used against Bush: Ridicule Everything. Criticize Everything. Give not one millimeter of slack. +1 |
|
Quoted: And Obama has played 10,000 more quarters of basketball in 2 years than Bush did in his lifetime. Quoted: I'm no Obama fan, but IIRC Bush caught grief for doing the same thing "while our troops were dying overseas." Plenty of things to dislike about Obama without over-picking at this kind of stuff. Obama has played more games of golf in 2 years than Bush did in 8. For the record. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? I guess. I can understand he didnt make it for the funeral, but maybe he could have made an apperance at the embassy to pay his respects? |
|
Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I saw this on Drudge and it's crap like this that give conservative a bad name. He couldn't fly there because of the GIANT cloud of ash covering most of northern Europe. Who cares if he went golfing? It's not like he blew off the funeral to go play 18 holes with Tiger or something. I personally despise Obama but stupid articles like this only make Conservatives look like buffoons.....I'm sure it will be on the Daily Show tonight with Jon Stewart making us look like morons because some stupid website made a big deal of him going golfing when he couldn't even fly to Poland due to an act of God. Is that cloud of ash preventing him from taking an hour and go signing the condolence book at the Polish Embassy? Hmmmm? Yes, he should have at least signed the book at the Polish Embassy but other than that, who cares? As much as I hate this guy, WTF do I care what he does on his day off? This jackoff is doing enough crap on his own without having to ridicule his personal time. He's the President and he's had enough fucking days off already! They bitched non-stop at Bush about this. Now there are TWO wars going on, not just one. |
|
Quoted:
Pick your battles carefully. This isn't one of them. FIGHT ALL THE BATTLES. It's what the Left did to Bush on EVERYTHING, from pretzels, to putting. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? I guess. I find it highly unliekly that Air Force One cannot deviate from the normal "air traffic lanes" that comercial liners are subject to. He did not attend for whatever the reason may be, but playing golf is totally disrespectful. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
As much as I hate Obama, I have a hard time mustering outrage about this. It would be entirely different if he had gone to Poland for the funeral and blew off some sort of official function while there to go play golf, but it isn't like he cancelled his appearance so that he could play golf. He could not make the appearance because of the volcanic ash. I do agree that he should have gone and signed the condolence book at the embassy at a minimum. He should have done this at the same time that Clinton and Biden signed it. However, given the insane demands on the president's time (even when the president has no idea what he is doing), I can't begrudge him the opportunity to take a little time to relax after his events for the day were cancelled. I don't expect any president to do nothing but sleep, eat and work. They have to have some relaxation time in there and this seems like it was a perfect opportunity. I think that if Obama had done the things that the author of this article suggested, the author would have turned around and bashed him for diverting attention away from the state funeral and making himself the center of attention through publicity stunts. There are so many legitimate things to hate Obama for that things like this just seem petty. Let's focus on the big reasons. http://i42.tinypic.com/f9ig5v.jpg Yeah, just a little It's so obvious when people don't pay attention to things in either the article, or covered in the thread previously. Eight. Times more golf than both of Bush's terms (8yrs). Quite an accomplishment for not even 2yrs time. Just a little relaxing "me" time, right? I actually did read the article and noticed that fact. I also noticed it when it was brought up in earlier posts. However, even though he has played golf 8 times more than Bush did during his 8 year term, I still stand by my position. There has never been a single president that has done nothing but work the entire time they were in office. Being president is a very demanding job and everyone invariably takes breaks. Why slam Obama because he chooses to take his breaks on a golf course, especially when there are many more reasons to slam him. This type of nitpicking is just petty and is almost exactly like what some people on this board were belittling liberals for doing when Bush was president. He should have signed the condolences book and he should have done that awhile ago. That is a more relevant point than what Obama decided to do when he had some time off because he could not go on his scheduled trip. Focus on the crap that Obama is trying to pass instead of his particular choice in past times. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Pick your battles carefully. This isn't one of them. FIGHT ALL THE BATTLES. It's what the Left did to Bush on EVERYTHING, from pretzels, to putting. Yes, they did. So we should model ourselves off those dipshits? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Pick your battles carefully. This isn't one of them. FIGHT ALL THE BATTLES. It's what the Left did to Bush on EVERYTHING, from pretzels, to putting. Yes, they did. So we should model ourselves off those dipshits? If we want to win? Hell yes. If we want to lose with honor like McCain did? Be my guest. |
|
Quoted:
Why not? he's earned it by working so hard to make this country greater....
Quoted:
I believe plans were cancelled because of the volcano ash being bad for airplanes. So going golfing is Plan B? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Pick your battles carefully. This isn't one of them. FIGHT ALL THE BATTLES. It's what the Left did to Bush on EVERYTHING, from pretzels, to putting. Yes, they did. So we should model ourselves off those dipshits? If we want to win? Hell yes. If we want to lose with honor like McCain did? Be my guest. Win what? The award for mindlessly irrelevant and utterly nonsensical political distractions? Making themselves look like a bunch of fools and poor, whining losers? Good luck with that. There's better things to bash O on. |
|
So what, he is playing golf instead of sitting on his ass surfing the web?
Who cares? I'll take him on the golf course over thinking up more bullshit to fuck the American people with, to be honest. I hope he plays golf every fucking day all day. |
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.