Comments on: Did Obama Go on an Apology Tour?

By: Michael J. Kelly

Michael J. Kelly — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 01:14:37 +0000

Matthew Schmitz:
Your post was devoid of research.

See video links in “Five Times Obama Has Apologized for America”
http://freebeacon.com/five-times-obama-has-apologized-for-america/

and see

“Barack Obama’s Top 10 Apologies …”

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/06/barack-obamas-top-10-apologies-how-the-president-has-humiliated-a-superpower

By: PeterG

PeterG — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 04:00:33 +0000

Matthew Schmitz,
(Just as a heads up regarding the video, a language warning would have been courteous. The language was coarse, and unnecessary. Do you mean to suggest that Romney or former President Bush are —holes when it comes to foreign policy?)
To your point however, you claim that Obama was more honest than was Romney in the third debate. I am not so sure. I try to keep an eye on this blog as well as The Corner over at National Review. I give you this piece for instance:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/331125/first-aid-living-bing-west
and I ask how you account for President Obama saying this? “Now, with respect to Libya, as I indicated in the last debate, when we received that phone call, I immediately made sure that, number one, we did everything we could to secure those Americans who were still in harm’s way.” Unless Bing West is incorrect, President Obama did not do everything in his power to secure those Americans who were still in harm’s way. Or how about this: “And Governor Romney wants to take us back to those policies: a foreign policy that’s wrong and reckless; economic policies that won’t create jobs, won’t reduce our deficit, but will make sure that folks at the very top don’t have to play by the same rules that you do.” All honest?
How about this: “I’ve done throughout my presidency and will continue to do, is, number one, make sure that these countries are supporting our counterterrorism efforts; number two, make sure that they are standing by our interests in Israel’s security, because it is a true friend and our greatest ally in the region. Number three, we do have to make sure that we’re protecting religious minorities and women because these countries can’t develop unless all the population — not just half of it — is developing. Number four, we do have to develop their economic — their economic capabilities. But number five, the other thing that we have to do is recognize that we can’t continue to do nation building in these regions. Part of American leadership is making sure that we’re doing nation building here at home. That will help us maintain the kind of American leadership that we need.” As I said, I am not as certain as you are about who was more honest.
Mr. Schmitz, I suspect that you were so pleased to have predicted that Romney would return to the American Apology tour idea (to which you took such umbrage), that you then overreached in your post. True, never did President Obama say the words “I’m sorry” during his tour. I wonder if Romney had called it the American Embarrassment tour instead, if it would have met with your approval. I agree with Stephen Barr, and found President Obama’s actions to be very unhelpful, if not dangerous.
Now, if this whole train of thought grew out of your concern for some friends who are worried about Romney’s hawkish rhetoric (How many times did he mention peace?), then I suggest that you patiently discuss with these friends which national policies and actions historically tend toward war, and perhaps toss around the idea of what might actually happen if the many whirring centrifuges in Iran are not stopped before they complete their enriching work. It might be a more effective use of your time (than adjudicating which candidate was more honest); plus it is more humble.
Cordially,
PeterG

By: Art Deco

Art Deco — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:08:40 +0000

I have many friends who hate abortion and war in nearly equal measure and thus feel themselves pulled between the two candidates. I would refer you to John Bunzel's Anti-Politics in America. Pacifism is not serious politics, and should be ignored.

By: Stephen M. Barr

Stephen M. Barr — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:34:07 +0000

I have to disagree with you, Matthew. It is not a question of “criticizing foreign policy”. Obviously, it is perfectly legitimate for an American to criticize the foreign policy of his country. But to do so in speeches abroad to foreign audiences is quite different from doing so as part of a domestic political argument.

My old Irish grandmother used to say, when she heard of some person running down his family in front of strangers, “It is a dirty bird that fouls its own nest.” I don’t think it was so much that President Obama had serious criticisms of the actions of his country or his government. That is fine. It was the manner and place in which he expressed them. There is some tone deafness here.

By: publius

publius — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:20:07 +0000

You’re right. There was no apology tour, just a bowing tour.

By: David Nickol

David Nickol — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:10:16 +0000

What is interesting to me is that although Romney and some other conservatives accuse Obama of apologizing for America, the message of at least some conservatives is not merely that Obama’s policies during the last four years have hurt the country, or made us appear weak, or piled up a huge deficit, but there is really something wrong with America and Americans—that this isn’t the great country it used to be, and they really don’t like it very much.

I have said a number of times that I remember during the 1960s and the Vietnam war protests, conservatives used to say, “America—love it or leave it!” or “My country, right or wrong.” Now it seems the same thing could be said to them.

Aside from saying that Obama shouldn’t have apologized from America, in many ways it seems like Romney has implied there isn’t that much to stand up for.