Obama didn’t march in Paris. He did, however, decimate al-Quaida, get Bin Laden, and bomb ISIS.

[riqster]

Beats the hell out of wasting taxpayer money on a transatlantic photo op.

[Ilsa]

1. Uh, Thank you! nt

[JonLP24]

2. So why are we still allies with the governments of Saudi Arabia

Kuwait, UAB, and Qatar? Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden, and ISIS. They all have a link in common. What is it?

I couldn't care less if he was in Paris. That even isn't even in the same galaxy as to where my concerns lie.

[n2doc]

3. Drone attacks Killed a bunch of bystanders and were excellent recruiting tools for terrorists

I'd rather see him waste money, not lives, thank you very much.

[cwydro]

15. Ditto. nt

[roguevalley]

18. who did go? anyone?

[Octafish]

27. 2014 The Year in Drones

EXCERPT...

None of the figures on the number of dead are official US government figures. The Obama Administration isn’t saying how many people US drones have killed. Obama officials have gone no further than issuing bland assurances that drones are precision weapons which produce very few civilian casualties. US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed on May 26, 2013 that “The only people we fire at are confirmed terror targets, at the highest level. We don’t just fire a drone at somebody we think is a terrorist.” Oh, but we do. The New York Times reported on May 29, 2012 that the Obama White House employs a peculiar calculus of death which “counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants.”

CONTINUED...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/01/07/the-year-in-drones/

Continuing wars based on lies is about the lowest thing I can think of.

[hughee99]

28. I believe the proper term for a bystander killed in a drone strike is "suspected militant". n/t

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

36. Try human being.

[hughee99]

37. That would seem like a more accurate term, but it doesn't seem to be the one that IS used. n/t

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

40. We need to dehumanize our victims. Works every time!

[840high]

41. ...^ that

[LordGlenconner]

4. Somebody needed to say it

What a load this entire (manufactured) controversy is.

[TBF]

5. Exactly, it is much more important

to feed the war machine! I'm glad we have our priorities straight here.

[zappaman]

6. He also destroyed social security, invaded Syria, and pushed thru Keystone.

Guess you forgot about those.
A quick search on DU will direct you to the evidence!

[JonLP24]

9. Pushed thru Keystone sounds like a misrepresentation

I do know he opened up a vote to save Landrieu's Senate seat for the recall which ironically the Keystone was put on hold until after the midterms months ago to give Senate Democrats on both sides of the issue an opportunity to bash him for delaying the vote & the other side to rip him for the proposal. (Gutless H Chickenshit gambit)

After that he announced he'd veto it but that is all the information I'm aware, you're chance.

[geek tragedy]

20. How does the President open up a procedural vote

in the Senate?

[Iliyah]

23. Got me??????

K & R for this thread!

[JonLP24]

25. I'm going based on things that were posted here

The Louisiana Democrat faces a Senate runoff next month against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, and, lo, Majority Leader Harry Reid has suddenly allowed a vote on legislation she proposed with North Dakota Republican John Hoeven earlier this year that Mr. Reid blocked. The idea is to give her a show of political independence from Mr. Obama, who is about as popular in the Pelican State as BP .

http://www.wsj.com/articles/mary-landrieus-keystone-lifeline-1415923975

I guess in that case it was Reid allowed it. Maybe open was the wrong word since I probably met allow since Landrieu ripped Obama for the delay semantics issues aside, this is what I meant

I'm going based on memory but the above and now below is what I was referring to when I made my statements so now take it up with them
Stewart said red-state Democrats got President Barack Obama to delay action on major issues, such as immigration and the Keystone XL pipeline. The Democrats then wouldn't have to take an unpopular stand that might cost them votes, or in some cases, could even score points by criticizing the president for delaying action.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/07/jon-stewart-democrats_n_6119480.html

[AngryAmish]

64. Frank Underwood could do it.

Also Superman and Prestor John.

[George II]

10. Nope, nope, and nope (unless you were being sarcastic?)

[uhnope]

16. yes I think he was joking

[JoePhilly]

13. These and other manufactured outrages brought to you by ...

... DU's Combustible Hair Club.

The outrage won't just make itself!!

[Hekate]

29. Made me laugh

Combustible Hair Club -- don't they have Rogaine for that?

[riqster]

39. I'm not just the Combustible Hair Club president...

I'm also a member.[IMG][/IMG]

[JoePhilly]

52. Nope, no Rogaine ... more like Propane.

[Hekate]

58. Touché..... Toupee....

[JoePhilly]

59. Torchee I think.

Sorry .. I'm on fire!!!

[bettyellen]

42. LOL

[zappaman]

44. What's so funny?

Did I leave something out?

[bettyellen]

46. you killed it!

sorry- I guess I am really easy tonight.

[MBS]

7. EXACTLY. + 1000 n/t

[George II]

8. Yes, he did all that and MORE, but....but....but....

He wasn't HERE:



WTF?

[DeSwiss]

11. Got it.

Destruction, assassination, and bombing are what he's best at, not peace.

- Thanks for clearing that up.....

[SunSeeker]

12. K & R

[MisterP]

14. and by "decimate" we suddenly mean "fund," right (or have we forgotten Libya and Syria already?)

[Roy Rolling]

17. Yeah...

...but, you know, Benghazi!

[xiamiam]

19. im sure there is a legitimate argument but nothing said in the op comes close

one of the most ridiculous posts ive seen here for a while..

[m-lekktor]

21. yeah, thank god there is no more al -Quaida or Isis.

[Turbineguy]

22. Doesn't matter.

In the republican world you have to been seen to be doing something, not actually doing something.

Your economic policy, for example, has to be based on fiction. Then you pretend it works.

[Gman]

24. Thanks

I needed something in my back pocket for this.

[riqster]

38. Yeah, it started as my FB response to the Foxbots.

None of them have responded. Funny thing, that.

[livingonearth]

26. Obama is going to be ridiculed by the righties no matter what he does.

If he had gone to Paris they would most likely find some reason to complain about that as well.

[Hekate]

30. ...and the lefties...

I need an aspirin.

[Bobbie Jo]

31. Pass the bottle.

[riqster]

35. I recommend Naproxen. Stronger.

[freshwest]

47. I hear you!

[JonLP24]

33. A lefty ripped him for not going to Paris? Really?

The only reason why I'm aware of the issue is DUers posting threads about someone on the 24/7 news ripping him for the issue which wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't 24/7 news ripping him for it (things you notice when you don't watch 24/7 news)

So I admit my knowledge of his Paris controversy is threads like this one, otherwise I wouldn't have ever had a clue this was an issue. It really nails the never watch 24/7 news case shut. I encourage everyone to do the same because the Paris controversy wouldn't an exist to us, it only exists because of the 24/7 news which is why the controversy exists here.

[Oklahoma_Liberal]

32. He got Alwhacki too!!

Obama has done so much more than Shrub

[TM99]

34. Thank the heavens we got a war president.

I thought that Nobel prize was for peace, but up is down and war is peace these days.

Yay Obama!

[Cha]

49. We have a President who deals with the shite coming down the PIKE. If you know what he's

done to promote Peace instead of War you might not be so quick with your silly labeling and chuckling, cheap pot shots..yuk yuk.

[TM99]

55. Oh I am well aware.

Let's see:

1) Seven countries with our troops on the ground or military strikes under his watch
2) Increase in drone strikes in multiple countries
3) Restarting war games in Iraq due to ISIL now
4) Prosecuting more whistle-blowers than any other administration in recent history
5) CIA torturing was and is A-OK
6) Expanded the NSA spying program beyond Bush's initial setup

Yes, such silly labeling and chuckling.

I mocked the OP's hawkishness as well. He might as well have come in with a photo of Obama in a flight suit with a sock down his pants.

Yay team America, we gots ourselves a badd ass fucking Prezident!

[tabasco]

43. But but but.. he didn't FAKE MARCH in solidarity with the other FAKE MARCHERS!!!

Sevveral posters on DU were VERY CONCERNED!!!

[grahamhgreen]

45. And said we "tortured some folks"

[ND-Dem]

48. because what's important is that we kill more muslims.

[Cha]

50. No. "What's important" is the US is on top of taking out Terrorists who Blow People UP just 'cause.

[riqster]

51. Bollocks. Not all moslems are terrorists. Nor are all terrorists moslems.

[ND-Dem]

57. yet that seems to be mainly who we're killing. and a lot of them. sure are a lot of

terrorists in middle eastern countries. young ones too.

[1bigdude]

53. Isn't Al Qaeda in Yemen claiming responsibilty for the Paris murders? Link...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/14/al-qaeda-yemen-paris-attacks-charlie-hebdo/21738099/

[riqster]

54. Yeah, which is interesting given that one person involved in the attack seems to be from ISIS.

But to your point, I didn't say "eliminated", I said "decimated".

Cornered rats are still dangerous.

[DrDan]

56. lol . . . I think "wasting taxpayer money" is debatable

solidarity with the rest of the world is a worthwhile effort and worth the expense . . . as confirmed by the WH itself

[JoePhilly]

60. The administration is smart to ...

... say "sorry" to this non-issue.

The ranters are going to rant regardless, and as usual, they've taken this rant so over the top, it's easy for the administration to say sorry, and then jump past the RW nonsense into the substance of the administrations efforts, on which, the RW has nothing relevant to contribute anyway.

[DrDan]

61. ah . . . ye olde multidimensional chess once again

got it

[JoePhilly]

62. If that's the best you could come up with ...

... stick to checkers, chess is clearly over your head.

Btw ... don't feel bad about that ... most of those referring to chess analogies on the internet could not win an actual chess game against anyone who has played the game for more than a few months.

[DrDan]

63. I admit I am no match for your creativity

[Bonobo]

65. Christ that is so depressing. I really mean that. Do you have any idea why?

Because it is exactly - EXACTLY - the kind of pumped up, rah-rah military rightwing crap that I would expect to hear from the Republicans any given year.

It makes me feel the long fight to promote Progressive ideas has really lost.

The whole process of stealing THEIR issues, starting with Clinton, succeeded. It has been totally inverted.

Wall Street success? Check. Military success? Check. Weakened unions? Check. Strengthened pharmaceutical companies, corporate influence, lobbyists, 1%, etc. Check, check, check, check, check.

This OP sucks...the soul from me.

[REP]

66. "Decimate" means "reduce by one-tenth"

It's from the Roman practice of killing every tenth man to enforce discipline.

Is that what you meant?

[riqster]

67. Funny but not complete.

http://i.word.com/idictionary/decimate
dec·i·mate
\ˈde-sə-ˌmāt\
verb
: to destroy a large number of (plants, animals, people, etc.)
: to severely damage or destroy a large part of (something)
Full Definition
dec·i·mat·eddec·i·mat·ing
transitive verb
1 :to select by lot and kill every tenth man of
2 :to exact a tax of 10 percent from <poor as a decimated Cavalier — John Dryden>
3 a :to reduce drastically especially in number <cholera decimated the population>
b :to cause great destruction or harm to <firebombs decimated the city> <an industry decimated by recession>