Obama Apologizes Again
By California Yankee Posted in Democrats — Comments (17) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Barack Obama, one of the 11 remaining 2008 Democratic presidential wannabees, made a speech in which he said the lives of the US troops that have died during the war in Iraq were “wasted:”
We now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.
Obama apologized on Sunday, saying the remark was "a slip of the tongue."
Obama also apologized Monday, saying he meant to criticize the civilian leadership of the war, not those serving in the military:
"Even as I said it, I realized I had misspoken," Obama said. "It is not at all what I intended to say, and I would absolutely apologize if any (military families) felt that in some ways it had diminished the enormous courage and sacrifice that they'd shown."
Obama is showing the initial stages of foot in mouth disease suffered by fellow Democratic Senators Biden and Kerry.
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I hate to belabor this thing more than it deserves...but how can he claim with a straight face that he believes both that the lives were "wasted" and that the fallen soldiers made a "sacrifice"?
You'll notice that he's not really retracting the sentiment, only the word choice. But calling something a sacrifice necessarily means that it was done in the service of a greater purpose. That's why we call a batter who intentionally flies out to right field in order to bring in a run a "sacrifice" -- he gave himself up in order to serve the greater cause (advancing a runner closer to or to home plate).
So, which is it? Because it can't be both. Were the lives wasted...or did the soldiers who gave up their lives make a sacrifice?
Can't you make a sacrifice, wastefully? For example, I could save money for my children's education: that would be a sacrifice. Then I could invest the money poorly, losing it. My sacrifice would have been wasted.
Here's an example of this phrasing. In Jed Babbin's article, "Exit Strategies," from the American Spectator, Feb. 1, 2005, he wrote:
"Last November, a senior Defense Department official bragged about the lives we risked and lost attacking Fallujah without destroying many of the mosques from which the insurgents were attacking our troops. I asked him how we were making the Iraqis aware of those sacrifices. His answer was that we were trying to lead by setting a good example. What he said, in effect, was that we were sacrificing young American lives to earn Iraqi goodwill, and then wasting the sacrifice by not even trying to impress the point on the Iraqis."
is that Barry apologizes while Biden refers to everyone else as clueless and Kerry invents a new meaning for what he said.
Is he still 'articulate'?
"Damnant quod non intellegunt."
there's a fine line between being articulate & baffling someone with BS.
"A free people ought to be armed" - George Washington
He stated he "would absolutely apologize if any military families..." blah blah blah.
To say that you will do something is not the same as doing it.
Another clueless leftwing twit.
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"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -- James Madison
on all news channels to say that she speaks for all families of KIA soldiers and that GWB is the only one who owes them an apology
Hussani never served a minute. I put my 23 years against his 0. Tell me what a wasted life I've had, Senator Loser.
...what Obama meant is: "If we congressional Democrats eventually accomplish unconditional surrender (to Iraq's terrorists and death squads,) then our military's lives will have been wasted. I jumped the gun a little. My bad..."
you can become bright, clean and articulate, if not you might get stuck running for president?
:shrug:
Two thirds of the world is covered by water, the other third is covered by Champ Bailey
I am right wing, but I think that this is being overhyped; just the standar liberal talking points. I didn't see anything wrong with the remark, and I'm a military dependant. It is quite a bit like what liberals always accuse Republican politicians of (but with race).
The John Kerry remark, however, was offensive.
John's remark, if taken the way he insists it was not meant, insults the troops. Barack's comment basically says that the troops are sacrificing their lives for their country, but it's wasted because it's not actually making us safer. I don't see a contradiction; it's the equivalent of calling it a quagmire.
...the Dems are struggling mightily with how to convincingly communicate their "troops good, mission bad" distinction because there's such a vast logical disconnect.
Troops are good -> troops believe their mission is good -> mission is bad -> but I need votes . . .
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"We can all do our part to save the planet by dying." - R.E. Finch
feels that it is a waste to serve the country - that serving in military is foolish and he cannot understand anyone who doesn't put themselves at the center of their personal universe.
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"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -- James Madison
then was called on it, and decided to apologize because some people didn't like what he thought.
In 1992, I saw Bill Clinton on c-span giving two speeches on the same day -- one in New Hampshire and one in Florida -- that seemed to me were the exact opposite of each other in their message. You could play to the audience of the moment like that in 1992, with a lazy, pro-Democrat media and no blogswarms.
Compare that to Obama's comment. It was an unequivocal crowd-pleaser (that is, it made sense in context), but couldn't slip by external scrutiny by -- well -- people like the bloggers here.
I wonder if the net effect will be very milquetoast campaigning, as candidates simply try to avoid setting off the next brush fire.
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We would also like to know your advice for somebody like my daughter, who's going to graduate in two years, advice that you would give a young person.
SEC. RUMSFELD: Advice for a young person. Study history.
which implies extemporaneous speaking. In a practiced speech it is a poor choice of words. I think these Dem apologies (like Kerry's "bad joke") would sound much more sincere if they at least understood what was so offensive about them in the first place. But when they fail to correctly identify their mistake it only reveals they have no understanding.
" I would absolutely apologize if any (military families) *felt* that in *some ways* it had diminished the enormous courage and sacrifice that they'd shown." [asterisks mine]
AGAIN with the blaming others for mis-interpreting... unbelievable!