how, exactly, will they go about causing trouble?

6/2/2014 8:21:58 PM

The notion we don't negotiate with terrorists is a Hollywood thing. Every president does it. I mean what was Iran-Contra?

6/2/2014 8:31:23 PM

yep

6/2/2014 8:34:55 PM

This seems like a agreement meant to grease some deal with Qatar.

Qatar maybe wanted the prisoners, but the administration couldn't be seen to just give prisoners for political favors, so they negotiated the return of a soldier who isn't the most noble, and now they're being burned by the right.

Or maybe he knows congress will be all republican soon, and he wants to get what he can done before then.

[Edited on June 3, 2014 at 12:09 AM. Reason : ]

6/2/2014 11:57:14 PM

Nonsense. He is powerless to shut down Guantanamo Bay. These prisoners simply escaped and swam away.

6/3/2014 12:49:19 AM

good lord, this has been an embarrassing last 8 weeks or so for this administration.

some real head wtf decisions... mainly the latest.

[Edited on June 4, 2014 at 1:11 AM. Reason : .]

6/4/2014 1:11:21 AM

This is from the Chit Chat thread:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607

Article from 2012 detailing how this situation came to be.

6/4/2014 1:57:03 AM

not surprising this thread is silent

keep up the good work guys

6/14/2014 10:49:12 PM

I'm ok with this thread hanging out at the bottom. Because there is no credibility to be had.

6/15/2014 7:58:23 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/17/obama-will-reportedly-expand-protected-areas-pacific-ocean/
I know, it's just deflection.

6/17/2014 10:34:28 AM

So first he says he's not sending any boots on the ground, then I hear something about 275 troops going in?

I was ok with no boots on the ground, but what are his intentions with such a small number of troops? "Training?" How much more "training" can you give the Iraqi troops. You can't train someone to stand in the face of fear. If these Iraqi troops are running, there's nothing we can do.

No boots on the ground. Obama is a pro at drone warfare - just leave it at that.

6/17/2014 11:14:11 AM

They're special forces, right?

6/17/2014 11:18:58 AM

Yea. I was flipping around the radio this morning and landed on Beck for a few minutes (I"m not a regular listener, I promise) and he thinks they are being sent in to destroy the embassy we have there. Apparently he thinks that embassy is a covert ops HQ or something.

6/17/2014 11:26:38 AM

i thought they were being sent in anticipation of evacuating the embassy (at least that's what the news said)

if we are planning airstrikes we will have at least some people for forward air control

6/17/2014 11:30:00 AM

U.S. captures Benghazi suspect in secret raid

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-captured-benghazi-suspect-in-secret-raid/2014/06/17/7ef8746e-f5cf-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html

Now they can interrogate him and finally get the truth about Benghazi, how Obama planned it all along!

6/17/2014 11:47:16 AM

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-obama-iraq-20140619-story.html#page=1

Quote :

"But the delay isn't just about intelligence gathering. Obama's approach — the persistent "and then what?" question — reflects his deep skepticism about the ability of military intervention to fix entrenched problems, a suspicion that some note has grown, or at least solidified, during his tenure. "He genuinely believes that he was elected to get America off its war footing, that his legacy is to get the U.S. away from its over-reliance on the military instrument," said Julianne Smith, former deputy national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden. "There's just a fundamental strategic framework for him that tilts toward not intervening and looking to see what other instruments are available to deal with a crisis.""

This is why no matter what, I'm glad Obama is President.

6/19/2014 1:25:47 PM

that's what made Kennedy Kennedy

6/19/2014 1:54:09 PM

And what exactly made Kennedy Kennedy? His tilt toward non-intervention? I guess that tilt worked really well for him during the Bay of Pigs invasion. He certainly was non-intervening then.

6/19/2014 2:40:08 PM

that's because Kennedy took the advice of fat old war hawks, similar to Obama's mistake of keeping Robert Gates

6/19/2014 3:05:12 PM

^^ you conveniently forgetting the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is what I was talking about?

6/19/2014 3:26:22 PM

that's from when he ignored the advice of the fat old war hawks, his Dick Cheneys

[Edited on June 19, 2014 at 3:31 PM. Reason : similar to Obama more recently]

6/19/2014 3:30:49 PM

exactly

6/19/2014 3:32:58 PM

so what now?

you two make predictions about iraq in 1 month.

or a year, and how obama plays it well?

6/19/2014 7:42:10 PM

I think Obama did the right thing By winding down The Military presence, but the other half of this equation, Obama has done a poor job. Obviously I'm not an expert but it Does seem like our diplomatic apparatus hasnt been greasing the Wheels in the Right ways, which is Necessary if you are going to Be noninterventionist.

Maybe Obama's strategy will pay off better than bush's in the next few years but right now things don't seem good with our foreign policy.

6/20/2014 9:59:11 AM

why do think that our diplomatic apparatus hasnt been greasing the wheels in the right ways?

6/20/2014 10:09:42 AM

Lol he's now blaming the president of Iraq for the drawdown? Saying it wasn't his own decision?

How does this guy get away with it?

Yesterday: “Keep in mind, that wasn’t a decision made by me. That was a decision made by the Iraqi government.”

Third presidential debate/Romney: “No,” Obama said. “What I would not have done is left 10,000 troops in Iraq that would tie us down. That certainly would not help us in the Middle East.”

You people let him off the hook day in and day out. I swear, if he had wanted to invade initially based on claims of WMD's, and there were none, you would be all over the CIA for their faulty intelligence. Meh, Obama was just listening to his advisors, meh, it wasn't his fault"

6/20/2014 10:32:09 AM

Is that sarcasm? It was because of al-Malaki, along with the Bush administration who negotiated and signed the agreement.

are you trying to rewrite history?

[Edited on June 20, 2014 at 10:42 AM. Reason : it wasn't that long ago, the agreement was signed in 2008]

6/20/2014 10:41:31 AM

Ok, well, why was he taking full credit for the drawdown in '12, and now saying he didn't have anything to do with it?

6/20/2014 10:58:28 AM

please show me examples of each of those because i'm confused as shit about the point you are failing to make

6/20/2014 11:03:00 AM

My point is that once again, he's making an excuse. Plain and simple.

6/20/2014 11:05:59 AM

but you haven't demonstrated that he used to take all the credit and is now making excuses, you just made that up so you can be mad about it (because you were misled by Fox News about who negotiated the agreement with Iraq)

6/20/2014 11:12:06 AM

Taking credit:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/president-obama-praises-self-for-ending-war-in-iraq-on-bloodiest-day-of-the-year-in-that-country/

Making excuses:

From his speech yesterday:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/president-obama-praises-self-for-ending-war-in-iraq-on-bloodiest-day-of-the-year-in-that-country/

6/20/2014 11:24:47 AM

It's the same link.

6/20/2014 11:44:58 AM

nowhere in the "taking credit" video does Obama take credit for the Iraq SOFA

6/20/2014 11:46:10 AM

Obama to Extend Array of Marriage Benefits to Gay Couples
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/us/politics/obama-to-extend-array-of-marriage-benefits-to-gay-couples.html?hp

+313,914,039 credibility

6/20/2014 12:38:55 PM

Sorry, I meant to post a quote for that second line, not the link again.

6/20/2014 12:46:30 PM

so you really weren't aware of the Iraq SOFA, were you?

6/20/2014 12:52:43 PM

Also, Obama kept troops in Iraq longer than the SOFA, he extended the first timeline

6/20/2014 1:33:47 PM

ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you a true leader...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/20/obama-administration-caught-by-surprise/

6/20/2014 4:41:54 PM

^
That's pretty weak.

are they just ripping off forum posts and blogs now?

6/20/2014 5:38:56 PM

U.S. should join rest of industrialized countries and offer paid maternity leave: Obama
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/24/u-s-should-join-rest-of-industrialized-countries-and-offer-paid-maternity-leave-obama/

Quote :

"WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States should join the rest of the industrialized world and offer paid leave for mothers of newborns. “Many women can’t even get a paid day off to give birth — now that’s a pretty low bar,” Obama said at the White House Summit on Working Families. “That, we should be able to take care of.” The president is talking about paid maternity leave in the midst of an election campaign season focused in many respects on women voters, raising questions about how he would fund such a system. “If France can figure this out, we can figure this out,” Obama said."

6/24/2014 11:41:10 AM

Quote :

"CARNEY: "All I can tell you is that I cannot and he cannot comment specifically on an ongoing criminal investigation or actions that investigators at the Department of Justice may or may not have taken. It would be wholly inappropriate. And if we did comment on it, or if we did have insight into it, you would appropriately ask why and is that correct procedure, because it would not be.""

he didn't have any problem comparing trayvon martin to his hypothetical son though.

6/24/2014 11:58:46 AM

how are people

a) still unable to understand the point he was making when he made that statement?

and

b) so quick to still complain about it?

[Edited on June 24, 2014 at 12:42 PM. Reason : .]

6/24/2014 12:39:04 PM

a) he made that statement knowing full well what the reactions would be
b) i simply pointed out the hypocrisy. he had no problem commenting on something way before a trial could be held because it suited his own platform, but suddenly it's "inappropriate" for him to comment on the IRS?

6/24/2014 1:19:43 PM

it astounds me that people like thegoodlife3 exist.

6/24/2014 1:45:04 PM

the administration had zero link to TM, it may or may not have some link to the IRS thing. If they say anything at all they can be called in to testify on what they may or may not know. Best to keep the collective mouth shut.

[Edited on June 24, 2014 at 1:46 PM. Reason : d]

6/24/2014 1:45:32 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGF_33OC4CI

6/29/2014 8:01:02 PM

that should go in the Bush credibility thread

6/29/2014 8:05:29 PM

White House poised to name patent reform opponent as new head of Patent Office
http://gigaom.com/2014/06/29/white-house-poised-to-name-patent-reform-opponent-as-new-head-of-patent-office/

6/29/2014 9:36:29 PM

immigration reform...because that's the most important thing going on.

6/30/2014 3:13:38 PM