Obama: Out of Many Sides of His Mouth

President Obama often speaks out of so many sides of his mouth that it seems that he would have made a great ventriloquist, a phenomenon in sophistry and delusion that William Blum has documented over the years.

By William Blum

Oh what fun we have with the nonsense that flows out of the mouth of Donald J. Trump. The man is suffocatingly banal, racist, dishonest, inarticulate, uninformed, uneducated, narcissistic, a bully, just plain stupid, and an asshole (or in the immortal words of my people — a schmuck!).

I would guess that as the boss of his own enterprises for many years, with the power and the habit of firing people, he eventually became deeply accustomed to not having his thoughts seriously questioned or challenged, to the extent that he really believes the crap that comes out of his mouth and doesn’t really understand what others actually think of him. But if we look at what comes out of the mouth of The Barack is there any reason to castigate The Donald for his supposedly outrageous or weird way of expressing himself?

Barack Obama and George W. Bush at the White House.

Barack Obama and George W. Bush at the White House.

 

Here’s a sample:  –On numerous occasions, in reply to a question about why his administration has not prosecuted the Bush-Cheney gang for mass murder, torture and other war crimes, former law professor Obama has stated: “I prefer to look forward rather than backwards.”

Picture a defendant before a judge asking to be found innocent of any crime on such grounds. On other occasions, Obama, without apparent embarrassment, has stated that “nobody is above the law.” (A public figure can be labeled stupid not just for saying or doing stupid things, but for not even realizing that the public will SEE his words or actions as stupid.)

–Asked whether he would apologize for Washington’s role in Chile’s 1973 military coup which overthrew the democratically elected government and replaced it with a dictatorship, Obama replied: “I’m interested in going forward, not looking backward. I think that the United States has been an enormous force for good in the world.” (June 23, 2009)

–Question from CNN, 2008: “Do you think the US should apologize for any mistakes that it has made in the past?” Obama’s reply: “I don’t think the US should ever apologize for anything.”

–Obama’s speech to the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2014 where he classified Russia to be one of the three great threats to the world along with the Islamic State and the ebola virus.

–Obama’s declaration that ISIS “has nothing to do with Islam.” This is standard political correctness which ignores the indisputable role played by Islam in inspiring Orlando and Long Beach and Paris and Ankara and many other massacres; it is the religion that teaches the beauty and godliness of jihad and the heavenly rewards of suicide bombings.

–After Turkey’ intentional shoot-down of a Russian warplane along the Turkish-Syrian border, instead of rebuking Turkey, a NATO member, for its absolutely reckless behavior — or expressing sympathy to the Russians — Obama asserted that “Turkey, like every country, has a right to defend its territory and its airspace.” (Nov. 24, 2015) Turkey later apologized to Russia, but Obama didn’t.

–In September 2013, Obama stood before the United Nations and declared: “I believe America is exceptional.” –On March 9, 2015, Obama declared Venezuela “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

–Obama spoke of “the principle that no country has the right to send in troops to another country unprovoked” (March 3, 2014) (Do our leaders have no memory or do they think we’ve all lost ours?)

–“I’m good at killing.” (Just imagine Trump saying this.) Obama has claimed the power to murder anyone anywhere by drone. Richard Nixon had an enemies list, but this drone king has a personal kill list.  Obama’s use of drones against jihadist leaders, and anyone else who happens to be too close, has essentially rescinded the leading principle that was established in the Magna Carta 800 years ago — the presumption of innocence.

–Imagine also The Donald joking — as Obama did — about using a drone on his daughters’ boyfriends: “They’ll never know what hit them.” –Obama, State of the Union speech, 2012: “This generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world.”

–On May 28, 2012, the President declared that Vietnam was “one of the most extraordinary stories of bravery and integrity in the annals of [U.S.] military history.”

The bodies of Vietnamese men, women and children piled along a road in My Lai after a U.S. Army massacre on March 16, 1968. (Photo taken by U. S. Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle)

The bodies of Vietnamese men, women and children piled along a road in My Lai after a U.S. Army massacre on March 16, 1968. (Photo taken by U. S. Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle)

–After taking over the White House in 2009, Obama called Afghanistan the “good war.”

–Obama, explaining the U.S./NATO devastation of Libya in 2011, turning it from Africa’s highest standard of living into a desperate failed state, based on made-up reports about Gaddafi carrying out atrocities: “Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different.” (March 28, 2011)

–Said Obama: A U.S. refusal to intervene in Libya would be “a betrayal of who we are.” (How true.)

–In March 2011, as the U.S./NATO bombardment of the people of Libya continued, day after day, the White House insisted that it was “a limited humanitarian intervention, not war.”

–“All the forces that we’re seeing at work in Egypt are forces that naturally should be aligned with us, should be aligned with Israel — if we make good decisions now and we understand sort of the sweep of history.”(March 4, 2011) Egypt quickly became a brutal dictatorship.

–State of the Union address, 2011: “And we’ve sent a message … to all parts of the globe: we will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you.”

–Obama: “I’m not somebody who discounts the sincerity and worthiness of President Bush’s concerns about democracy and human rights.” (Washington Post, Jan. 19, 2009)

–Obama: “President Bush was right that Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat [to Europe and the U.S.].” (Sept. 30, 2009)

–“I believe that Christ died for my sins and I am redeemed through him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis.” (Obama, Washington Post, Aug. 17, 2008)

–June 22, 2009: Obama says America is “fully prepared” for any action by North Korea. (Thank god; after the nuclear attacks by China and Russia it was great to not have to worry about North Korea. But there was still Iran.)

–Obama, speaking about Russia: “In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonizing other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chess board are over.”

–During a visit to Baghdad April 7, 2009, Obama praised the U.S. military for their “extraordinary achievement” in Iraq.

–Obama: “To ensure prosperity here at home and peace abroad, we all share the belief we have to maintain the strongest military on the planet.” (Dec. 1, 2008)

–Speaking to a joint session of Congress: “I can stand here and say without exception or equivocation that the United States does not torture.” (Washington Post, Feb. 24, 2009)

–“There is no spying on Americans. We don’t have a domestic spying program.”  (Obama on The Tonight Show, Aug. 7, 2013)

–Just 18 days before the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 Obama said: “It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced.” (Washington Post, May 27, 2010)

–Obama’s pep talk December 2010 to U.S. troops in Afghanistan in which he lauded them as “the finest fighting force that the world has ever known.” (George W. Bush: the U.S. military is “the greatest force for freedom in the history of the world” and “the greatest force for human liberation the world has ever known.”) Try and top those lines, Donald.

At the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, President George W. Bush ordered the U.S. military to conduct a devastating aerial assault on Baghdad, known as "shock and awe."

At the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, President George W. Bush ordered the U.S. military to conduct a devastating aerial assault on Baghdad, known as “shock and awe.”

–As a presidential candidate in 2008 Obama lauded whistleblowers as “part of a healthy democracy [who] must be protected from reprisal.” In 2012, the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama boasted on its website that he had prosecuted more whistleblowers in his first term than all other U.S. presidents combined.

–Obama’s claim that the U.S. has been “For nearly seven decades the anchor of global security”. (Sept. 10, 2013)

–“Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians it’s an act of terror.” (April 16, 2013); “I was elected to end wars, not start them. I’ve spent the last 4 1/2 years doing everything I can to reduce our reliance on military power as a means of meeting our international obligations and protecting the American people.” (Sept. 6, 2013); “The bottom line is, nothing of significance, nothing of benefit results from destructive acts.” (Nov. 25, 2014) Thus spoke the man who carried out military attacks against Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, and Syria.

–Obama (CBS News, Feb. 13, 2013): “I urge this Congress to come up with a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change.” Sam Smith asked: “Does he also want, for example, a bipartisan market-based solution to cancer?”

–In his book The Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote: “I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”

And if you like Barack Obama you’ll love Hillary Clinton.

William Blum is an author, historian, and renowned critic of U.S. foreign policy. He is the author of Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II and Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower, among others.

 

14 comments for “Obama: Out of Many Sides of His Mouth

  1. Ol' Hippy
    July 11, 2016 at 15:41

    Well I just guess we’re all screwed. I refuse to vote for either Trump or Clinton II, I’ll vote Green and absolve myself of any subsequent consequences. I just wish another 70 million or so would do the same and rescue us from certain disaster. The feds have become so toxic to normal citizens with all their pardoning going back to at least Ford when he pardoned that lying deceitful Nixon of his crimes. A precedent that still lets former administrations of the hook. The TPP is a disaster for the planet; the USA in general is a disaster for the planet and I don’t see it getting better any time soon. Wars throughout almost my whole life, 62 yrs, one of which has been going 15+ years right now, are just the US’s way of conducting business. I’m sure I’m not the only person that hasn’t been affected by all this violence in the name of ‘liberty’, but I’m fucking sick of it and wish it would stop; for a few years anyway.

  2. Hal Duell
    July 11, 2016 at 05:28

    Barack Obama is a busted flush.

  3. ranney moss
    July 10, 2016 at 17:24

    I have often wondered what Obama could be thinking. Along those lines, here’s another thing to wonder about.
    If all the Unions in the U.S. (representing 12 million people) and every major environmental organization and most major religious groups oppose TPP, WHY is Obama pushing it with all his political strength??? And WHY does no pundit or investigative reporter ask that question?

    • exiled off mainstreet
      July 10, 2016 at 22:59

      Why won’t the Harpy allow the convention platform to follow her professed opposition to the TPP? This and the remaining sellout items of that platform reveal her campaign as corporatism more naked than Trump’s, who opposes such post-legal trade pacts which replace consumer protection regulations with corrupt corporate tribunals. She is also more dangerous in supporting military action on behalf of el qaeda types in Syria up to the risk of nuclear war. “No nukes for ragheads” might be an effective anti-politically correct campaign slogan for 2016.

      • SFOMARCO
        July 11, 2016 at 02:23

        Today, CBS radio reported that the convention platform sellout personnel said that to oppose TPP would be a disrespect to Obama and all his hard work on TPP. What ludicrous nonsense! Obama is on his way out and has no need to press for Congressional approval of TPP in 2016. Clearly, Obama is providing cover for HillBillious, who touted TPP for years, until Bernie came out against it.

    • Realist
      July 11, 2016 at 02:13

      It’s a club and none of those people are in it. (Apologies to George Carlin.)

  4. Teejay
    July 10, 2016 at 15:24

    IIRC: This quote: “They’ll never know what hit them.” was from the WCD and not the State of the Union speech, 2012

  5. Jonny James
    July 10, 2016 at 13:34

    Great article except the part below. This is very disturbing..

    “…Obama’s declaration that ISIS “has nothing to do with Islam.” This is standard political correctness which ignores the indisputable role played by Islam in inspiring Orlando and Long Beach and Paris and Ankara and many other massacres; it is the religion that teaches the beauty and godliness of jihad and the heavenly rewards of suicide bombings…”

    This statement looks like a Trumpism: an ignorant and hateful statement. Mr. Blum could be accused of grand hypocrisy and bigotry for this one.

    The entire religion of Islam teaches suicide bombings?

    And Christianity and Judaism?

    Blum also needs to research that “Islamic Extremism” has been supported by the British, US and Israeli “intelligence services” for decades. Research the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt for starters.

    One could say that Islamic Extremism is a product of the West.

    • Realist
      July 11, 2016 at 02:16

      Alright, let’s be ecumenical. One could say that organised religion in general has been one of the greatest forces for evil in this world, with millions having died in the name of _________________ (fill in the blank) over the millennia.

    • Rikhard Ravindra Tanskanen
      July 13, 2016 at 17:09

      Correct. Also, the writer says that Obama shouldn’t have supported the revolution in Egypt. That is stupid. He is saying the U.S should have supported the pro-Western Mubarak government. Also, he criticizes Obama for saying Israel should ally with the revolutionary government instead of opposing it. Does this man want tension? Also, Obama said oil rig accidents GENERALLY don’t happen. To criticize Obama for it is emotional. But I didn’t mind the rest of Blum’s criticisms.

  6. Bill Bodden
    July 10, 2016 at 12:24

    It would be interesting to have a psychologist analyze President Obama’s statements that stand in sharp contrast to reality and his apparent equanimity when it comes to killing innocent people.. Can he really believe the pronouncements that come out of his mouth? Among his audiences there are, no doubt, many people gullible enough to believe what Obama says, but has he concluded everyone who hears what he has to say is equally credulous? And, what does it say about his interviewers on television who let him get away with this mendacity?

  7. Gregory Herr
    July 10, 2016 at 12:16

    Yes, the fork-tongued chameleon knows a little something about betrayal, turning a blind eye, and being above the law. He knows exactly how to ensure prosperity at home and peace abroad. Ugh.

    Was he bragging when in a rare moment of truth he said he’s “good at killing”? What a dearth of class. What a shameful (or is it shameless) exhibition of daily prevarication and insidious politicking (all the while being sustained, he says, by redemption in Christ. The ultimate hypocrisy.

    As Bob Van Noy suggests, we can’t expect much going by the track record since ’63….but we deserve a lot better.

    • SFOMARCO
      July 11, 2016 at 02:32

      “I believe that Christ died for my sins and I am redeemed through him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis.”

      Obama’s beliefs lapsed when he threw Reverend Jeremiah Wright under the back of the bus.

  8. Bob Van Noy
    July 10, 2016 at 11:10

    Every president going back to November 22, 1963 is/was a disaster.

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