Saw Argo last night. Opened my eyes to just how well Presidents Carter & Obama did re:embassies

[bushisanidiot]

Republicans have been PRAYING for a tragedy like the the hostage situation in Iran in '79 to happen since the day President Obama took office. They got their wish with the Benghazi attack, but there are so many differences between the two. For instance, no hostages or demands made to the President of the United States.

First of all, let's talk about how strong President Carter was. He did not cave to the terrorists. He held his ground. His administration participated in a SUCCESSFUL escape attempt for which they had to give credit to the canadians for at the time or risk the lives of the hostages still in Iran. Carter couldl not speak about his success during his campaign for re-election. When reagan came in, he fucked up big time. we had several u.s. attacks on Reagan's watch, several more hostage situations, several hijacked airplanes and the big one.. Reagans arms for hostages deal where he NEGOTIATED WITH TERRORISTS. Reagan got to puff out his chest and take credit for the Iranian hostages coming home because they came home around inaugaration day, but CARTER did it.. that is a matter of record. Reagan took credit for the berlin wall coming down, but it was already coming down anyway. Reagan was WEAK because he as an actor. Jimmy Carter was a soldier who served his time in the military and did what he had to do and got the job done.. and wasn't allowed to take credit for any of it. Republicans are STILL wrongly painting President Carter as weak to this day.

Romney is another republican who spins and spins to take credit for other people's successes. He tried to claim credit for the auto industry bouncing back when it was President Obama who IGNORED Romney's advice to "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt". Romney knows absolutely NOTHING about foreign policy or the precarious position the U.S. is in re: the middle east. Romney, like Reagan spouts off in a desperate attempt to try to spin the narrative that the President is failing re: the middle east, but the President has held his ground and more.. he has taken out more al quaeda than Bush ever did, and in less time, with his greatest success being taken out public enemy number one, Bin Laden.

There were 9 U.S. embassy attacks on AWOL Bush's watch, 4 on Reagan's watch, and democrats did not USE those attacks for political gain. Reagan's arms for hostages deal he made with terrorists was used for political gain, because Reagan broke the law and should have been impeached. Republicans have been praying for an Obama "failure" and have been trying to figure out how to impeach him since inaugaration day. And since they don't have have a failure to use for political gain, they have to manufacture one.

Security in Benghazi was lighter because the ambassador didn't like a lot of security around (this is a matter of record) and THE REPUBLICANS reduced funding for embassy security, so even if they asked for it, they wouldn't have necessarily gotten it because of the republicans obsession to cut the deficit. In the republicans wild and reckless zeal to attack President Obama, they outted a CIA operation in Libya. It was a CIA operation that got those 6 americans out of Iran in '79. Who knows what the CIA was in the middle of doing when the republicans outed them after the Benghazi attack. Who knows how many lives are now at risk, because republicans have fumbled on handling "investigating" the Obama administrations invenstigation. Republicans may have committed treason here.

[Bjorn Against]

1. I just saw it yesterday as well

It was a really good movie, and I liked that they did not try to turn it into the typical "America good, Iran bad" narrative and instead really tried to show what was happening on both sides of the conflict. It was a really interesting story and it was very well made. This is the first film I have seen that Ben Affleck directed, but I must say that he did a great job on this one and he deserves an Oscar nomination.

[bushisanidiot]

2. I agree. He should definitely be nominated.

.

[Beaverhausen]

5. Off topic but Affleck's other films are great too

Gone Baby, Gone and The Town are very good and worth a rental.

[Alekei_Firebird]

3. Amazing how conservatives loathe one of the most Christian presidents we've had

Jimmy Carter was probably the most openly Christian (in both proclamation and in deed) that America's ever had, and conservatives LOATHE him.

I guess he didn't fulfill their true test of Christianity, which is to bomb countries of rival faiths.

[bushisanidiot]

4. Republicans have a record of talking tough on Iran when they aren't in power

and then when one of their's is in the white house, they change the subject.

AWOL Bush attacked Iraq for no reason. Why didn't he "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran" like McCain sang in his little joke in 2008? Republicans have wanted a war with Iran since the 70's and when it's time to put up or shut up, they wimp out and attack a country with no army.

[mucifer]

6. Going to see Argo today. I'm glad it doesn't make President Carter look weak

I was a bit afraid of that right before the election to remind people of those days and that HORRIBLE ted koppel nightline show.

[bushisanidiot]

7. The fact that there was a successful secret mission that President Carter couldn't talk about

during his campaign, is a huge deal and a huge piece of evidence why Carter was a STRONG leader during a very tulmultuous moment in world history.

[bushisanidiot]

8. So what were your thoughts on the Movie?

.

[mucifer]

9. I liked it a lot. Spoiler alert:

I thought they did hollywood it up towards the end. I'm guessing they had to exaggerate some to make it more suspenseful. Too many close calls.

What do you know? The New Yorker has an article that says what my gut told me is right:

Then comes the climax. If you visit the C.I.A. Web site, you can read Mendez’s account of events in January, 1980. “As smooth as silk,” he calls the hostages’ passage through the airport, whereas Affleck, chopping up the action and spinning it out, insures that no nails remain unchewed. This is absolutely his right as a teller of tales, and “Argo” never claims to be a documentary. It struck me as a bit rich, however, to make such sport of Hollywood deceitfulness and then to round off your movie with an expert helping of white lies, piling on car chases that never occurred. As for the aftermath, it goes on forever. We get hurrahs for Canadian-American relations; a shot of Mendez hugging his wife, from whom he has been estranged, with the Stars and Stripes fluttering behind; images of the actual hostages, presumably for any skeptics who still find the film implausible; and, finally, a voice-over from Jimmy Carter, lauding the efforts of those involved. All this is, frankly, uncool—a pity, because the rest of “Argo” feels clever, taut, and restrained. Why not close with the perfect coda that Mendez himself supplied? “By the time Studio Six folded several weeks after the rescue, we had received twenty-six scripts,” he wrote. “One was from Steven Spielberg.”



Read more http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2012/10/15/121015crci_cinema_lane#ixzz29JpmJOjA