Is ‘The One’ Cocky or Commander in Chiefy?

[babylonsister]

Is ‘The One’ Cocky or Commander in Chiefy?

By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: July 23, 2008

snip//


“The guy gets it,” the Jordanian official said after dinner with Obama. “Sharp, aware and a very good listener. He doesn’t seem stuck in preconceived positions. He said he would get straight to the Palestinian issue as soon as he becomes president.”

That old skill that Obama honed at the Harvard Law Review of listening until everyone at the table felt they had been heard (and agreed with) is coming in handy on his presidential dress rehearsal.

Soon after his sweet parting with King Abdullah, Obama spoke on the Tel Aviv tarmac about the special relationship between Israel and America that he vowed to “actually strengthen in an Obama administration.” Ominous signs showed up in Jerusalem, including a construction vehicle attack near his hotel before he arrived and a dozen Americans holding McCain signs as he walked into the King David Hotel.

The smoother his trip has gone — from sinking a 3-pointer with the troops in Afghanistan to presenting the Obama-Maliki withdrawal plan for Iraq — the more panicky Republicans back in Washington have become.

The image of John McCain in a golf cart with Bush 41 in Kennebunkport — with Poppy charmingly admitting that they were “a little jealous” of all the Obama odyssey coverage — was not a good advertisement for the future, especially contrasted with the shots of Gen. David Petraeus and Obama smiling at each other companionably in a helicopter surveying Iraq. (Asked by a Democratic lawmaker a while back why there weren’t more Democrats in the military, General Petraeus smiled slyly and said “there are more than you think.”)

A foiled and frustrated McCain — trying to get covered when the entire media world has gone fishin’ for Obama stories — took the Hillary tack of mocking the press for having a “love affair,” as his campaign said, with the senator. McCain is hopping mad that the surge that he backed, and Obama resisted, has now set the stage for the Bush puppet Maliki to agree with Obama’s exit strategy. But Obama has a better batting average with his judgment on how we shouldn’t have gotten into Iraq, we should have gone after Osama and we should talk to Iran and other foes, if only to better assess their psychology. Then we might have deduced that Saddam had the “Beware of Dog” sign up without the dog.

It doesn’t work for McCain — and his foreign policy guru Henry Kissinger — to keep insisting that timetables will lead to defeat.

The Angry One can try to paint The One as having bad judgment. But who is being advised by Kissinger, the man who helped keep us in Vietnam and get us into Iraq?

[TexasObserver]

1. Obama is a stark contrast to Bush, who never wanted to listen.

Bush chose people to effect the intentions he had, not to give him advice. The most compelling trait of his administration has been his failure to have smart people around him who could give intelligent advice. They were hired because of their ability to French kiss his ass.

[CatBO]

2. Lately Dowd has been driving me nuts

But I love "The One" vs. "The Angry One".

She raises some good points.

But :wtf: who were the twelve people they got to hold McCain signs in Israel? Sounds like his base is bigger there than in some areas here.

[babylonsister]

3. This was not a bad article; I don't post those.

And a full dozen protesting; imagine that!

[alwysdrunk]

4. Good Article

This is a good article thanks for posting it. I have been starting to wonder if cockiness could become an issue, reading all this media-bias stuff. I think it's just McCain looks so weak right now and Obama looks so strong. Even in this piece, she sounds like she would really rather not like Obama, but she really has no choice. Has there ever been a candidate like this? Was Clinton like this? I don't remember.

[babylonsister]

5. I think it's confidence, not cockiness.

McCain does look really weak; in the process he's getting nastier, so that too is evident (to me).

I think Clinton had confidence, too.

And welcome to DU, alwysdrunk! :hi: