German Press Already Sees Obama as Jimmy Carter

[3331 137]

“If Barack Obama isn’t careful, he will become the Jimmy Carter of the 21st Century.”

That’s the view of a commentator writing for Germany’s Berliner Zeitung newspaper, who notes that Obama is in danger of becoming a one-term president like Carter.

German media weighed in with commentary after Obama’s June 15 speech about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and America’s energy future.

Der Spiegel magazine’s website observed: “President Barack Obama's address from the Oval Office was supposed to be a moment of leadership during the worst environmental disaster in American history. But critics from across the political spectrum wondered afterwards whether he'd shown leadership at all.

“The geyser of oil in the Gulf of Mexico seems, technologically, to lie beyond anything either BP or the U.S. government was prepared for, and Obama failed to mention any specific new ideas. ‘The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean-energy future is now,’ he declared, without offering policy details.”

Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said Obama was “cautious” and “vague” in his speech, and stated: “This president won’t lead America out of a crisis this way — and he certainly won’t usher in a new era.”

And Berliner Zeitung opined: “In his speech, Obama tried to make a virtue of an emergency. He said a shift to new energy sources was now a 'national mission.' Just as the nation once mobilized its powers for World War II, now it needs to conquer its devilish dependence on fossil fuels . . . If Obama wins this debate, and achieves a true shift in energy dependence, then his name will perhaps be mentioned again in the same breath with great American presidents.

"Politically, though, it's fraught with risk. His opponents have already charged Obama with using the Gulf catastrophe to advance his climate agenda in Congress. Republicans rely on the tendency of Americans to prefer cheap fuel and big cars with a certain level of power.

“Over 30 years ago, after all, another president called for smarter American energy policies in a televised speech from the Oval Office. He wanted to know, 'Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve our serious energy problem?' That president's name was Jimmy Carter."

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[skyrider 0]

I'm certainly hoping he is a one term president!

[winsor 236]

I think the comparison is completely unfair.

Jimmy Carter is possessed of technical competence (he is a Naval Academy grad), and is a fundamentally decent human being. One does him a great disservice by the comparison to the graduate of an overrated Divinity school, whose stock in trade is the dissemination of nonsense.


BSBD,

Winsor

[3331 137]

Agreed !

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[turtlespeed 221]

I actually think that article is an insult to Jimmy Carter. He has experience in leadership and he had presidential presence and understanding for what the office entailed. He did make some poor choices. Comparing him to Obama is an insult.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[rushmc 23]

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I actually think that article is an insult to Jimmy Carter. He has experience in leadership and he had presidential presence and understanding for what the office entailed. He did make some poor choices. Comparing him to Obama is an insult.

One thing is for sure
Carter has lost the tittle already

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[skyrider 0]

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I actually think that article is an insult to Jimmy Carter. He has experience in leadership and he had presidential presence and understanding for what the office entailed. He did make some poor choices. Comparing him to Obama is an insult.

One thing is for sure
Carter has lost the tittle already

President Peanut?

[kelpdiver 2]

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I actually think that article is an insult to Jimmy Carter. He has experience in leadership and he had presidential presence and understanding for what the office entailed. He did make some poor choices. Comparing him to Obama is an insult.

One thing is for sure
Carter has lost the tittle already

That will make two in a row.

Be honest, do you expect Bush to do anything of substance in his retirement?

[Andy9o8 2]

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One thing is for sure
Carter has lost the tittle already

That will make two in a row.

Be honest, do you expect Bush to do anything of substance in his retirement?

Yes. I expect him to write scholarly books, engage in international diplomacy, establish a non-profit organization dedicated to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering, establish another non-profit organization dedicated to building affordable homes for low-income people, and eventually win the Nobel Peace Prize.

[sundevil777 102]

Substantial? Like how Carter went on his own to N. Korea and negotiated an agreement and then announced it to the world. Too bad Carter had done it all on his own, and that Clinton felt obliged to not tell a former president of his own party to go to hell. Clinton was rightly furious at Carter for taking foreign policy into his own hands against the wishes of the president. And don't forget that the agreement turned out to be another instance of N. Korea gets benefits with no change at all on their part. Yes, what a great guy Carter is!

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Andy9o8 2]

Yes, a couple of rogue foreign missions of Carter's were ill-advised. That hardly negates either his life accomplishments or his post-presidential life and career. I'll stack the life resume of Jimmy Carter against that of G. W. Bush any day of the week.

[AggieDave 6]

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I think the comparison is completely unfair.

Jimmy Carter is possessed of technical competence (he is a Naval Academy grad), and is a fundamentally decent human being. One does him a great disservice by the comparison to the graduate of an overrated Divinity school, whose stock in trade is the dissemination of nonsense.


BSBD,

Winsor

Very well said!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[rushmc 23]

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I actually think that article is an insult to Jimmy Carter. He has experience in leadership and he had presidential presence and understanding for what the office entailed. He did make some poor choices. Comparing him to Obama is an insult.

One thing is for sure
Carter has lost the tittle already

That will make two in a row.

Be honest, do you expect Bush to do anything of substance in his retirement?

Not sure what you mean
I am not talking after leaving office for either of them

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[kelpdiver 2]

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Not sure what you mean
I am not talking after leaving office for either of them

I don't know that there's a single action Carter took while in office that he'll be generally lauded for. He gained his respectability afterwards when he was able to operate in a winnable situation for him.

Likewise, Nixon somehow managed to become less than a scumbag with time. Bush Sr. continues to maintain a certain level of prestige, even among the Democrats. But will his son even try? Little reason to believe so.

Whether Obama wins a second term will depend in large part on who the Republicans find to run. If it's not someone new, then their ass is grass.

[Lucky... 0]

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Substantial? Like how Carter went on his own to N. Korea and negotiated an agreement and then announced it to the world. Too bad Carter had done it all on his own, and that Clinton felt obliged to not tell a former president of his own party to go to hell. Clinton was rightly furious at Carter for taking foreign policy into his own hands against the wishes of the president. And don't forget that the agreement turned out to be another instance of N. Korea gets benefits with no change at all on their part. Yes, what a great guy Carter is!

Carter did a great job with the Algier's Accord that crusty fascist pig Ronnie received credit for.

[Lucky... 0]

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Not sure what you mean
I am not talking after leaving office for either of them

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I don't know that there's a single action Carter took while in office that he'll be generally lauded for.

Right, because the ignorant Americans think the Iranian hoastages were released as a result of fear of fascist Ronnie. No one feared FR, just ask the perpetrators of the Beirut barracks bombing.

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He gained his respectability afterwards when he was able to operate in a winnable situation for him.

And when people saw a total disaster Reaganomics was/is.

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Likewise, Nixon somehow managed to become less than a scumbag with time.

According to whom; you? http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500803_162-4645638-500803.html

I think he has become a bigger scumbag thru time as the tapes are released.

"Never forget. The press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy." Almost shouting he repeated, "professors are the enemy!" He told former Harvard professor Kissinger, "Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it."

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Bush Sr. continues to maintain a certain level of prestige, even among the Democrats.

Esp amongst the Dems, the R's think he was too liberal with his tiny tax increase he was forced to implement due to Reagan's mess. I think more D's like him than do R's.

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But will his son even try? Little reason to believe so.

Agreed, he will just try to stay low. He's stolen enough money that he won't need to do the whole book circuit thing.

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Whether Obama wins a second term will depend in large part on who the Republicans find to run. If it's not someone new, then their ass is grass.

Right and memories need to fade. That's the beauty of a 4-year term; memories still recall a disaster like GWB.

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[kelpdiver 2]

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Right, because the ignorant Americans think the Iranian hoastages were released as a result of fear of fascist Ronnie.

Who thinks that? That was more a slap at Carter than a fear of Reagan.

Though if you want to believe the October Surprise...

[Zep 0]

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One thing is for sure
Carter has lost the tittle already

That will make two in a row.

Be honest, do you expect Bush to do anything of substance in his retirement?

Yes. I expect him to write scholarly books, engage in international diplomacy, establish a non-profit organization dedicated to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering, establish another non-profit organization dedicated to building affordable homes for low-income people, and eventually win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Or he could do something really worthwhile and rewrite your litigation laws

Gone fishing

[Andy9o8 2]

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I don't know that there's a single action Carter took while in office that he'll be generally lauded for.

The Camp David Accords of 1978. That accord essentially brought peace between Israel and Egypt, who had been mortal enemies for 30 years before that, just 5 years after they fought a war against each other. The personal mediation done by Carter during the negotiations was instrumental in bringing about that accord. An imperfect treaty, to be sure; but the peace between those two countries has lasted ever since. In turn, the peace accord between Israel and Egypt made it possible for there eventually to be a similar peace between Israel and Jordan; and that peace, too, has lasted. As bad as the Middle East has remained, taking warfare with/by Egypt and Jordan out of the mix is nothing to sneeze at.

Say what one may about Carter as President, but that was certainly a tremendous accomplishment which, at that time, many people would have thought inconceivable.

[sundevil777 102]

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I don't know that there's a single action Carter took while in office that he'll be generally lauded for.

The Camp David Accords of 1978. That accord essentially brought peace between Israel and Egypt, who had been mortal enemies for 30 years before that, just 5 years after they fought a war against each other. The personal mediation done by Carter during the negotiations was instrumental in bringing about that accord. An imperfect treaty, to be sure; but the peace between those two countries has lasted ever since. In turn, the peace accord between Israel and Egypt made it possible for there eventually to be a similar peace between Israel and Jordan; and that peace, too, has lasted. As bad as the Middle East has remained, taking warfare with/by Egypt and Jordan out of the mix is nothing to sneeze at.

Say what one may about Carter as President, but that was certainly a tremendous accomplishment which, at that time, many people would have thought inconceivable.

Carter does deserve some credit for that. I think Sadat is the real reason that it happened, and that it would have happened with any president.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Lucky... 0]

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Right, because the ignorant Americans think the Iranian hoastages were released as a result of fear of fascist Ronnie.

Who thinks that? That was more a slap at Carter than a fear of Reagan.

Though if you want to believe the October Surprise...

Right and Carter worked the Algiers Accord to clean up his mess before he handed off the presidency, something your beloved Republcians think is unneccessary.

[Gawain 0]

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Not sure what you mean
I am not talking after leaving office for either of them

I don't know that there's a single action Carter took while in office that he'll be generally lauded for. He gained his respectability afterwards when he was able to operate in a winnable situation for him.

I give him props for the Camp David Accords.

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Likewise, Nixon somehow managed to become less than a scumbag with time. Bush Sr. continues to maintain a certain level of prestige, even among the Democrats. But will his son even try? Little reason to believe so.

GW Bush has been virtually silent since leaving office. He and his father both.

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Whether Obama wins a second term will depend in large part on who the Republicans find to run. If it's not someone new, then their ass is grass.

I have to agree with you there. As a republican, I don't like Govs Huckabee, Romney or Palin. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana may hold some promise, as may Gov. Christie of NJ (he's too much of a straight shooter for some politicos out there though).

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[Niki1 1]

Be honest, do you expect Bush to do anything of substance in his retirement?

[kelpdiver 2]

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Say what one may about Carter as President, but that was certainly a tremendous accomplishment which, at that time, many people would have thought inconceivable.

Fair enough. The ongoing war there blunts it for me, but I think you've successfully argued that's a glass half empty viewpoint.

[airdvr 210]

Before we start jacking eachother off over Jimmy I'm calling for a reality break.

He wasn't enough of a prick for DC. and that made him ineffective at best. In other words, he was too nice to be POTUS.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne