Obama's suggestion that we should not expect the US to fix the problems flies in the face of the fact we know who caused them. A message for Obama we are not here to tidy up after you, you have to fix you own messes and take responsibility for the outcomes. Whether it is the financial crisis or the climate change crisis we know that the source of the problem begins with the US. It's aggressive foreign policies have contributed to continued destabilisation in many parts of the world, so, back at you, Obama, fix the mess

So accordinging to you the U.S. is the cause for

Global warming
Swine flu etc?
How about now that the U.S. is pulling out funds and telling other nations to find help elsewhere,that its most convient to blame the US for everything

so accordinging to you the U.S. is the cause for

global warming
swine flu ect?
how about now that the U.S. is pulling out funds and telling other nations to find help elsewhere,that its most convient to blame the US for everything

The US was to blame long before Obama came on the scene, he has just decided he doesn't want to fix the mess all those good US citizens have gotten us into and yes;
The US caused the global financial crisis
US multi-national industries contributed most to greenhouse gas emissions and did the least to fix it.
US policy failed to address the issue of climate change for many years
Slack US border policy allowed H1N1 to spread
US foreign policy destabilised the Middle East and is responsible for continuing problems in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
US adventurism in the middle east is responsible for high oil prices
As far as US pulling out funds, the US contributes the least of developed nations anyway as a % GDP

Uhh Deushe Bank in Germany helped with the financials. A lot of other countries "helped" with the financial crisis. It was just in the US the bubble busted first
The Middle East was destabilized right after WWII from the colonial - Britain, France, Germany mainly
Industrial boom world wide fueled oil consumption
Last point I really have problem with --I have never heard or read of a good explanation of just why USA has to be the biggest sugar daddy in the world. Just on our continent alone Canada doing fine, we're doing fine but Mexico a mess. When you do the timeline historically, it's the early colonial powers that left a mess.
I always wondered what would happen if the USA said enough is enough and pulled the plug on everything overseas. Reckon it'd be like parents leaving for the weekend with the eldest teen in charge? :) Got to love politics...

Clete you proved my thesis... that it doesn't matter how much he apologizes to the world for what he perceives as our slights based on his flawed revisionist Leftists history... all he will get in return is contempt from both our enemies and friends.

The speech was loaded with narcistic pablum . It was all about how screwed up he thinks the US was BO (before Obama) and how much progress we have made since he took office.

I have been in office for just nine months -- though some days it seems a lot longer.

I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world. These expectations are not about me.

I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust.

He attacked his country for acting "unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others"... a complete lie .
He attacked American for too often been selective in its promotion of democracy. How he can say that after his throwing Honduras under the bus... undermining our relationship with El Salvador ;or his stabbing Israel in the back during the speech ( "the Israeli occupation that began in 1967") . Where was he when the people in Iran were rising up against the tyranny of the Mahdi-hatter and the homicidal delusional 12er clerics who rule the nation with jack boots on ? Seems he was being very selective in which democratic movements he supports. He has certainly shown the Eastern Europeans that he supports their freedom when he threw them under the bus last week.

But I can't say it as well as Nile Gardner of The Telegraph .He called it Obama's most naïve speech yet


Overall this was a staggeringly naïve speech by President Obama, with Woodstock-style utterances like "I will not waver in my pursuit of peace" or "the interests of peoples and nations are shared." All that was missing was a conga of hippies dancing through the aisles with a rousing rendition of "Kumbaya".


The big catchphrase of the morning was "new era of engagement", with Obama outlining the four big international pillars of his presidency: ridding the world of nuclear weapons, the pursuit of peace, preserving the planet, and supporting "a global economy that advances opportunity for all people".


There was only brief mention in the president's speech of the Iranian or North Korean nuclear threat, and no attempt to outline what measures would be taken against Tehran and Pyongyang if they continued to defy the UN Security Council. Obama said not a word about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's continuing threats to wipe Israel off the map, or the aspirations of the Iranian people for free and fair elections.


In fact human rights issues were strikingly downplayed in Obama's address, which is not surprising since they are rarely on the radar screen of this administration. Nor did the words liberty or freedom feature prominently. This was a speech designed to appease opinion in a world body in which full democracies make up only a minority of its members.

Was this though Obama's most naïve speech ever? It is a very strong candidate, but I think there is intense competition for that accolade

Barack at the UN: Was this Obama?s most naïve speech ever? - Telegraph Blogs (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100011129/barack-at-the-un-was-this-obama’s-most-naive-speech-ever/)

The President made a throwaway line ;a sort of bone to the Americans who bothered the listen when he said he would never apologize for acting in America's self interest . If only that were true. As far as I can tell he has yet to demonstrate the slightest interest in promoting the US interests on the world stage.

So tell me, Paraclete...

Who caused international terrorism?

Who caused global warming?

Who caused the swine flu?

Who caused hunger in Africa?

Who caused war in Bosnia?

Who caused the rise in oil prices that hit us in 2008?

Who caused nuclear proliferation and is trying to help Iran and NK get nukes?

And who is in the forefront of trying to SOLVE these problems while the rest of the world complains about the USA?

You seem to think that the USA is the cause of all the world's problems.

On the other hand, you highlight perfectly why Obama should NOT be the apologist for the USA that he is... because if he apologizes, there's always going to be some idiot who's going to come along and say

"We are not here to tidy up after you, you have to fix you own messes and take responsibility for the outcomes."

We can get that cr*p just as easily without having to abase ourselves by apologizing. So why bother?

'nuff said.

Elliot

Fine Clete, go it alone.

'nuff said.Hello Elliot:

It may be enough for YOU. But you've left off a few things.. I don't know WHY you'd do that, unless you'd just rather forget certain things... I think that's it...

You bring up a lot of OLD stuff... But, let's talk about TODAY. Let's talk about our BIGGEST enemy - which happens to be Iran... You righty's seem to think our political strife with them STARTED when they took over our embassy in 1979... If that was the case, then you'd be right...

But, it wasn't the case was it?? We had been messing around with THEIR interior politics LONG before the Iranian revolution... In fact, in 1953, prime minister Mohammed Mossadeq was overthrown by a CIA financed and organized coup, and we installed our friend, the Shah.

It has been called "a crucial turning point both in Iran's modern history and in U.S. Iran relations." Many Iranians argue that "the 1953 coup and the extensive U.S. support for the shah in subsequent years were largely responsible for the shah's arbitrary rule," which lead to the "deeply anti-American character" of the 1979 revolution.

So, the question that you IGNORE is, are we responsible for Ahmadinejad??

The answer is, YOU BETCHA!!

excon

So tell me, Paraclete...


there's always going to be some idiot who's going to come along and say

"We are not here to tidy up after you, you have to fix you own messes and take responsibility for the outcomes."


Elliot

So you think that because I place international problems squarely at the feet of the most avaricious nation the world has even known that I am a idiot. Not so, Elliot, I see things clearly even though it took me a long time. Who is to blame for outcomes, the one who leads, it always comes down to leadership. So when you ask those question be prepared for someone to tell you the truth.

Your foreign policy spawned the terrorists you now fight in foreign lands
Your unbridled capitalism created an industrial sector that pollutes the Earth and created a global financial crisis unparalled in modern times.
Your militarism escalated the oil price.
I won't go on, other nations may have contributed, but you led the charge, so get you head out into the light and realise that to fix some of these problems you may need to eat a little humble pie

Yes, the USA alone is responsible for the "climate change"






Hometownlife - UN climate summit puts China, India in spotlight (http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=hometownlife&sParam=31649925.story)


China and the U.S. each account for about 20 percent of all the world's greenhouse gas pollution created when coal, natural gas or oil are burned. The European Union is next, generating 14 percent, followed by Russia and India, which each account for 5 percent.





As to militarism escalating oil prices??

Welcome to Investopedia.com (http://www.investopedia.com/features/industryhandbook/oil_services.asp)


Did you ever stop and think that supply [ ever hear of opec, or the US's own government restricting where oil could be drilled ?] and demand [ why not more nuclear power ? ] play the biggest role?



G&P

Paraclete - If you are under the delusion that the USA is responsible for all the ills that befall this planet - you are one pathetic person. Please do not blame the USA for everything bad that happens in the world. I strongly suggest that you stick with what you know, namely the politics of Australia and what happens in your balliwick. We in the USA know Obama is a baffoon and likes to step on himself embarrassing the USA almost daily. Please let us deal with this usurper to the presidency on our own. You don't have to keep rubbing our noses in the fact that this man should never have been "elected" president of the United States but somehow did get elected. It's just a matter of time until the house of cards implodes upon this usurper and he is banished into the annals of history.

Pareclete - I guess you're going to blame the USA for the high cost of living in Australia as well? I think you need to definitely stick with your own country's problems. Did Australia ever send it's Navy back into the ocean? If I remember rightly your country ran out of money and had to bring back all the Naval ships back into port. It must have been a smuggler's dream off your coastline...

What's the matter Clete ? Didn't you hear our fearless leader tell the world that we are re-engaged ? That we paid our UN bills ? That we joined the Human Rights Council ?

You would love us to retreat from your corner of the world and leave you to be dominated by the Chinese just like you would've been by the Japanese last century. Well good luck to that ! Ask Tibet how that's working out.

Yes, the USA alone is responsible for the "climate change"

As to militarism escalating oil prices ?????

Welcome to Investopedia.com (http://www.investopedia.com/features/industryhandbook/oil_services.asp)


Did you ever stop and think that supply [ ever hear of opec, or the US's own government restricting where oil could be drilled ?] and demand [ why not more nuclear power ? ] play the biggest role?


G&P

You are trying to use recent events to justify a view rather than look at the overall system. The US was the largest polluter but through the operation of its capitalist profit making the polluting industries have migrated to low cost countries China, India. So the US hasn't actually reduced its impact just increased the complexity of dealing with the problem.

Oil consumption is part of the climate change problem but oil prices were stable before George Bush's military adventurism into Iraq which cut supply from that source and forced prices up. Oil prices will eventually rise as supply peaks but the impact was felt years earlier than was necessary so, yes, America is responsible fro both these problems and must be the country which does the most to bring about change. It isn't up to the rest of us to make up for US shortsightedness as Obama recently suggested. Let's see some real change of thinking among the US consumers then we will know progress can be made. We need more than poli-speak and rhetoric.

You are trying to use recent events to justify a view rather than look at the overall system. The US was the largest polluter but through the operation of its capitalist profit making the polluting industries have migrated to low cost countries China, India. so the US hasn't actually reduced its impact just increased the complexity of dealing with the problem.

Oil consumption is part of the climate change problem but oil prices were stable before George Bush's military adventurism into Iraq which cut supply from that source and forced prices up. Oil prices will eventually rise as supply peaks but the impact was felt years earlier than was necessary so, yes, America is responsible fro both these problems and must be the country which does the most to bring about change. It isn't up to the rest of us to make up for US shortsightedness as Obama recently suggested. Let's see some real change of thinking among the US consumers then we will know progress can be made. we need more than poli-speak and rhetoric.

Use recent events to justify a view... George Bush's military adventurism... forced prices up

Are you providing your own examples, Clete?

Now would you mind explaining how rampant American capitalism decimated Eastern Europe's environment, such as the Ukraine and Khazakstan?

Paraclete - If you are under the delusion that the USA is responsible for all the ills that befall this planet - you are one pathetic person. Please do not blame the USA for everything bad that happens in the world. I strongly suggest that you stick with what you know, namely the politics of Australia and what happens in your balliwick. We in the USA know Obama is a baffoon and likes to step on himself embarrassing the USA almost daily. Please let us deal with this usurper to the presidency on our own. You dont' have to keep rubbing our noses in the fact that this man should never have been "elected" president of the United States but somehow did get elected. It's just a matter of time until the house of cards implodes upon this usurper and he is banished into the annals of history.

I think you miss the point, I don't think Obama is a buffoon, he is far more articulate than the buffoon that preceded him. Whether he is any more capable of dealing with machine politics, I doubt it. Unfortunately for those of us lucky enough to be born outside the USA, American politics is too important to be the sole provance of the Americans because what they do has a serious impact on the rest of us and this statement that I have objected to proves that point. So I am entitled to an opinion, and I am entitled to express it no matter how much you may object to an "outsider" having an opinion and expressing it. Sometimes there is greater clarity from being at a distance from the issues. Obama was elected for two reasons in my opinion, no one offered a viable alternative, and you were all in love with the romance of a black man in the white house. I call it the "I have a dream factor". That was certainly a better outcome than the stolen election which brought GWB to power. I do hope it doesn't turn into a nightmare.

I would be very happy to discuss Australian politics, or politics in other places for that matter, but the dizziens of this place seem to have no interest in the 95% of the planet that isn't the USA, which demonstrates that it must be important to know what is happening in the US. Did you see how Obama was using Krudd as a front man at the G20? Or did it escape your notice. Do you even know who Krudd is?

Yes I am under the delusion that the USA is responsible for all the ills that befall this planet. That stems from observation and not swallowing the propaganda originating daily from the US.

EIGHT years of Bush as a Cheney puppet created this crap.

Clinton left us in a pretty sweet spot and then along came the people who took the world by storm.

Unless you have watched the loose change videos telling the TRUE story of 911 ,I have no doubt that you are misinformed.

911 was a terrorist attack ,to be sure,perpetuated by the powers that be in the U.S.

Bush ,Cheney and many other evil cohorts! Get real!

Truthers are too funny .