# Where was Barack Obama, to stand for Democracy? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 12, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597 "2015-01-12T03:49:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/121 "2015-01-12T19:21:00Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Since when are our conservative friends outraged about insulting _France_? Since RW media told them to be pissed. They are vapid mouth breathers, inert and insensate, until the FOX box flickers on and tells them what to be apoplectic about. I think Clothy hangs upside down in a cave, like a bat, until he’s summoned by Sean Hannity. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/122 "2015-01-12T19:22:17Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Since when are our conservative friends outraged about insulting _France_? When they can bash Obama. If Obama came out in support of adopting stray kittens, our conservative friends would start burning them in their fireplaces for fuel. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/123 "2015-01-12T19:23:25Z")
Fox News pundits today are like the heel commentator on a pro wrestling show. They start from the assumption that anything Obama does must be wrong, and twist it however is necessary to “prove” that it’s so. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/124 "2015-01-12T19:24:54Z")
This is the greatest outrage since Flagpingate ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/125 "2015-01-12T19:25:16Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Since RW media told them to be pissed. They are vapid mouth breathers, inert and insensate, until the FOX box flickers on and tells them what to be apoplectic about. Another moron heard from. [http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/01/media-slam-obamas-paris-snub-200928.html](http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/01/media-slam-obamas-paris-snub-200928.html) chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell called the snub “stunning,” Jake Tapper said he was “ashamed by U.S. leaders’ absence in Paris.” Media figures like Mitchell and Tapper joined a chorus of frustrated current and former U.S. officials, including Aaron David Miller, who served in the State Department under both Republican and Democratic administrations. “It’s stunning, truly stunning,” Miller told Dovere. “It’s a poster child for tone deafness.” Not one of them works for Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/126 "2015-01-12T19:29:12Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Another moron heard from. > > [http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/01/media-slam-obamas-paris-snub-200928.html](http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/01/media-slam-obamas-paris-snub-200928.html) > > chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell called the snub “stunning,” > > Jake Tapper said he was “ashamed by U.S. leaders’ absence in Paris.” > > Media figures like Mitchell and Tapper joined a chorus of frustrated current and former U.S. officials, including Aaron David Miller, who served in the State Department under both Republican and Democratic administrations. > > “It’s stunning, truly stunning,” Miller told Dovere. “It’s a poster child for tone deafness.” > > Not one of them works for Fox. So? I grant that some people will disagree. What I’m saying is that you, and your moron friends can’t think, and will automatically take the opinion that RW media shoves down your fuckholes. Because you’re not a thinking being. You’re a windup toy that spits hate without knowing why. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/127 "2015-01-12T19:29:32Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Another moron heard from. > > [http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/01/media-slam-obamas-paris-snub-200928.html](http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/01/media-slam-obamas-paris-snub-200928.html) > > chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell called the snub “stunning,” > > Jake Tapper said he was “ashamed by U.S. leaders’ absence in Paris.” > > Media figures like Mitchell and Tapper joined a chorus of frustrated current and former U.S. officials, including Aaron David Miller, who served in the State Department under both Republican and Democratic administrations. > > “It’s stunning, truly stunning,” Miller told Dovere. “It’s a poster child for tone deafness.” > > Not one of them works for Fox. Great. Now, how about you tell us, in your own words, what you think the long-term negative impact will be of Obama not going to France? Please be as specific as you can. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/128 "2015-01-12T19:43:00Z")
Well for one thing, his re-election chances are grim. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/129 "2015-01-12T19:44:13Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Great. Now, how about you tell us, in your own words, what you think the long-term negative impact will be of Obama not going to France? Please be as specific as you can. Does there have to be “long term negative impact”? Short term Obama looks like he doesn’t care. When you add that to the other diplomatic stupidities he has committed, from the Winston Churchill bust return to the incompatible DVD set gift to calling the Nazi concentration camps “Polish Death Camps” in a speech etc. etc. etc. - the image is of a tone-deaf amateur who doesn’t know what he is doing. And that is how most of the world treats him now. A dangerous amateur, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/130 "2015-01-12T19:49:05Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/01/media-slam-obamas-paris-snub-200928.html](http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/01/media-slam-obamas-paris-snub-200928.html) > > chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell called the snub “stunning,” > Is Andrea Mitchell “domestic partisan”? > > Jake Tapper said he was “ashamed by U.S. leaders’ absence in Paris.” > Is Jake Tapper “domestic partisan”? > > Media figures like Mitchell and Tapper joined a chorus of frustrated current and former U.S. officials, including Aaron David Miller, who served in the State Department under both Republican and Democratic administrations. > > “It’s stunning, truly stunning,” Miller told Dovere. “It’s a poster child for tone deafness.” > Is Miller “domestic partisan”? Why should we care what any news channel “talking heads” OPINION is about this issue? Or any issue, for that matter? I want news from my media sources, not their personal opinions. This is exactly why Fox News viewers are the least informed, because so much of what they do on their network is really just opinion masquerading as news. Who gives a fuck if Tapper is ashamed? He’s just getting hits on his blog by putting something controversial out there. Worked didn’t it? You’re talking about it. CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc. You have to weed through all the opinion to find the facts. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/131 "2015-01-12T19:53:27Z")
> **[CBS News - Breaking news, 24/7 live streaming news & top stories](https://www.cbsnews.com/)** > > Watch CBS News live and get the latest, breaking news headlines of the day for national news and world news today. [INDENT] White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Monday that they made an error not sending a higher profile official to the rally. “I think it’s fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there." [\INDENT] He thinks it’s “fair to say”. But SMDB liberal echo chamber disagrees. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/132 "2015-01-12T19:57:26Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Why should we care what any news channel “talking heads” OPINION is about this issue? Or any issue, for that matter? I want news from my media sources, not their personal opinions. This is exactly why Fox News viewers are the least informed, because so much of what they do on their network is really just opinion masquerading as news. > > Who gives a fuck if Tapper is ashamed? He’s just getting hits on his blog by putting something controversial out there. Worked didn’t it? You’re talking about it. CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc. You have to weed through all the opinion to find the facts. Except now the WH is saying it… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/133 "2015-01-12T19:58:08Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > So, pretty much listening to RW media makes you into a delusional moron. When did CNN, NBC, and the State Department become part of the “RW media”? And on preview, Josh Earnest? ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/134 "2015-01-12T20:01:12Z")
I am as liberal as it gets and I think Obama should have been there. It was “tone deaf” not to realize that. However, Obama’s mistakes don’t even compare to the gaffes Dubya made. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/135 "2015-01-12T20:03:36Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > I am as liberal as it gets and I think Obama should have been there. It was “tone deaf” not to realize that. As some have noted, the security issue might have been a nightmare. Perhaps send Biden? What else are VPs for? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/136 "2015-01-12T20:04:58Z")
What a diss on the US ambassador to France. I still think this is manufactured annoyance. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/137 "2015-01-12T20:05:03Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > You americans are very self centered. This march was not about americans, it was about the France. Yes, it was. And I, as an American, think our President should have been there showing support for the French. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/138 "2015-01-12T20:05:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Except now the WH is saying it… I’ll concede. Since the French don’t care, I don’t think it particularly matters, but if the WH is giving in on this one I will too. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/139 "2015-01-12T20:05:34Z")
It is funny to watch the supposedly “thinking for themselves” liberal echo chamber on this thread first going into attack frenzy on the OP, then accusing all the pundits to be Fox partisans, then, when non-Fox and left-leaning commentators in the media join the OP, starting to moderate their criticism of this opinion, and now that White House says they made a mistake we will see a group agreement that yes, of course the White House is correct, it was a mistake, and of course the liberal posters thought so all along. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/140 "2015-01-12T20:06:42Z")
The article (if anybody actually bothered to read it) pretty much states the President, VP, and Secretary of State pretty much couldn’t get there in time. I do like the non-apology apology. “It’s fair to say” is pretty much no apology at all while sounding like one. Political equivalent of “fuck you, we didn’t do anything wrong, but we are sorry your panties got so twisted, we’ll send you a new pair”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597.md?page=8)