# 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:** 8
**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, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/141 "2015-01-12T20:06:42Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > 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 liberals posters thought so all along. That’d be hilarious! Could you provide a link to the forum and threads you’re describing here? I’d love to read it and share the belly laughs with all my best intimate friend Dopers like you. ---
**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, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/142 "2015-01-12T20:07:15Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Yes, it was. And I, as an American, think our President should have been there showing support for the French. I’m sure it would have been nice. Also, if the Canadian, Australian and NZ Prime ministers had been there. Also, the president of Mexico. And leaders from other central and south American countries. And the leaders of Japan, and other Asian countries. What do you suppose is a similarity among all these leaders? Hint: Do you have teleportation booths in your world? ---
**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, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/143 "2015-01-12T20:07:28Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > 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. Just to be clear, I think the WH’s position is that they should have sent a higher level person, not necessarily Obama. I think Kerry or Biden would have been fine. I just don’t get the idea that Obama needs to be there. It wasn’t a summit of world leaders-- it was mostly a European affair. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/144 "2015-01-12T20:08:46Z")
It is funny, in France the only discussion of this subject is how the americans are having the strange debate. the american political scene must have become very childish for this ---
**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, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/145 "2015-01-12T20:10:59Z")
Zeez Americans are, how you say… craaaayzy wiz zee poe-lee-teeks? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/146 "2015-01-12T20:11:09Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > It is funny, in France the only discussion of this subject is how the americans are having the strange debate. In America, we are far less interested in security than we are in security theater. ---
**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, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/147 "2015-01-12T20:12:32Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Does there have to be “long term negative impact”? Well, sure, otherwise why should anyone give a rat’s ass about this so-called issue? > [@](#): > > Short term Obama looks like he doesn’t care. Several posts ago I listed at least four things that indicate he does care, or at least cares about the political theater that you seem to find of such great importance. Do you really think any President, no matter how ‘tone-deaf’, seriously would ignore the terrorism issue? > [@](#): > > 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. And here come the gratuitous swipes that are of no particular importance, and have nothing to do with the subject at hand. Thanks for once again pointing out the irrelevance of your posts here. ---
**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, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/148 "2015-01-12T20:12:56Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > 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. What about the Attorney General? He’s a Senior member of the Administration, and he was IN Paris at the time. Why couldn’t he go to the rally? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/149 "2015-01-12T20:13:08Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > …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. No, the White House got it right the first time. Not that I care, or that anyone else should. I hope you’ve enjoyed carrying **Stringbean** ’s water. ---
**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, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/150 "2015-01-12T20:13:23Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m sure it would have been nice. Also, if the Canadian, Australian and NZ Prime ministers had been there. Also, the president of Mexico. And leaders from other central and south American countries. And the leaders of Japan, and other Asian countries. Canada sent a cabinet minister. Australia sent Senate President. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/151 "2015-01-12T20:14:34Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > 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. Not this liberal. I stand by my contention that this is a bullshit criticism, and I am ashamed of the White House for caving. Even so, the White House is not saying that Obama should have gone. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/152 "2015-01-12T20:14:44Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Canada sent a cabinet minister. Australia sent Senate President. Yeah, Mitch McConnell should have gone, the Bastard. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/153 "2015-01-12T20:14:45Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > Heads of state from all the largest democracies of the world, including Britain, Germany, France, and Israel–our closest allies–stood together in a gesture of solidarity and camaraderie in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. I’m from the UK - one of your closest allies. And (as others have said) it’s easy for our Prime Minister to pop over to France. Note that we didn’t send the Queen (who outranks the Prime Minister.) The US Ambassador to France was perfectly acceptable. > [@Stringbean](#): > > It is obvious Europe is reeling from this. The potential for strong divisions and hateful rhetoric has never been stronger since the formation of the European Union. This episode will test the bonds of European solidarity. As countries from which we inherited our principles of “liberty and freedom for all,” they need our support. Have you ever been to Europe? Do you know anything about it? **We really like Obama over here and we are grateful for his support.** > [@adaher](#): > > The fact is, the President committed a diplomatic faux pas, not his first, and pretty amazing given how much criticism Bush got. Bush would have been there. Have you ever been to Europe? Do you know anything about it? The facts are as follows: - **We really like Obama over here and we are grateful for his support.** - we think that GW Bush was the worst President ever; that he was unfit for the job; that he was manipulated by his extreme right-wing advisors; that he led the West into two unjustified wars that caused massive casualties and led to the rise of terrorism all over the World and that he should (along with Tony Blair) be tried as a war criminal - in addition, Europe thinks that Fox News is largely right-wing propaganda and that the once-great Republican Party has been taken over by a fanatical single-issue sect ---
**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, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/154 "2015-01-12T20:15:45Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > What about the Attorney General? He’s a Senior member of the Administration, and he was IN Paris at the time. Why couldn’t he go to the rally? Diplomatically, that might have been worse. _Hey, we need a cabinet guy to stand if for Kerry. Wait, Holder is there, send him. SecState, Attorney General… same dif!_ It had to have been Kerry or Biden if not Obama or the French Ambassador. I think. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/155 "2015-01-12T20:20:27Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Yeah, Mitch McConnell should have gone, the Bastard. Where was Romney? He’s quite familiar withe France from the time he spent there avoiding being drafted for Vietnam. Any one of the clowns being critical of Obama not going could have gone themselves yet didn’t, what is there excuse? ---
**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, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/156 "2015-01-12T20:22:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Diplomatically, that might have been worse. _Hey, we need a cabinet guy to stand if for Kerry. Wait, Holder is there, send him. SecState, Attorney General… same dif!_ You’re really twisting yourself into pretzels to justify the White House, aren’t you? Yes, Holder would have been more appropriate than the Ambassador. Canada sent their Public Safety Minister. ---
**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, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/157 "2015-01-12T20:23:02Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Where was Romney? Candidate #2 for idiocy on the level of the OP. ---
**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, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/158 "2015-01-12T20:30:01Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > You’re really twisting yourself into pretzels to justify the White House, aren’t you? Yes, Holder would have been more appropriate than the Ambassador. Canada sent their Public Safety Minister. No, I’m expressing what I think is the diplomatically correct thing. Which is why I qualified my post with “I think”, which you edited out. I don’t know enough about Canadian government to know the correct person to send, but having some cabinet person attend just because he happens to be in the country doesn’t seem particularly diplomatically correct to me. However, I think France will get over this indignanty soon enough. ---
**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, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/159 "2015-01-12T20:30:22Z")
Would anything have been _changed_ if Obama had gone? Would any of the dead have risen from their graves? Does the gendarmerie get a +3 buff to their Catching Terrorists skill when a foreign leader visits? Or are you just seizing on any excuse to berate the president for not engaging in political pageantry with no real effect? ---
**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, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597/160 "2015-01-12T20:31:54Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Would anything have been _changed_ if Obama had gone? Would any of the dead have risen from their graves? Does the gendarmerie get a +3 buff to their Catching Terrorists skill when a foreign leader visits? And we now have Candidate #3! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-barack-obama-to-stand-for-democracy/709597.md?page=9)