Obama's Speech to the World is Seen as Weak

“Now, like all of you, my responsibility is to act in the interest of my nation and my people, and I will never apologize for defending those interests,” said President Obama to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

“I will never apologize for defending those interests,” you would think Obama never said these words if you’ve been listening to the usual conservative whiners and mis-informers.

Many critics of Obama point to the following statement and say that the President is embarrassing the nation:

“For those who question the character and cause of my nation, I ask you to look at the concrete actions we have taken in just nine months.

“On my first day in office, I prohibited -- without exception or equivocation -- the use of torture by the United States of America. (Applause.) I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed, and we are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law. Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.”

Considering that President Obama was applauded, it is difficult to see how Obama is embarassing the nation.

To give the Conservatives some credit, they usually leave the second paragraph out when discussing Obama’s speech. They usually label Obama’s outright disapproval of torture as Anti-American.

Redhanded101 writes:

“He plays on a lot of the Anti-Americanism rhetoric”

“The Anti-American jibe that Obama preaches is part and parcel with his desire to downgrade the US from a Global Power and reduce it to one of many.”

“It is a show of weakness and ignorance that plays perfectly well with the student body at the UN.”

Obama said, “We are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law. Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.”

Fighting extremism within the rule of law is considered weak and Anti-American. Conservatives want the rule of law to take a backseat to torture when dealing with extremism.

“Obama's speech is alarming because it says the United States has no more moral right to act or to influence world history than Bangladesh or Sierra Leone,” says Charles KrauthammerCharles Krauthammer, a columnist.

Did Mr. Krauthammer snooze as Obama said, “Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.”

I believe that the statement is saying that America has a moral right, if it is living its values.

Conservatives and the “Obama hater” crowd likes to forget that torturing is a bad thing. If one of “their” Presidents tortured, then it can’t be wrong. Well the world doesn’t think so.

Conservative writer CitizensForHonestGovernment wrote:

“Why must the President of the United States go out of his way to blame the United States and previous administrations for all the ills of the world including global warming, war, imposition of democracy, pollution, financial crises, etc”

“As” intelligent” as President Obama appears to be, has he forgotten that it was the United States that saved the world from German/Japanese fascist domination and Communist totalitarianism? That the wars in Afghanistan in Iraq liberated 50 million men, women and children? That the United States leads the world in funding the effects against AIDS and preventing malaria in the continent of Africa?”

Obama said, “I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. And this has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for collective inaction.”

Obama said that the world’s view of America is “an almost reflexive anti-Americanism”.

“Who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone.”

The world, the rest of the nations beside U.S.A., is being told that their anti-American views are “reflexive” and just an excuse for their inaction.

Obama has clearly stated that he will not apologize for the actions taken in the interest of his nation. This includes the torturing. He will not apologize, but he will stop doing it. He will release those that he cannot convict of terrorism. He will fight extremism within the rule of law.

The Conservative are again attacking Obama with anything they can throw at him, in hopes it will stick. The only ones to be convinced of the right-wing allegations are the right-wing alone. It only takes a listen to the speech yourself to see that Obama did not apologize for actions of the previous administration.

Anyone claiming he did is lying.