Rachel Maddow blasts Obama's praise for Bush

[onehandle]

In an Oval Office speech to the nation, President Barack Obama officially declared an end to US combat operations in Iraq Tuesday. The speech's praise for President George W. Bush quickly drew outrage from MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. In 2002 while Obama was an Illinois state senator, he was one of the few elected officials to attend an anti-war rally in Federal Plaza. "An anti-war, anti-Bush speech would make him even more appealing to Democrats who were feeling distraught and powerless over the country’s race to war and were still angry about the 2000 presidential election," wrote NBC Chicago's Edward McClelland. But eight years later, Obama found himself praising the president that started the war in his Oval Office speech.

"I think we shouldn't get past how remarkable it is how much the proponents of the Iraq war are getting off easy here," Maddow said to MSNBC's Keith Olbermann immediately following the speech.

"And to to have in this speech, as combat operations are ending, to have, as you point out Keith, the president not only not addressing the circumstances in which he we went to war, but these kind words for President Bush, describing his commitment to our security, despite the recklessness with which President Bush discarded that national security in favor of this war of choice, which only diminished our security, and is responsible probably for the Afghanistan war still going on today, for the depths of people who have died in Afghanistan after the time, after which that war would have ended had we not gone to Iraq, not to mention all of the people who died in Iraq," Maddow continued.

"To talk about him having a demonstrated commitment to our security, having started this war on the terms on which he started it, -- I mean, it's beyond restraint from President Obama and anyone in the pro-Iraq war, pro-Bush camp who doesn't feel like they've been given the greatest political present they never deserved was not listening to this speech," she concluded.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/maddow-blasts-obamas-praise-bush

[rfranklin]

1. Another reason why Obama is such a disappointment...

He just won't stand up for what's right in too many instances.

[impik]

3. Baseless BS. Predictable.

[rfranklin]

22. Actually your comment is ill-informed and shows a lack of intelligence...

so there you are.

[WI_DEM]

4. He sure hasn't been a disappointment to me.

[impik]

2. What praise???? He said that he loves the country. WOW!!!

Stupid proffesional left.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OwnedByFerrets]

10. Right on!!

[LostinVA]

8. Maddow is now "stupid proffesional left" on DU?!

:wtf:

[Ignis]

23. That's the joy of broad-brush attacks:

One can be inclusive or exclusive in their use--based solely on one's whim du jour!

:woohoo:

[DrSteveB]

12. I disagree with your opinion that Rachel Maddow is stupid

I think she is an extremely smart progressive.

[Nite Owl]

6. K&R

[montanacowboy]

7. Bravo Rachel

she hit's the nail on the head - Candidate Obama vs Pres. Obama - he sure loves his Bush policies, even praising the war criminal Bush who he refuses to touch either by investigation or other means. I have stopped listening to Obama's speeches, what's the point.

[OwnedByFerrets]

9. TY Rachel....the asskissers here will burn you for your truth, but ty

[Cognitive_Resonance]

11. Pres. Obama is picking his battles wisely. What do you think the

outcome would be if he charged head first into an issue like this? A big divisive public fight with nothing actually changed. The public is not there on branding a former administration war criminals (even though they are).

[tularetom]

15. Yeah he sure gained a lot by praising bush didn't he?

Of course the republicans are trashing him for not praising him enthusiastically enough and many of the President's own supporters are pissed at him for even mentioning the idiot's name. Tony Blair is close to being branded a war criminal in his own country and some of that will rub off on cheney and bush even if the US media iron curtain refuses to report it.

Rachel Maddow actually thinks these things through which is more than the administration seems to do much of the time.

[atreides1]

17. "...picking his battles wisely."

Is that like keeping his powder dry?

[Enrique]

13. I don't think it matters as much as Rachel thinks it does

whether proponents get off easy is important, but not as important as whether the Iraq war is really ending, which it appears it is. Then again, to be fair to Rachel, she is here talking about the speech itself, and I bet in other segments she reports very well on the troop withdrawals.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. OK. A guy robs an armored car, kills four people and escapes with a half-million

dollars. A massive manhunt ensues, costing thousands of man hours and two million dollars. FBI gets a cable from the perpetrator, who is living at his ease in a non-extradition country.

It doesn't matter so much that he's getting off easy - meaning NO punishment at all. What's important is that we can cancel the manhunt.

[niyad]

14. off to greatest with you-- thank you, rachel, and keith, for speaking truth to power.

[Teaser]

18. make me fucking care

.

[AtomicKitten]

19. Rachel doesn't "blast" people (she's too classy).

She crushes them with the truth (even though she's occasionally a teensy bit hyperbolic).

[Uzybone]

25. thanks for saying that

these FoxNews/CNN/Politico style headlines make the news damn near unreadable nowadays.

[jenmito]

20. Sorry, Rachel, but Obama gave Bush minimal "praise" and gave him NO credit for

the things the Repubs. WANTED him to give credit for-namely, the surge. All Obama did was basically call Bush patriotic. BIG DEAL! He is NOT president of only those of us on the left-he's not going to make ANYONE 100% happy. But to over-blow and over-analyze the "praise" Obama gave Bush when he came right out of the box saying he DISAGREED with him in going to Iraq in the first place, and going on to talk about the financial trouble we're in BECAUSE it, is not fair of Rachel.

[WI_DEM]

21. So she's also take progressives to task for griping about everything Obama has done

and explained that he actually has accomplished a great deal of what progressives have wanted for decades.

[ibegurpard]

24. someone send her the list...STAT

[Whisp]

26. what Obama should have said.

that the Chimperor is a dry drunk mass murdering egotistical moran that should be hung in a public square. That would have been way more in character.

:eyes:

I like Rachel and I won't really diss her for this, just giggle and eyeroll a bit - she has got her quota to grab those ratings as any of them do by going overboard and sensationalizing sometime.

[JNelson6563]

27. So many commentators don't know the game.

This is how it's it's played. I'll never forget Hillary talking about her "good friend Lee Atwater". That is how it rolls. I guess though if you only ist on the sidelines, you don't know these things.

Julie