Stephen Harper defends Obama's handling of Chavez

[jenmito]

No link, but I heard it on MSNBC that Stephen Harper chimed in on the "controversy" and said, "Let me be a bit of a conservative defender of the President in this regard-I was present, obviously, at all the meetings...and I thought President Obama did an excellent job of expressing the values and priorities of the United States of America. I thought that he allowed a dialogue to take place in a good spirit to animate the room. I think the United States took to a higher plane than the Venezualas of the world and I think was very affective at moving the vast majority of countries reaffirming a very centrist position."

Take THAT, Ensign and other Repubs.!

[ClarkUSA]

1. I love it when the compassionate conservative Bush clone from oil-rich Alberta sucks up.

Considering how much more popular Pres. Obama is in Canada than Harper and his shaky coalition government, I am not surprised.

[polichick]

2. Looks to me like the president has decided "to be the change he wants to see."

[FrenchieCat]

3. I have a slight problem with this "vouching".......

and it isn't about Harper as much as the fact that possibly the only White guy at the Summit has to vouch for our President's behavior. I find that telling and a bit disquieting.

If the media did its homework, it wouldn't even be questioning our President's move, or they would be putting it into context as this thread did: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8355723

Anyways, better have the vouching than not.....I guess. :shrug:

[cliffordu]

4. The only white guy at the summit....

I wonder if anyone asked him how it felt to be a minority...

:rofl:

[jenmito]

7. That's an observation I never even thought of...

but I saw your thread and of course you're right. To be fair, those meetings of U.S. presidents with those leaders were brought up by a few people on MSNBC today.

[sabra]

5. link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3840015

[jenmito]

6. Sorry. I searched "Harper" and didn't see anything. n/t

[Spazito]

9. Here it is from the Globe & Mail...

Harper praises Obama for opening new era in the Americas

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO -- Stephen Harper credited Barack Obama with opening a "new era of dialogue" in the Americas as a hemispheric summit that the Prime Minister had feared would collapse in confrontation ended with surprising chords of harmony.

Instead of the barrage of attacks that former U.S. president George W. Bush faced at the last Summit of the Americas four years ago in Argentina, Mr. Obama engineered a warming of relations with offers of a new "equal partnership" that seemed to turn famously anti-American firebrands like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez into pussycats asking to be his friends.

snip

"I was very worried about the atmosphere of confrontation that exists in our region. But we saw a remarkable change during this summit. And that means that the era of confrontation was replaced by the era of dialogue," Mr. Harper said at the close of this summit.

"In the difficult economic times in which we're living, I think this is a tremendously promising development."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090420.SUMMIT20ART22223/TPStory/TPInternational/America/

[jenmito]

10. Thanks for the link...

I think it's good for a conservative to defend him no matter what country he's from.

[Spazito]

11. I agree....Harper, in this instance, is, I believe, being relatively sincere....

I say relative because he knows President Obama is much more popular in Canada than he is and if he were to hop on the repub poutrage it would backfire on him. Another reason is trade. If Harper were to follow the repubs and criticize him, the leaders from that summit would not appreciate it ergo possible trade implications.

[Cha]

13. "The Era of Dialogue"..Yes!

And, the cons in America would have it as another Era of Hamfistedness.

[Captain Hilts]

8. It's sad when a Dem Prez has to be defended by that idiot Harper. nt

[Cha]

12. Rec'd~ This needs to get out there..

for no other reason than to give a different opinion from a "conservative" who was actually there.

The cons who are whining on tv have nothing so they bitch about Prez Obama having been taught manners by his Mom.