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Obama pushes for renewed commercial whaling. :)

Can Obama do nothing right?

He was lauded as The Messiah.

Except when it was done as a joke or sarcastically, the Messiah crap was primarily said by those who wanted to discredit people that were voting for him by saying they were all cult-like sheep.

They repeated the lie so often that they actually started believing that people were frequently saying that for real. Most people who voted for him thought he would be a positive change from George W. Bush, not the he was going to be performing miracles in the White House.

Oh, he and his supporters laid it on thick and you know it. The problem is that you, and people like yourself won't admit it. His mantra of "Hope and Change" was a slick sell. I'll give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but don't throw rocks at me when I question blind faith. I also remember, both here in TNZ and hearing it on TV, how die-hard Obama supporters kept saying, "Why should he wait until January 20th to take the oath? That's stupid. Get him in here now." Also, Locutus, no President-elect has *ever* held post-election conferences with a seal that mimics that of the President of the United States with the phrase, "Office of the President-Elect of the United States". Many of his supporters would have screamed bloody murder had GW Bush, or any Republican pulled since a narcissitic stunt.

He stated Gitmo would be closed in a year. It hasn't been.

Here's how then-Senator Barrack Obama chastised the Bush administration for it's (lack) of involvement in Katrina:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5KJFfrMB3M[/yt]

Now, he's in the hot seat and doesn't like it, which is typical of him. Basically, he can dish it out, but can't take it:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTblNVODtIs[/yt]

I can go on and on, but it'll just piss you off. You'll likely revert to "Bush sucked, blah, blah, blah" which isn't the point. The point is that the current President made A LOT of big promises (unemployment wouldn't go beyond 8.5%, closing Gitmo, getting out of Iraq right away, Gay Rights, etc) but he's learned the hard way that Presidents can't do it all. There's an inconvenient road block called the US Congress. Oh, and how about how he's ramped up the number of troops in Afghanistan, while saying he'd do the opposite while on the campaign trail.

It was also sad to see that he was more concerned with ramming his health care package through Congress and onto the people, when public opinion was against it and people want jobs.

The bottom line is that President Obama cannot be criticized here (meaning TrekBBS) because of the litany of blind supporters who will keep screaming about George Bush (these are the same people who bitch at Bush supporters for bitching about Bill Clinton). There was plenty about George Bush I didn't like that pissed off my friends who were die-hard Bush supporters. Basically, I'm the kind of person who doesn't blindly follow people I've voted for. I demand accuntability, and if that person fails in any way, then I remember that at the ballot box in the next election.

The problem is people expect him to fix things that are a decade old or in some cases decades old and depending on what side of the politics you are on...somethings will take longer to fix and somethings will quickly be dismantled. Being called "The One" doesn't help either.

:shrug:

Pretty much. He sold himself as such and so did his supporters. One problem with the Governed is that they often want quick fixes, which aren't possible in a Democratically Elected society. Changed enacted today often aren't felt for months or even years.
 
Wow, thanks for that, John Picard. I had no idea Obama hadn't done everything he promised--just like every President before him. I saw a moderate, voted for a moderate, and got a moderate. I would've preferred a liberal, but what can you do? :shrug:

Funny how most of the people criticizing Obama are right-wing lunatics who think he's destroying the country, though, and who believe his supporters really do think he's some kind of Messiah. They're the ones living in a fantasy world, not everyone else.

And ya know what? Bush did hand Obama a whole shitload of problems that he now has to solve. So any criticism of Bush is absolutely legitimate here. The problems dumped into Obama's lap aren't likely to be solved by 2012. Takes a while to patch things up when you've got two protracted wars and a wrecked economy to deal with.

But then, Obama's actual supporters--you know, the ones who knew from day one he wasn't any kind of Messiah--actually know that.
 
Hrmm....

Perhaps that ad looked a bit too commercial, even crass.

Here, scenes of tasty whale dishes set to soft jazz. :)

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5FunUFewnQ[/yt]

Or if you prefer rock, how about this one?

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2IoH7zgVs4[/yt]

(No, it's not really R.E.M. but it's very funny)
 
We're whalers on the Moon, we carry a harpoon. But there ain't no whales so we tell tall tales and sing our whaling tune.
 
Can Obama do nothing right?

He was lauded as The Messiah.

So far, we have The Mess and no -iah.

That's a better argument for those of us who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary. Of those of us who voted for Obama in the general, a great number of us had to hold our nose as we pulled the lever.

I'm old enough to remember Jimmy Carter and I knew damn well that Obama was of the same (spineless) mold.

but...

As long as the Republicans insist on being the party of the religious right, I won't vote for one for dog catcher. If I'm still alive in 2012, I'll be forced to hold my nose again and pull the lever for Obama unless your boys go back to being the party of common sense. Considering that Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh are the faces of the party, I'm not holding out much hope.
 
How about the Los Angeles Times?

Perry was among about 120 people at the protest, one of 16 along the California coast targeting a proposal to lift the 1986 commercial whaling moratorium and set legal quotas for Japan, Norway and Iceland, the three nations that still hunt whales. The proposal aims to reduce the number of whales killed over 10 years, but opponents say it would reward rogue actions and legitimize hunting endangered species.

"It is a rationale that makes no sense," said Joel R. Reynolds, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Can we stop gang violence by allowing some gang warfare? The answer is no."

Reynolds and other speakers expressed incredulity that the Obama administration helped draft the proposal. As a candidate, Obama promised to strengthen the moratorium.

Environmentalists consider the ban, which has reduced the number of whales killed from 38,000 a year to fewer than than 2,000, a seminal achievement, and they do not want it weakened.

"If this can happen to whales, what does it mean in terms of our commitment to protecting this planet for the future?" asked Sara Wan, a coastal commissioner who arranged the protests with the Western Alliance for Nature.

Speakers included Jefferson Wagner, Malibu's surfing mayor ("Let's whale on the whalers"); Dick Russell, author of "Eye of the Whale" ("It is inherently, unacceptably cruel"); and Louie Psihoyos, director of "The Cove," a documentary on the slaughter of dolphins ("It just seems incredibly misguided").

Obama comes from Hawaii where whaling used to be a huge industry. Then he moved to Indonesia, which is still proudly whaling, though using traditional methods. The IWC once tried to upgrade Indonesia's whaling technology and even sent them a modern whaling ship, but to no avail.

So as I alluded to earlier, Obama is Queequeg from Moby Dick; a transcendant figure who is part Polynesian, part black, part Christian, part Muslim - a skilled harpooner and a whaler to his core.

queequeg.jpg

Queequeg

The painting just needs the Hope logo.
 
Obama comes from Hawaii where whaling used to be a huge industry. Then he moved to Indonesia, which is still proudly whaling, though using traditional methods. The IWC once tried to upgrade Indonesia's whaling technology and even sent them a modern whaling ship, but to no avail.

So as I alluded to earlier, Obama is Queequeg from Moby Dick; a transcendant figure who is part Polynesian, part black, part Christian, part Muslim - a skilled harpooner and a whaler to his core.

queequeg.jpg

Queequeg

The painting just needs the Hope logo.

Could you please add Michelle in a bikini made from palm fronds and coconut husks?
 
All I'm seeing is more yellow journalism.

No, you're seeing almost no journalism at all.

No coverage anywhere except one blurb on Fox News and a tiny column in the LA Times. The rest is from Greenpeace and other anti-whaling organizations who are going nuts, plus of course statements from the IWC confirming these blurbs.

You know that if Bush was about to allow the renewal of commercial whaling there would be about 8,300 Google News hits on "Bush Whaling". Last I checked there were less than 80 for "Obama Whaling."

He's going to slip this through because the public is going to remain in the dark about it until it's approved, and once it's approved it can't be undone because actions by the IWC require a super-majority vote (which is why it couldn't close the loopholes on Japanese, Norwegian, and Icelandic whaling).

So even if it doesn't work the way the Obama administration claims it will, he'll get to blame the failure of the new policy on the IWC and the whaling nations who aren't holding up to their end of the deal (the Big Whale Oil industry), but he'll trumpet that he took action to end the practice.

As the anti-whaling organizations point out, nothing in this new deal closes the existing loop-holes and nothing requires a further restriction on the number of whales taken. In fact, allowing commercial whaling in Japanese waters means the Greenpeace boats can be kept away from the whalers by the Japanese home defense forces. Another argument I would make is that if we wanted to vastly up the number of whales taken we would do exactly what this deal does, allow the renewal of commercial whaling.

It's possible that Obama knows there's no downside in this attempt because he can use his amazing powers of lofty rhetoric to confuse the heck out of anyone who questions the result, and nobody in the liberal press would dare directly question his intentions or competency. Further, due to the super-majority requirement in the IWC, he either does this or does nothing, and he'd rather be seen as having done something, since as I said, he can easily blame the failure of the results of the new policy on the failure to follow through by greedy whale barons, along with international intransigence. (The world has failed him. :( )

Other factors that I suspect are Japanese diplomatic maneuvers on greater access to Japanese markets for GM (Government Motors) as a slop to the UAW, whose fate Obama now all but controls. The number of potential under-the-table, quid-pro-quo, or Chicago style pay-to-play deals the Japanese government could offer is simply staggering, so don't be surprised if Chicago becomes the new Detroit.

Worse than that is the potential that several environmental organizations or advocacy groups have become compromised. With global warming waning as an issue that drives the American public, and thus with donations dropping, the renewal of commercial whaling would be a boon to their fundraising, keeping their top executives salaries secure and vastly increasing their power, voice, and profile. By staying largely quiet now and not screaming bloody murder until after this new agreement is reached (at which point it can't be easily undone), they'll insure their continued importance and financial success.

This deal stinks seven ways to Sunday, and it can't be blamed on Bush. Bush shot down Ted Steven's efforts and stripped all the pro-whaling education funds out of the budget. Obama put the pro-whaling education funds back in ($9 million dollars).

Yet both the public and the TrekBBSers remain in the dark. If not for this little thread I started I doubt anyone here would even know that something is going on. Somebody out there wants it that way.
 
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