The Obama effect continues...No 'special relationship' between Britain and US: MPs

[CMike]

From the article...

It also noted that President Barack Obama's administration was taking a "more pragmatic tone" towards Britain than had been the case for some previous US administrations.

So you're choosing to ignore the entire article except for the one line, added as a postscript, that mentions Obama? Good job.

its actually a pretty flattering quote, too. pragmatic. right on, obama.

 

[Si modo]

Obama does not like the Brits. If he can separate his dislike for them from his job and if he actually does have our best interests in mind, then I am not concerned about his comment on pragmatism.

Those are big 'ifs' though.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Yea the whole 'Get tough on your allies/Lick your Enemies' Boots' Foreign Policy is getting to be pretty old. It looks like some bizarre Saul Alinsky concocted "Community Organizer" fantasy. Oh well,who really knows what's going on in the mind of an inexperienced "Community Organizer?"

 

[antagon]

Obama does not like the Brits. If he can separate his dislike for them from his job and if he actually does have our best interests in mind, then I am not concerned about his comment on pragmatism.

Those are big 'ifs' though.

im not sure where you're coming from. i was in the UK during the g20 and obama was well received. he seemed to get on well w/ g brown and the queen. i couldnt count a gesture he's made to upset the UK, and he scored big with the brit public and their leadership, by extension by drawing down in iraq. while a lot of US troops just jumped theaters, a few thousand brit troops returning home alive took a lot of weight off the labor govt over there.

what would make you say that he dislikes them? i should say what actions of his make you say that?

 

[LibocalypseNow]

It all has to be some kind of warped Saul Alinsky concocted Marxist/Community Organizer thing we're not getting. Pretty weird stuff.

 

[antagon]

It all has to be some kind of warped Saul Alinsky concocted Marxist/Community Organizer thing we're not getting. Pretty weird stuff.

 

[tigerbob]

Did all the cons posting in this thread forget to read the article?

The MPs in question specifically blame this decision on Bush and the Iraq war.

And yet, somehow it's Obama's fault.

Did you not read the article either?

It seems that you blame cons for misrepresenting the content , and then you do exactly the same. Amazing.

To recap the article...

"The perception that the British government was a subservient 'poodle' to the US administration leading up to the period of the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath is widespread both among the British public and overseas," it said.

"This perception, whatever its relation to reality, is deeply damaging to the reputation and interests of the UK."

It also noted that President Barack Obama's administration was taking a "more pragmatic tone" towards Britain than had been the case for some previous US administrations.

The MP's are not blaming "this decision on Bush and the Iraq war".

If you read it again, you can clearly see that what is being said is that lessons need to be learned about how much influence Britain is able to exert, and will be able to exert in future, on US policy, and that these lessons need to be learned in the wake of the lack of influence that was clearly evident during the Iraq war, and the more matter-of-fact attitude being taken to UK / US relations by the Obama administration.

If you want to have a go at conservatives there are a vast number of other threads you could choose to make your point. But this ain't one of them.

This is a story about the Brits learning some hard lessons about their diminished position in the world, not the Brits blaming Bush, or Obama, or anybody for that diminished position.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Did all the cons posting in this thread forget to read the article?

The MPs in question specifically blame this decision on Bush and the Iraq war.

And yet, somehow it's Obama's fault.

Did you not read the article either?

It seems that you blame cons for misrepresenting the content , and then you do exactly the same. Amazing.

To recap the article...

"The perception that the British government was a subservient 'poodle' to the US administration leading up to the period of the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath is widespread both among the British public and overseas," it said.

"This perception, whatever its relation to reality, is deeply damaging to the reputation and interests of the UK."

It also noted that President Barack Obama's administration was taking a "more pragmatic tone" towards Britain than had been the case for some previous US administrations.

The MP's are not blaming "this decision on Bush and the Iraq war".

If you read it again, you can clearly see that what is being said is that lessons need to be learned about how much influence Britain is able to exert, and will be able to exert in future, on US policy, and that these lessons need to be learned in the wake of the lack of influence that was clearly evident during the Iraq war, and the more matter-of-fact attitude being taken to UK / US relations by the Obama administration.

If you want to have a go at conservatives there are a vast number of other threads you could choose to make your point. But this ain't one of them.

This is a story about the Brits learning some hard lessons about their diminished position in the world, not the Brits blaming Bush, or Obama, or anybody for that diminished position.

My comments were less "blaming bush" and more mocking conservatives for blaming this on Obama. But you're right, this has more to do with the perception of the UK being a lapdog to the US, particularly Tony Blair's perceived as a "poodle" to Bush during the lead up to the Iraq war.

 

[Diuretic]

Yeah, you can just tell he hates the Brits

 

[BolshevikHunter]

Either way, Obama is clearly a madman. ~BH

 

[CMike]

Yeah, you can just tell he hates the Brits

Shaking the hand of the guard was very telling

 

[Si modo]

Obama does not like the Brits. If he can separate his dislike for them from his job and if he actually does have our best interests in mind, then I am not concerned about his comment on pragmatism.

Those are big 'ifs' though.

im not sure where you're coming from. i was in the UK during the g20 and obama was well received. ....

And that is relevant to my statement about Obama not liking the Brits, how?

Idiot.

.... what would make you say that he dislikes them? i should say what actions of his make you say that?

See, there WAS this bust of Churchill in the Oval Office. It was by a good artist and quite valuable. It was a gift to the USA from the UK.

Obama didn't want it and rather than just move it to even a closet in the WH, Obama sent it back to the Brits.

Either Obama is a complete social Klutz (not good for a US President), or his message to the UK is crystal clear.

(Wait for the spin on that.)

 

[antagon]

you came up with a statuette? what a clown. dismissed.

 

[tigerbob]

Yeah, you can just tell he hates the Brits

Look at that second pic. I think a drugs buy may have been caught on camera.

 

[Si modo]

you came up with a statuette? what a clown. dismissed.

Yes, you are stupid and a hack. Why I took your question seriously, I'll never know.

 

[tigerbob]

you came up with a statuette? what a clown. dismissed.

You asked the question. An answer was given that was a good illustration of the other side of the coin. The answer doesn't suit your point so you dismiss it. How convenient.

A vast number of Brits are rather upset at Obama for that very reason, among others, whether you met any of them at the G20 or not.

 

[Ravi]

you came up with a statuette? what a clown. dismissed.

You asked the question. An answer was given that was a good illustration of the other side of the coin. The answer doesn't suit your point so you dismiss it. How convenient.

A vast number of Brits are rather upset at Obama for that very reason, among others, whether you met any of them at the G20 or not.

Link? I doubt a vast number of Brits are upset. Perhaps some op/ed writers. The poodle loaned it to Dubya and Obama returned it. Wah!

 

[antagon]

i dont think that the bust issue is a statement of obama's disdain for england. did you know that the statuette was on loan to the bush administration? this was a typical pundit grab and blow out of proportion issue that modo ate up.

because i didnt go to the G20, i didnt meet anyone there. my family lives in the UK and i have 50 or so friends who live there. the overwhelming impression that i have from talking to them, on the phone, on facebook, and in person during the 3 months of cumulative time i have spent in london and bucks since obama's been president does not line up with your vast dissent perspective. they are relieved that he's our leader instead of bush, who is reviled there. despised.

instead, i would say brits approve of obama more than their own leadership, and more than americans do.

 

[beowolfe]

The great divider strikes again, as the Brits no longer think that something that was said for over 60 years is relivent anymore.

No 'special relationship' between Britain and US: MPs

President Barack Obama's administration was taking a "more pragmatic tone" towards Britain than had been the case for some previous US administrations.

I guess Gordo didn't like those DVDs Barry gave him.

I take it you didn't read the article.

 

[beowolfe]

Bribart isn't a 'blog'.

You really have become quit the spinner lately Rav, I guess all our protests are indeed making you nervous.

Good.

Very good.

Wait a minute. You post an aritcle in which a British member of parliament says they need to reassess their relationship with the US because they got screwed over in the Iraqi war by trusting Bush and Cheney. You try and blame that on Obama, and he's the one spinning???? HAHAHAHAHAHA