E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- Vice presidential prospect Tim Pawlenty won't talk about the vice presidential vetting process, but he will tell you about his favorite beers.
Putting in another solid day of swing-state advocacy on behalf of Mitt Romney, the former Minnesota governor pumped up the GOP nominee's small government policies, sampled local ice cream and won laughs from supporters when he deployed some recently-unveiled stump speech jokes at the president's expense.
"I don't know about you, but I enjoy a cold beer once in a while," he said at Dublin Pub in Dayton, Ohio, listing some of the available sudsy brands. "I know you probably have some Guinness here, and some Smithwick’s, and some Edmund Fitzgerald, who knows what else? Miller and Budweiser and all kinds of other stuff."
Imagining the unsatisfying scenario of being served a foamy pint of beer, Pawlenty delivered the punch line: "Barack Obama is all foam and no beer. And you can't live on the foam. His speeches are his foam."
That's an analogy that Pawlenty says "most Americans can relate to."
"I think most people can relate to the notion that if you want a cold beer you want the beer, you don't want the foam," he told NBC News after an appearance in Springfield. "That sort of gets in the way of the beer and it's not the substance of what you're hoping for. And that's kind of like President Obama's presidency. It's all speeches, it's all words, it's all fancy rhetoric but the results haven't been there."
His personal favorites? Minnesota-brewed Grain Belt Nordeast and Summit Extra Pale Ale, he said.
Two of the three men known to be on the general election ticket do not drink alcohol; neither Vice President Joe Biden nor Mitt Romney partake.
Pawlenty, wearing an untucked casual blue shirt and jeans, offered a fierce defense of the GOP nominee's record both on the stump and in an interview.
Asked about criticism of Romney's foreign trip, which has been marked by controversy over his public skepticism about London's preparedness for the 2012 London Games, Pawlenty dismissed the kerfuffle as "overblown."
"I think the criticism of his comments in London were way overblown and way overstated and I think the rest of the trip has gone well," he said.
While Romney is the frequent butt of jokes for his sometimes robotic-seeming interactions with strangers, his Minnesotan surrogate chatted easily with customers and employees when he stopped at Young's Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs. There, Pawlenty chatted with local elected officials - including Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine - and posed with children, even coaching them to crown him with "bunny ears."
And he showed the only hint of a diversion from his much-discussed "Minnesota Nice" aura when pausing for a photo with young workers at the ice cream parlor.
"Cross your arms!" he instructed them after one smiling snapshot. Demonstrating a grimace and a tough guy look, he added, "Now, look angry!"
Leave a Comment:
I hate to say it but I agree with Pawlenty this time where he describes Obama as
Being all foam and no beer.
So far all Obama has done for us is blow a lot of hot air while bailing out big banks and saving wall streets butt.
He has done absolutely nothing at all for the American people.
jim-658640- with congress and the tea party in the way of progress what else can people exspect? Seems like congress has to get permission from the koch brothers before they can take a piss.
Why didn't Obama, Reid, and Pelosi tackle what the country has been saying is the #1 issue (the economy) the first two years when they controlled Congress?
I mean they could have passed a jobs bill so we could see what was in it:)
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the bankster bailout, came from the Bush Administration, not Obama.
Truth hurts, eh?
Done nothing? LOL.
1. Passed Health Care Reform: After five presidents over a century failed to create universal health insurance, signed the Affordable Care Act (2010). It will cover 32 million uninsured Americans beginning in 2014 and mandates a suite of experimental measures to cut health care cost growth, the number one cause of America’s long-term fiscal problems.
2. Passed the Stimulus: Signed $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 to spur economic growth amid greatest recession since the Great Depression. Weeks after stimulus went into effect, unemployment claims began to subside. Twelve months later, the private sector began producing more jobs than it was losing, and it has continued to do so for twenty-three straight months, creating a total of nearly 3.7 million new private-sector jobs.
3. Passed Wall Street Reform: Signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010) to re-regulate the financial sector after its practices caused the Great Recession. The new law tightens capital requirements on large banks and other financial institutions, requires derivatives to be sold on clearinghouses and exchanges, mandates that large banks provide “living wills” to avoid chaotic bankruptcies, limits their ability to trade with customers’ money for their own profit, and creates the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (now headed by Richard Cordray) to crack down on abusive lending products and companies.
4. Ended the War in Iraq: Ordered all U.S. military forces out of the country. Last troops left on December 18, 2011.
5. Began Drawdown of War in Afghanistan: From a peak of 101,000 troops in June 2011, U.S. forces are now down to 91,000, with 23,000 slated to leave by the end of summer 2012. According to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the combat mission there will be over by next year.
6. Eliminated Osama bin laden: In 2011, ordered special forces raid of secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in which the terrorist leader was killed and a trove of al-Qaeda documents was discovered.
7. Turned Around U.S. Auto Industry: In 2009, injected $62 billion in federal money (on top of $13.4 billion in loans from the Bush administration) into ailing GM and Chrysler in return for equity stakes and agreements for massive restructuring. Since bottoming out in 2009, the auto industry has added more than 100,000 jobs. In 2011, the Big Three automakers all gained market share for the first time in two decades. The government expects to lose $16 billion of its investment, less if the price of the GM stock it still owns increases.
8. Recapitalized Banks: In the midst of financial crisis, approved controversial Treasury Department plan to lure private capital into the country’s largest banks via “stress tests” of their balance sheets and a public-private fund to buy their “toxic” assets. Got banks back on their feet at essentially zero cost to the government.
9. Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”: Ended 1990s-era restriction and formalized new policy allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military for the first time.
10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafi: In March 2011, joined a coalition of European and Arab governments in military action, including air power and naval blockade, against Gaddafi regime to defend Libyan civilians and support rebel troops. Gaddafi’s forty-two-year rule ended when the dictator was overthrown and killed by rebels on October 20, 2011. No American lives were lost.
11. Told Mubarak to Go: On February 1, 2011, publicly called on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to accept reform or step down, thus weakening the dictator’s position and putting America on the right side of the Arab Spring. Mubarak ended thirty-year rule when overthrown on February 11.
12. Reversed Bush Torture Policies: Two days after taking office, nullified Bush-era rulings that had allowed detainees in U.S. custody to undergo certain “enhanced” interrogation techniques considered inhumane under the Geneva Conventions. Also released the secret Bush legal rulings supporting the use of these techniques.
13. Improved America’s Image Abroad: With new policies, diplomacy, and rhetoric, reversed a sharp decline in world opinion toward the U.S. (and the corresponding loss of “soft power”) during the Bush years. From 2008 to 2011, favorable opinion toward the United States rose in ten of fifteen countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, with an average increase of 26 percent.
14. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending: As part of the 2010 health care reform bill, signed measure ending the wasteful decades-old practice of subsidizing banks to provide college loans. Starting July 2010 all students began getting their federal student loans directly from the federal government. Treasury will save $67 billion over ten years, $36 billion of which will go to expanding Pell Grants to lower-income students.
15. Created Race to the Top: With funds from stimulus, started $4.35 billion program of competitive grants to encourage and reward states for education reform.
16. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards: Released new fuel efficiency standards in 2011 that will nearly double the fuel economy for cars and trucks by 2025.
17. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis: To keep world economy out of recession in 2009 and 2010, helped secure from G-20 nations more than $500 billion for the IMF to provide lines of credit and other support to emerging market countries, which kept them liquid and avoided crises with their currencies.
18. Passed Mini Stimuli: To help families hurt by the recession and spur the economy as stimulus spending declined, signed series of measures (July 22, 2010; December 17, 2010; December 23, 2011) to extend unemployment insurance and cut payroll taxes.
19. Began Asia “Pivot”: In 2011, reoriented American military and diplomatic priorities and focus from the Middle East and Europe to the Asian-Pacific region. Executed multipronged strategy of positively engaging China while reasserting U.S. leadership in the region by increasing American military presence and crafting new commercial, diplomatic, and military alliances with neighboring countries made uncomfortable by recent Chinese behavior.
20. Increased Support for Veterans: With so many soldiers coming home from Iraq and Iran with serious physical and mental health problems, yet facing long waits for services, increased 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs budget by 16 percent and 2011 budget by 10 percent. Also signed new GI bill offering $78 billion in tuition assistance over a decade, and provided multiple tax credits to encourage businesses to hire veterans.
21. Tightened Sanctions on Iran: In effort to deter Iran’s nuclear program, signed Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (2010) to punish firms and individuals who aid Iran’s petroleum sector. In late 2011 and early 2012, coordinated with other major Western powers to impose sanctions aimed at Iran’s banks and with Japan, South Korea, and China to shift their oil purchases away from Iran.
22. Created Conditions to Begin Closing Dirtiest Power Plants: New EPA restrictions on mercury and toxic pollution, issued in December 2011, likely to lead to the closing of between sixty-eight and 231 of the nation’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants. Estimated cost to utilities: at least $11 billion by 2016. Estimated health benefits: $59 billion to $140 billion. Will also significantly reduce carbon emissions and, with other regulations, comprises what’s been called Obama’s “stealth climate policy.”
23. Passed Credit Card Reforms: Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (2009), which prohibits credit card companies from raising rates without advance notification, mandates a grace period on interest rate increases, and strictly limits overdraft and other fees.
24. Eliminated Catch-22 in Pay Equality Laws: Signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, giving women who are paid less than men for the same work the right to sue their employers after they find out about the discrimination, even if that discrimination happened years ago. Under previous law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the statute of limitations on such suits ran out 180 days after the alleged discrimination occurred, even if the victims never knew about it.
25. Protected Two Liberal Seats on the U.S. Supreme Court: Nominated and obtained confirmation for Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and third woman to serve, in 2009; and Elena Kagan, the fourth woman to serve, in 2010. They replaced David Souter and John Paul Stevens, respectively.
26. Improved Food Safety System: In 2011, signed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which boosts the Food and Drug Administration’s budget by $1.4 billion and expands its regulatory responsibilities to include increasing number of food inspections, issuing direct food recalls, and reviewing the current food safety practices of countries importing products into America.
27. Achieved New START Treaty: Signed with Russia (2010) and won ratification in Congress (2011) of treaty that limits each country to 1,550 strategic warheads (down from 2,200) and 700 launchers (down from more than 1,400), and reestablished and strengthened a monitoring and transparency program that had lapsed in 2009, through which each country can monitor the other.
28. Expanded National Service: Signed Serve America Act in 2009, which authorized a tripling of the size of AmeriCorps. Program grew 13 percent to 85,000 members across the country by 2012, when new House GOP majority refused to appropriate more funds for further expansion.
29. Expanded Wilderness and Watershed Protection: Signed Omnibus Public Lands Management Act (2009), which designated more than 2 million acres as wilderness, created thousands of miles of recreational and historic trails, and protected more than 1,000 miles of rivers.
30. Gave the FDA Power to Regulate Tobacco: Signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (2009). Nine years in the making and long resisted by the tobacco industry, the law mandates that tobacco manufacturers disclose all ingredients, obtain FDA approval for new tobacco products, and expand the size and prominence of cigarette warning labels, and bans the sale of misleadingly labeled “light” cigarette brands and tobacco sponsorship of entertainment events.
31. Pushed Federal Agencies to Be Green Leaders: Issued executive order in 2009 requiring all federal agencies to make plans to soften their environmental impacts by 2020. Goals include 30 percent reduction in fleet gasoline use, 26 percent boost in water efficiency, and sustainability requirements for 95 percent of all federal contracts. Because federal government is the country’s single biggest purchaser of goods and services, likely to have ripple effects throughout the economy for years to come.
32. Passed Fair Sentencing Act: Signed 2010 legislation that reduces sentencing disparity between crack versus powder cocaine possessionfrom100 to1 to 18 to1.
33. Trimmed and Reoriented Missile Defense: Cut the Reagan-era “Star Wars” missile defense budget, saving $1.4 billion in 2010, and canceled plans to station antiballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of sea-based defense plan focused on Iran and North Korea.
34. Began Post-Post-9/11 Military Builddown: After winning agreement from congressional Republicans and Democrats in summer 2011 budget deal to reduce projected defense spending by $450 billion, proposed new DoD budget this year with cuts of that size and a new national defense strategy that would shrink ground forces from 570,000 to 490,000 over the next ten years while increasing programs in intelligence gathering and cyberwarfare.
35. Let Space Shuttle Die and Killed Planned Moon Mission: Allowed the expensive ($1 billion per launch), badly designed, dangerous shuttle program to make its final launch on July 8, 2011. Cut off funding for even more bloated and problem-plagued Bush-era Constellation program to build moon base in favor of support for private-sector low-earth orbit ventures, research on new rocket technologies for long-distance manned flight missions, and unmanned space exploration, including the largest interplanetary rover ever launched, which will investigate Mars’s potential to support life.
36. Invested Heavily in Renewable Technology: As part of the 2009 stimulus, invested $90 billion, more than any previous administration, in research on smart grids, energy efficiency, electric cars, renewable electricity generation, cleaner coal, and biofuels.
37. Crafting Next-Generation School Tests: Devoted $330 million in stimulus money to pay two consortia of states and universities to create competing versions of new K-12 student performance tests based on latest psychometric research. New tests could transform the learning environment in vast majority of public school classrooms beginning in 2014.
38. Cracked Down on Bad For-Profit Colleges: In effort to fight predatory practices of some for-profit colleges, Department of Education issued “gainful employment” regulations in 2011 cutting off commercially focused schools from federal student aid funding if more than 35 percent of former students aren’t paying off their loans and/or if the average former student spends more than 12 percent of his or her total earnings servicing student loans.
39. Improved School Nutrition: In coordination with Michelle Obama, signed Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010 mandating $4.5 billion spending boost and higher nutritional and health standards for school lunches. New rules based on the law, released in January, double the amount of fruits and vegetables and require only whole grains in food served to students.
40. Expanded Hate Crimes Protections: Signed Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009), which expands existing hate crime protections to include crimes based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender, or disability, in addition to race, color, religion, or national origin.
41. Avoided Scandal: As of November 2011, served longer than any president in decades without a scandal, as measured by the appearance of the word “scandal” (or lack thereof) on the front page of the Washington Post.
42. Brokered Agreement for Speedy Compensation to Victims of Gulf Oil Spill: Though lacking statutory power to compel British Petroleum to act, used moral authority of his office to convince oil company to agree in 2010 to a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; $6.5 billion already paid out without lawsuits. By comparison, it took nearly two decades for plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill case to receive $1.3 billion.
43. Created Recovery.gov: Web site run by independent board of inspectors general looking for fraud and abuse in stimulus spending, provides public with detailed information on every contract funded by $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Thanks partly to this transparency, board has uncovered very little fraud, and Web site has become national model: “The stimulus has done more to promote transparency at almost all levels of government than any piece of legislation in recent memory,” reports Governing magazine.
44. Pushed Broadband Coverage: Proposed and obtained in 2011 Federal Communications Commission approval for a shift of $8 billion in subsidies away from landlines and toward broadband Internet for lower-income rural families.
45. Expanded Health Coverage for Children: Signed 2009 Children’s Health Insurance Authorization Act, which allows the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover health care for 4 million more children, paid for by a tax increase on tobacco products.
46. Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide: In 2009, EPA declared carbon dioxide a pollutant, allowing the agency to regulate its production.
47. Expanded Stem Cell Research: In 2009, eliminated the Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, which shows promise in treating spinal injuries, among many other areas.
48. Provided Payment to Wronged Minority Farmers: In 2009, signed Claims Resolution Act, which provided $4.6 billion in funding for a legal settlement with black and Native American farmers who the government cheated out of loans and natural resource royalties in years past.
49. Helped South Sudan Declare Independence: Helped South Sudan Declare Independence: Appointed two envoys to Sudan and personally attended a special UN meeting on the area. Through U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, helped negotiate a peaceful split in 2011.
50. Killed the F-22: In 2009, ended further purchases of Lockheed Martin single-seat, twin-engine, fighter aircraft, which cost $358 million apiece. Though the military had 187 built, the plane has never flown a single combat mission. Eliminating it saved $4 billion.
Richard-780604, every one of those actions and most are not true acts to the detriment of the American people and America. Seriously weakened our military defense, provided comfort to our enemies bailed out big banks while allowing main street to go bust, invested in "renewable" (solyndra) corporate bonuses to pay back favored contributors, created the 2700 page Obamacare insurance plan to bail out and fund big pharma and insurance at the detriment of small business. RAILS against small business at every opportunity (I built Solyndra) ... Credit card reform? Gave banksters a whole year to raise rates on millions of Americans and bankrupt many.
I can think on NO foreign enemy who has ever accomplished MORE to defeat America! History will show this president to be a foreign infiltrator and the beginning of the end of America.
HOLY COW! Is it time for another nobel prize Richard? That list of yours has been around too long. I have to convince NBC somehow to quit publishing these manifests, especially this kind of drivel.
Carrie Dann- you are a bottom feeder. Anything for news. Who cares what this worm says!!
A Mitt Romney presidency would be an extension of the Bush/Cheny reign of terror. More devestations for the middle class, along with irratic foreign policy decisions, and an ever stranger marriage of church and state.
The voters need to see their losses are consistent with the neglect of responsibilities by the "puppet" politicians as they just concentrate on serving "the money" who own and control them and "pull their strings". Together, with their power, influence and money, they insultingly just take the voters for granted, feeling they can con the people and manipulate public opinion at their will - seen now in the aggressive propaganda campaign paid for by the 1%'s mega-millions. They have become emboldened by past successes in the manipulation of the Evangelistic Christian, the Swift-boat propaganda, the Tea Party movement and with their millions poured into the recent Wisconsin recall election; all being well designed, well directed and well funded efforts to sway voters in the same single direction. For the people to have a chance they have to recognize the deception, reject the propaganda trying to control them and firmly reject all of the "puppet" politicians that will continue to serve only the interests of "the money".
Unfortunately we don't have the option of another Bill Clinton to take over the top job in Washington, but we do have Barack Obama, and he has proven to be a very capable and visionary leader. To trade a winner for "the old maid" challenger would be unconscionable.
I partied a fair amount when I was young- and I was often able to get several glasses of perfectly fine beer after everyone else thought that keg was empty.
Toga...toga....toga....
LET THE NUMBERS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
Romney bankrupted 8 American companies in 9 years:
a. AMP AD - Profit: $102 million - Bankrupt: 2002
b. DDl C0RP - Profits: $36 million - Bankrupt: 2003.
c. DAM0N C0RP - Profits: $1.5 million - Read More...
d. DADE BEHRlNG. Profits: $365 million - Bankrupt: 2002
e. STAGE ST0RES. Profits: $100 million - Bankrupt: 2000.
f. GS lNDUSTRlES. Profits: $65 million - Bankrupt: 2001.
g. DETAlLS. Profits: $93 million - Bankruptcy: 2003.
h. W0RLD WlDE GRlNDlNG. Profits $16.5 million - Bankrupt: 2001.
$779 million Total Take from his RAIDING!
America is NOT tired of BO, and BO is just getting started.
Obama 2012 with a mandate to kick GOP ass!
Polls show almost 1/2 the country is.
And Obama threw that much in taxpayer $$$ at just a handful of companies that were going bankrupt.
There were a whole lot more companies bankrupted and fleeced by Mitt the Twitt and his Vulture Raiders. 25% of the companies that survived the initial hostile takeover went over the cliff. That's his fantastic, wonderful, business experience. You couple that with Massachusetts going from #37 to #47 under Willard's 'leadership', and you see what a frightful thing it would be with this empty headed, rich moron kid running the show.
Obama/Biden 2012, and Hillary in 2016!!! Eat that, repukes.
@ Yes2012 for Obama
Independent and undecided are always going to side with the 99%, hence vote for Obama. So your poll numbers are not that big of deal. Across the electoral map, Obama has a significant lead.
Obama does not appeal to independent, self sufficient thinking Americans, but rather lazy dependent ones for the most part on some kind of government payout.
If you want an America where everyone has a chance to make it go Republican, but if you want an America where there is no opportunity but for a government check (until we go Greece) go Dem.
The facts are simple we need to be more than a welfare check, More than Obama dreams for us and more than a bunch of dependent non thinking idiots.
I would not be surprised if Obama does win. I think there are less and less creative thinking hard working types here and more lazy moochers.
And Pawlenty is the warm swill left at the bottom of the glass that no one drinks. Romney is near-beer.
.
...only three months to go to throw that sickening commie Obummer and his fat ass wife out of the White House......hang in America, this failed experiment will never be repeated............
i guess pawlenty is really describing putz bush and joke cheeeeney. bin laden and his henchman would describe them as all foam and no beer. if they were alive today they would describe obama as all beer and no foam. he cooked their asses. pawlenty could be described as a man who thought he had to blow a beer fart only to stain his drawers. just a pretender. a very poor second. about all the repugnants can come up with.
Will you people ever get it right.....Obama did not cook anybody.....Intelligence and The Navy Seals cooked their asses. Your name is apt.
gccal --- yes, cheney and bush personally shot bin laden. yes, bush and cheney gave them the go ahead. yes this all happened when bush was president. wait a minute, maybe it was romney who gave the order. after this was over romney said.... me too! repugnants writing history.
Mr. PH you certainly have a reading problem....I NEVER claimed any of the crap you are spewing....your side is the one who is trying their frigging best to write history to suit Obama.
gccal --- have it your way. obama never took a gamble and made the call to get bin laden. the seals went on their own. another repugnant writes his version of history. care to add some more?
GCCal,
And had the mission get OBL gone sideways. Had we killed, say the head of the Pakistan military academy or an Afghani tribal head hiding from Al Qaida, instead, would Seal Team 6 be responsible? Or would President Obama, who ordered the raid? You can't have it both ways. I am old enough to remember the scorn heaped on Jimmy Carter after the failed helicopter rescue of the Iranian hostages. That scorn effectively blunted any further action from Carter OR the military.
Sort of like Obama built our small businesses?
Yes, this is about a week old, and for the dimwit standing in for Mitt the Twitt, it is called foam, not froth.
Like Romneycare, Pawlenty has probably never had a beer. He probably thinks it leads to self abuse.
gccal --- in the case of pawlenty it's called a beer fart. the term describes him perfectly.
Actually, I probably agree with you because he is a politician....just like I think the same thing about Obama, Romney and all the other politicians.....
gccal --- i can agree with you on that. they don't seem to enact laws that would actually help the majority of people and keep our jobs from leaving this country.
You got that right Mr. Pawlenty..
If Obama is the froth, at least he's at the top of the glass.
Romney and Timmy P are the backwash at the bottom.
You are absolutely correct.....the froth is nothing more than gas bubbles.
And the backwash is nothing but scum.LOL
We agree on something. A lot of gas. I am not thrilled with Romney - Ron Paul was the man we needed, but at this point it is anyone but Obama in the next election!
Mr Pawlenty, with due respect...... I beg to differ .......a top Republican commentator said that he could not find any adjectives in the dictionary to describe Gov. Romney gaffes in London.........see below for a bit of advise:
SEND.... FOR.... SARAH..... PALIN.......SHE ....MAY.....HAVE.....A......NEW.....WORD........THIS......YEAR.......
GCCal, please read this from General McRaven:
During a rare public interview on Wednesday, Adm. Bill McRaven, head of the U.S. Special Operations command, portrayed as bold and brave Obama's decision to order the raid despite significant doubts about whether bin Laden was at the Abbottabad, Pakistan compound.
"At the end of the day, make no mistake about it, it was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden of this operation, that made the hard decision," McRaven said during an on-stage interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that served as the kickoff session of the Aspen Security Forum.
I do not need to read what you said.....my point is and always will be that the actually killing of Osama Bin Laden should be awarded to the people actually on the ground who pulled the trigger. Your side claims many times that Obama killed Osama Bin Laden. He did not. Period......He gave the order to pull the trigger. Period. And for your information, any President could have done that in the Situation Room. Obama just happened to be on duty when Intelligence found him. Now that was not to hard to understand was it?
As Tony correctly pointed out, Obama made the decision and is entitled to the credit, just as you guys would be blaming him if it had failed. [Remember Carter and the hostage rescue attempt?] Trying to diminish it by claiming any president would have done the same is ridiculous. Clearly Romney wouldn't have, since he's always telling us he would listen to his military advisors. Guess what, they did not all agree with his decision. Defense Secretary Gates and the JCS Vice Chairman did not agree. He listened to them and made a different choice. That is as mark of a leader, who can make decisions that are not unanimously approved by his followers.
GCCal
It was a tough call killing Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan......far more complex than you can ever imagine.... internationally, security-wise ....and our Commander & Chief President Barack H. Obama ordered a......... SURGICAL STRIKE....from the best in the business .........our NAVY SEALS........MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
GodBlessAmerica,
It was an even tougher call to authorize killing Osama bin Ladin in Pakistan, our presumed ally and vital transportation link to Afghanistan. Far more complex, both security-wise and diplomatically.
"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, responding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
Boy you guys love to live in the past don't you........Bush is gone, remember. Many things were his fault, just like many things are now Obama's fault.
Conservatives believe we elect a king or a magician who can fix everything he inherits with one sweep of the hand. Bush is gone, but the revenue the government collects courtesy of his tax law is still with us. Bush is gone, but the cost of the wars he started are still with us. Bush is gone, but the out of control defense spending he instituted is still with us. Actually, he could be gone for real, but McConnell and Boehner have made sure his policies don't get replaced... until Romney can bring them back permanently.
Doing just fine Mr Pawlenty......by sticking close to the Republican script..........Americans know, feel, understand, understood........it's all gas......loose talk......empty barrels makes the most noise..............we get it.....Mitch McConnor,... John Boehner.... Mitt Romney.... Sarah Palin.....Michele Bachmann......Republican obstructionists......full scale war against the middle class......strangle-hold on the U.S. economy keeping us all hostages....... standing united after vowed to make President Obama a (1) term president....................one day chains that are unbroken will break........
REPUBLICANS IT IS TIME TO FACE REALITY......................................................................................................
I don't know, I heard that Pawlenty screwed up Minnesota so bad with all his accounting gimmicks they are still trying to figure out how they got in the hole in the first place. I also heard that a Democrat is trying to fix the state but the going has been slow. Dayton is a Yale graduate and most of the Republicans in the legislature are still saying that the toughest 5 years of their lives was 5th grade.
Well let's just follow up on T-Paw's flawed analysis. We know that Obama likes a cold beer, but Romney's religion forbids him from even trying one. The question then is, do we accept a little foam, or do we limit ourselves to root beer?
Well, the GOPeaParty sure has been foaming at the mouth to de-legitimize and/or repeal the ACA. It is hard to understand how they (GOP) are so worked up over things they say President Obama has not done.
Tim Palenty is as bland as polenta and he has not had an intelligent thought since being voted out of office in Minnesota, the same state that gave us Michelle Backman.
Seriously Tim? And your guy is a man of no truths and many lies. So, who do you want to be our president? Obama/Biden2012.
Wow!!
The GOP is all penis and no Viagra.