President Barack Obama reportedly lashed out at lawmakers for speaking out against him on Syria in a private meeting two weeks ago, calling their criticism “horsesh—.”
The incident, first reported by The Daily Beast on Monday evening, occurred at a July 31 meeting between the president and a bipartisan group of congressional leaders. Two individuals in the meeting said that several lawmakers — including Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Corker of Tennessee — criticized the president’s slow movement on providing arms to Syrian rebels.
Obama proceeded to defend his policy on Syria, adding that their suggestion that arming the opposition earlier would have been a better policy was “horsesh—.”
The White House reportedly confirmed the back-and-forth over Syria but didn’t confirm Obama’s use of the word.
The report came just days after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized the president for failing to take swifter action in Syria, a pointed critique from a major Democratic leader and former high-level Obama Cabinet secretary. In an Atlantic interview published over the weekend, Clinton said that Obama’s “failure” to help arm and organize a rebel fighting force “left a big vacuum, where the jihadists have now filled.”
The President also said that it was a "fantasy" that arming the opposition would have helped to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Look the reason this is a big deal is that Hillary does not appear to have any Democrats challenging her, so instead she seems to be acting as if she is running in a general election, and does not need to worry about the dems supporting her but instead needs to attract votes from the independents and disenfranchised conservatives.
And that's just bullshit.
If Hillary continues trying to garner positive attention from right leaning voters by undermining this President, she may find herself losing support that she desperately needs in 2016.
And by the way I agree with the President about Syria, and think he did what the American people wanted him to do.
Besides does Hillary not remember that Obama sought Congressional approval for some kind of intervention, and they refused to provide it?
If she is suggesting that this President should have acted on his own, and gone against the wishes of the American people and their representatives, then that is pretty troubling indeed.
I really hope there is a viable challenger to Hillary Clinton.
ReplyDeleteDitto x 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
DeleteI really hope there is a viable challenger to Hillary Clinton as well.
DeleteThere is none out there 12:23 p.m. with her knowledge and experience. If she runs, she will win and I can hardly wait to cast my vote for her.
DeleteNo Democrats or Republicans can compete against her - none!
That's exactly what they said about her in 2008. You know. Before Barack Obama started winning the primaries Hillary Clinton had been expected to win..
DeleteAnon: 2:41 add one more
DeleteElizabeth 44
Yep, Hillary should think twice about alienating too many of Obama's supporters. Polls be damned: most Americans still love and support our President.
ReplyDeleteM from MD
Let's get real. No, they don't. Obama's current approval rating is hardly sky-high. It's in the crapper! 43%.
DeleteI'm not exactly Obama's biggest booster myself. I'm very critical of him, for many reasons. If a pollster asked me if I approved or disapproved of his record, though, I'd say I approved, simply to stick it to Republicans.
But I sure as fuck don't "love" him, and I cringe when I read statements like that. Obama's a politician, not a boy band member. I voted for him relatively enthusiastically the first time, but the second time my only enthusiasm was for beating the likes of Romney.
x2
Delete@1:06 -- Whenever I see the President's approval rating, I have to remember (and so should you) that there are a hell of a lot of people who disapprove of him simply because he's black. so perhaps you should just take those approval ratings with a grain of salt.
DeleteIt won't do any good if Hillary gains Independents and conservatives votes if she loses Dems in the process. Since she's criticizing President Obama to garner conservatives votes especially at a time like this when so much is going on, would she do the same if she won the White House? Would she give them anything to gain their cooperation?
ReplyDeleteRepublicans are not going to vote for Clinton no matter what she says.
DeleteJust let it go. A united front is needed, along with understanding and forgiveness. I'm a big fan of Obama's foreign policy in Syria; hell, in Syria, Ukraine, Libya, Egypt.... I have his back. But attacking Hillary is doing nothing but sparking infighting.
ReplyDeleteInstead, let's keep it positive. The guy needs some positive feedback, not attack articles on his cohorts. He's got enough to worry about right now without us giving him domestic politics hiccups.
As much pressure as he's under... let's send him some positive love instead and focus on the policy itself, not the he-said she-said. Pressure can be immense- and our president has faced an incredible amount of criticism and flack for every bit of personal expression he's done.
I think I'll post a letter to the whitehouse saying just that: "You're cool, Mr. President. We trust you. We know you're human- with all its strengths and weaknesses.
We've still got your back."
-The silent majority
Ah ha! So Obama is Nixon!
DeleteThe other side of “Don't do stupid stuff is “Do the smart thing when you can." The smart play with Syria like it or not was to join the Russians in backing Assad, and President Obama knew it. However, politically it was quite impossible. So, he's really unhappy with armchair quarterbacks now. Especially as none of them get it, even now.
Anonymous12:49 PM:
DeleteExcellent said!
In foreign policy I still have the President's back. What an incredible mess he is having to balance. I appreciate his slow thoughtful approach which may save us more unintended messes. Domestically I'm concerned about his record on civil rights.
DeleteElizabeth 44
I love President Obama - sending him support notes is a grand idea, 12:49 p.m. Hope everyone does it.
ReplyDeleteNo POTUS has been under as much pressure as President Obama (I'm in my 70's) - the world is a mess, American racists have come out in droves throughout his first term and now his second and he's been obstructed by our 'do nothing' United States Congress since the day he took his oath of office the first time!
He has so much on his plate - send him prayers, support and love. Suspect he'd great appreciate it!
I'm sick of crybabies whining they won't vote for her. Fuck you all, you're welcome to your President Ted Cruz... morons.
ReplyDeleteGiven her remarks on the Palestinian/ Israeli conflict and her enthusiastic endorsement of Netanyahu's behavior, you'll have to get used to my whining.
DeleteI may have to vote for her, because I won't vote for the clown car, but right now I can look to someone else like Joe Biden.
Elizabeth 44
I was never going to vote for her anyways- and you confuse whining with truth telling. Regardless neither Cruz or Clinton will be the next president. I am embarassed for people who are feared into voting for a certain candidate, just so the other guy doesn't win. Grow some balls and vote for who you want to vote for.
DeleteElizabeth 44
DeleteHappily I don't have to vote for her because Alaska's 3 electoral votes always go for the Republican candidate, so I can sit this out with a clear conscience, basically Alaskans, D or R, would never need to cast a vote for POTUS ever up here because the results are predetermined. Besides, who knows if Hillary is even running.
Arizona Republican Congressional candidate Gary Kiehne put out a new ad which accidentally has a little something extra in it. By little, I mean huge.
ReplyDeletehttp://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/teabagger-candidates-new-ad-accidentally
lol Reminds me of a cuckoo for cocoapuff former Governor's Thanksgiving backdrop choice.
DeleteI'll be voting Hillary with a clothespin on my nose, because I know Liz isn't running, and despite this minor squirmish, this is what happens to every President as the end of his term approaches. The difference here, is President Obama's smart as a whip and getting it done without congress nor advice from his former SOS.
ReplyDeleteGov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland has the heart of the DC insiders. I predict that Hillary will endorse him at a much later date. O'Malley will have the support of Greta on Fox. Her husband is very close friends with O'Malley.
ReplyDeleteThere is a viable candidate for 2016. Bernie Sanders, if Hillary keeps doing stuff like this, just maybe he will have a better chance. She needs to take it down a notch, this ain't helping her.
ReplyDelete