Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzi
If I recall correctly, our current president was against (even voted against) going into Iraq even with a much larger coalition of other countries. I believe he is a muslim and does not want to be involved with any attacks on any muslim country. In this case, America has no skin in the game, our good name has already been smeared over the last couple of years - jumping in to improve that image is useless. According to the news, an American poll puts 50% want us to "do something". 44% do not want us to intervene. I don't put much stock in polls - so much depends on the way a question is asked over the phone. I am firmly against any military intervention.
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As far as the president being a Muslim, I think that that kind of talk is ridiculous and divisive. I'm not a big fan of this president and his policies or some of the decisions he made but I'd prefer to stick with substance rather than rhetoric.
Sitting in the senate it's pretty easy to vote against the president. It's especially easy when it's the popular vote among your constituents and the vote is going overwhelmingly in the opposite direction.
It's not as easy for the president to play games like that. I think that the president had a shock when he went into the oval office for the first time and was briefed on things that only the administration knows. Suddenly there are a lot more things to think about then what decision will get you the most votes.
It was the same thing with Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator and Candidate Obama criticized President Bush and his policies on these two fronts. When he got into office, he followed the Bush schedule to the letter.
He keeps saying that he wants to close GITMO but he hasn't yet. Could it be that once he got into office he learned a few things about that whole situation and why we haven't closed that facility? That was a priority and yet, it is still open.
It's pretty easy for us as well as the house and senate to sit in judgement of what the president is doing, but what do we really know? We don't have doesn't of experts in these areas advising us on what to do. We don't fully understand the repercussion of acting or not acting. Senator Obama didn't either.