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Reader comment on item: Superficiality Reigns Before the Election

Submitted by Richard Stoecker (United States), Nov 4, 2012 at 11:43

Superficiality is the right word, all right; Alexander Solzhenitsyn once commented that the greatest problem in modern society is superficiality. One reason so many people get so irritated with the media is that political talking heads focus so much on process over issues, appearance (President Obama's "body language" in the first debate) over substance.

I disagree that it is irrelevant whether Gov. Romney outsourced jobs while at Bain Capital because outsourcing is among the chief causes of our unemployment, however, globalism is a fact of life--even Obama once admitted that many of the jobs that have gone overseas are never coming back.

The media ought to have held Obama's feet to the fire a little more about that $4 trillion dollars added to the national debt during his administration. How does one blow $4 trillion dollars? I feel bad if I spend $10 on something that doesn't work. We have a general sense that Obama's solution to the national debt is--what else--to keep spending.

Romney could have done a lot more in the debate on foreign affairs about the mishandling of the Benghazi events.

During a campaign, Obama somehow seems to make himself sound like the best friend Israel ever had, one highly conscious of the importance of the U.S.-Israel alliance, but anyone who has followed the events of his administration knows he is the most anti-Israel president we have ever had. Many examples could be given. It has been well said of Obama that he treats our friends abroad like enemies, and our enemies like friends--consider his approach to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and even his attempts at outreach to Iran, the government that presents more danger to the U.S. than any other. I guess he treats the Europeans all right--but that is usually a bad sign, if the Europeans like a president or candidate.

President Obama has somehow managed to be both interventionist (encouraging Mubarak of Egypt, Ghaddafi of Libya and others to "step down" and intevening in a limited way militarily in Libya, pressuring Israel to give up more land to the Palestinians) and passive and hesitant in his foreign policy, for example, in having a section dealing with the persecution of Christians in the Mideast, at an all-time high, taken out of a State Department Report, and I have wondered also why reparations were not demanded from countries that vandalized U.S. embassies, since these embassies are property of the United States. What would have happened if U.S. embassies had been trashed when Harry Truman was President?

We can get in trouble as a nation either by being overly active militarily, when there are definitely places where the best course is to be neutral in our national interest, and abuse of our power engenders resentment in other countries. How I wish when there was unrest in Egypt, instead of suggesting that Mubarak step down, Obama had insisted on neutrality and refused to make comments other than diplomatically phrased ones, which I know he can do when he wants to.

In campaign ads, Obama has said that after his years in office, "You know me." That's just it--there are so many things, even after a term in office, that we don't know about him. We know he has charisma, but unsavory characters can have that.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (32) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
there are some laws in the chaos. [28 words]BenNov 17, 2012 12:43200738
What Islam has got to do with US elections? [22 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Abdulkarim Al-habsiNov 10, 2012 07:15200450
1Zero is a snake in the grass. [24 words]KerryNov 6, 2012 09:47200373
Agree about Cabinet picks [162 words]saraNov 4, 2012 17:11200319
1Actions that need more explanation [548 words]Richard StoeckerNov 4, 2012 11:43200309
1Charisma does not a leader make. [4 words]KerryNov 6, 2012 09:53200309
1What, pray tell, made you think you would get substance!? [120 words]RonNov 4, 2012 09:02200303
Supreme Court [42 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Robert WeisbergNov 4, 2012 08:55200302
1Another substantial issue: Israel [83 words]PrashantNov 4, 2012 02:47200295
same [1 words]doubleblackNov 4, 2012 00:09200292
1Its all the media's fault. [105 words]bits natya daganNov 3, 2012 23:13200289
Great comment! [19 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Abu NudnikNov 3, 2012 22:55200288
Voting is the Best Revenge -- How did all of you so badly misunderstand the allusion in Obama's remarks???? [125 words]Naomi MannNov 3, 2012 22:27200287
Voting is the best revenge [66 words]Gary E.Nov 17, 2012 01:21200287
Americans, I call on your sense one last time [382 words]NuritGNov 3, 2012 21:29200284
Where's the "Obama has embraced the Muslim Brotherhood" issue? [273 words]Wallace Edward BrandNov 3, 2012 21:03200283
2the view from Australia [57 words]Anne JulienneNov 3, 2012 20:26200282
Dream on (unfortunately) [72 words]saraNov 5, 2012 17:45200282
still dreaming [96 words]Anne JulienneNov 5, 2012 18:23200282
1Whoever wins, Wall Street wins ! [84 words]IanusNov 6, 2012 04:33200282
Dreams of Whose Father's [498 words]M. ToveyNov 6, 2012 19:00200282
no miracle after all [11 words]Anne JulienneNov 7, 2012 06:57200282
1Wall Street has won ... as always [217 words]IanusNov 7, 2012 17:17200282
1a couple of details [282 words]Anne JulienneNov 7, 2012 17:24200282
1Vassals of Wall Street Won Nothing They Can Keep - Their Wealth is Already Corrupted [398 words]M. ToveyNov 7, 2012 18:38200282
There Will Be NO Democracy in Heaven - A Second View [273 words]M. ToveyNov 7, 2012 18:57200282
keeping it simpler [75 words]Anne JulienneNov 8, 2012 17:33200282
Then Let's Try This for Simplicity [307 words]M. ToveyNov 13, 2012 14:48200282
You forget the Elohim ... [71 words]Anne JulienneNov 13, 2012 16:49200282
Elohim is Not Forgotten - Neither Does He Forget Except in Mercy [335 words]M. ToveyNov 15, 2012 12:09200282
lol [36 words]Anne JulienneNov 15, 2012 19:13200282
Superficiality Not Merely A Political Issue - But It is Definitely a Social One [346 words]M. ToveyNov 16, 2012 14:03200282

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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