Bama Bashers Upset That He Observes Foreign Customs

You GO girl!

To GOP, Bowing: Not Okay; Kissing And Hand-Holding: Okay

His back wasn’t straight and he should have kept his hands to his sides.

Let’s make sure to catch Obama eating with chopsticks and criticize his technique.

it’s such a complex culture that unless you know exactly what you are doing, it’s easy to come off as a buffoon and thus trying to show your ‘knowledge’ of the local language/culture can be counterproductive

Since we’re comparing Japan experience before commenting here, I have a degree in East Asian Studies, I took three years of university-level Japanese, I lived in Japan for one year, and worked for a Japanese company stateside for over 5 years, where I spoke Japanese and interacted with Japanese on a daily basis.

And I say the bow was well performed. A bit too low, but Obama does it gracefully so it seems free and easy. Yes, normally the hands should be at the sides, but you’ll find that Japanese are quick to forgive style points to gaijin.

To GOP, Bowing: Not Okay; Kissing And Hand-Holding: Okay

Another right-wing lie.

Here are some of the comments from Japanese sources:

“What a bow!”

“Such a deep bow from Obama, what a fine guy.”

“I’m surprised he bowed. He’s really trying hard to meet the Japanese way!”

“President Obama is a top-class person, isn’t he? Amazing!”

“The Emperor is giving a nice smile!”

“Is the Japanese Emperor really that special?”

“The Emperor or the Pope, the President or the Prime Minister, whoever is greater is not something that I think can be decided objectively.”

“I laughed because it was a much better bow than I had imagined.”

“Obama’s huge!”

“Obama has more of a true Japanese heart than most Japanese do.”

I can read some Japanese, so if you can link to some Japanese newspaper articles about this, I’d be glad to read them.

To GOP, Bowing: Not Okay; Kissing And Hand-Holding: Okay

Actually, if you look at the video, the bow was very well performed. Obama has an athletic bearing. He might have slightly overdone the bow for just that reason.

This is a man who is comfortable in his own skin, unlike his predecessor.

Sometimes when wanting to impress the locals, it’s best not to try at all.

That’s right. The President should behave like a boorish tourist, and not try to adapt to local customs. He should turn up his nose at the local food too, and skip out of the state dinner to grab a hamburger.

Better yet, he should have kicked the Emperor in the nuts, and say, “That’s for Pearl Harbor, ya dirty Jap!”

Mark Shields Longs For President Who's A "Manly Man" Who'll "Kick Some Tail"

F**K YEAH! Kill ‘em all and let GAWD sort ‘em out! We need a manly man’s man who stuff socks in his flightsuit! It impresses the ladies and it scares dem terr’wrists! No pansywaist thinking! No effete, elitist concern with homoseck-shul things like FACTS. Cowboy diplomacy, yessir! Break a bottle at the G8 summit and go for the jugular! That’s what we need.

Ah, the good ol’ days of macho posturing and brainless foreign policy. Seems like so long ago…

McCain Camp Calls Palin Book "Revisionist," "Self-Serving," And "Fiction"

Funny that at the same time she complains about being kept from the press she says she was “pushed” to do the Katie Couric interview.

That’s not necessarily a contradiction. After the convention “roll-out” they needed a couple of weeks to coach her about staying on message. It was during that time that they discovered, to their dismay, that she was a vapid, empty-headed, ignorant beauty queen who made Miss South Carolina sound like an astrophysicist.

They knew they couldn’t keep her away from the media forever, so they drilled a few points into her empty skull (such as the fact that Africa is a continent, not a country) and hoped that Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric would go easy on her.

She handled the Gibson interview relatively well. She tripped over the B*sh doctrine question and some of her word salads made no sense, but she emerged relatively unscathed.

The Couric interview was an unmitigated disaster. Anyone who saw that and still thought that Sarah Palin was qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency has to have their head examined. Her answers were incoherent, childish, ignorant, and non-sensical.

Now Palin accuses Couric of ambushing her with “gotcha” questions. But that’s not why the interview went so badly: Couric asked straightforward questions about foreign policy, energy, what she reads, etc… Palin couldn’t answer anything without sounding like a complete idiot. That wasn’t Couric’s doing.

After that, the McCain campaign had to muzzle her. She was fine at the podium, dishing out red meat for the rabid base, but they had to keep her from talking to reporters at all costs.

Republican National Committee Health Plan Covers Abortion

Flap’s metaphysical certitude list:
1) God exists
2) Abortion is immoral (with caveats)

I didn’t think it was possible in the modern post-Nietzschean world for anyone to assert with certainty the existence of God, except for people untouched by the modern world, like simple peasants or jihadist fanatics. I would think that even the Pope, in the recesses of his mind, has to harbor some doubts.

Personally, I think it’s still possible to believe in God; I actually do myself. But I’m not sure it’s possible to do it with certainty.

I’m comfortable with that, because I don’t think faith and doubt are polar opposites. I believe that doubt creates a searching, dynamic faith, while certainty tends to fossilize faith into a rigid dogma.

As for abortion with caveats, that also betrays a lack of metaphysical certitude, I’m afraid.

Do Conservatives Trust Our Criminal Justice System?

The “left” always holds FDR as the perfect model of the American President.

Except for the internment of the Japanese.

I don’t believe they are afforded all the protection via historical presidence, which is the same conclusion FDR, and the Democratic controlled Congress took.

So you think that the “precedent” of Japanese internment should be followed? Because FDR made a mistake, we should repeat the mistake? We should repeat Lincoln’s mistake of suspending habeas corpus? (He had the excuse of dealing with a much more serious existential emergency than B*sh did.)

That’s ridiculous. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The President does not have the authority to suspend it, or to break the law. Some Presidents have overstepped their boundaries (Nixon and G.W. B*sh among them). Even though they somehow got away with it – I’m still holding out for war crimes tribunals for the B*sh regime – that’s not an excuse to keep repeating these errors and deliberate misdeeds.

As for your assertion that American values are based on Christian values, that came out of nowhere. What does that mean? We should throw out the Constitution and follow the Bible? In that case, we should let the terrorists go, and turn the other cheek? We should love our enemies? Or maybe we should follow some Old Testament doctrines and slaughter entire populations as God commands?

Some American values are based on Christian values – especially the liberal values of peace, tolerance, and goodwill to all men. Some American values are contrary to Christian values – especially the conservative values of revenge, militarism and greed.

Ex-Congressman William Jefferson Gets 13 Years

I don’t think his age has any bearing. His sentence should reflect the gravity of the crime. I don’t know enough about case law in bribery cases to say whether the sentence is excessive, but you may have a point:

Duke Cunningham (R-CA) got 8 years.
Bob Ney (R-OH) got 2 and a half years.
Jack Abramoff: 5 years 10 months.

Other (white) GOP figures like Don Young (R-AK) face prison sentences of up to 46 months (less than 4 years). Cheney aide Scooter Libby got 30 months, but his sentence was commuted by B*sh. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) has yet to be tried on his string of corruption charges. Brian Doyle of Homeland Security got 5 years after pleading no contest to charges of trying to seduce an underage girl.

On the other hand, (Giuliani pal and B*sh Homeland Security appointee) Bernie Kerik faces 61 years in jail. He’ll get much less, of course.

I think Jefferson’s sentence is the longest ever given to a member of Congress, beating Cunningham’s record by 5 years. I don’t know if race was a factor in sentencing, but at least he wasn’t lynched, like Soesahead seems to recommend.

Do Conservatives Trust Our Criminal Justice System?

Were the Nazi war criminals given a civilian trial in the US? NO!!!!

Everyone recognized that special international tribunals needed to be held for crimes of this magnitude and scope. The District court of Manhattan would hardly be a suitable venue. For one thing, it was proper that all the allied countries be represented on the bench, something that couldn’t be accomodated by U.S. courts.

Should the terrorist war criminals be given a trial with full constitutional protections in the US? A resounding NO, NO, NO, NEVER!!!!!

Why not? It’s a great opportunity to showcase the American justice system, and to prove to the world once again that the West has a better system than the one the jihadis would institute. Americans are better than these barbaric terrorists, and we prove it by respecting the rule of law.

Do Conservatives Trust Our Criminal Justice System?

The Nazis never called themselves the Progressive Party. Where did you get that?

They DID believe that they were “progressive”, because they thought that their program of racial purity and fascist militarism were a good thing, much as today’s Republicans think their their xenophobia and free-market fundamentalism are beneficial to society. We now know that both are disastrously wrong.

Palin Goes Rogue In New Book--On Facts

Wow, she’s quite the liar. Make sure to click on the link above for more servings of whoppers from the Caribou princess.

I’m sure AP is just skimming the surface. I expect AT LEAST one lie per page, if not per paragraph.

That is, if there are paragraphs. I expect the book is one long, rambling, incoherent word-salad run-on sentence that was transcribed verbatim by her ghostwriter.