Hume: President Seems Quite Willing to Embrace Weakness as Position for United States
By Heather Monday Nov 23, 2009 10:00am
From Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume tries to blame our situation with China owning our debt on President Obama, and throws in a bit of not-so-subtle racism with his offhand "bow and scrape" remark, just for good measure. It seems Hume has been asleep for the last eight years plus before Obama got elected if he thinks our problems with China just started in January.
Wallace: Let's talk about that point that Anne brings up Brit, because especially in China there was a sense of a diminished U.S. roll in the world. The Chinese were lecturing us when it came to economic policy and basically ignoring the President when it came to human rights.
Hume: Look, the president is in a weaker position than he might have been, not least because his policies have contributed mightily to the immense amount of new borrowing that's being done, much of it from the Chinese. So now you have the Chinese even worried about the size of the health care plan. That is unfortunate. But this president seems quite willing to embrace weakness as a position for the United States. I mean, the bowing and scraping that we see, in Saudi Arabia we saw it. We saw it on this trip in Japan--these kinds of gestures -- they wouldn't mean anything if they didn't seem to be of a piece with the general approach that the president has taken.
I think that he thinks that if he is such a -- he is a nice man, with a magnetic personality, and if he can reason with these people and not try to throw his weight around, that they will respond to him. That's exactly backward. The United States has some weight to throw around and still with the Chinese. They need our market as much as we need their money to borrow. And he's not in as weak a position as he behaves. And I don't think it helps for him to do what he did on this trip and the results bear that out.
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...and basically ignoring the President when it came to human rights.'
In effect, I believe Chris Wallace is saying the Chinese are conservatives?
Uh...Britt, call on line 7
Uncle Saudi's pissed you didn't mention him.
THE self-proclaimed expert on weak positions.
Until then, he has to assume the position..
I swear it's like a fucking Saturday Night Live skit with these assholes..
It was almost hard to believe that people on the "news" were talking about the way that Obama bowed. Who in holy fuck gives a shit???
Then to listen to Twit Hume drone on like this.. Christ on a pony. What an embarrassment.
if the gop and assholes like hume and wallace
had their way America and the whole world
would have been eliminated by nuclear bombs
by now. they won't rest until they have
humanity eliminated because of the gop's
fucking christian hypocritical lowlife lack
of morality.
1st Division Armchair Warriors?
He and Kristol and all the other reich wing dipshits..
Is this from the "News" part of Fox News or the "Opinion" part?
If it's the "News" part, shut up and deliver the facts.
If it's the "Opinion" part, you're an ignoramus with no expertise to back your opinion up, and you're a shill with an agenda, which means we can't even trust that you're actually giving us *your* opinion.
In other words, Fox News is crack for crackheads.
Crackerheads.
...ignoranus - he's stoopid AND an asshole!
...angry black man card. The President can't and will never win with these assholes.
Republican'ts are outraged.
Obama has a sandwich for lunch
Republican'ts demand impeachment!
Only cowards think bullies are strong. All bullies are cowards. This is not strength.
Precisely.
I'll bet this guy thinks that Jr is what strength looked like, unfortunately the rest of the world that he thinks was impressed by bush recognized the man-child as the weak scared little boy that he was.
These people dont know what real strength or courage looks like, all of their beliefs are based on childish myths that they embrace whole-heartedly.
As such there are no republican'ts who would or could recognize real strength, compassion or courage. That marks the lot of them as terrified, bullying cowards.
I like Mike Malloy's response to this kind of through-the-looking-glass upsidedown "news analysis" ..
(paraphrasing)
"Your drunk monkey stole the family car for a joy ride, crashed it into the bank, the hospital and the supermarket .. and now you're complaining that the mess hasn't been cleaned up yet."
.. or words to that effect ..
... were worried about 'appearing weak' during the past eight years of a smirking dunderhead of a president named Bush. Do you think, perhaps, that 9/11 occurred PRECISELY because Bush was weak and would respond in a typical 'little man' fashion?
So we can gather that the anti-intellectual message of the conservatives (education is for the rich and your designated lords & masters) is in full force. Vote for Caribou Barbie, who is sooooo cute and homey and commonsensey youbetcha also thought.
..w likely hadn't even thought about another election let alone the Presidency in 2000 when he decided to take-over; al-qaeda's plans were probably in place long before that. However, the "little man" response was accurate. In the aftermath of the attack, we could have, should have, maintained our values, got in, get the bad guys and gotten out! It should've been simple, it should've been brutal and it should've been final and then..we leave, not this eight year, invade nations, feed the terrorist/military-industrial-complex with borrowed money from the Chinese.
Where would you have gotten in and out at? Iraq, Afghanistan?
What about Saudi Arabia? That's where I would have gone in and out.
W & Prince Bandar sat at the White House on 9/12 and had dinner and watched the flames at the Pentagon reflected in the sky.
Meanwhile, Osama's brother was escorted and flown by US Government planes out of the US, while Americans were not allowed to fly.......
Nothing to see here, move along.....
It was after the spy plane incident in 2001, where Bush petulantly demanded China return our plane and crew, insisting that he was not going to apologize, and basically contradicting then-SecState Colin Powell, that I said to my wife:
"We're going to have a domestic terrorist attack within six months and be at war within a year."
I agree, the plans for 911 were probably made back durring the 90's, bin Laden could only hope for a specific response to his attack. He was fortunate that Jr. was in office at the time because his response gave bin Laden everything he wanted and more. Bin Laden wanted to get a declaration of war, Bush gave it to him, Bin Laden wanted an invasion of a muslim country, Bush gave him two, Bin Laden wanted to foment an Islam vs the west mentality, Bush helped him to do that too.
Because Bush was incapable of dealing with the attacks in any way other than armed conflict, he allowed Bin Laden to lead him by the nose everywhere Bin Laden wanted him to go, as such bush did not show the world or our enemies American strength, he showed them a reactionary and very terrified little boy doing the only thing he knew how to do, pretending to be tough. He never gained respect from anyone in the world and actively lost America a great deal of respect from the rest of the world. He thinks he was tough, he thinks he is respected, he and the tea-bags are the ONLY ones on the face of the Earth who think that. The rest of the world sees the exact opposite.
The US isn't really all that much of a market these days.
And the Chinese could easily make up for it by picking up all the emerging countries that are coming up now that the US can't hold them down anymore.
But hey, you just keep waving that flag and talking like a nutter m'kay? The rest of us out here in the real world have come to rely on the US for lulz lately, no need for you to spoil that good time by getting real or anything.
Bush holding hands and kissing the Saudis was just being friendly?
Geezus that is a friendly kiss. Is it Saudi custom to use tongue?
public kiss.
Here is Bush cheating on the prime minister with some other oil slut.
There must be a tape of them having sex somewhere on the internet. even if it didn't happen, I'm surprised no one has made one yet.
How original Hume !What a pathetic joke . Hume like the rest of the tough talking right wing weasels would piss his panties and be the first to run and hide in a fight . "The Chinese were lecturing us when it came to economic policy and basically ignoring the President when it came to human rights." Yeah Wallace , Bush was real tough with China wasn't he ? He really stood up to the Chinese over human rights ! What despicable piece of crap human beings !
..how w went to them for a bazillion dollars so he could invade a foreign country with the money, then leave the re-payment out of the budget so his budget deficits wouldn't look so bad. Funny, with all the money he borrowed and didn't include into his budget, he still had a budget deficit. WAD
So Hume wants Mr. Obama to be agressive with a country we owe billions of dollars to . .
Why would Mr. Obama want to do that?
there's Shit Fumes.
I though he wanted to spend more time looking for Bill O'Reilly's Peabody Awards. It seemed like his only chance to get one.
Yet to be found. He may have hide them in a box of falafels, has anyone checked there?
..loofahs.
Bush certainly showed those Chinese who was boss when an American jet landed in China back in 2001 and the Chinese got to disassemble it and examine it and steal all its secrets while Bush dithered like a little boy. Anyone remember that? Hume? Beck? Anyone?
Was there any hand holding?
Yeah, Obama should blow smoke and bluster his way to victory. Let's institutionalize the school yard bully approach to international diplomacy. The Boooosh Administration was so successful in adopting this approach. See how it solved all our problems until Obama stepped in and not only undid all the good work of the previous Administration, but left us worse off. And he did it within a week of taking office. Remarkable.
Obama is about to pass the first-ever true attempt at healthcare reform and your TV network has failed to stop it thus far. The real weakness, lack of power and influence over the public rests in your propagandist lap.
Dems 'In Deep Trouble' On Health Care, The Only Options Are A Bad Bill Or 2010 Losses.
Return to the real filibuster and make gasbag Holy Joe talk to death. The options are only so binary in nature if you're wearing blinders or want to convince people to join you in doing so.
This guy is obviously a right wing tool, but, how does the phrase "bowing and scraping" equate with "racism?" That is a stretch.
Now, as for China needing us, yeah, they do, but they can easily sell to everyone else, and they do, so they don't need us quite as much as ol' Britney would like us to think. A little humility might be in order for the good ol' Yoo Ess of Ayyy for a change, n'cest pas?
They've opened contracts with Africa. Billions of dollars worth of contracts with Africa. Cheaper labor. Then they'll sell the cheap stuff to the Chinese.
America will be out of the picture in the not too distant future.
The World is much much muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch happier now that that psychotic nitwit fake cowboy--whose boots you shamelessly licked for 8 long years--is gone.Unfortunately the President has a mountain of shit to dig America out of thanks to the psychotic nitwit fake cowboy's idiot policies.
Really? Does this mean we should blame the Chinese instead of the Republicans if Healthcare Reform fails, or what? I love how you’re able to squeeze that in there Britney.
These habitual liars, and crybabies on Faux Noise thankfully have a very special place in HELL.
never mind
Shit fumes clearly knows what it takes to get ahead. He's risen all the way to the most trusted anchor on Fox Newz. You thought it was just because he has a non-screechy (Bill O'Reilly) voice and a square-ish head that makes him look anchor-y. Really, he got ahead because he's an agressive dick who won't take any possible slight from anyone.
He looks like Herman Munster to me.
What did Herman Munster ever do to deserve that?
.
I agree. Herman Munster was a loveable guy who never harmed anybody. Even the non-comedic Frankenstein's monster wasn't half as pernicious as Hume.
I didn't say Herman was a bad guy, just that Hume looks like him. Hey, maybe that's a good thing for Hume.
Britt did have enough sense to take the bolts out of his neck.
Yeah, looking like assholes to the rest of the world for the those awful eight years worked out so well for us. I guess Bret hasn't heard the old saying that goes, You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Hum, was it TR that said, "Speak softy and carry a big stick."
The United States is a much weaker country and you can blame Hume and his conservative buddies and leaders.
The reality is that China is probably now the strongest "Super Power" in the world. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Bush's big deficit spending and the Bush recession are squarely to blame, although the trajectory has been building for decades. Anything that Obama has done has been relatively minor to what these conservatives have done to weaken this country.
Hume et al should be looking in the mirror.
China hasn't knocked the U.S. off the top of the super power totem pole yet.
GDP
U.S.: 14 Trillion
China: 8 Trillion
Military expenditures
U.S.: 607 billion
China: 85 billion
The U.S. economy is roughly twice the size of Chinas, and the U.S. spends seven times more than China on its military.
Don't be fooled by the hype. China has not eclipsed the U.S. in terms of power or influence. It has, however, earned "veto power" over a lot of U.S. policy by holding so much of our debt, which is not a good thing.
It makes you paranoid.
As for the GDP, you really need to understand what that means before using it as an example of financial power.
The US exported 2.8 Trillion in 2008, that is the income. The rest is just BS internal money shuffling.
Look to see that internal noise quieting down over the next couple of years as you hit your double dip starting this Feb.
GDP? Great the U.S. has a higher GDP, but China has all the cash and is an export machine. The U.S.' entire manufacturing base has evaporated. Great an inflated U.S. GDP based on the service sector, but clearly an economic empire in decline. China has been exporting more than the U.S. for a few years now. That is the real source of income and power for a country. As the previous comment says, you can trade stuff around within your own house, but you really do not gain any wealth until someone outside your closed system pays you in some form for your stuff. All we have been doing is giving our wealth to China in return for crap and we have been borrowing money to do it.
Defense spending? The U.S. spends 50% of the entire planet's military spending. That does not mean you are a superpower that just means you are stupid. The defense spending is not forward looking and does not really help the economy. It is largely just a waste of money. If we spent this on healthcare, education, the environment etc. we would be a much strong country. Our defense budget is just pissing away money.
In addition, in the age of nuclear weapons, the size of your miliary does not matter. The U.S. has a bigger military than China, but it would never use it against China because China has nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are the great equalizer. Having the latest figher jet means nothing, as it is only good to bully those countries that do not have nukes. Every war this country has fought since WWII has been a waste of time and only about bullying those smaller and weaker countries.
"You are just a conventional thinker..."
When it comes to economics, conventional thinking helps. Especially when the Chinese and everybody else are thinking the same way about it. You and the other poster are thinking pretty radically if you think that the wealth of a nation is determined by gross export numbers alone. The value and purchasing power parity (PPP) of the currency are determined by a number of things. I agree, the trade imbalance and destruction of the American manufacturing base are major problems. But, luckily, the U.S. still has 60 years of accumulated wealth in its economy, despite the recent downturns.
The U.S. economy is not determined by the service industry, and that's not where the bulk of the GDP comes from. The service industry and its low wages are part of the problem, to be sure. But only in so far as causing polarization of wealth, not net wealth per se. (The U.S. has the highest GINI Index of any developed country, reflecting a huge gap between rich and poor.)
You can argue semantics about whether the GDP is real, but the point is that everybody else considers it to be real, and that's why the American economy and currency has the purchasing power that it does. Perhaps not as much as it did 30 years ago, but still much more than you'd predict if you were basing it on exports alone.
A lot of what you say about military spending is true, especially the parts about it being unsustainable, and a recipe for a collapsing empire. Countries that spend too much on the military end up having no choice but to use it to make war to secure resources. But that wasn't the point of my comment. I agree that it's stupid. My point was that China has not eclipsed the U.S. as the worlds number one military OR economic super power.
As for the point about the military, yes China has nukes, but that's only relevant if the U.S. were intending to invade China. There are a hundred other scenarios where conventional military force (especially better equipment, more mobility, speed etc, and not just numbers per se) gives a diplomatic and political advantage that isn't dependant on nukes, or even on USING that force.
Sorry, neither of you has convinced me that China has eclipsed the U.S. as the world's super power. Yes, it's gaining military, economic and political influence, and the U.S. will have to content itself with not being able to ignore, bully or lecture it anymore (which is a good thing), but to say it's overtaken the U.S. is just hyperbole.
The dollar is on it's way out.
That is the way of it, I know they don't talk about it in the US but that is what is happening right now internationally.
You had better start paying attention to what is happening outside the US and stop mouthing conventional platitudes of a failed empire damned quick or there will be some very nasty surprises awaiting you in the next few years.
Yeah, that's right, you pointy-eared basset hound. The massive debt run up with both China AND Japan started last January, and the fact that we are in a weak position with China has everything to do with a reciprocated BOW between Obama and the Emperor of Japan and nothing to do with assholes like Rep. Kirk going to China and tellling them to ignore everything that the U.S. Govt. tells them as long as Democrats are in charge of it.
Hume is probably the most insidious of the Fox News propaganda figures because, unlike the others that are sold as straight-up pundit/commentators, Hume is sold as an "unbiased" news anchor. No, he's far from that.
I caught hell for saying Hume looks like Herman Munster so now I'm going to give you hell for bringing basset hounds into the picture. Basset Hound ears look just fine on basset hounds and Mr. Hume is no basset hound.
...
You guys are abusing the poor bassett hound, Brit Hume.
These are the guys wetting their pants over whether or not putting KSM and others on trial in New York will cause a heretofore unknown and secret tide of Wahabist soldiers to pour out of the woodwork.
It is not strength to ignore one's vulnerabilities, and it is not weakness to treat others with courtesy. It is, in fact, a Christian imperative, taught by Christ during the Sermon on the Mount: do unto others as you would have done unto you.
But we all know that Jesus dude was an unemployed, liberal sissy longhair, hung around with a bunch of unemployed fishermen, a corrupt government official, and a prostitute.
That's because Fox News' brand of Christianity is the very same that once put torture chambers in church basements or burned witches at the stake. They're the Christians who will only believe in a god that hates the same groups of people they hate. Remember, Jesus isn't important for his beliefs of the things that he said. Otherwise the Republican party would be the first to stand up for the poor and for minority interests - like he did. Jesus only matters because he died on the cross so that Republicans won't go to hell for their hypocrisy. He's a savior, not a moral guide.
He was an inveterate card cheat.
Yeah I said it.
Deal the cards Jesus and none of yer God-damned "miracles".
.
The reality is that Bush and repubs greatly weakened the country.
I take it ol' Droopy Dawg hasn't seen the pics of Ike and Nixon bowing.
as fox's operating position!
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness that is killing America!
get a free pass from these brain dead Morons.
It is truly amazing how these racist can with a straight face try and make the problems Inherited from the War Crimes past administration seem like they just appeared.
Then the Idiot site being spoken to about the rising deficit that was INHERITED, and a weakened position(?) Duh!
The appointed Supreme Court president couldn't even get the Leaders of the World to shake his hand as he walked across the stage. Don't forget the War Criminal stayed in China when the Russian President returned home, then advanced his attack on Georgia flying over the airport and BLOWING up bush BLVD.
This Moron criticizes a President that inherits from a War Criminal Supreme Court appointed president the WORST budget in American History, I mean the last CLOWN borrowed more money then all the Presidents prior to him put together.
I do believe the Racist White Supremacist colors are showing without a fair representation of what is truly being done.
The Cowards and Traitors are strongly untied with their Racist Nazi Fascist Socialist queens and kings all waiting to drop on their knees and throw double lip locks on the love muscles of those they worship and support their Twisted Half Truth Lies.
Obama is looking about as lame as you can get, at least on the domestic front. He an easy push over for GOPers and corporatists (being one himself). endless capitulation, collusion and complicity all in the name of bipartisanship. If he translates those habits into foreign policy, he's going to be played but good.
Talk about irony when a stuffy, old white man in an air-conditioned, multi-million dollar studio talks about someone else being "weak."
He needs to be strong and certain like George W. Bush even if like George W. every decision he makes is disasterous.
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