Saturday, December 13, 2014

President Obama's Weekly Address 12/13/14: Giving Thanks for Our Troops

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President thanked the men and women in uniform who serve and sacrifice to protect the freedom, prosperity, and security that we all enjoy as Americans. On Monday the President will visit troops at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and voice his appreciation in person for their incredible service. These troops, as well as the many who are still overseas, have met every mission they have been tasked with, from bringing a responsible end to our war in Afghanistan, to working to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, to saving lives by fighting to contain the spread of Ebola. During this holiday season, a time of blessings and gratitude, the President reminded everyone to find a way to thank and serve the members of the military who serve us every day.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

How Interesting Obama visits the Army base where his buddy Bill Ayers tried to bomb the NCO club. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/394712/obama-revisits-army-base-where-his-buddy-bill-ayers-tried-kill-servicemen-deroy

MiddletownMike said...

What's your point,: should he have gone to a different base?

Anonymous said...

Obama does have ties to the unrepentant terrorist who started the weather underground that planned to plant a bomb at the NCO club at Dix. Do you think any other president has a ties to people who wanted to attack the US Army since the civil war? The democratic party of today is not our fathers party. JFK would not be in anyway associated with the likes of Bill Ayers.

MiddletownMike said...

Oh Please, Obama and Bill Ayers had very little contact and it had been determined by several news organizations back in 2008 that they did not have a "close relationship".

I'm not apologizing for Bill Ayers's actions over 40 years ago but the Weather Underground never targeted people - only government property - He / they never killed anyone and never intended to. And all charges against him were dropped, he served no jail time.

Bill Ayers has also gone on to become a very productive member of society and has helped many charitable organizations. By the time Obama and Ayers met, Ayers was a well know and respected professor at the University of Illinois, not the radical domestic terrorist that conservatives like to portray him as.

So get over the Obama bashing. Even Richard Nixon,Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford shook hands with dictators and terrorists.

Anonymous said...

Bill Ayers wanted to kill people Here is a quote from brainy quotes"Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that's where it's really at." The bomb that went off prematurely was meant for the NCO club at Fort Dix and was to go off during a dance. Bill Ayers is not a head of state a president may have to deal with . He is just an anti American jerk who wanted kill the very people willing to fight and die for our country. The weather underground wanted to kill more people thank God for their incompetence http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2008/09/obamas_foul_weather_friends.html


Obama is a radical. Why else push gays on the military while we have a war in Iraq and a war in Afghanistan? If dont ask dont tell was so terrible why did the last democratic administration institute it? Here is a link to a sight about military confidence http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2012/01/15/troops-confidence-in-obama-plummets-to-25/ We who volunteered aren't as stupid as the liberals like to believe. We know when our commander in chief supports us or not. As a soldier I knew Carter didn't appreciate the military ( in October we our paychecks would be delayed) And I knew Reagan loved America and appreciated the military.
Also Obama is liar! if you like your insurance you can keep it period. Premiums will go down 2500$. The Benghazi attack on our ambassador was because of a video. It is hard to have truth here in the bay shore when we have leaders like Obama!

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Obama is no JFK, the community organizer wants to make nice with Castro http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7f7f6bba9d934897a07b09039fd25e38/ap-source-cuba-releases-us-prisoner-alan-gross

Anonymous said...

Obama is weakening American influence in the world by lifting the embargo on Cuba. If you are a weak country depending on the US to stand up to your common enemies (Iran, Russia, North Korea...) and you see this weak president appeasing these tyrants you would be a fool to base your foreign policy on US strength. The Only people Obama wont kowtow to are American conservatives and Christians. He called ISIS a JV team but Obama and his administration are the JV team.

MiddletownMike said...

Reestablishing diplomatic ties with Cuba has been talked about for 20 years by both Democrats and Republicans. There is no longer any good reason to maintain a diplomatic embargo with Cuba.

Why should we be able to maintain relations with every other country or despot in the world but not Cuba?

Give me some good reasoning why we shouldn't have relations with Cuba, not BS talking points from right-wing, neo-con websites, blogs or Faux News. When you come up with some we'll talk.

Anonymous said...

First off Obama cant lift the embargo, congress can. Not that the constitution ever gets in Obama's way.
We should not help improve the economy of countries that are hostile to the USA. Cuba is a partner with Iraq against the USA During his brief stay in Cuba, Ahmadinejad met with Fidel Castro and said that the two countries were "fighting on the same front."
Cuba is also a partner with North Korea In 2013, a North Korean ship travelling through the Panama Canal was found to be carrying weapons from Cuba, apparently to be repaired in North Korea and returned.
And our ally Israel will look like a chump for embargoing Cuba when your community organizer embraces another enemy of America.

How can we be a world leader when we have no long range foreign policy plan? Just hope.

And what do we need from Cuba? They would have nuked us if Castro had control of the Russian missiles. Do you want them to make enough money to buy a nuke from North Korea and a missile from Iran to bomb us?

MiddletownMike said...

Obama never said that he was lifting the embargo genius, he said that Congress must lift it. It is within his constitutional authority to normalize relations.

Is Cuba not allowed to engage in their own diplomatic relations? Rhetoric is rhetoric. Every country and every leader boasts rhetorically to boost their own self importance.

Cuba is no more a threat to the U.S. than Russia,China, Iran, North Korea or Vietnam, yet we have relations and diplomatic talks with each of them.

Anonymous said...

And Mike Here are some facts from your beloved Obama regime on Cuba http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper

There is no freedom of the press here is a quote from the website"Despite meeting government vetting requirements, official journalists who reported on sensitive subjects did so at personal risk. At year’s end Granma correspondent Jose Antonio Torres remained in prison. Authorities arrested him in 2011 after he wrote articles about the mismanagement of a Santiago aqueduct project and the installation of a fiber-optic cable between Venezuela and Cuba. Authorities charged him with espionage and sentenced him in 2012 to 14 years in prison. - See more at: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper

Cuba sentences a reporter to 14 years for reporting a vetted story.

Or how about torture
The law prohibits abusive treatment of detainees and prisoners. There were credible reports, however, that members of the security forces intimidated and sometimes physically assaulted human rights and prodemocracy advocates, dissidents, and other detainees and prisoners both during detention and while imprisoned, and they did so with impunity. Some detainees and prisoners endured physical abuse, sometimes by other inmates with the acquiescence of guards, or long periods in isolation cells.
There were numerous reports of police assaulting detainees or standing by – and even orchestrating – government-organized harassment of peaceful demonstrators.
- See more at: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#section1ctorture

Read the report it is from Obama's state department.

Anonymous said...

We do not have diplomatic relations with Iran yet but gave Obama time and he will reward their bad behavior.

Cuba is more of a threat because it is close North Korea and Iran don't yet have missiles that can reach the US from their nations but could reach many major cities if launched from Cuba.

Bob Menendez said "President Obama's actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government," he said in a statement. "There is no equivalence between an international aid worker and convicted spies who were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage against our nation. One spy was also convicted of conspiracy to murder for his role in the 1996 tragedy in which the Cuban military shot down two U.S. civilian planes, killing several American citizens. My heart goes out to the American families that lost love ones on that fateful day." “Trading Mr. Gross for three convicted criminals sets an extremely dangerous precedent," he added. "It invites dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans serving overseas as bargaining chips. I fear that today’s actions will put at risk the thousands of Americans that work overseas to support civil society, advocate for access to information, provide humanitarian services, and promote democratic reforms."
America gains nothing from Obama's Cuba outreach.

MiddletownMike said...

Anon 8:31,

With all due respect I don't but much creedence into what Bob Menendez or Marco Rubio has to say about Cuba. Their opinions are tainted by their personal feelings and stories that they were fed by family members while growing up as kids. Each are children of Cuban immigrants who had to flee Cuba and lost nearly everything in the process.

If you refuse to have open dialogue with those you disagree with, how do you expect change the situation for the better? Over the past 30 years this country has had relations and diplomatic talks with both North Korea and Iran, both directly and indirectly. The world today is too small to stick your head in the ground and ignore what's happening around you.

Start the dialogue and let's see what happens. The cold war has been over for nearly 35 years, if the country can have relationships with Russia, China, Vietnam or any number of other communist country or rogue state than we can have relations with Cuba.

Remembe, change comes from within. Having normal relations with Cuba will have a greater impact over 50 years than the past 50 years of isolation has had.

Anonymous said...

The CIA poured water over the face of terrorist. the military had used the same procedure on pilots who flew missions where they may be captured to help them resist torture. Please don't compare the CIA to Cuban thugs

Bob Menendez was born in NY in 1954. His parents left Cuba before Castro took over.

America can use the UN to dialog with rogue nations if we choose to. Iran has a diplomatic mission to the UN located in NY.

I use to believe we should have more open relations with enemy nations. Since I have seen the results with communist China I have changed my opinion. China still violates the human rights of it's citizens. China has used the wealth created by trade to build up its military.

The cold war seems to be heating up since Hilary gave the Russians the overload button. The Russians have started flying long range bombers over our coast lately. I know you don't like links but I insert them to prove what I say here is a CNN story about the Russians flying in the gulf of Mexico http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/13/world/europe/russia-bombers-plan/

There are other indications of the cold war heating up. This is because our enemies see Obama as weak. He makes red lines than is forced to redraw them. Opening relations with Cuba will be viewed as weakness on Americas part and a victory for Cuba.

MiddletownMike said...

Anon 10:16_

Don't kid yourself by believing the nonsense that Fox News spews.

The US has always been a rallying cry for those that wanted to gain favor with nationalist extremists. Obama is not perceived as weak as you as ns Fox wish he was. What's going on around the world is a direct result of the local economies that haven't recovered from the great recession. When all else fails, create a situation to take the minds of the populous off of their hardships.

As for the Russian planes, what do you think the US does? US planes are always invading Russian airspace and fly missions in the Baltic sea. The difference is we as Americans never hear about it and expect it to happen. When the Russians or Chinese do it we get all bentou of shape and mortified.

This stuff goes on all the time, I'm not going to get all worked up over it.

Anonymous said...

Mike any truth you don't want to believe you say is from FOX. I quoted a story from CNN. If By stuff going on all the time you mean Russians invading our air space here is another CNN story you won't read or believe there used to be 2 a year have seen 50 in the last 5 years https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=russian+flights+over+usa

You just cant help comparing America to these evil nations as if we are the same as the nice people who gave us the word gulag.

Obama has weakened our position in the world. The 1st thing he did when he took office was to offer to the Russians not to put interceptor missiles in Poland if the Russians would help us with Iran. When the Russians wouldn't help Obama stopped the missiles to defend Poland any way. How do you think the Poles felt after upsetting their large and powerful neighbor when your community organizer hung them out to dry?

Why would any foreign government become an ally of ours when this is what Obama does?

MiddletownMike said...

Anon 1:10,

all I'm saying is that you have to put things into perspective. If the Russians have invaded our space 50 times over the last 5 years how many times have we invaded theirs? I'm sure just as many if not more. The difference is we never hear about it.

The answer to your question is a simple one, other countries want to be our allies because we are the only superpower left in the world that is willing and able to defend them from real or perceived threats from around the globe.

We are the world's policemen.

Anonymous said...

Mike under Obama we don't honor our contracts with other nations. In 1994 The USA, Great Briton and Russia signed the Budapest memorandums with Ukraine. Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons and all the nations that signed were supposed to guaranty the borders of Ukraine. When Putin took the Crimea we did nothing.

Countries on the borders of powerful countries would be foolish to upset their powerful neighbors to be allied with us.

I gave you the example of Poland. Now look at what is happening in the Baltic http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/11/21/surge-of-russian-aircraft-seen-over-baltic-sea.html

here is a news source that claims 16 times in 10 days Russians flew over our air space. http://www.westernjournalism.com/nuclear-alert-russian-bombers-penetrate-us-airspace-16-times-last-10-days/#JXohLAK4uCmt4cGK.97

We are not willing to defend our allies under Obama. Look at Ukraine or Poland.

MiddletownMike said...

And what have the other countries done to help Ukraine after signing the Budapest memorandums? Why does the the United States and Obama have to bear the burdens?

we cannot afford to be continually at war and policing the world. it's time to let others do it

Anonymous said...

I like you Mike am a true communist. 1.I believe we should redistribute the wealth in America.(. All work should be done in the betterment of the people) 2. All Americans should have free health care. 3. We should disband our military. 4. All weapons should be confiscated ( including the police). 5. All drugs should be made legal. (What a person does with their body is their businesses)
We should strive to working towards a free society where everyone is treated the same.

Anonymous said...

Mike you ended your last comment with we are the world's policemen now you are saying we aren't. You have reversed yourself in under 2 hours.

The other countries are the invading country, the country being invaded and England. England cant stand up to Russia alone. Bill Clinton signed it. And I am sure we payed for it. No one asked me if we should have signed it.

And the other countries may have written sternly worded letters denouncing Russian aggression. The Russians said this was not covered by the Budapest memorandum because ethnic Russians in the Crimea wanted Russian protection. It was remarkably similar to Hitler taking over the Sudetenland.

Merry Christmas

MiddletownMike said...

Anon 4:25,

My statement wasn't contradictory, yes I said we are the world's policemen but I don't agree that we shouldn't be. Americans can't afford it.

Let others who reap the benefits from our status in the world contribute to the burden of protecting it.

So the question that remains is what would you have Obama and the U.S. do about Russia and the Ukraine?

We have already provided weapons and financial support to the Ukrainian government and we have spearheaded economic sanctions against Russia that are working, the Russian economy is within weeks of crumbling.

What else do you propose, short of invasion and military intervention that Obama could or others could do? The answer is nothing! That is of course if you're willing to start WWIII.

Anonymous said...

This is not a Dem. vs Repub issue. I am a Dem and believe this serves Cuba's interests far more than ours. Even The Washington Post, hardly a conservative paper, has rightly called this as an unnecessary bailout of Cuba and the Castro Brothers. As with Nixon and China, we will feel warm and fuzzy about the Kumbaya of it all. But when the smoke from those Cuban cigars clear, what did America really gain?