What you think of President Obama's speech today in Cairo, Egypt to the Muslim peoples?

He is a pawn, a puppet, a hired gun, a fall guy. A pretty face and a distraction, distracting us from the real issues in this world. Brought into position by the powerful to do there bidding and in return get to play the part of President.

I think CHAZ sums it up nicely.

I was impressed. He showed honor for the world contributions of the Muslim world and he made it clear that although we want peace he will not hesitate to defend the United States. I was impressed. (again.)

The first two “answers” (from ChazMaz and Steven0512) appear to me not to address the actual Q.

It sure does. His speech means nothing. A fluffy talk to appease people, while another agenda is brewing. He is not what he appears to be.
Like a child, a bunch of Bla, Bla, Bla. But go kid yourself. THAT is exactly what THEY want you to do. And, it is working. With all due respect to you.

“I know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years, and much of this controversy is connected to the war in Iraq,” Obama said. “So let me be clear: no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.” Barack Obama….
yeah it means nothing! a big lie!

Come on, @ChazMaz! No need to be coy about it. You can say who “THEY” are, and what the other “agenda” really is. No need to hide your pure vision of what is really going on behind the curtain. That’s the whole problem here. No one is willing to tell the truth. Always this nancy-pantsy skipping around reality. Go for it! Don’t be afraid!

In my opinion it was a historical speech and I’m very impressed. Maybe future historians will view Barack Obama’s Cairo speech as equally important as the “I have a dream” speech of Martin Luther King. Because the dream of today’s speech is also about a day in the future when all people regardless of their faith will live in peace. I think Obama has touched all the hearts of well-meaning Arabs and Muslims around the world, as well as all well-meaning Israelis and Europeans and Americans.

THEY:
Obama’s backers in the world of high finance—platoons of top execs from Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Chase, Morgan Stanley, Countrywide—were all intimately involved in the mortgage fiasco. They profited, bigtime, from the Greenspan Bubble, and now they expect their bought-and-paid-for presidential candidate to bail them out. People like Muslim radical named Dr. Khalid al Mansour. A lawyer with close ties to Saudi princes. THIS IS THE SHORT LIST.
AGENDA:
New World Order. Keeping and placing the World Bank in Control. Bottom line, if you are kept distracted with saving the whales, and giving peace a chance. It makes it easier for them to pick your pocket.

I did not feel coy. And, I always thought it was Mamby-Pamby. :-)

I freaked when I heard G Bush senior use the term “New World Order.” Do you think he and Obama are in cahoots?

@ChazMaz – Peace in the Middle East is the number 1 real issue in this world in the 21st century. I’m really surprised by your choice of words.

@ChazMaz the world trough your eyes sucks! So… What are you gonna do about it? Are you going to keep talking about this here? or maybe with your friends and family? Are you just bla bla bla like Obama the puppet?

I say this with all due respect to you. Unless the right people get their cut and they have no concern for you. Ok, you might get a bone tossed your way. . There will be no peace, 21st or any century. Politics, especially world politics is a very dirty game. Sad part is the sheep of the world do not and can not handle the truth. We are where we are from, back door deals, transferring of funds, survival of the fittest and death. The strong survive.
No matter, and what ever the dream that you have, have it. Makes us count sheep at night, and sleep tight.

Well, I will talk about it here. Since that is what here is for. The world does suck. No one said life was going to be easy. We just do our best to do our best and we do ffind time to see a rainbow now and then. What am I doing? I secure my finances, I stay out of debt. I do what I can to keep my family safe. And, I avoid being ignorant to what it takes/has taken to have the freedom we have. Including what is going on that is taking it away. Awareness is always the first step. There use to be a time that we asked not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country.
Too bad everyone is sitting in front of the plasma TV or playing with their Xboxes. Their only concern is that the cable does not go out.

@ChazMaz So you think that the rich and powerful are out to “steal” money from you? It’s not like they want to earn it. They’re just stealing it? I agree that they want more and more money. I agree that they have set up the rules to advantage them. However, I don’t think it’s stealing if it’s legal, and I think that it’s legal because most people think it should be legal.

In any case, it’ll never go away. The best thing I think we’ll be able to manage is to tax the hell out of them.

@ChazMaz You are not the only one who does that and not everyone is playing video games, but the result of that actions is the same: the world in where we are living. I don’t see how staying out of debt you are gonna change something. good for you though. In my country we wish to have a president like your president. But is a different situation, if you think that the world sucks living in a first world country is because you really are a negative person.
By the way I hope explained my self. English is a new language for me.

You did good. All is cool. It is nice to have the freedom to express your opinion. It is not stealing. They just enact laws that turn out to “legally” alleviate you of your income. Socialism, here we come!
This is not an issue of being negative. It is an issue of being real, telling it like it is. Why not take your next holiday in Somalia. There are over 50,000 women each year that are kidnaped into sexual slavery. Starvation, aids, human rights violations are everywhere. Enjoying the products you have that are made in China?
Let’s not forget the Americans that worry every day, hoping their family member will come home from the front line.
There are plenty of beautiful things in this world. How we got them is another issue.
That issue equates to money.
One more thing. Staying out of debt, will only help me. If everyone stayed out of debt? That would be another story. But it starts with one person, let it be me. At least I sleep good at night knowing I did the best I could do, today.

I think Obama’s speech was wonderful. He was very respectful to all the people in Cairo. I think Obama is going to change our image all over the world. He comes across respectfully which will encourage the world to have some respect for us again. Its not easy for one man to come into the white house and fix everything that someone else screwed up but from what he has done so far, I think he is on the right track. I know there are still people out there who are skeptical and perhaps even bitter because he won this election. But so far he has done nothing to upset me or make me doubt of his intentions. It’s about time we got someone with the ability to make a real change in this country. A positive one.

“At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. (Applause.) This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.” BBC. Your President is not only clever, he has courage, imagination and vision.

@ChazMaz – Some people seem trapped in resignation and cynicism. Some people choose the easy path. Blame everyone else. Generalize. Corporations consist of greedy crooks. People are dumb and hooked to their XBoxes. The end is near. Let me quote Obama:

“It is easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward; to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path.”

“I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors. There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.”

If some people chose the easy path of resignation and cynicism I have to live with that. But I’m deeply convinced that enough people will choose the challenging path. Education and innovation are the currency of the 21st century. Another quote:

“On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.”

I’m wondering, has this network already been set up? What’s the URL? I’m confident that thousands of smart teenager will use it.

It seems you are missing the point of this site. I am not blaming. I am making a point. Understandably my perspective, my opinion..
It is apparent you are an Obama lover. That is VERY cool. I prefer to stick with what I know and have experienced in my life. If I tell someone not to cross the road in traffic. I am not blaming the auto industry or being negative. That individual just needs to have all the facts and I am giving my insight. If they still want to walk, that is their call. That goes for you too, I hear what you are saying and I appreciate it. But, I will make my own decision if it makes sense and works for me. It is GREAT to have such a forum to see how we all really think. Very insightful and liberating. You will find no offense here.
It really comes down to the double-edged sward way of thinking. You like what you have, you don’t want to know how you got it.
Some people can feel both sides of the blade and accept it, for today. Some just see the pretty box it came in and that is good enough.
President Obama is (currently) the leader of my country, I back him because united we stand divided we fall. Does not mean I can’t question what he is doing and why. Life is about taking the good with the bad. I do not agree with how he became President. And, I take great offense comparing him to Martin Luther King. (my opinion)
Mr. King understood clearly what he was talking about from first hand experience. Sorry, I see nothing but a used car salesman with Obama.

@ChazMaz – Have you read ‘The audacity of hope’?

Some people could take great offense comparing Obama to a used car salesman. They see George W. Bush as an intellectual dwarf (though a well-meaning nice fella in his own way) while Barack Obama is an intellectual titan, a politician we only see once every few decades.

And, your opinion is always welcome. :-) Good or bad we learn from it. Some people would be offended if I burped at the dinner table. Some take it as good manners.
If we felt that our ideals would offend others (so don’t do or say anything to offend) we would still be paying our taxes to the King of England.

@ChazMaz a used car salesman? jajaja you are funny! Now I am thinking that you probably never read of put attention to Obama. You are going to see what you want: The other candidate, not the one who you voted.

Been around the block too many times my friend. Sad part is. There were really no other candidates. No one (of any real character) wanted the Presidency this time around.

@ChazMaz – Ah, I forgot: ‘The audacity of hope’ is a book (do you read books?) written by Obama in 2005.

Ouch, now you are getting personal. ;-)
So he wrote a book, and it inspired you. Fantastic!
Don’t let appreciation or inspiration turn into brown nosing.

Guys—no need to get personal. We are exchanging views, and just because we think a point of view is stupid is no reason to call the person who holds it stupid. That just discourages further conversation. It’s far better, I believe, to try to find out what could lead someone to hold a view that is so foreign.

@ChazMaz I take it you think that Obama has only had book learning, and has not experienced real life, himself? You also believe he is really cozy with the rich movers and shakers in this country? Thus, you don’t trust him? If this is correct, I would like to know how you came to these conclusions. What kind of evidence did you find that makes you believe this?

Touching on a couple of things.
Lacking experience:
As a US Senator, he has been campaigning longer that he has worked for us. His record proved that his actions are different than his rhetoric.
He chair a Europeran Foregin Affairs committee, yet has not called one meeting, nor has be been to Europe till now.
He has no foreign affairs experience…that is important. Numerous time he has refused to take a voting stance on important issues.

Cozy with the rich:
Besides what I stated futher above in this post. Lets add. Obama’s partnership with former domestic terrorist William Ayers (big money) when the two collaborated at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a charity established to help Chicago’s public schools that was commandeered by Ayers to promote his radical agenda.

@ChazMaz I see a bit more about where you’re coming from. I, too, was discomfited by his lack of foreign affairs experience (well, and lack of experience, in general), and I was a Hillary supporter because of that. However, once he won the primary, he was so much better than the alternative, that it seemed like a no-brainer to me. So far, the things I’ve seen him doing, both with respect to foreign and domestic affairs suggest to me that he understands a lot, even though he doesn’t have a lot of experience.

As to the Ayers connection—that seems to be quite different from what you were saying above. Above it was wealth with a greed agenda, but with Ayers it is wealth with a radical agenda. The only commonality is wealth. All I can say is that any President has to deal with wealthy people—to raise campaign funds, and because their actions affect the economy so dramatically. So I still don’t understand your problem with his connections.

As far as what he has been doing. It is too soon to tell.
My experience working with the Super Rich, and other issues I honestly cant discuss. (please do not see that line as a cop out)
They donate and get involved because they have the money to invoke change. Sometimes it is good. The trust fund babied are good for that. But, our idea of what is right and wrong is not the same for the super rich.
They love their families, and their children. But it is what is best for them. Not you. I said it before, the wealthy get rich on the backs of the poor.

Foreign policy? your country sucks in Foreign Policy let me tell you. Your republican point of view probably never is gonna see the errors of the United States around the world.
That’s good that he doesn’t have experience so he can starts again and do the right things finally

Yes, it’s perfectly okay not to like Obama, disagree with his views, and so forth. This is what democracy is all about. It’s wonderful to be part of a pluralistic society. So everyone is entitled to compare Barack Obama with a used car salesman and George W. Bush with an intellectual dwarf. It wasn’t my intention to get personal, but I guess a rusty old Chevy Caprice collided with my amygdala triggering an emotional response. Thanks @daloon for trying to calm things down. If more used cars are headed my way I guess I’ll take a hike in the forest ;-)

It is true that the wealthy get rich on the backs of the poor. It has always been thus. Only nations with fifty and sixty percent tax rates have a chance of diminishing the spread between rich and poor. Most people in the US think that will kill individual initiative, and anyway, the poor have what’s coming to them. Well, maybe not most people, but an awful lot of people. They brought us George Bush.

Obama will and has made a difference for the poor (and the rich, for that matter). Universal health coverage, no matter how bad it is, is still better than the current system. Making the tax system more progressive, if he succeeds, also helps the poor at the expense of the rich (who can well afford it).

The super rich have different concerns. It’s hard to manage all that wealth. It’s hard to protect yourself. You need to be very smart and you need to hire smart and loyal people, and you can never really trust anyone. Not to mention having bodyguards and all that.

I’m not so sure how much they love their children, in general, since so many seem to foist the kids off on nannies and other caregivers. But they are still human, even if their experience is so different that normal people can hardly imagine it.