Discussion: John Boehner Calls Obama An 'Anti-War President'

Discussion for article #234731

“The Republican leadership is starving for endless American war. But America has an
anti-war president,” the Ohio Republican told reporters. “We have no foreign policy strategy but war to deal with the growing threat of another Democratic president. And it’s not just Boeing, or all of their political action committees. it’s also McDonnell Douglas and GE and all of their political action committees.
We’ve got a serious funding problem facing the Republican candidates, and the military industrial complex, by and large, is sitting on the sidelines.”

Fixed it for you, Mr. Speaker.

And BTW, President Obama didn’t say he was anti-war, but anti dumb war. Big difference.

27 Likes

Well, then I think we should call the republican candiates the “Pro-War Candidates”, I am sure that sells well.

26 Likes

I for one am grateful that we have a president that is thoughtful and deliberative and not some shoot from the hip cowboy.

24 Likes

Did John Boehner clear those remarks with Bibi Netanyahu first? Or were they just based on Israeli intel?

10 Likes

Note to Boehner: Leadership does not equal warmongering.

On the other hand, being Republican would seem to require one to be a warmonger.

9 Likes

I have yet to hear a strategy outlined by the GOP on how to deal with ISIS, Al Qaeda, AQAP, or any other group that has incited violence to achieve their political aims (see, here, for a list of designated terrorist groups http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_designated_terrorist_organizations). Look, the world is very messy and the Arab and predominantly Muslim nations are going through an upheaval that is unprecedented over the last 500 years. There are no easy solutions and one strategy in country x doesn’t work in country y. It requires nuanced understandings of the underpinnings of the discontent and massive diplomatic efforts that will take years to possibly show tangible results. To think otherwise is simply sophomoric.

13 Likes

It’s absolutely incredible and appalling that any American politician in this day and age would come out and say that being an “anti-war president” is a bad thing.

It clearly illustrates the degree to which the Republican Party feels snug and smug in its corporate-funded, gerrymandered cocoons.

15 Likes

In other words, once again, Boehner is drunk on duty.

3 Likes

Republicans don’t do nuance. They only have one tool in their shed: a massive sledgehammer. And the whole world needs to be destroyed.

7 Likes

So. . . if Obama started leading, would Boehner start following?

In other words, it’s not like there’s anything Obama could do that would get Republicans to go along with him, and we know they don’t actually want him to be seen as a leader, so what’s the point in even discussing it?

9 Likes

Yeah. The next thing they’ll accuse him of is being “pro-apple pie.”

2 Likes

A. Under President Obama’s leadership we have killed far more terrorists than under his predecessor, including public enemy No. 1.
B. Who the hell isn’t anti-war except maybe the neocon dead-ender chickenhawk caucus, FKA the GOP?

15 Likes

I’m with you. Since when did the term, “anti-war” become a criticism?

10 Likes

There is nothing like the aroused energy of young people. And if there was a Military Draft holding liable for military duty individuals from 19-26 years of age, this lush would not have said one sentence with the words “Obama” and “war”.

4 Likes

“The world is starving for American leadership. But America has an anti-war president,” the Ohio Republican told reporters.

And by showing “Leadership” what Boehner means is Obama needs to stop acting on his own agenda and start doing what the Republicans tell him to do. That is what real leaders do, fall in line with the demands of the people they are suppose to be leading. If Obama is unsure of how to do that he can just look to Boehner’s own sterling example of such leadership in the House. :wink:

5 Likes

I would go so far as to say, “Wear the anti-war label with pride, Mr. President.”

7 Likes

Barack Obama is every-bit hawkish as was George W. Bush. . In the last year or so the United States has engaged in Special Ops in over 130 countries. Currently the United States is officially engaged in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. Military operations are also going on in Algeria, Iran, Malaysia, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. Anonymous sources in JSOC have told investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill, that military operations are also going on in Indonesia, Thailand, Colombia, Peru, as well as several countries in Eastern and Central Asia. Obama is now inching towards World War 3 with Russia - which, in all probability, would go nuclear. He is also threatening war with Venezuela. Obama drones have killed hundreds of innocent women and children. He even killed a couple of American citizens who were never officially charged with anything. When Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, it was a travesty.

No matter how far Republicans position themselves to the extreme right on both foreign and domestic policy, Obama positions himself nearby but a little closer to the center. He plays good-cop-bad-cop with the Republicans. The result is trillions of dollars spent on endless wars and no money left for the social safety net. Like the Clinton, he helps the Republicans get everything they want. Let’s face it: Obama’s advisers are neocons.

Obama is also promoting the myth of American exceptionalism. “We are the one indispensable nation” and all that insanity. It makes me ill that I voted for him twice.

1 Like

Is “The world is starving for American leadership. But America has an anti-war president,” just a dumb thing to say, or an accidental revealing of the conservative worldview? Boehner is correlating leading to the willingness to send troops into other countries, but I doubt he was conscious of it. It’s just such a part of the ideological furniture that it probably didn’t occur to him that it wasn’t simply obvious. He could have led off with the claim there’s no overarching strategy because we can always talk about whether there’s an overarching strategy, what it is, whether it works.

2 Likes

Well if Boehner feels so strongly for going to war every few minutes why doesn’t the house give President Obama war powers???

3 Likes