President Obama is in Norway today to pick up his much deserved Nobel Peace Prize.

How’s the trip going so far? Awesome.

“Barack Obama’s trip to Oslo to pick up his Nobel peace award is in danger of being overshadowed by a row over the cancellation of a series of events normally attended by the prizewinner.”

“Norwegians are incensed over what they view as his shabby response to the prize by cutting short his visit.”

“The White House has cancelled many of the events peace prize laureates traditionally submit to, including a dinner with the Norwegian Nobel committee, a press conference, a television interview, appearances at a children’s event promoting peace and a music concert, as well as a visit to an exhibition in his honour at the Nobel peace centre.”

“He has also turned down a lunch invitation from the King of Norway.”

Obama was also greeted by adoring fans.

“The president’s motorcade arrived at Oslo’s high-rise government complex to a few dozen anti-war protesters gathered behind wire fences nearby. Dressed in black hoods and waving banners, the demonstrators banged drums and chanted anti-war slogans. “The Afghan people are paying the price,” some shouted.”

“Greenpeace and anti-war activists planned larger demonstrations later that were expected to draw several thousand people. Protesters have plastered posters around the city, featuring an Obama campaign poster altered with skepticism to say, “Change?”

I think the people who decided Obama should get the Nobel Peace Prize were using it to try to influence American foreign policy. But now Obama has decided to send more troops to Afghanistan and they’ve all got egg on their faces.

I have no sympathy. Barack Obama is our president, the American president, not the president of Europe, Norway or the world.

Why?

Not because of unemployment, not because of the economy, not because of the war in Afghanistan.

No. They’re meeting to discuss the one agenda item that’s lowest on the list of most Americans…

ObamaCare!

“WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will huddle with Senate Democrats on Sunday in a special meeting to discuss health-care legislation.”

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) has kept the Senate in a rare weekend session as senators try to complete work on a health-care bill before Christmas.”

“President Obama will meet with the full Democratic caucus at 2 p.m. EST Sunday, a spokesman for Sen. Reid said.”

“On Saturday evening, Senate Republicans forced Democrats to vote in favor of cutting billions from providers of home care for older people as partisan debate flared.”

“Democrats were meeting behind closed doors to try to reach agreement on how to structure a government-sponsored insurance option, one of the most controversial issues for Democrats in the debate. Mr. Reid has asked a group of 10 Senate Democrats to try to strike a compromise on the issue. The group includes proponents of a strong public plan like Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) and Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio), and senators pushing for a more limited version including Sens. Tom Carper (D., Del.) and Mark Pryor (D., Ark.).”

“Several centrist Democrats have said they will not support the version that is in the bill now pending before the Senate. That public plan reimburses based on rates negotiated with health-care providers, and allows states that do not want to participate to opt out.”

The year is 2001. The debate is post 9/11 and it’s Charles Krauthammer versus known leftist and terror apologist, Tariq Ali.

DON’T watch these videos unless you like:

A. Charles Krauthammer

and/or

B. The taste of blood

PART I

PART II

In a way, Stewart is right. Obama is using the same strategy in Afghanistan that Bush used in Iraq. A strategy Senator Obama opposed under President Bush.

That didn’t take long.

Code Pink, the tasteless, annoying, anti-American noise machine that delighted in harassing members of the Bush Administration has already turned on Obama. Despite the fact that they enjoyed front row seats at his inauguration, they’ve got their undies in a twist over Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. How dare he defend America!

Check out this graphic from their website.  Obama = Bush, Afghanistan = Vietnam….

Talk about hopeless. I’d be pissed if I was Obama. Ingrates!

“It’s not exactly the kind of speech that you would have heard from Henry V or Churchill.”

You usually end up making everyone miserable.

That’s my take on President Obama’s Afghanistan speech tonight.

On one hand…

He tried to appease the right by announcing that he’s sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. He seemed genuinely concerned about national security. He talked about freedom and liberty. He spoke respectfully of the United States Military and the sacrifices made by our service members.

On the other hand…

To satisfy his base, he coupled his announcement of a troop increase with an immediate disclosure of their departure date. He made absolutely no reference to the accomplishments of the previous administration but did take a few shots at them. I wonder if I’m the only one who noticed his careful use of the term “tools” of mass destruction. He dare not say “weapons” of mass destruction. Predictably, he followed up his praise of the USA with the usual “we’ve made mistakes” BS.

Finally, I didn’t think the president had anything new to say. His entire speech was rounded out by the usual “Let me be clear…” and “There are those who will say…” statements.

I think Obama is trying too hard to be everything to everyone.

That rarely works.

Here’s MSNBC stupid-star Chris Matthews, reacting to Obama’s speech on Afghanistan tonight.

West Point cadets are “the enemy?” Way to insult the people who are defending your rights, scumbag.

It seems Obama supporters believed candidate Obama just said certain things to get elected but once in office would govern in lockstep with the likes of Markos Moulitsas and Code Pink.

Many Obama supporters were shocked when Obama didn’t swoop down on California and overturn Prop 8, even though he repeatedly said he was in favor of traditional marriage. “He’s just saying that”, they thought. “Once he’s in office, he’ll reveal his super-progressive position on everything.”

Now it’s happening again as Obama supporters begin to see the reality of what Obama will do in Afghanistan. FOX News is reporting that some members of Obama’s base are already preparing to protest.

“The anti-war left is turning on the president it helped put into office, launching a counteroffensive against President Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan.”

“Activist groups are joining liberal members of Congress in condemning the president’s expected announcement on Tuesday that he will order roughly 30,000 more troops to the war zone as part of an overhauled strategy to finish what President Bush started eight years ago. Some are urging him not to go through with it — though the strategy apparently is set in stone, with Obama having issued his final orders to his generals Sunday evening.”

I guess these angry Obama supporters weren’t listening to candidate Obama in July of 2008:

“Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday that United States needs to focus on Afghanistan in its battle against terrorism.”

“Obama said troop levels must increase in Afghanistan. “For at least a year now, I have called for two additional brigades, perhaps three,” he told CBS. “I think it’s very important that we unify command more effectively to coordinate our military activities.”

And maybe they didn’t read this tidbit in the NYT’s 2008 Election Guide:

“In Afghanistan, he has promised to ramp up the American military effort, particularly on the Pakistani border, and has said that if America received intelligence about suspected Qaeda operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he is prepared, as commander in chief, to act on it.”

They must have missed the speech candidate Obama gave in Richmond, Virginia in October of 2008:

“It’s time to heed the call from General McKiernan and others for more troops. That’s why I’d send at least two or three additional combat brigades to Afghanistan. We also need more training for Afghan Security forces, more non-military assistance to help Afghans develop alternatives to poppy farming, more safeguards to prevent corruption, and a new effort to crack down on cross-border terrorism. Only a comprehensive strategy that prioritizes Afghanistan and the fight against al Qaeda will succeed, and that’s the change I’ll bring to the White House.”

And I guess they didn’t see the Boston Globe piece on July 15, 2008 that pointed out how smart candidate Obama was to suggest Afghanistan should be the focus of the war on terror.

“Barack Obama and John McCain today offered diametrically opposite views of the war in Iraq, even as both called for sending thousands more US troops to Afghanistan.”

“Democrat Obama declared that the failed policy in Iraq — which he argued was never the central front in the war on terror — has distracted attention from the growing terrorist threat in Afghanistan and proves the need to withdraw from Iraq. “If another attack on our homeland comes, it will likely come from the same region where 9/11 was planned,” he said in a speech in Washington. “And yet today, we have five times more troops in Iraq than Afghanistan.”

Surely, Obama’s most ardent supporters caught this snippet from July 2008 on the World Socialist Web Site:

“Obama, who won the Democratic presidential primary by tapping into popular antiwar sentiment and exploiting his chief rival’s vote to authorize the Iraq war, has become the leading spokesman for an escalation of the war in Afghanistan and its possible extension into Pakistan, a policy which is gathering growing support within the political and military establishment.”

Candidate Obama traveled the country crying from the rooftops for an escalation of the war in Afghanistan. At every opportunity, he said he wanted to send more troops and said Afghanistan was the more important war which deserved America’s focus.

And now that he might send more troops to Afghanistan, his base is surprised?

They were OK when they thought Obama was just paying lip service on Afghanistan as a political maneuver during the campaign. They’re angry now that they realize maybe he was telling the truth all along.