Obama To Japan

Obama is off to Japan to commence his Asian adventure.  The Japanese are neither brown-skinned nor Muslim nor poor, and they have not attacked us since Obama was born, so it will be interesting to see what Obama apologizes for.

Comments

[bolitha]

Hiroshima???

[peter]

Interments.

[Jane]

Our mere existence?

[For breaking the code and not telling them. C'mon, is that fair?]

Guadalcanal.
=======

[Terry Gain]

Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And the occupation that followed.

[narciso]

He doesn't have the sense to figure out that North Korea's nuclear proliferation is practically the only issue of note, that and Turbo Tim's debauching of the press

[narciso]

printing press (sic)

[BR]

Ha, he can apologize for a certain country in Africa who gave Japanese businessmen "honorary white status" so they could stay in the luxury hotels during apartheid :)

[narciso]

You know what Rush and Mark Steyn say about making a joke about this, unreal, in the LUN

[Charlie (Colorado)]

He will apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and fail to explain why millions of casualties in the invasion would have been better.

[Jane]

OT:

I found this over at Hillbuzz. They are talking about how inept the GOP is v the dems and offer this suggestion:

What can you do to make sure the GOP nomination is not gamed next go round?

(3) Republicans need to give Independent and Moderate voters an excuse that lets them admit voting for Dr. Utopia was the dumbest thing they have done in a while.

We suggested this the other day, when we suggested a grassroots campaign should be started to “Blame Oprah” for all of this. We’ve found, anecdotally, here in Chicago that people are more likely to admit what a disaster Dr. Utopia is if they don’t also have to admit how stupid they are for having fallen for all of Utopia’s lies.

BUT, when we’ve suggested to these people that Oprah tricked them, and that they never would have backed Utopia if Oprah hadn’t told them to, then suddenly they speak freely about what a promise-breaking, lying, socialist embarrassment the current president is.

You might think this is ridiculous, but we swear it works. Even here in Boystown, where people were so drunk on Kool-Aid and deranged for Utopia that they once believed he really was the Second Coming. Then, they went through a period where they were quiet and disillusioned. Now, the majority of them unemployed (and never receiving any of the unicorns or stimulus money they believe they were promised), they’re starting to get angry.

What’s KEEPING them from speaking out, from taking to the streets, from having a Network “not going to take it anymore” moment, is the simple fact that they’d have to admit they were wrong first.

And that does not happen in the LGBTQ community. Pride isn’t just a festival at the end of June…it’s the thing that gets most often in the way of rational thinking.

Oprah is key to this roadblock. There should be tee shirts that say, “It’s all Oprah’s fault”, “Oprah’s ‘One’ means we’ve all lost”, etc. Someone out there will think of a really great slogan in this meme, we’re sure.

But, the idea is to give people an out…let them say, “I trusted Oprah and look what her candidate did to the country. I would have never bought into this nonsense if Oprah hadn’t sold it to me, like “The Secret” or Nate Berkus. Oprah did all of this.”

We’re telling you, it would work. Especially in the suburbs.

If not Oprah, then MSNBC.

~
LUN - read the whole thing:

[Thomas Collins]

PrezzO will apologize for Americans not recognizing that Sadaharu Oh is the all time home run king.

[Thomas Collins]

Or perhaps he'll apologize for Americans taking Pearl Harbor so personally.

[Jim Miller]

Pearl Harbor?

(Oh, maybe not Obama himself, but some of his supporters. If they can treat Major Hasan as a victim, they can blame America for the Pearl Harbor attack.)

[NK]

No, No, No --

y'all are missing the point, and all snarkiness and sarcasm aside. Starting today and for the next few days Barry O is meeting with his bankers; the Bank of Japan/Japanese investors and then the Peoples' Army (because they ARE China) who are the owners of a vast amount of US Debt. THEY will tell Barry O what he has to do; i.e. stop spending, no more cap and trade nonsense, no protectionism, pay back the debt with REAL US Dollars not devalued inflation addled Dollars. They don't give a Shite about what he has to say about Tibet or Hiroshima. Barry O will bow and scrape, but it won't make a difference. Like the rest of us he'll have to do what the Bankers order him to do. Watch, by the time he comes back the message will be greatly scaled back healthcare, no cap and trade, no new Afghan troops, deficit reduction and stable dollar.

[narciso]

He actually chose not to defend thebombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, more'imposing democracy' I take it.

[Porchlight]

Dana Milbank takes Obama to task for traveling overseas too much - more than any other President in his first year:

WaPo: Obama's World Record

[centralcal]

Jane, I read the whole thing, too. I love how they call Ibama, Dr. Utopia!

They also make some good points on the manipulation of the GOP candidate already in progress by the Libs.

"The GOP needs to come up with some way to keep the Democrats from gaming the 2012 nomination process and selecting whom they want to run against."

[Rob Crawford]

If they can treat Major Hasan as a victim, they can blame America for the Pearl Harbor attack.

You jest, but I've heard people make the argument. Apparently, if ONLY we hadn't been such warmongers in putting an embargo on Imperial Japan for the Rape of Nanking, they wouldn't have felt threatened.

The arguers are about 25% Buchananites, 75% lefties.

[bio mom]

Apparently he just agreed to discuss moving the military base in Okanawa, due to Japanese complaints. True to form.

[megapotamus]

All decent people recognize that Pearl Harbor was a case of Attractive Nuisance. Actually I don't much object to Pearl Harbor. It was an act of war meticulously adhering to the Western rules of such; moreso than Nazis with the Sovs certainly. More than the Russians in the Russo/Jap war, if you count Russians as Western. So Japanese "honor" if we concern ourselves with such, remains intact for Pearl. Other things, not so much. Hiro/Nag likewise were quite legitimate acts of war. Do not fall for the twaddle about these being less than worthy targets. Maybe they were but any such argument only suggests that Tokyo should have been Ground Zero and no one is backing that. Except me, of course.

[megapotamus]

More seriously and on the topic, NK has it most right. This is about plumping up the US bond market with our Creditors of Color and this is one war that IS a necessity. Or not, it may be that bond sales are doomed at this point; the damage to extensive to yield to emergency venting. If that is so we had best get on with it but at least Barry is a) concerning himself with something within the perview of gub and exec and b) dealing with reality. This sort of banal performance has been almost absent in this Administration and should not be discouraged by those of us who claim the mantle of seriousness. It will be punished by the idealists readily and fully enough.

[VilePliskin]

@ Rob Crawford

And in Japan's defense, did you see how Nanking was dressed?

[narciso]

Well it fell to Hiroshima and Nagasaki because they along with Kyoto were the only ones left off the original target list. Stimson had stayed in Kyoto for a time, so that was off the list. The idea of a surprise attack, is the stickler

[MayBee]

Japan does indeed teach that FDR chose to provoke Japan into war, because it was what the US wanted.
They also teach that at Nanking, there were orders not to abuse anyone.

You go to Yasukuni shrine & museum, that's what you'll see.

[Jim Miller]

Rob - I was only 25 percent jesting, having seen those same arguments from those groups.

If you are determined to "blame America first", you can always find a way to do it. And some of our fellow Americans, including some who work in the Obama administration, demonstrate that, again and again.

[memomachine]

Hmmm.

How about the Bataan Death March? As in "I have to apologize for the thousands of American and Phillipino soldiers abused and tortured by Imperial Japanese soldiers.".

Or how about apologizing for the American soldiers who had their livers cut out and eaten by Japanese officers?

[Free Radical]

Republicans need to give Independent and Moderate voters an excuse that lets them admit voting for Dr. Utopia was the dumbest thing they have done in a while.

Oprah/MSNBC is too specific- plus what 'independent' wants to admit where he/she got their marching orders from?

How about a T-Shirt with O's photo and the caption 'WHO VETTED THIS GUY?'

[Uncle BigBad]

Jim, Rob,

My grandfather, the original FDR hater, while he didn't blame America for the war, did loudly, along with many others, blame FDR for secretly welcoming the Pearl Harbor attack as an excuse to go to war.

[bad]

Or how about apologizing for the American soldiers who had their livers cut out and eaten by Japanese officers?

Perhaps he could apologize for those livers that didn't taste great, or were less filling....

[Gregory Koster]

Narciso, Stimson never stayed in Japan, much less Kyoto. It's true he did object to Kyoto as a target, but if a third bombing had been necessary, Kyoto would have been it, despite Stimson's objections.

NK, Magapotamus, why should the Chinese care if the Treasuries they hold are never paid back? TO be sure, they would press for payment, but a default would do---what?:

a) It would cost China a trillion or so. But China is not a democracy. What the hell do the rulers of China care about a long spell of hard times for their country, provided the military arm is a) in good working order and b) loyal to the leadership.

b) A default would turn the international trading community upside down. The US would be hurt the most by this default, with a corresponding loss of power. Would it hurt China? It's true that the Chinese export industries would be hard hit. But balance that against the hit the US would take. Consider the agenda NK said the Chinese would oppose:

"greatly scaled back healthcare, no cap and trade, no new Afghan troops, deficit reduction and stable dollar."

Only the stable dollar and no new Afghan troops help the US. The other items help China. The Once is China's great opportunity to become the world's dominant power without military conflict. A trillion dollars is a hell of a lot of dough. Is it too high a price for China to buy world preeminence?

No, I think the Chinese will encourage The Once in his cap and trade, healthcare, and government growing idiocy. He's the chance of a century for them.

[Gregory Koster]

UncleBigBad, ask your grandfather to explain how a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was going to get the United States into a war against Germany. Germany was the dangerous enemy for the US, not Japan.

[Gregory Koster]

Chaco's imagination has failed him. Here's an advance text of The Once's apology for Hiroshima, complete with the best Harvard Law reasoning on why the Allies should have conducted a land invasion:

"Before I begin, I'd like to give a big shout out to Lionel McIntyre of my old school Columbia. Lionel's an expert on "white privilege," and his masterful work informs the comments I am going to cast before you swine.

I wanna apologize for bombing Hiroshima and that other one I can't pronounce. WWII was a war of white privilege, of white America showing the people of color in Japan who was boss. In our own country, we locked up tens of thousands of you people in torture camps, just so California plutocrats could get their property cheap. That was wrong. Taking private property is the government's right. How else can suitable buyers be found if the govt doesn't do the job?

Hiroshima was an appalling example of white privilege asserting itself. White America should have done the job honestly, sending millions of white soldiers to invade your country, possibly speeding up the day in America when whites are no longer the majority. The only good whitey is a dead one, is the old American saying.

But even that isn't enough to make up for the wrong America did to you. To make up for that, I am asking Mr. Ron Gettelfinger, the new Ford Motor relations czar, to come here and consult with you on how best to carve up this share of our market for you. Then you'll face your real competition: the new "Green" cars from GovernmentMotors. I am confident that sucha competition will lead to benefits for all, as well as atoning for white America's racist past."

See how easy it is to apologize once your heart and someone else's wallet are in it?

[BR]

Free Radical at 4:41 - love your name :)

"Who Vetted this Guy" is great, but methinks it's too logical for the dumbos. The kind of person who voted for him, likes to make others wrong, so let 'em blame Oprah. She was an opinion leader and does bear responsibility, too.

[daddy]

I`m surprised he didn`t do a little dumping on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, because as you`ll recall those 2 cities have already announced their intent to joint host the 2016 Summer Olympics. That`d defeat O`s Chicago plan, so I`m waiting for his tactic of damning with faint praise or scratching his nose with his flipping the bird finger while mentioning Ground Zero, but I don`t think he`ll go any further than that.

[eaglewingz08]

If there weren't an abject apology for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, give that time for when he actually visits the sites. As for Obow-ma's crotch level bowing to the Emperor of Japan, can you say beta male Mr. President?

[eaglewingz08]

I am also wondering how the left is not horrified at the image of a black American bowing servilely in front of other non black individuals holding titles equivalent to 'massa' (master)? I mean Mr. Obama has no slave roots yet he bows like a slave and the liberals root for him doing so. You would expect the lines to be reversed (under liberal koolaid thinking) that liberals would be horrified that a black man or President was playing 'stepnfetchit' to non blacks, and that 'conservatives' (as caricatured by these same libtards) would be saying gee O-bow-ma knows his place and therefore he is bowing to his betters.