Fox Nation truncated Obama quote, omitted criticism of "anti-Americanism" in Europe
SUMMARY: The Fox Nation featured the headline "Obama on Foreign Soil: 'America Has Shown Arrogance' " and omitted the president's criticism of "anti-Americanism" in Europe.
On April 3, Fox News' newly launched website, The Fox Nation, featured a front-page headline reading: "Obama on Foreign Soil: 'America Has Shown Arrogance.' " The headline linked to a Fox Nation page, which consisted of the same headline; a link to an April 3 U.K. Telegraph article about President Obama's speech at a town hall that day in Strasbourg, France; and the Telegraph article's lede, which read, "President Barack Obama has offered an apology for the Bush era, declaring that America had 'shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive' towards its allies." However, neither The Fox Nation front-page headline nor The Fox Nation page it linked to noted that in the next lines of his speech, Obama, in the words of the Telegraph article, "balanced this striking admission with a tough message to Europeans that blaming America was foolish," saying: "But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what's bad." Obama subsequently stated: "On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America."
From Obama's speech:
Such an effort is never easy. It's always harder to forge true partnerships and sturdy alliances than to act alone, or to wait for the action of somebody else. It's more difficult to break down walls of division than to simply allow our differences to build and our resentments to fester. So we must be honest with ourselves. In recent years we've allowed our Alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there's something more that has crept into our relationship. In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.
But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what's bad.
On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America.
So I've come to Europe this week to renew our partnership, one in which America listens and learns from our friends and allies, but where our friends and allies bear their share of the burden. Together, we must forge common solutions to our common problems.
So let me say this as clearly as I can: America is changing, but it cannot be America alone that changes. We are confronting the greatest economic crisis since World War II. The only way to confront this unprecedented crisis is through unprecedented coordination.
From The Fox Nation:
From the April 3 Telegraph article:
Barack Obama: 'arrogant US has been dismissive' to allies
President Barack Obama has offered an apology for the Bush era, declaring that America had "shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive" towards its allies.
President Obama said the US had "failed to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world".
His speech in Strasbourg went further than any United States president in history in criticising his own country's action while standing on foreign soil.
But he sought to use the mea culpa as leverage to alter European views of America and secure more troops for the war in Afghanistan.
He declared that there had to be a fundamental shift on both sides of the Atlantic. "America is changing but it cannot be America alone that changes," he said.
Addressing a crowd of some 2,000 mainly students from France and Germany, Mr Obama said: "In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world.
"Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive."
He then balanced this striking admission with a tough message to Europeans that blaming America was foolish.
"But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual, but can also be insidious. Instead of recognising the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what is bad.
"On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America."
I heard the full quote on the news earlier today and instantly knew that rightwing mischief makers would be editing it exactly like this. I note that this piece also uses the "on foreign soil" trope that always gets conservatives so hot and bothered.
Just like in every thoughtful and multi-faceted speech that Obama has given, the right-wingers and Fox cherrypick what they need in order to badmouth him. Remember that speech about race relations Obama gave after the whole Wright debacle, for example. He talked about race in a mature and thoughtful matter, yet the only things Fox managed to get out of it was that Obama's grandmother was a racist.
Just like in every thoughtful and multi-faceted speech that Obama has given, the right-wingers and Fox cherrypick what they need in order to badmouth him. Remember that speech about race relations Obama gave after the whole Wright debacle, for example. He talked about race in a mature and thoughtful matter, yet the only things Fox managed to get out of it was that Obama's grandmother was a racist.
O'Reilly presented both sides of Obama speech, so I guess he is not a right wing mischief maker. But I wonder if you get upset when the left wing mischief makers leave important details out of their reports. Like the convicted terrorist lawyer who filed the lawsuit in the Spanish court, they all reported the suit but neglected to include the fact that the lawyer was convicted for collaboration with terrorists and "earned " his law degree while in prison.
He wasn't "the" lawyer, and I don't see how it's important anyway. The merits of the case didn't depend on where one of the lawyers got his degree.
I hope this doesn't double post. Not sure what's going on.
heheh.. you prove the point FL was trying to make. you don't clue into the fact that the "lawyer" was a convicted collaborator with terrorists and woudl have a biased radical agenda in filing the suits- instead you swoop in to invalidate the whole context by making the issue "I dont care where he got his law degree"... your "fawlty logic" screen name suits you well.
What kind of terrorism did this guy commit? Terrorism is a broad term these days. Grandma's can get arrested for sewing circles if they're suspected of plotting terrorism. Anyway, we get it. You would rather torture a person to death in prison than worry about whether of not the punishment fits the crime.
At the core of your fear laden retort is a lack of faith in the rule of law. The suits will be held up or discarded, regardless of the political motivation, on the merits of how they the conform to the law of the land. Period.
Now, go change your bed sheets before you soil them again.
So throw out the lawsuit on the merits of the case. It's not a difficult concept. In fact, it's the whole basis for the rule of law, who brings the charge shouldn't matter.
This will be my only comment on this since I don't want the thread to get hijacked.
the "lawyer"
Gonzalo Boye is not a "lawyer," he's a lawyer, degreed and admitted to the Spanish bar. The sneering quotation marks are both improper and inaccurate. Further, he wasn't "the" lawyer, either: It was a team of four lawyers representing a Spanish human rights group.
a biased radical agenda
That is sheer assumption based on nothing other than your own bias. It's also completely beside the point because the issue is not any "bias" he and the others may have had in filing the suit, it's the decision by the Spanish court to consider it. That same court, by the way, has taken up cases against Augusto Pinochet, China, Israel, and al-Qaeda. I'm sure that in your mind that somehow becomes proof of left-wing bias but I have to admit I'm not clear how.
making the issue "I dont care where he got his law degree"
It was fairliberal who made that an issue, saying Boye "'earned' his law degree while in prison." Fawltylogic is quite correct that where he got his degree is entirely irrelevant; I'd add that the quotation mark-driven implication that he didn't earn his degree is again an improper and incorrect sneer. It's the merits of the case that count - which appears to be a matter with which neither you nor fairliberal are concerned. (Or perhaps it might better be said that it's a matter with which you are concerned and are trying to avoid for just that reason.)
It also appears Boye's personal history - as opposed to the possible merits of the suit - were less important to others than to the "defend Bush at all costs" gang, since neither the NY Times, The Guardian, Time magazine, the NY Daily News, CNN, AP, the BBC, nor NBC found it worthy of mention. But, I take it, it's of vital importance to you, the concept of "he's done his time" not applying where there is a political point to be scored and an issue to be snowed with irrelevancies and trivialities.
But for those such as roundhouse who wish to know, Boye was sentenced to 10 years in prison for collaborating with the Basque group ETA in the kidnapping of a Spanish businessman; his involvement appears to have been monitoring the man's movements. Whether or not that becomes "terrorism" or "collaboration with terrorism" (as opposed to "ordinary" criminality) may depend on your point of view: ETA has been considered a terrorist group but the kidnapping was for ransom, not for a directly political purpose.
Boye has been the target of no claims of illegal behavior since his release, which - together with the fact that he was, again, one of a team of lawyers acting on behalf of a human rights group - likely explains the lack of reference to his past, which would have no purpose other than as an attempt to discredit the suit on personality rather than merit - which is likely why certain others do bring it up.
It's like that old trial lawyers' saying: When the facts are against you, attack the law. When the law is against you, attack the facts. When the facts and the law are both against you, attack opposing counsel.
ok so the guy who filed the suit has an agenda.......so why didn't the judge throw out the suit?
Ah , parsing words again, your specialty. As MissDee points out your screen name is perfect for you. I wonder what your defense would be if you were accused of a crime by a convicted criminal, I suspect your attitude would be a little different. What do you think of Spain's standards? Should criminals be allowed to practice law, in this country he would not be permitted to practice law, I presume you disagree with that standard. I also find it interesting that MMFA has not had anything to say about Gonzalo Boye either, obviously they know it is a sham too.
There is no rule in this country against letting convicted criminals become lawyers last time I checked.
The merits of the case are what's important, not who brings the charge.
Spain's standards are not at issue here. Only the merits of the case, and you have already lost that argument. If the man has been admitted to the bar, then he is free to bring whatever suits he deems appropriate to the courts of Spain. In this case, he was part of a team of lawyers, presumably the rest of which did not earn their degrees in prison, and presumably are all members of the Spanish bar. So, your attempts at one of your favorite logical fallacies, ad hominem attack, has failed miserably yet again.
What's next, straw men? That's your favorite fallacy, and one you employ very often, also always resulting in a massive failure of logic and reason.
i think that would depend on one's actions.......if someone brought a suit against me for something i did that would have been illeagle....it doens't matter who the person is that is filing that suit, it matters weather or not there are merits. thus the RULE OF LAW
if there was no merit to the lawsuit why would the judge have allowed it to proceed?
its the mannity, what do you expect
The fact that MMFA thinks it's so high and mighty because it always uses complete quotes with context, and the conservative media always crop quotes to obscure their context, does not excuse the fact that Obama criticized Amurrukuh. To the wingnuts, it doesn't matter what else he said. The one unforgivable sin is to say anything that could be even remotely construed to be a criticism of the best, greatest, freest nation God gave man on earth.
You seem at bit conflicted.
You seem "at" bit sarcasm-impaired.
haha! Sarcasm and "at". I don't know which one is more classic.
"The fact that MMFA thinks it's so high and mighty because it always uses complete quotes with context, and the conservative media always crop quotes to obscure their context, does not excuse the fact that Obama criticized Amurrukuh. To the wingnuts, it doesn't matter what else he said. The one unforgivable sin is to say anything that could be even remotely construed to be a criticism of the best, greatest, freest nation God gave man on earth."
And this is exactly that kind of thinking that is what's so damn wrong WITH our country! Obama did not critizes our country in spite... he acknowledged that this country DOES MAKE MISTAKES!
If we want to survive as a nation in an increasingly 'global' economy we need to collectively admit the mistakes of our past! By ignoring the several things our nation did to get to where its at is why so much of the world hates us!
If we want to be able to look at the world with intergrity as our ally... we need to collectively come to realize that we are not some perfect nation! It may be better to be loved than hated, but 9/11 proved that being hated sucks!
If we want to be able to spread Democracy using concepts like the Rule of Law and Human Rights as the basis for doing so... we need to use the Rule of Law and realize Human Rights are first and foremost as our strength, not our military!
If we want to have the world look upon us with admiration, we need to treat them with equal respect and dignity! I don;t know about you, but I'm damn aweful tired of needless death. I say aiding in building schools and hospitals instead of blowing them up will end war as we know it!
For as long as we keep acting like little children that can do no wrong or acknowledge that we have errored...
Then we are not going to survive as a nation!
Will there always be children in mens bodies, of course... but as long as we act as children... there will always be war.
I say well done to Obama for admitting that we might not always be perfect. It's a good thing when a leader of any country is honest.
As soon as I heard Obama's complete comment, I knew that FOX would truncate the quote to emphasize and reinforce the Fox-promoted idea that Obama is a European-style socialist who hates his own country. That millions of people get their news from Fox, and actually believe the propaganda it disguises as news, is pretty alarming. Fox has convinced its viewers that Obama is a duplicitous political operative with a dangerous agenda, and one can only wonder how far the wingnuts will go to "protect" their country.
Do sane people view Fox News?
is that a serious question?
My immediate reaction to the FOX headline was "And...?" Then I realized to "patriotic" Americans that would be taken as offensive. I put that in quotes because it's not really patriotism as much as it is a collective form of egotism or narcissism.
What patriotism should be is like self-esteem. You can have respect for yourself while still recognizing fault and striving to correct your own mistakes. I remember when we shot down a civilian Airbus in the Middle East. On the Morton Downey Jr. show they floated the theory that it was some sort of trick, that there might have been a fighter plane flying directly beneath it to get us to shoot down the Airbus. George H.W. Bush said:"I'll never apologize for the United States of America. Ever, I don't care what the facts are."
The mind boggles. We're not perfect. Being a great nation does not mean we can do no wrong. Why does patriotism have to mean an inability to accept responsibility for our own actions? What should we say about our behavior over the last eight years? "So"? "Deal with it"? That attitude certainly plays well to the "love it or leave it" crowd, but it tells the rest of the world that we have the emotional maturity of a spoiled five year-old.
We can be proud of our country and admit our mistakes at the same time. That ability gives us more to be proud of. And refusing to admit that we have been arrogant is simply arrogance in itself.
Thanks Brabantino..that was an excellent commentary.Why is it so hard for some to accept that America is great but not perfect?The only way to achieve the "more perfect union" espoused by the founders is to acknowledge and work on the mistakes!!!Seems to me it would be seen as Patriotic to do so!
Thanks! The "more perfect union" point is a very good one, it's important to remember that the standards should always remain the same, and we should do our best to act accordingly. Things shouldn't become acceptable simply because America does them and America can do no wrong.
Excellent point. If we are already perfect and it is impossible for America to make mistakes, then a "more perfect union" will be an unattainable goal forever. Ony by admitting the imperfections and working to correct them are we able to make the union "more perfect."
I took Barack’s comment as a knock on conservatism. That's precisely how conservatives act towards the rest of the world and I don't think anyone of them would deny it. They want the rest of the world to be our lapdogs similarly to how they mindlessly follow their leaders.
Beautiful just beautiful, Brabantio. If all Americans and all our leaders thought that way we would be in a lot better place than we are right now in this country.
Thanks very much, and welcome to the forum!
PATRIOT, n. One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole. The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors.
This from Ambrose Bierce's fierce, The Devil's Dictionary. His definition of patriotism makes me think of vHannity:
PATRIOTISM, n. Combustible rubbish read to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.
In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first.
One thing is certain, there is not just an anti-democratic tone being sold in America, but there is an anti-American message within that tone. There is no reason for FOX Nation to abreviate the message President Obama gave before the foreign students unless its intent was to undermine the positive outcomes he seeks for America.
FOX Nation's message is not only stupid, but is a betrayal of Americans through misleading quotes, erroneous information, and outright lies to sell whose agenda I cannot say, but I do know the intent. The intent is to keep the world in turmoil so that the defense and intelligence agencies can overthrow our government.
There exists a fascist style of barbarism within our government that is promoted by certain people in order to steal from the treasury, oppress the American people, and to promote an atmosphere of divisiveness and acrimony. All that one need do is ask himself who would benefit from such a scheme and the culprits become readily apparent.
They do this because of an unbridled lust for power and the wealth that such power brings. This people want to turn America into a cash cow for a limited number of people while crippling the institutions that protect our rights and freedom. For them to do this is not freedom of speech it is treason. Simply because they are getting away with it by burying the illegal in secrecy and walking a fine line that struggles to remain within the law, does not mean that these people know what they are doing. They do know that they are committing treason.
Because they know they are committing treason they bury their criminal messages in all forms of media. The arrogance they possess is astounding and is the equivalent of the arrogance of other dictators throughout history and in many countries today. They seek to undermine the power vested in the people through the Constitution through a corrupt system of favors and patronage.
Make no mistake about it, the push to destroy our constitutional protections, to weaken our civil liberties, and to endow law enforcement with a protective wall of deceit is anti-American, and the people responsible for this are merciless criminals. Things do not just happen. Such a belief is grounded in superstition. Things happen for a reason, and the current reason is to take the economy, the military, and law enforcement and turn them against the majority of Americans.
Although trials would be too good for the merciless traitors, we must remain a civil and lawful society, root out those who seek to destroy our democratic republic and punish them in accordance with our laws, otherwise we are no better than them, and that is an incredibly low hurdle to step over.
Awesome, elephty. Pitch perfect.
I think there is a similarity between FOX Nation and what happened in Germany in the 20's with the Putsch. We should be scared, not by FOX but by these young basically uneducated personalities that probably couldn't ass a civics course of college level ( or any other level ). in my home town there is a school nearby that has photo cameras installed ostensibly to catch speeders during school hours ( at least it was advertised as such ). On more than one occasion I drove thru there, purposely at 20 mph for i know better when a flash went off. Got me to thinking, who is pushing the button that late ( past 9 pm ) and for what purpose ? My state flies an airplane at all hours to ostensibly catch drunk drivers but was paid for by the Homeland Security Dept ostensibly to catch (or keep track of ) those that want to do harm to the country. Did the dedicated funds end up in the general fund for general use ? Our country was well on iit's way to render constitutional law obsolete to be replaced by Cheney dictatorship.with his lapdog Bush Jr. I hope president Obama does not stop the prosecution of the last administration by not doing anything, like Ford did when he pardoned Nixon ostensibly for the good of the country.
Dirty, filthy, conservative punks...
Our great nation, so disgraced by conservatives.
Bust up the corporate media. Do it for America.
Are you saying ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC should be busted up? If so, I agree. Far to many idiots get there information from these arms of the DFL.
Sean Hannity has shown no respect towards the new PRESIDENT.
AMERICA IS THE ONLY COUNTRY WHERE SUCH DISRESPECT IS ALLOWED TOWARD AN FAIRLY ELECTED LEADER ON THE AIRWAVES.
Hello from Spain: in Europe a new industrial model has being manufactured 20 years ago. G Bush has treated the World like a private garden,and Obama is trying to make new and really political positive interchanges with Europe...Without EU and USA working together withmutual efforts and mutual respect, other countries will be puting we in EU and you in USA in serious political-socioeconomical difficulties to maintain what here (after nazism and after soviet fascism) with all open societies in the XXI Century and lots of lifes to get the freedom alive...so,now, in my mind, Obama can and is really doing the job,sustain the open societies model in EU and USA and their areas of cultural-political influence. A common effort must be doing to a State intervention over bad and not open society line be never more admised in our societies...I want and need to have good political vibration with Obama plans and projects, doing so , Europe can , joining efforts with USA, survive with freedom...against any kind of closed societies , such as any kind of fundamentalisms(religious,political, or economically proposed) pretend for "we, the people"
Bush bred arrogance. I have talked to a lot of europeans over the past 8 years, in person and online, and in their eyes we were an arrogant government. It was the old, we like the people, but your government (Bush) is arrogant. The old, do it my way of hit the highway mentality of Bush.
I took a class called Phil 201 where the semester was dedicated to the english language and how to change the meaning of a sentence by omitting words, phrases and even punctuation. It takes time and research to find out if an individual, or in this case FOXNews, which makes it impossible to catch them at the moment of ocurrence. It is too bad FOX has cornewred themselves into a comedy role, as opposed to legitimate journalistic excellence. O'Reilly seems to believe he is a journalist ( he has no credentials to back it up, but FOX viewers and companies that fund his show, don't seem to care. pres Obama is rooted on american ground and shows the real family values I myself strive for.
Does "fairliberal" believe that Bush should not be charged with crimes in the wave of torture and death he spread around the world? If so he or she should just say so, rather than rattle on about the lawyer's background. Please, just stand up in Bush's defense if you are so enamored of natural born killers and lying dirtbags. but spare us this your crap about O'Reilly 'balancing' stories, and...oh why bother with this nit wit.
these people think we are dumb and unable to perform critical thinking skills. It was obvious that Mukasey was appointed by the Bush team to redefine the word "torture ' and separate guantanamo from the word. I think bush should be put under the gun, and have the FOX boys wrap themselves around the axle and let pres Obama govern this nation without all this fluff.