Blogs and Stories
Photo Album: Obama's Trip to the Mideast and Europe
After his Cairo address, in which he called for "a new beginning" with the Muslim world, Obama toured concentration camps in Germany before heading to Paris for the anniversary of D-Day. VIEW OUR GALLERY of his trip.
Click Image To View Gallery
Xtra Insight: Watch and read Obama's speech.
Xtra Insight: Former Clinton Speechwriter Ted Widmer on Obama's Biblically-Proportioned Success.
Xtra Insight: The Daily Beast's Reza Aslan: Why Cairo Was Wrong for Obama's Speech.
Xtra Insight: The Daily Beast's Max Blumenthal interviews author David Grossman, an Israeli who shares Obama's vision.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Why America Must Learn to Bow
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
Airports From Hell
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Week in Political Cartoons
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Week in Red Carpet
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Sorry.......
I'm so sorry......
For all the bad things those other people did........
Forgive us......
Please forgive us.......
I'm not the same guy who did what he did!
We admire your ancient and glorious culture
We admit we've stolen oil like evil old buzzards
We just want to be your friends
Buying your hydrocarbon blends
And so I'm sorry for all the bad things the other people did.
AMEN........
First you must curtsy to show respect!
You must never show your back to the king!
I heard the entire speech. Rationality seems to be part of what too many people on both sides lack. Bush was incompetent and unworthy to be president. Osama bin laden picked his opponent wisely - someone who would screw up any response to 9/11. We were mugged by him as much as Al Qaeda on that day.
Iran, a concise history lesson for the ignorant.
3200 BC
625 BC
651 AD
1501 AD
1921 AD
1951 AD Democratic election.
1953 AD U.S. & U.K. effect an Imperial coup, see Mossadegh, prime minister is executed.
Chile, a concise history lesson, see Allende. president is executed.
DRC, a concise history lesson, see Lumumba. president is executed.
Iran, a concise history lesson for the ignorant.
3200 BC
625 BC
651 AD
1501 AD
1921 AD
1951 AD Democratic election.
1953 AD U.S. & U.K. effect an Imperial coup, see Mossadegh, prime minister is executed.
Chile, a concise history lesson, see Allende. president is executed.
DRC, a concise history lesson, see Lumumba. president is executed.
Did you even watch the speech, Plantagenet? He skipped the apologies, and went straight to calling for a new chapter in history. I was really skeptical of what he would say in the speech-- whether it would be heavy handed, full of empty rhetoric, or lacking in many of the things that the speech needed to be, but I didn't let my skepticism impact my perception of the speech. I suggest you do the same.
Of course he didn't watch the speech. He watched Sean Hannity's excerpts of it that were taken shamelessly out of context.
stolen oil like evil old buzzards?
You know, there will come a time when Saudia has all the money and American's speak Chinese. Will we be asking them to pay us back for the technology they've stolen like Ali Baba and Ghengis Khan.
While Obama seems busy spending his time
apologizing for what's wrong with America,
and who can't get enough of all this self deprecation,
has anyone in the Muslim world EVER apologized for 9/11 ?
has anyone in the Muslim world EVER apologized for 9/11 ?
You don't judge a billion people because of what a bunch of criminal outlaws did.
All Muslim leaders denounced the 9/11 crime. They didn't apologize because they never endorsed such an evil deed. You should be ashamed of such a remark.
"While Obama seems busy spending his time apologizing for what's wrong with America, and who can't get enough of all this self deprecation, has anyone in the Muslim world EVER apologized for 9/11 ?"
Why should Muslims apologizing for 911? That would be like expecting the Pope to apologize for Timothy McVeigh, who was raised a Catholic.
Muslims aren't enemies of the U.S. Political extremists who have subverted a religion - an inherently peaceful religion - for its own use are the enemies.
Timothy McVeigh was an aberration,
a weak moral equivalency argument.
The world is not worried about Catholics blowing themselves up.
Are there not "peace loving" Madrassas, including
some in the U.S., that teach hatred, bigotry,
and destruction of the "infidel?"
Have those also been "subverted?"
Thanks - great comment. McVeigh and Nichols claimed to be Christian as did all of the abortion bombers. Is Robertson, the Pope, Dobson, etc. apologizing for the Christian whackos?
"Timothy McVeigh was an aberration, a weak moral equivalency argument."
Ridiculous... Hitler claimed to be a Christian, the abortion bombers and killers have killed doctors in the name of Christianity, George W Bush claimed that "God told him to go to war with Iraq" - which has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, if you go back in history, the Spanish inquisition, the crusades, slavery was justified by Christianity, etc.
Unfortunately, there are way too many Christians that support the torture of muslims, the attack on Iraq, and many other attacks.
I am a Christian, but many awful things have been justified in the name of my religion.
There are over a billion Muslims in the world. At most, there are 50,000 extremists. That is less than .0001 percent of Muslims.
It is just as bad to smear all Muslims by the .0001 percent that are whackos, as it is to judge Christians by the .0001 percent that are whackos.
The overwhelming amount of Muslims are peaceful and as Obama quoted, the Qur'an, when you kill one innocent life, it is like killing all of humanity, when you save one innocent life, it is like saving all of humanity. True Muslims, which is the vast majority, are peaceful.
The same goes with Christians. The vast majority are peaceful and live as "Peacemakers". But there are many that do not live by Christian teachings and misinterpret the Bible to justify their violence.
This user is no longer registered.
Maybe the world would be a more peaceful place if
there were NO organized religions.
How many wars have been fought in the name
of religion, and the "My God is the TRUE God mentality?"
Most religions were formed thousands of
years ago by a bunch of men, and
embraced by weak minded sheeple
as truth and salvation.
Shouldn't we have evolved further along by now.
It's 2009 for " God's sake " . . . but who's God ?
@sophia5.
All you needed to do is google the question if you really wanted an accurate answer? Why don't you remember the horrified response immediately after from the Muslim majorities - individuals, groups and governments?
It took the Japanese on the other hand half a century to apologize for their war-time atrocities against Koreans, the Catholic Church centuries before apologizing for the Inquisition, etc.
Not apologizing or waiting til you think the memory is faded is not role modeling, it's sad and only highlights arrogance and lost credibility.
This user is no longer registered.
Thats a pretty ignorant comment. The Muslim world did not attack us on 9/11. Al Qaeda did. Should the US apologize for atrocities performed by Nazi Germany? No.
Actually, after 9/11 MILLIONS of MUSLIMS were in the streets in support of the US and showing their solidarity with us... MILLIONS... It was not until we attacked Iraq for no reason that they began protesting us and standing up against us.
Hey sophie, watch the whole speech. Barack chewed ass and spoke directly to Muslim extremists about 911. The speech was NOT about apology. That's just a Rethug talking point.
President Obama is truly a gracious and educated man. A direct contrast with the inadequate and speach impeded Bush. I am so proud of our leader, more than ever when he ventures out into the world stage. Once again I am a proud American.
This user is no longer registered.
Obama is a LEADER, like him or not... Leadership is not just puffing your chest out and acting like a schoolyard bully as Bush did.
Leadership is about respect, the Middle East and frankly most of the world has LOST respect for the US.
We have raped and pillaged these people for decades and we as a country have a hell of allot to answer for. We have killed 100,000 Iraqi's for what? Cheney just admitted there was not connection to 911. We found no WMD. So we killed 100,000 people, trashed a country and killed 4,000 us servicemen and women for what?.
And we wonder why they hate us?.
Obama now has to go around the world and clean up the mess that was left on his door step.
This user is no longer registered.
I have to admit, I was not proud when Bush was president. We illegally attacked a country that did not attack us and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and tortured thousands of civilians in our prisons - many of which we have now declared innocent. I was ASHAMED of our country for our actions during those years and am PROUD that we have changed course.
I am ASHAMED that our country supported slavery, the internment of Japanese, our killing millions of civilians in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, etc. I am Proud of our country ending slavery, helping save the Jews in the Holocaust, and many other things.
Pride in your country does not have to be an either / or scenario. Unchecked pride in your country leads to horrific regimes. Conditional pride leads to a more just leadership.
If more people had conditional pride - and double checked everything our government did - then we would never have gone into Iraq. But because we were bullied into either you are "with us or against us", we ended up going into an illegal war.
To me, the ability to acknowledge both what America has done that is right AND wrong indicates strength of character.
To me, unwillingness to do that indicates weakness and shallowness of character.
To me, today President Obama showed great strength of character.
This user is no longer registered.
You have every right to disagree with me. I stand on my remark.
As a Christian, there are great leaders throughout the Bible that humbly take responsibility for their people regardless of who was at the helm at the time. The Bible teaches that humility is from God, whereas Pride is from the Devil. This is why I find it abhorrent that so many Christians followed Bush blindly as there never has been a more Prideful President. I am happy that we have a more humble leader and although he is not perfect, I think that he is much more the kind of leadership that the Bible tells us to look for. As he said in his speech "Blessed are the Peacemakers" and also, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Kingdom of God. Nowhere in the Bible does it say Blessed are the Prideful - and that is what most Christians forget today.
jdavxc.
"The strenght of character you speak of is present when one acknowledges mistakes the he himself has made, not mistakes that others have made. That's just being politically expedient".
Unless you inherit someone elses mess, Obama represent AMERICA so it's not jsut about him, it's about how he represents the US abroad and frankly they HATE US abroad.
Obama did not make the mess he has inherited, he was elected to help start a new direction and in order to do so, one must admit past mistakes, learn by them and start new.
keatsian
- wonderful perspective
Where I live, almost every Christian is a die-hard conservative. I live in the 11th district of Texas... same district George Bush himself lived. Here, Conservative is a prerequisite for being a Christian almost; as a liberal Christian I've found myself in many arguments about it.
Your comment is a wonderful and intelligent argument. Thanks for posting.
Keatsian,
Well put. Thank you for your post.
Yes, President Obama is a gracious and educated man. The majority of our presidents were gracious and educated men, including Bush. Because President Obama has a much different religious background than previous presidents, only he could have delivered that speech in the Islamic world. Now what remains to be seen is this speech creates a new dynamic in international relations.
Bush was educated and Gracious......? WTF over.....
Obama's "Religious" background is different than others? How so?.
Obama's mother was an athiest, his father, a Muslim, and his grandparents, probably Christian. He has had a varied experience in terms of religion. Because of his Muslim experience, the Islamic world might find him more creditable, thereby more willing to rise up against the extremists within their culture.
Oh, Carole what nonsense that only President Obama could have delivered that speech in the Islamic world. His religious background which you show more familiarity with than the President has shared had nothing to do with it. The fact is that he made that speech and it was very well received and that he is now the President of the US. So please drop the Bush protection act and get on with life.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
Yes majrity of Muslims are sorry for 9/11. The fact that none of you guys above who have commented have set foot outside of your comfort zone is pretty obvious to me. travel people and open your minds. It was not a "Muslim country" that attacked you on 9/11 but some rogue elements so dont try to compare apples to oranges when it comes to invasion of Iraq by your "Dicks" and "Bushes"
Thank you Mr. President for your efforts to reach out to the Muslim community with such grace and insight.
All the President can do is to extend his hand and open a dialogue. The "change" must come from within each of us to open our "hearts and minds" to all people, even when their world view is different than our own.
I pray that all those with a different perspective, would try to at least remain "open" to the possibilities when we show respect to those with whom we differ.
"We can agree to disagree without being disagreeable"
Do not expect so much from one speech, from one man.
The differences between Islamic nations and the US run far deeper than the previous administrations policies.
Americans have expectations of rule of law, civil rights, free elections, government protections, and civil defense.
Arab nations as a whole have none of these things.
Nothing like poverty, religious extremists and government suppression and corruption to breed terrorists.
The US makes a really convenient target.
not to mention supporting israel, who has probably done more to turn arab sentiment against the US than anything else
Since President Obama has difficulty getting Conservatives to reject their extremist behavior, what chance does he have of getting Islamic extremeists to do the same. Ignorance and bigotry are not easily overcome.
The Wizard of Obama
Ignore the man behind the curtain.
Ignore the history of the United States selling arms to Iran and Iraq over the last several decades.
Ignore the fact that the United States kidnaps, tortures, and imprisons people indefinitely without a trial.
Ignore the history of the United States giving Israel weapons/financial aid and "legal cover" at the United Nations over the last several decades.
Ignore that Obama chose Egypt to give an address to Muslims... giving legitimacy to an abusive and dictatorial government that kidnaps, tortures, and imprisons people indefinitely without a trial.
Ignore the fact that as Obama is speaking the United States is expanding its' illegal war into Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Why?
Because Obama says so.
I don't know about the rest of you but I didn't hear a speech full of apologies. Dialogue is the only way we can hope to live in a sane world. For those who do not want to join us at the table we will always have our military to protect our interests. For once it would be great to put away our cowboy toys and try a exhange of ideas.
What speech were you listening too? It was not full of apologies, but was full of
"insight" and taking personal responsibility. You might want to try listening to the speech again, but this time with an open mind.
leslie said she *didn't* hear a speech full of apologies. That in contrast to Sean Hannity, who ABC choose to give the conservative viewpoint of the speech this morning. Of all the intelligent, eriudite conservatives in our country, ABC chose the guy with the tin foil hat and the bunker mentality. I can imagine all rational conservatives grinding their teeth as Hannity rambled on about Somalian and Kosovo Muslims.
Insight and taking personal responsibility are two things many americans should try practicing. And if you think taking personal responsibility is something to be avoided it is you who has the closed mind for you will never think you're wrong.
I think you are both right...alwaysoptimistic I think you took leslie1 the wrong way.
I think Obama is not a magician but he is off to a good start.
The rhetoric is better and if we follow it up with better deeds then we will be saying something.
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/06/white-house-prophylactics-for-musl ims.html
I listened to the President's speech, read the comments herein and then listened to the speech again. His words were profound and substantive. There was never any words uttered by the previous President that even compared.
I do not feel that he was apologetic. He did say that we made some poor strategical moves. Not apologizing as much as saying we erred. Recognition of that fact is admitting that we are human. He followed that up with the fact that we are going to aggressively pursue Al Queda.
Those finding deep errors in this address were set in their opinion before he stood at the dais. Open up your mind and support a leader that is trying to mend damages diplomatically rather than pouring salt into them. Obama is the man for the times we now live.
This user is no longer registered.
"Nothing like poverty, religious extremists and government suppression and corruption to breed terrorists."
Depending on your definitions of the words above, that statement could be applied to the United States as well. I'll fix it for you.
"Nothing like poverty, religious extremists and government suppression and corruption to breed Republicans."
Plantagetet you need to be on your knees apologizing. You honkies is so hypocritical i can't stand ya. You people need to be bowing down you are horrible people, and evil, blue eyed devils.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.