PJ: Palin might have lifted more than just the 'One Nation' label from Pauline:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Hanson
Sarah Palin's patriotic 'One Nation' tour to fuel speculation of White House bid
SARAH Palin has announced a "One Nation" bus tour of the United States, fuelling speculation that she will make a run for the US presidency in 2012 elections.
The trip, starting in Washington DC on Sunday and going up through New England, will take the former Republican vice-presidential candidate “through our nation's rich historical sites” over the coming weeks, she said on her website.
“Our nation is at a critical turning point. As we look to the future, we are propelled by America's past. It's imperative that we connect with our founders, our patriots, our challenges and victories to clearly see our way forward.
“A good way to do this is to appreciate the significance of our nation's historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures, which we'll do in the coming weeks on our 'One Nation' tour,” she said of the trip, which shares its name with that of Australian Pauline Hanson's former political party.
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Ms Palin's announcement comes amid mounting speculation that the Tea Party favourite will throw her hat into the ring for the Republican party nomination to take on President Barack Obama in next year's White House election.
That talk was fuelled this week by reports that the former Alaska governor has bought a large house in Arizona, seen as potentially a better base for a presidential campaign than her northwestern US home state.
Ms Palin, who was John McCain's surprise running mate in the last White House election in 2008, has also authorised a feature-length film about herself, further suggesting she is preparing to raise her profile significantly.
Asserting her patriotic credentials, her campaign bus for the upcoming tour proclaims “One Nation” above the tag line “Under God. Indivisible. With Liberty and Justice for All,” and “We the people” over a scroll of the US constitution.
“We'll celebrate the good things that bring Americans together; those things that will give us the needed strength to meet the heady challenges ahead,” she said on her website.
“I've said many times that America doesn't need a 'fundamental transformation,' instead we need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free in America!
“So, together let's prepare ourselves for the days ahead by reminding ourselves who we are and what Americans stand for.”
AFP
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/sarah-palins-patriotic-one-nation-tour-to-fuel-speculation-of-white-house-bid/story-e6frg6so-1226063937835
Friday, May 27, 2011
UK: Clinton surprise Pakistan visit
The Guardian
Hillary Clinton arrives in Pakistan amid tense relations
Hillary Clinton arrives in Pakistan on surprise visit amid frayed relations after death of Osama bin Laden
Reuters
The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has arrived in Islamabad on a surprise visit amid frayed relations with the US nuclear-armed ally after the death of Osama bin Laden.
The discovery of the al-Qaida leader in a garrison town just 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Islamabad, raised fresh doubts about Pakistan being a reliable partner in the US-led war on Islamist militancy.
The Pakistan government welcomed the death of the man behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks but has criticised the US secret mission in Abbottabad, where Bin Laden lived for years, as a breach of its sovereignty.
Many US lawmakers, sceptical that Pakistani officials did not know of Bin Laden's presence, want to cut US aid to Pakistan, which the White House views as vital to counter-terrorism and to hopes of stabilising neighbouring Afghanistan.
In a sign of deepening distrust, Pakistan has told the US to halve the number of military trainers stationed in the country.
But just a day before coming to Pakistan, Clinton said working with Pakistan was a strategic necessity for the US, even as she pressed Islamabad to act more decisively on counter-terrorism.
She praised Pakistan as a "good partner" in global efforts to fight terrorism, though she acknowledged that the two countries have disagreed on how hard to fight al-Qaida, Afghan Taliban fighters and other militants.
"We do have a set of expectations that we are looking for the Pakistani government to meet but I want to underscore, in conclusion, that it is not as though they have been on the sidelines," she told a news conference in Paris on Thursday.
"They have been actively engaged in their own bitter fight with these terrorist extremists."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/27/hillary-clinton-pakistan-surprise-visit
Hillary Clinton arrives in Pakistan amid tense relations
Hillary Clinton arrives in Pakistan on surprise visit amid frayed relations after death of Osama bin Laden
Reuters
The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has arrived in Islamabad on a surprise visit amid frayed relations with the US nuclear-armed ally after the death of Osama bin Laden.
The discovery of the al-Qaida leader in a garrison town just 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Islamabad, raised fresh doubts about Pakistan being a reliable partner in the US-led war on Islamist militancy.
The Pakistan government welcomed the death of the man behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks but has criticised the US secret mission in Abbottabad, where Bin Laden lived for years, as a breach of its sovereignty.
Many US lawmakers, sceptical that Pakistani officials did not know of Bin Laden's presence, want to cut US aid to Pakistan, which the White House views as vital to counter-terrorism and to hopes of stabilising neighbouring Afghanistan.
In a sign of deepening distrust, Pakistan has told the US to halve the number of military trainers stationed in the country.
But just a day before coming to Pakistan, Clinton said working with Pakistan was a strategic necessity for the US, even as she pressed Islamabad to act more decisively on counter-terrorism.
She praised Pakistan as a "good partner" in global efforts to fight terrorism, though she acknowledged that the two countries have disagreed on how hard to fight al-Qaida, Afghan Taliban fighters and other militants.
"We do have a set of expectations that we are looking for the Pakistani government to meet but I want to underscore, in conclusion, that it is not as though they have been on the sidelines," she told a news conference in Paris on Thursday.
"They have been actively engaged in their own bitter fight with these terrorist extremists."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/27/hillary-clinton-pakistan-surprise-visit
UK: Republicans hang on to Medicare privitzation
PJ: For most of us on the outside, the idea of forcing the elderly to buy health insurance under a voucher program instead of the current Medicare system (that resembles the gov. sponsored health care that we enjoy) seems ludicrous. For me, with a mother suffering early signs of dementia, I can't imagine. Of course, in my case, my mother has children to help her...but what if she didn't? What will happen to elderly citizens who don't have someone to help guide them through the insurance decision making process? Will they become victims of charlatans who see them as easy marks for some scheme or other? Will they be able to make the most cost effective choice given their limited income? Will they be covered when the need for medical treatment arises? Will their insurance cover preventative measures that keep their blood pressure in check or detect early signs of cancer that can be successfully treated when many insurance providers in the US no longer cover such things for high risk patients?
The Independent
Republicans suffer Medicare setbacks
Reuters
Republicans have largely stuck with their plan to privatise the US Medicare health programme for the elderly – despite a rebuke in the Democratic-led Senate and a reversal in a New York special election.
Paul Ryan, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives budget committee and chief architect of the plan, said sweeping changes were needed in Medicare to protect it from financial ruin.
"We can no longer let politicians in Washington deny the danger to Medicare – the danger is all too real – and the health of our nation's seniors is far too important," Mr Ryan said.
On Tuesday, the Democrats won a vacant House seat in upstate New York, a traditional Republican stronghold, by turning the special election into a referendum on the plan to privatise Medicare.
The Republican proposal suffered another setback on Wednesday when the Democratic-controlled Senate blocked the measure on a vote of 57-40.
Five Republicans joined the Democrats in opposing it, but other Republicans ratcheted up efforts to build support for the plan, certain to be an issue in next year's congressional and presidential elections.
The proposal would end traditional fee-for-service Medicare and create a voucher-like system for future pensioners to buy medical cover from private insurers.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/republicans-suffer-medicare-setbacks-2289610.html
The Independent
Republicans suffer Medicare setbacks
Reuters
Republicans have largely stuck with their plan to privatise the US Medicare health programme for the elderly – despite a rebuke in the Democratic-led Senate and a reversal in a New York special election.
Paul Ryan, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives budget committee and chief architect of the plan, said sweeping changes were needed in Medicare to protect it from financial ruin.
"We can no longer let politicians in Washington deny the danger to Medicare – the danger is all too real – and the health of our nation's seniors is far too important," Mr Ryan said.
On Tuesday, the Democrats won a vacant House seat in upstate New York, a traditional Republican stronghold, by turning the special election into a referendum on the plan to privatise Medicare.
The Republican proposal suffered another setback on Wednesday when the Democratic-controlled Senate blocked the measure on a vote of 57-40.
Five Republicans joined the Democrats in opposing it, but other Republicans ratcheted up efforts to build support for the plan, certain to be an issue in next year's congressional and presidential elections.
The proposal would end traditional fee-for-service Medicare and create a voucher-like system for future pensioners to buy medical cover from private insurers.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/republicans-suffer-medicare-setbacks-2289610.html
Middle East: G8 rallies to support Arab Spring
Al Jazeera
G8 commits $20 billion to 'Arab Spring'
Western economies to mobilise "substantial bilateral support", both economic and political, for post-autocratic nations.
The Group of Eight (G8) countries will pledge $20 billion in aid to post-autocratic Arab countries that have toppled heads of state and moved towards democracy, according to European officials.
The so-called "Arab Spring" has been a major talking point at this week's G8 summit in France, which brings together the leaders from the US, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
A draft version of the summit statement read: "We, members of the G8, strongly support the aspirations of the Arab Spring as well as those of the Iranian people."
"Multilateral development banks could provide over $20 billion, including 3.5 billion euros from the European Investment Bank, for Egypt and Tunisia for 2011-2013, in support of suitable reform efforts."
The document also stated G8 countries' readiness "to mobilise substantial bilateral support to scale-up this effort. We welcome support from other bilateral partners, including from the region."
While the $20 billion would add a strong boost to the countries' economies, Al Jazeera's Jackie Rowland pointed out that the G8 had failed in the past to fulfill aid commitments.
She said that by the end of the conference, leaders were expected to publicly admit that neglect.
"We're expecting them to admit that there's been a shortfall in the aid that was promised... and the aid that was actually delivered," our correspondent said.
US president Barack Obama, speaking at a joint press conference with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, described the economic commitment as a partner to political change. He said, "democratic transition... [must be] accompanied by economic growth."
But G8 support is not limited to economic aid. According to the statement, the powerful group is also discussing other intervention tactics for multiple "Arab Spring" countries.
Among its statements are a commitment to tell Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi that he has lost all legitimacy and must step down, condemnation of "the use of violence in response to peaceful protest throughout Yemen", and that the GB would "consider action in the United Nations Security Council" if Syria does not stop using force against protesters.
The statement adds, "We call on the Syrian leadership to immediately stop using force and intimidation against the Syrian people and to respond to their legitimate demands for freedom of expression and universal rights and aspirations. We also call for the release of all political prisoners in Syria.
At the Friday press conference, Obama committed the group to aiding in the ousting of Libya's Gaddafi.
"We agreed that we have made progress on our Libya campaign, but that meeting the UN mandate of civilian protection cannot be accomplished when Gaddafi remains in Libya, directing his forces... and we are joined in [our] resolve to finish the job," he said.
While the meeting has focused on upheaval in the Arab world, the newly inaugurated Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara said on Friday that his country alone needed 15-20 billion euros in order to recover from the country's own violent struggle.
Ouattara said that Sarkozy had already promised his country two billion euros in debt releif, but he said he would ask Obama for "a little bit more".
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/05/201152784050139238.html
G8 commits $20 billion to 'Arab Spring'
Western economies to mobilise "substantial bilateral support", both economic and political, for post-autocratic nations.
The Group of Eight (G8) countries will pledge $20 billion in aid to post-autocratic Arab countries that have toppled heads of state and moved towards democracy, according to European officials.
The so-called "Arab Spring" has been a major talking point at this week's G8 summit in France, which brings together the leaders from the US, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
A draft version of the summit statement read: "We, members of the G8, strongly support the aspirations of the Arab Spring as well as those of the Iranian people."
"Multilateral development banks could provide over $20 billion, including 3.5 billion euros from the European Investment Bank, for Egypt and Tunisia for 2011-2013, in support of suitable reform efforts."
The document also stated G8 countries' readiness "to mobilise substantial bilateral support to scale-up this effort. We welcome support from other bilateral partners, including from the region."
While the $20 billion would add a strong boost to the countries' economies, Al Jazeera's Jackie Rowland pointed out that the G8 had failed in the past to fulfill aid commitments.
She said that by the end of the conference, leaders were expected to publicly admit that neglect.
"We're expecting them to admit that there's been a shortfall in the aid that was promised... and the aid that was actually delivered," our correspondent said.
US president Barack Obama, speaking at a joint press conference with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, described the economic commitment as a partner to political change. He said, "democratic transition... [must be] accompanied by economic growth."
But G8 support is not limited to economic aid. According to the statement, the powerful group is also discussing other intervention tactics for multiple "Arab Spring" countries.
Among its statements are a commitment to tell Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi that he has lost all legitimacy and must step down, condemnation of "the use of violence in response to peaceful protest throughout Yemen", and that the GB would "consider action in the United Nations Security Council" if Syria does not stop using force against protesters.
The statement adds, "We call on the Syrian leadership to immediately stop using force and intimidation against the Syrian people and to respond to their legitimate demands for freedom of expression and universal rights and aspirations. We also call for the release of all political prisoners in Syria.
At the Friday press conference, Obama committed the group to aiding in the ousting of Libya's Gaddafi.
"We agreed that we have made progress on our Libya campaign, but that meeting the UN mandate of civilian protection cannot be accomplished when Gaddafi remains in Libya, directing his forces... and we are joined in [our] resolve to finish the job," he said.
While the meeting has focused on upheaval in the Arab world, the newly inaugurated Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara said on Friday that his country alone needed 15-20 billion euros in order to recover from the country's own violent struggle.
Ouattara said that Sarkozy had already promised his country two billion euros in debt releif, but he said he would ask Obama for "a little bit more".
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/05/201152784050139238.html
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Canada: In praise of Sarah Palin by Sarah Palin
The Vancouver Sun
Sarah Palin makes a movie about herself
By Angela Hickman, Postmedia News
Not satisfied with her reality TV show, her Twitter account or her autobiography, Sarah Palin has decided to yet again set the record straight. This time, though, she's taking her story to the big screen in a movie titled The Undefeated, without a hint of irony. Created by Stephen K. Bannon, this "two-hour-long, sweeping epic" will, according to RealClearPolitics, "serve as a galvanizing prelude to Palin's prospective presidential campaign."
But that's not all it will do. The film will also make allusions to Palin as a Joan of Arc figure -- yes, the very Joan of Arc who saved France and was then persecuted for it. The Undefeated will also feature such visual metaphors as "images of lions killing a zebra and a dead medieval soldier with an arrow sticking in his back (to) dramatize the ethics complaints filed by obscure Alaskan citizens, which Palin has cited as the primary reason for her sudden resignation in July of 2009."
So there you go. This is essentially a big-screen adaptation of Sarah Palin's Alaska, but with wild animals from different countries.
But in case you didn't get the point that this was a movie about persecution and mistreatment, Palin and Bannon -- who put up $1 million US of his own money for the project -- have included the comments of comedians, just to give their argument some weight. And they aren't some yokel, "obscure Alaskan citizens," either. Oh, no. Among those included in "a fast-paced sequence of clips showing some of the prominent celebrities who have used sexist, derogatory and generally vicious language to describe her" are Rosie O'Donnell, Howard Stern, Louis C.K., Bill Maher, David Letterman and Matt Damon.
The Undefeated will premiere next month in the Iowa heartland.
© Copyright (c) National Post
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Sarah+Palin+makes+movie+about+herself/4843371/story.html
Sarah Palin makes a movie about herself
By Angela Hickman, Postmedia News
Not satisfied with her reality TV show, her Twitter account or her autobiography, Sarah Palin has decided to yet again set the record straight. This time, though, she's taking her story to the big screen in a movie titled The Undefeated, without a hint of irony. Created by Stephen K. Bannon, this "two-hour-long, sweeping epic" will, according to RealClearPolitics, "serve as a galvanizing prelude to Palin's prospective presidential campaign."
But that's not all it will do. The film will also make allusions to Palin as a Joan of Arc figure -- yes, the very Joan of Arc who saved France and was then persecuted for it. The Undefeated will also feature such visual metaphors as "images of lions killing a zebra and a dead medieval soldier with an arrow sticking in his back (to) dramatize the ethics complaints filed by obscure Alaskan citizens, which Palin has cited as the primary reason for her sudden resignation in July of 2009."
So there you go. This is essentially a big-screen adaptation of Sarah Palin's Alaska, but with wild animals from different countries.
But in case you didn't get the point that this was a movie about persecution and mistreatment, Palin and Bannon -- who put up $1 million US of his own money for the project -- have included the comments of comedians, just to give their argument some weight. And they aren't some yokel, "obscure Alaskan citizens," either. Oh, no. Among those included in "a fast-paced sequence of clips showing some of the prominent celebrities who have used sexist, derogatory and generally vicious language to describe her" are Rosie O'Donnell, Howard Stern, Louis C.K., Bill Maher, David Letterman and Matt Damon.
The Undefeated will premiere next month in the Iowa heartland.
© Copyright (c) National Post
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Sarah+Palin+makes+movie+about+herself/4843371/story.html
UK: Will the Palin show never end?
PJ: During her gubernatorial campaign Palin wrote letters of praise about herself for others to sign and submit to newspapers. Now she commissions a movie to say how wonderful she is and liken her image to that of Joan of Arc. Does this woman have no humility; does her love of self have no bounds?
The Guardian
It might just be Sarah Palin's last chance to re-establish herself as a viable presidency candidate ahead of the 2012 US elections in the wake of a disastrous PR run. A new film commissioned by Palin, the former governor of Alaska, will present her as a Joan of Arc-like figure beset at every turn by vicious leftwing enemies seeking to thwart her ambition of reviving the conservative legacy of Ronald Reagan.
The Undefeated has been shot by rightwing film-maker Steven K Bannon, who met the documentary's $1m costs from his own pocket. Palin initially reached out to the director with the aim of recruiting him to work on videos pushing her cause, but Bannon offered to make a feature-length film instead.
Rife with religious imagery, the movie will chart Palin's rise from Alaskan "soccer mom" to vice-presidential candidate. Drawing on content from Palin's book Going Rogue: An American Life, which has sold more than 2m copies, the film will seek to explain her decision to step down as governor of Alaska following her unsuccessful run alongside John McCain in 2008.
"This film is a call to action for a campaign like 1976: Reagan v the establishment," Bannon told the RealClearPolitics website. "Let's have a good old-fashioned brouhaha."
The movie will not mention Palin's notorious reaction to criticism of her reaction to the January shooting of Democratic congresswoman Gabriel Giffords. She responded to suggestions that a now infamous campaign map showing Giffords's electoral district in the crosshairs of a gun had influenced the shooter Jared Lee Loughner by accusing her opponents of manufacturing a "blood libel", a phrase which refers to the false accusation that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals. Palin's use of language was widely criticised, and her reaction to the shooting compared unfavourably to the more statesmanlike response of President Barack Obama. Subsequently, her chances of building enough momentum to secure the Republican nomination for the 2012 race have appeared to dwindle.
Bannon's two-hour movie features interviews with Palin supporters in Alaska and conservative bloggers such as Andrew Breitbart. The politician does not appear on camera, but her voice is used for narration via clips from the audiobook version of Going Rogue. RealClearPolitics reports that the film makes "unmistakable allusions to Palin as a Joan of Arc-like figure".
"I'm a huge fan of Steve's work," Palin aide Rebecca Mansour, who set up the deal, said in a statement. "His film on President Reagan, In the Face of Evil, is my favourite documentary, and his Generation Zero was a rallying cry for the Tea Party movement early on. I think his new film really captures the essence of Governor Palin's stewardship of Alaska, and I think people will be really surprised by it. It shatters so many false stereotypes because it shows what she actually accomplished as governor. You can't leave it thinking the same way about Sarah Palin."
The Undefeated will open in Iowa, the classic US swing state, in June. Bannon also hopes to set up on-demand screenings for home viewings via cable television.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/may/26/sarah-palin-documentary-film-undefeated
The Guardian
It might just be Sarah Palin's last chance to re-establish herself as a viable presidency candidate ahead of the 2012 US elections in the wake of a disastrous PR run. A new film commissioned by Palin, the former governor of Alaska, will present her as a Joan of Arc-like figure beset at every turn by vicious leftwing enemies seeking to thwart her ambition of reviving the conservative legacy of Ronald Reagan.
The Undefeated has been shot by rightwing film-maker Steven K Bannon, who met the documentary's $1m costs from his own pocket. Palin initially reached out to the director with the aim of recruiting him to work on videos pushing her cause, but Bannon offered to make a feature-length film instead.
Rife with religious imagery, the movie will chart Palin's rise from Alaskan "soccer mom" to vice-presidential candidate. Drawing on content from Palin's book Going Rogue: An American Life, which has sold more than 2m copies, the film will seek to explain her decision to step down as governor of Alaska following her unsuccessful run alongside John McCain in 2008.
"This film is a call to action for a campaign like 1976: Reagan v the establishment," Bannon told the RealClearPolitics website. "Let's have a good old-fashioned brouhaha."
The movie will not mention Palin's notorious reaction to criticism of her reaction to the January shooting of Democratic congresswoman Gabriel Giffords. She responded to suggestions that a now infamous campaign map showing Giffords's electoral district in the crosshairs of a gun had influenced the shooter Jared Lee Loughner by accusing her opponents of manufacturing a "blood libel", a phrase which refers to the false accusation that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals. Palin's use of language was widely criticised, and her reaction to the shooting compared unfavourably to the more statesmanlike response of President Barack Obama. Subsequently, her chances of building enough momentum to secure the Republican nomination for the 2012 race have appeared to dwindle.
Bannon's two-hour movie features interviews with Palin supporters in Alaska and conservative bloggers such as Andrew Breitbart. The politician does not appear on camera, but her voice is used for narration via clips from the audiobook version of Going Rogue. RealClearPolitics reports that the film makes "unmistakable allusions to Palin as a Joan of Arc-like figure".
"I'm a huge fan of Steve's work," Palin aide Rebecca Mansour, who set up the deal, said in a statement. "His film on President Reagan, In the Face of Evil, is my favourite documentary, and his Generation Zero was a rallying cry for the Tea Party movement early on. I think his new film really captures the essence of Governor Palin's stewardship of Alaska, and I think people will be really surprised by it. It shatters so many false stereotypes because it shows what she actually accomplished as governor. You can't leave it thinking the same way about Sarah Palin."
The Undefeated will open in Iowa, the classic US swing state, in June. Bannon also hopes to set up on-demand screenings for home viewings via cable television.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/may/26/sarah-palin-documentary-film-undefeated
UK: Standing ovation for Obama at Parliament
The Independent
Obama: He came, he spoke, he conquered Westminster
The smooth rhetoric of the US President's address to Parliament won him a standing ovation. But the speech also made two important points
By Steve Richards
In a spirit of unyielding optimism neatly combined with a message of hard-headed pragmatism, Barack Obama has insisted that the time for American and European leadership "is now" in spite of the rise of new global superpowers. He was the first United States president to address MPs and peers in Westminster Hall and received a standing ovation before he began his speech, which covered issues such as foreign policy, economic development and international security.
The theatre of a state visit from Mr Obama is unavoidably mesmerising. Even the long wait in Westminster Hall for his arrival had a compelling quality, as Tony Blair spoke animatedly with Gordon Brown, David Cameron exchanged what seemed like a joke or two with Nick Clegg and opposite them sat the film star Tom Hanks. The delay in the presidential arrival led to an even greater sense of anticipation. Abroad at least, Mr Obama still casts spells as he did before the hard grind of power took hold.
The spell could not entirely obscure the limits of the message in his partly platitudinous speech and the awkward, plodding press conference that preceded it. Arguably, the platitudes were unavoidable. These are not occasions for provocative assertion, but for binding messages, ones that reassure and inspire disparate figures in the audience and well beyond. It would have been easy to insert the question "How?" after several of Mr Obama's proclamations on the need to spread freedom as part of an epic Churchillian defiance. The means are for another time.
Still, he made two substantial key points. In relation to foreign policy, he shares the Blairite view that people across the world yearn for democracy, but added an important qualification: that democracy cannot be imposed from outside. On this, David Cameron is in theoretical agreement and made the same point at their news conference. Both leaders euphemistically point out that they have learnt the lessons of history. They meant the recent lessons of Iraq.
But on the economy and the global financial crisis there was a stark difference. In spite of premature briefings in advance from the British Treasury that Mr Obama would endorse the Government's stark approach to deficit reduction, he did not do so. Instead, he praised the initiatives of governments to "yank" the global economy out of recession in 2008, a fiscal stimulus opposed here by Mr Cameron and George Osborne, and noted diplomatically that now countries were taking different paths in tackling the deficit.
Such occasions offer limited insight as to what will follow. After the seemingly crusading certainties of the publicly inarticulate George Bush and the silver-tongued Mr Blair, we have what appears to be the more nuanced approach of Mr Obama and Mr Cameron to military intervention.
There are some causes for optimism based on the pasts of the current leaders. Mr Obama opposed the war in Iraq in advance. Mr Cameron was astute enough to have a few private doubts about the war, but he voted in favour.
Both men seem, or seemed, to be more aware of the tumultuous consequences arising from military intervention.
At times, Mr Obama has been a reluctant warrior, pausing before taking action in Libya in contrast with Mr Bush, who wanted to invade Afghanistan with such speed that even Mr Blair urged a degree of patience. As a Conservative Prime Minister and after Iraq, Mr Cameron is under less pressure to prove he is a willing military ally to the US.
In particular, Mr Blair sensed he had to prove to Middle England and its newspapers that he would be an unswerving ally to a Republican president. From this expedient perspective he formed a convenient, but genuine, conviction that Mr Bush's instincts were correct. There is an assumption in the UK that a Conservative prime minister will be a reliable ally to the US anyway. Mr Cameron has nothing to prove in that respect.
But there is an echo. For Mr Cameron, Mr Obama is the mirror image to Mr Bush. While Mr Blair needed to show that he could forge ties with a right-wing Republican, Mr Cameron benefits from the gold dust of association with the superstar from the centre-left.
Now that Nick Clegg claims the progressives' mantle within the Coalition, the images of Mr Cameron playing table tennis with Mr Obama is something of a dream for the Tory leader. Mr Obama also will be thinking always of the second term, the defining election win.
Photographs of him at Buckingham Palace with the Queen might help to assure middle America.
This is a largely a ceremonial sequence. The real test comes with events. Although they agree about the dangers of imposing democracy from outside, their actions in Libya come close to doing so.
And there is a shared reliance on an economic recovery and a sense that only one of them can be right. Playing table tennis and serving hamburgers in a sunny Downing Street is the easy bit.
It is too early to judge whether Mr Obama and Mr Cameron will forge a more subtly effective partnership than Mr Bush and Mr Blair did.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/obama-he-came-he-spoke-he-conquered-westminster-2289136.html
Obama: He came, he spoke, he conquered Westminster
The smooth rhetoric of the US President's address to Parliament won him a standing ovation. But the speech also made two important points
By Steve Richards
In a spirit of unyielding optimism neatly combined with a message of hard-headed pragmatism, Barack Obama has insisted that the time for American and European leadership "is now" in spite of the rise of new global superpowers. He was the first United States president to address MPs and peers in Westminster Hall and received a standing ovation before he began his speech, which covered issues such as foreign policy, economic development and international security.
The theatre of a state visit from Mr Obama is unavoidably mesmerising. Even the long wait in Westminster Hall for his arrival had a compelling quality, as Tony Blair spoke animatedly with Gordon Brown, David Cameron exchanged what seemed like a joke or two with Nick Clegg and opposite them sat the film star Tom Hanks. The delay in the presidential arrival led to an even greater sense of anticipation. Abroad at least, Mr Obama still casts spells as he did before the hard grind of power took hold.
The spell could not entirely obscure the limits of the message in his partly platitudinous speech and the awkward, plodding press conference that preceded it. Arguably, the platitudes were unavoidable. These are not occasions for provocative assertion, but for binding messages, ones that reassure and inspire disparate figures in the audience and well beyond. It would have been easy to insert the question "How?" after several of Mr Obama's proclamations on the need to spread freedom as part of an epic Churchillian defiance. The means are for another time.
Still, he made two substantial key points. In relation to foreign policy, he shares the Blairite view that people across the world yearn for democracy, but added an important qualification: that democracy cannot be imposed from outside. On this, David Cameron is in theoretical agreement and made the same point at their news conference. Both leaders euphemistically point out that they have learnt the lessons of history. They meant the recent lessons of Iraq.
But on the economy and the global financial crisis there was a stark difference. In spite of premature briefings in advance from the British Treasury that Mr Obama would endorse the Government's stark approach to deficit reduction, he did not do so. Instead, he praised the initiatives of governments to "yank" the global economy out of recession in 2008, a fiscal stimulus opposed here by Mr Cameron and George Osborne, and noted diplomatically that now countries were taking different paths in tackling the deficit.
Such occasions offer limited insight as to what will follow. After the seemingly crusading certainties of the publicly inarticulate George Bush and the silver-tongued Mr Blair, we have what appears to be the more nuanced approach of Mr Obama and Mr Cameron to military intervention.
There are some causes for optimism based on the pasts of the current leaders. Mr Obama opposed the war in Iraq in advance. Mr Cameron was astute enough to have a few private doubts about the war, but he voted in favour.
Both men seem, or seemed, to be more aware of the tumultuous consequences arising from military intervention.
At times, Mr Obama has been a reluctant warrior, pausing before taking action in Libya in contrast with Mr Bush, who wanted to invade Afghanistan with such speed that even Mr Blair urged a degree of patience. As a Conservative Prime Minister and after Iraq, Mr Cameron is under less pressure to prove he is a willing military ally to the US.
In particular, Mr Blair sensed he had to prove to Middle England and its newspapers that he would be an unswerving ally to a Republican president. From this expedient perspective he formed a convenient, but genuine, conviction that Mr Bush's instincts were correct. There is an assumption in the UK that a Conservative prime minister will be a reliable ally to the US anyway. Mr Cameron has nothing to prove in that respect.
But there is an echo. For Mr Cameron, Mr Obama is the mirror image to Mr Bush. While Mr Blair needed to show that he could forge ties with a right-wing Republican, Mr Cameron benefits from the gold dust of association with the superstar from the centre-left.
Now that Nick Clegg claims the progressives' mantle within the Coalition, the images of Mr Cameron playing table tennis with Mr Obama is something of a dream for the Tory leader. Mr Obama also will be thinking always of the second term, the defining election win.
Photographs of him at Buckingham Palace with the Queen might help to assure middle America.
This is a largely a ceremonial sequence. The real test comes with events. Although they agree about the dangers of imposing democracy from outside, their actions in Libya come close to doing so.
And there is a shared reliance on an economic recovery and a sense that only one of them can be right. Playing table tennis and serving hamburgers in a sunny Downing Street is the easy bit.
It is too early to judge whether Mr Obama and Mr Cameron will forge a more subtly effective partnership than Mr Bush and Mr Blair did.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/obama-he-came-he-spoke-he-conquered-westminster-2289136.html
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