Obama News Conference

[FNH]

anyone watching this?

[Thistle]

No. But please don't tell us if there's something interesting being said or some outstanding reason we should stop what we're doing to tune in.

[Lbelle]

I'm watching it, and I watched the Town Meeting this morning. It's nothing new really.

[FNH]

He isn't instilling much confidence with the Q&A session. A lot of whining about inheriting a bad economy like he is still campaigning. It's like he thinks we don't know Bush left a shitty economy.

[SephYuyX]

Took over House, it better not take over 24.

[Lbelle]

Yeah I thought that he sounds like he's still campaigning too when he answers alot of these questions.

[Maxxthepenguin]

NOONE
CARES
ABOUT
BASEBALL

[Maguspk]

This better not fuck with Heroes.

You ain't my bitch nigga, get yo' own damn time slot.

[FNH]

Yeah I thought that he sounds like he's still campaigning too when he answers alot of these questions.

not to mention how mind numbingly long he takes to answer them. LOL at the question out of left field. I wonder if Hellen trips him up.

[Maxxthepenguin]

"Do you know of any other middle eastern countries with nuclear weapons?"
"[Didn't say Isreal]"

[FNH]

"Do you know of any other middle eastern countries with nuclear weapons?"
"[Didn't say Isreal]"

He left his flashlight on, startled the witch. good going Louis.

[Rhinox]

Retarded question to begin with. Who doesn't know israel has nukes? Was she really expecting him to reveil some other country?

[Demosthenes11]

Obama is boring when he has to answer non-prepared questions

[SephYuyX]

Says 'uh' too much.

[Elvis]

It's not a retarded question when you consider the intention/sincerity behind the ACT of asking it. People ask the question to put our politicians on the spot. That's enough at this point. Everyone else is all Barbara Waltersy with the Vaseline and the Love Boat theme song.

We never openly criticize our allies and you'll never hear a relevant American politician invoke laws/rules/morals that contradict foreign policy that is perceived to be in our best interest.

The United States government is required by law (USC Title 22, Chapter 72, sub-chapter 1) to invoke certain sanctions or prohibitions against any "person" (as defined by the act, a person includes a foreign country) who has been certified by the President as having engaged in any prohibited action, including "the use, development, production, stockpiling, or other acquisition of any nuclear explosive device."

Arms Export Control Act of 1976(PDF file):

CRTL+F and paste this: "(b) PROHIBITIONS ON ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN" - [Minus the quotations.]

Clinton imposed Glenn amendment (another label for the Arms Export Control Act) sanctions against India on May 13, 1998, two days after New Delhi broke its self-imposed 24-year moratorium on nuclear testing. On May 30, 1998, Clinton invoked similar sanctions against Pakistan, following Islamabad's six nuclear tests on May 28 and 30. Unarguable evidence of Israel's nuclear program is widely accepted , yet rarely discussed. Just more hypocrisy/blah blah.'

Last hyperlink'd source: James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies - Monterey Institute of International Studies, Affiliate of Middlebury College.
----

tl;dr version

[Dimmauk]

NOONE
CARES
ABOUT
BASEBALL

Michael Fletcher, The Washington Post.

Q Yes, thank you, sir. What is your reaction to Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used steroids as a member of the Texas Rangers?

THE PRESIDENT: I think it's depressing news on top of what's been a flurry of depressing items when it comes to Major League Baseball. And if you're a fan of Major League Baseball, I think it -- it tarnishes an entire era to some degree. And it's unfortunate, because I think there are a lot of ballplayers who played it straight. And the thing I'm probably most concerned about is the message that it sends to our kids.

What I'm pleased about is Major League Baseball seems to finally be taking this seriously, to recognize how big of a problem this is for the sport. And that our kids, hopefully, are watching and saying, you know what, there are no shortcuts; that when you try to take shortcuts, you may end up tarnishing your entire career, and that your integrity is not worth it. That's the message I hope is communicated.

Waste of a question, and the answer was dumb. I LOL'd at the "WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN? DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT THE CHILDREN?" response.

[Rhinox]

It's not a retarded question when you consider the intention/sincerity behind the ACT of asking it. People ask the question to put our politicians on the spot. That's enough at this point. Everyone else is all Barbara Waltersy with the Vaseline and the Love Boat theme song.

We never openly criticize our allies and you'll never hear a relevant American politician invoke laws/rules/morals that contradict foreign policy that is perceived to be in our best interest.

The United States government is required by law (USC Title 22, Chapter 72, sub-chapter 1) to invoke certain sanctions or prohibitions against any "person" (as defined by the act, a person includes a foreign country) who has been certified by the President as having engaged in any prohibited action, including "the use, development, production, stockpiling, or other acquisition of any nuclear explosive device."

Arms Export Control Act of 1976(PDF file):

CRTL+F and paste this: "(b) PROHIBITIONS ON ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN" - [Minus the quotations.]

Clinton imposed Glenn amendment (another label for the Arms Export Control Act) sanctions against India on May 13, 1998, two days after New Delhi broke its self-imposed 24-year moratorium on nuclear testing. On May 30, 1998, Clinton invoked similar sanctions against Pakistan, following Islamabad's six nuclear tests on May 28 and 30. Unarguable evidence of Israel's nuclear program is widely accepted , yet rarely discussed. Just more hypocrisy/blah blah.'

Last hyperlink'd source: James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies - Monterey Institute of International Studies, Affiliate of Middlebury College.
----

tl;dr version

Yes, it was retarded. They're several US and state laws that the states choose not to enforce. What exactly does it prove? That we're hypocrites? STOP THE PRESSES!

[Vandalhart]

I watched a majority of it last night. It seemed to me he was trying to get both
parties (seemingly the Republicans) to grow up and try to hand the problem instead
of being a naysayer. Only reason why I say Republicans, is because those members
seem to be against the current bill he's trying to get pushed through.

I am in no way 100% up to speed on what's going on, that's just what I gathered out
of it with my limited knowledge.

[Correction]

Waste of a question, and the answer was dumb. I LOL'd at the "WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN? DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT THE CHILDREN?" response.

To be fair, MLB is a government-sanctioned monopoly that markets aggressively to children, and the families that spend millions for the sake of said kids might be angry if it finds out said government-sanctioned monopoly is riddled with a permissive attitude towards drugs.

It's not all hysterical religious types screaming 'what about the children?'

[Elvis]

Yes, it was retarded. They're several US and state laws that the states choose not to enforce. What exactly does it prove? That we're hypocrites? STOP THE PRESSES!

The point is the ACT of asking the question is important as opposed to the profundity of the question itself.

Yes, I know this is how the world works and blah blah blah.

The point is that the we have to keep asking those questions and keep trying to put politicians on the spot in spite of the frustrating reality.

So no, it's not retarded. Not asking important questions or just letting things slide because we 'feel' powerless is retarded.

(Of course Helen knew the answer to the question. Of course the whole fucking world knows the answer to the question. I don't know how you could assess the situation so superficially.)

EDIT:
Just re-read what you said. The comparison of US State laws to US laws regarding international relations is also superficial. The difference in scale alone should dissuade the comparison. Anyways, this is about tactics more so than dogma. Yes, I think it's wrong that we're so sanctimonious. (I wouldn't say hypocritical, because it's too generous in tone.)

But the point is that a journalist is not supposed to let anything slide no matter how trite (relative term in this context) it may seem.