Gary Varvel for April 21, 2009

That is an odd halo on Obama… at least he deserves one!

A propeller beanie for BHO… How appropriate.

If only we could go back to Bush’s foreign policy, where we alienate our allies, give our enemies recruiting boosts beyond their dreams, needlessly kill off thousands of our troops.

I mean, it worked out so well.

… and our president looking into Putin’s eyes and became his buddy. You forgot that. Yes, friends who murder dissenters are okay, but stay away from those friends who try to keep their oil profits for their own people!

Anyone who would profess the opinion that Obama “feels comfortable” with leaders like Chavez, especially for the reason that they hate America, demonstrates they have no grasp of the situation at all.

Hard to believe anyone could be that naive.

Keep your friends close… and your enemies closer.

After all, the old tactic of ignoring our enemies hasn’t worked, has it?

ANandy says “I’m curious to know what GWB did to provoke the 9/11 attack?”

No, you are NOT curious… your postings have shown that! As for Bush and 9/11… he ignored the warnings and took all of August 2001 off as a vacation having not even been president for 7 months. Bush was lazy… period!

Anthony 2816 says: Anyone who would profess the opinion that Obama “feels comfortable” with leaders like Chavez, especially for the reason that they hate America, demonstrates they have no grasp of the situation at all

dear 2816 you mean we are not to believe bho statements?

Andy, read any or all of Bush’s speeches from his first inaugural to 9/11 as he insulted almost every nation on earth and told especially all Arab/Muslim countries to “stuff it”. His inflammatory arrogance ticked off a LOT of people, allies as well as “enemies”. THAT was how he provoked 9/11.

Howie, it would be dangerous to forget what Bush did to our country.

Dear Anthony2816 Focus, dear. Live in the present. The present that you voted for. Hehehehe

dtroutma: Ditto to you: Focus Democrat! Live in your present that you voted for!

teaguemj: “Live in the present.”

Okay, if I punched you in the face, you don’t get to respond because, by that time, it happened in the past. Live in the present, right?

ANandy said: “So many react to references to the Inept BozO with a comparison to GWB. I’m curious to know what GWB did to provoke the 9/11 attack? Trusting Slick Willy’s intel was poor judgement.”

To paraphrase the above, “If someone bad-mouths Obama, you libs slam Bush. Allow me to respond to that by slamming Clinton.” However, the slam fails when you know the fact that Clinton DID warn GWB about Osama; Bush ignored it because he was the Prezzy now and didn’t need to listen to no one, not even Daddie (woops, was that out loud?).

No daniel, that’s not accurate. A better analogy is that if a burglar robs you blind, but is caught, you shouldn’t press charges the next week in court because you’ve moved on and pressing charges would only be petty and vindictive.

Late: Perhaps you’re right. May I use your analogy in the future?

Teaguemj is just trying to be a good Republican, and following the party policy of trying to distance themselves from Bush as much as possible.

Obama is trying to open a dialogue with the world and repair the damage done by Bush/Cheney for the last eight years. Will he always be successful? Probably not. But at least he’s trying. Where did the arrogance of the Bush years get us. Is Chavez less influential? Is Iran stronger or weaker? Does North Korea have more or fewer nuclear weapons? Refusing to talk to our enemies and being condesending to our allies is a poor foreign policy.

GREAT BO portrayal!!

If you think this is a great portrayal of Obama, you must have had an incredibly low opinion of Bush.

Did Bush kiss Chavez’s azz?

No, Ann, and neither did Obama. Looks like you’ve sunk to strawman level.

The problem is that after eight years of Bush, his sheep can’t grasp that we now have a president capable of putting together coherent sentences, and thinking on his feet.

Let’s face it: If his handlers had allowed Bush to have spontaneous unscripted conversations with these leaders, it would have been a disaster. “Looking into Putin’s soul” and completely misreading it would have only been the tip of the iceberg.

Maybe Obama needs to give dictators cute nicknames like Dubya did… Can you image the uproar from the Party of No if Obama said he looked in Hugo’s eyes and saw his soul?????

Also notable that the purpose of the handshake was to prove you weren’t about to use your sword.

May aunt used to give us all the unwanted clothes her children had gotten as X-Mas and Birthday gifts. I always did the decent thing: I smiled politely and said how much I loved the polo shirt with pink stripes, but really, I hated each and every item of clothing she gave me.

Why relevant? Because, what did Obama do when Chavez handed him a book? He smiled politely.

Don’t read too much into it, folks: sometimes a smile is just a smile.

After 8 years of Bush Doctrine, no one recognizes diplomacy. End of discussion.

Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell, and make them look forward to the trip. (Can’t remember the source of that).

Bush couldn’t/wouldn’t do that. Obama does.