Bill Kristol: Barack Obama's Speech 'Commendable,' At Times 'Impressive'

The Weekly Standard:

President Obama opposed the war in Iraq. He still thinks it was a mistake. It's therefore unrealistic for supporters of the war to expect the president to give the speech John McCain would have given, or to expect President Obama to put the war in the context we would put it in. He simply doesn't believe the war in Iraq was a necessary part of a broader effort to fight terror, to change the Middle East, etc. Given that (erroneous) view of his, I thought his speech was on the whole commendable, and even at times impressive.

Read the whole story: The Weekly Standard

Comments

[PNOGUY]

09:59 PM on 09/06/2010

Wait a minute...I thought HP taught me that Kristol lies every time his lips move. So what could this story mean?

[andycan]

10:41 AM on 09/03/2010

Kristol is fishing for a job.

[ESerafina42]

01:46 PM on 09/02/2010

Uh-oh. You have to remember, this is a man whose main achievement is being WRONG on everything.

[PNOGUY]

09:59 PM on 09/06/2010

That's certainly what I've been taught here on HuffPo!

[lioness39]

11:00 AM on 09/02/2010

From the dude that is Sarah Palin's main adviser, I prefer no compliments on our POTUS.

[Dan Stewart]

10:52 AM on 09/02/2010

This is noteworthy insofar as Kristol is a leading Neocon who commends Obama on his war policy. Telling, isn't it.

[EspritDeVoltaire]

10:48 AM on 09/02/2010

Oh no! Bill Kristol's approval is the kiss of death. He's never been correct yet having ridden his father's coattails his entire career.

[EJavaM07]

10:09 AM on 09/02/2010

Intern Billy: I really was expecting much more from you.

I think you're getting soft in your old age, or did you get some cookie crumbles last night?

[Hillbilly49]

09:58 AM on 09/02/2010

The Iraq was useless and dangerous.

The republicans wanted Americans to believe that Iraq had attacked the United States in order to have their little war. Bush and the republicans lied incessantly about the need for the war and cherry picked intelligence to make it fit their scheme for war. The war killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children. In addition the war made Iran and stronger and more dangerous country in the Middle East. The nonsense in Iraq was a requiting tool for Al-Qaida and even further destabilized the Middle East.

This was a war for political gain ginned up by Bush and the republicans and there weren’t any Tea Baggers around then asking how this nonsense was going to get paid for.

It’s time to have a draft army again or some sort of national service for all Americans. A mercenary or volunteer army makes it too easy for republicans to gin up unnecessary wars.

[Pennsylvanianne]

09:53 AM on 09/02/2010

"Commendable" and "impressive" -- exactly the reasons Faux News rarely carries speeches by Obama.

[PNOGUY]

09:58 PM on 09/06/2010

You really have no clue, do you? Where are the facts to back up your very bizarre claim?

[Pennsylvanianne]

11:30 AM on 09/07/2010

To name a few, Fox did not carry:
1.) Obama's Sept. 9, 2009 speech to a joint session of Congress.
2.) July 22, 2009 press conference by Obama.
3.) April 27, 2009 press conference by Obama.
Huffington Post has often done stories on Obama speeches Fox has not covered while all others major media outlets have. You really have no clue, do you?

[BillyClub]

09:45 AM on 09/02/2010

Let's start a "Draft Bill Kristol Movement!" He loves war so much, let's send him, and his fellow Neocons, to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Oilandgasistan!

[Zapbranagan]

09:39 AM on 09/02/2010

To say that krystol is a conservative is a stretch at best, to say he is a conservative leader is asinine.Anyone that has followed him knows that he is nothing more than a rhino at best,
Leave to the let me puff on it post to annoit a political has been that is never right about anything
as some sort of leader.I guess next they will tout Lindsey Graham as a staunch conservative also.

[EJavaM07]

10:12 AM on 09/02/2010

He's staunch all right, but only when on his haunches and being done again by Big Oil / Gas.

[CoolPapa]

10:17 AM on 09/02/2010

Time to make the doughnuts, Zap, and reenact the Revolutionary War again. Love your pointy hat though. Nothing is right (enough) in your dark world.

[Whitemellon]

06:24 AM on 09/02/2010

As my favorite writer from HP says" If Bill Kristol says it is right it has to be wrong.

[emrogers]

08:33 AM on 09/02/2010

Ain't that the truth. Time to worry about Obama...

[1differentdrummer]

06:14 AM on 09/02/2010

By what definition is Kristol conservative? Similarly, how is he a leader?

[whburgess]

02:17 AM on 09/02/2010

I didn't vote for Obama and the only reason I'd vote for him in 2012 is if Palin is the Republican nominee (won't happen).

However, I think he has been very responsible regarding Iraq. And I think the speech was quite good. Kristol is right to chastise the right wing on this, I think we on the right are getting much better then we could have hoped for from the President in regards to foreign policy. I think what he said about Bush was adequately 'gracious' as well, considering his disagreement with the man. And it bugs me that the right wing pundits can't give him credit for it.

Especially since it tees off the loony left so much.

[Vladdycat]

07:01 AM on 09/02/2010

Kristol Nacht has been wrong about everthing, so praise from this dufuss is confusing.Bush should be condemned frequently and aggressively for his radical foreign policy failures.

[Zapbranagan]

09:53 AM on 09/02/2010

Even democrats have lamented the poor performance of Obama in his most recent speech.It's evident that you must watch CNN or MSNBC for your political analysis.You know those two channels that have less viewers combined than the cartoon network.

[akh62]

11:30 AM on 09/02/2010

I guess you watch the Cartoon Network = Fox News

[Imhotep40]

01:41 AM on 09/02/2010

. . . this from a guy who got fired from the NYT?

"L" gesture on forehead . . .