The first thing that I reacted to was:
“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America...
Sometimes you have an instant feel for the accuracy or inaccuracy of a statement. My instant reaction to this was, "That sounds right. Huh. Never thought of this. That sounds right."
Giuliani did not, in my view, give a convincing itemization of why he believes that and neither am I able to. It sounds like, with Giuliani, it was a "feel," too. I have thought about why Giuliani's statement felt right to me and this is the best that I can do right now:
I first focused on "love." Strong emotion, love. Does Obama love generally? Yes, he loves his wife and daughters. So he isn't missing the love gene. He has that strong emotion for Michelle and the girls. I don't expect to feel Obama's or any president's love personally. Neither should Giuliani, the right-wingers he made his remarks to or the president's passionate supporters. That, to me, was a dumb comment by Giuliani. I didn't feel love from any president personally, not from Clinton, Reagan, et al. But Giuliani does have a point about Clinton and Reagan apparently wearing their love for America on the sleeves. Clinton really had big love genes. I think some people did feel love personally from Clinton, like when he said, "I feel your pain."
Does Obama have strong emotions generally? Not that I can feel! He is famously cool, detached, aloof, a loner. Remember Clinton's temper? Hoo-doggie. Remember Obama's temper? No.
Giuliani said Obama was "raised differently." Yes, he was, in Hawaii, by his single white American mother and his American grandmother. Son of a Muslim black man. That is different! Obama became a slightly different person from the vast majority of other Americans. He admits to battling "Hawaii laziness," for instance, something I, at least, didn't even know existed. He identifies more with black Americans, only 13% of the population, with young black men and their situation--"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."--and consequently how he feels about America is slightly different from how some others, like Giuliani, feel about America who don't self-identify as black men and who don't identify with black people as much as Obama does. Obama feels slightly more negatively about America, yes, I believe that.
Then I thought, "I don't love America either." I have written that. I never have loved America the way Giuliani does and thinks an American president should. I do not believe as much in American "exceptionalism," maybe not at all. Or as much, if at all, in American "indispensability," Madeline Albright's term. But Obama said that! "Exceptional," "indispensable" or some synonym was the term Obama used in a speech to the U.N.
In my opinion, Obama has not conducted foreign policy as would one who believes that America is exceptional or indespensible. He doesn't want America to act alone; he wants other countries to shoulder more responsibility, I feel the same way and, with the exception of Islam, agree with his foreign policy. Does he really feel Vilnius should be defended as would Washington? Aren't we pivoting toward Asia? I do not understand how he reconciles both a belief in American exceptionalism and a belief that others should shoulder more responsibility. I believe America's mission abroad should be pivoted away from American "interests" and pivoted toward American "security." Obama does not feel the same way.
Islam: I feel about Islam much more closely to how Giuliani feels than to how Obama feels. I don't know if Obama's feelings are due to some extent to having had a Muslim father. I just don't get Obama on this and have similar questions about Obama as Giuliani has.
Then I thought, "Should America have a president who loves her as Giulani wants?" I don't know what I feel about that! You would want your daughter to marry a man who thinks she hung the moon, to love her warts and all, one who doesn't even see the warts, who sees only beauty marks. It is Giuliani who used the term, "love," and who mentioned America's warts, who wants a passionate love so I don't think this daughter analogy is one of the devil's. In Giuliani's sense then, yes, America should have such a president. Giuliani say he has sensed the love he's talking about in every American president, I guess who he has known as an adult, even those he has disagreed with, like Carter. I think there again Giuliani is right, Jimmy Carter loved America in the Giuliani sense. Reagan, who I disagreed with loved America in the Giuliani sense. And I agree that Obama does not seem to me to love America in the Giuliani/Carter/Reagan sense. If we take Giuliani's statement above on its own terms, just the love, not whether the daughter analogy is precise, not on the policy considerations, then I feel Giuliani here.
“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America...
Sometimes you have an instant feel for the accuracy or inaccuracy of a statement. My instant reaction to this was, "That sounds right. Huh. Never thought of this. That sounds right."
Giuliani did not, in my view, give a convincing itemization of why he believes that and neither am I able to. It sounds like, with Giuliani, it was a "feel," too. I have thought about why Giuliani's statement felt right to me and this is the best that I can do right now:
I first focused on "love." Strong emotion, love. Does Obama love generally? Yes, he loves his wife and daughters. So he isn't missing the love gene. He has that strong emotion for Michelle and the girls. I don't expect to feel Obama's or any president's love personally. Neither should Giuliani, the right-wingers he made his remarks to or the president's passionate supporters. That, to me, was a dumb comment by Giuliani. I didn't feel love from any president personally, not from Clinton, Reagan, et al. But Giuliani does have a point about Clinton and Reagan apparently wearing their love for America on the sleeves. Clinton really had big love genes. I think some people did feel love personally from Clinton, like when he said, "I feel your pain."
Does Obama have strong emotions generally? Not that I can feel! He is famously cool, detached, aloof, a loner. Remember Clinton's temper? Hoo-doggie. Remember Obama's temper? No.
Giuliani said Obama was "raised differently." Yes, he was, in Hawaii, by his single white American mother and his American grandmother. Son of a Muslim black man. That is different! Obama became a slightly different person from the vast majority of other Americans. He admits to battling "Hawaii laziness," for instance, something I, at least, didn't even know existed. He identifies more with black Americans, only 13% of the population, with young black men and their situation--"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."--and consequently how he feels about America is slightly different from how some others, like Giuliani, feel about America who don't self-identify as black men and who don't identify with black people as much as Obama does. Obama feels slightly more negatively about America, yes, I believe that.
Then I thought, "I don't love America either." I have written that. I never have loved America the way Giuliani does and thinks an American president should. I do not believe as much in American "exceptionalism," maybe not at all. Or as much, if at all, in American "indispensability," Madeline Albright's term. But Obama said that! "Exceptional," "indispensable" or some synonym was the term Obama used in a speech to the U.N.
In my opinion, Obama has not conducted foreign policy as would one who believes that America is exceptional or indespensible. He doesn't want America to act alone; he wants other countries to shoulder more responsibility, I feel the same way and, with the exception of Islam, agree with his foreign policy. Does he really feel Vilnius should be defended as would Washington? Aren't we pivoting toward Asia? I do not understand how he reconciles both a belief in American exceptionalism and a belief that others should shoulder more responsibility. I believe America's mission abroad should be pivoted away from American "interests" and pivoted toward American "security." Obama does not feel the same way.
Islam: I feel about Islam much more closely to how Giuliani feels than to how Obama feels. I don't know if Obama's feelings are due to some extent to having had a Muslim father. I just don't get Obama on this and have similar questions about Obama as Giuliani has.
Then I thought, "Should America have a president who loves her as Giulani wants?" I don't know what I feel about that! You would want your daughter to marry a man who thinks she hung the moon, to love her warts and all, one who doesn't even see the warts, who sees only beauty marks. It is Giuliani who used the term, "love," and who mentioned America's warts, who wants a passionate love so I don't think this daughter analogy is one of the devil's. In Giuliani's sense then, yes, America should have such a president. Giuliani say he has sensed the love he's talking about in every American president, I guess who he has known as an adult, even those he has disagreed with, like Carter. I think there again Giuliani is right, Jimmy Carter loved America in the Giuliani sense. Reagan, who I disagreed with loved America in the Giuliani sense. And I agree that Obama does not seem to me to love America in the Giuliani/Carter/Reagan sense. If we take Giuliani's statement above on its own terms, just the love, not whether the daughter analogy is precise, not on the policy considerations, then I feel Giuliani here.
