Obama Distraction

[Axeman33]

You are entitled to your opinion but I think you are wrong.

[forumname]

You are entitled to your opinion but I think you are wrong.

Welp, that's the way she goes sometimes. Anybody else with an opinion around here?

[STLblues]

I gave mine but it must have sucked 'caus no one said anything....hahah

[vitun-tyhmä]

I agree with you forumname, the American political machine will use anything and everything to further its cause and get re-elected. Not saying there was some huge smoke screen in this particular case, but to not see that this is a frequent tactic is extremely naive.

[newfcollins]

And I don't doubt that pressure is a factor, but do you guys really believe that the government doesn't see value in a distracted public and use that to their advantage?

This I agree with. I heard at one point, when a government official in England heard about 9/11, they starting sending out their major bad news to the media, knowing it wouldn't be covered in detail and that people wouldn't focus on it.

It's why politicians put bad news press releases/press conferences on Friday afternoon. Because people stop following the news on the weekend, and by the time Monday rolls around, people have forgotten. Whereas if you release the bad news on Monday morning, you'll be hammered by the media and the public all week.

That said, I think Robin Williams is a bit different than some of the actors listed later (Taylor, Hoffman, etc.). Williams is a superstar movie actor that pretty much everyone in North America recognized. No offence to the others, but I don't think the majority of people could recognize Lou Reed or Philip Seymour Hoffman.

[rataylor22]

I actually think you're being pretty narrow-minded forumname.

Relating foreign policy to the death of a beloved public figure ("he's mourning the death of one while signing off on the death of others") that have nothing to do with each other. If someone was planning to bomb your house, would you rather let them do it or do it to them first?

Every government, politician, public figure in the world uses distractions to pass through unpopular legislation. Thats not just a US or North American thing. To say "he's mourning the death of one person and signing off on the death of others and its ironic and shouldn't happen" is extremely narrow-minded and not considering the current global political landscape, nor are you considering the current military/threat global landscape.

[doulos]

I don't see that there is any connection at all. There are any number of reasons why Obama might have commented on Robin Williams' passing. The reason why it happened, or maybe that he's a big fan, or maybe that he realizes his broad appeal to people. Obama is not just a statesman, but also a person that might have a connection to the type of movies that Robin was in.

The guy should be allowed to say a nice thing about a guy who just passed away and who a great number of people felt "connected" to, without criticizing him for doing so.

[forumname]

Obama is not just a statesman, but also a person that might have a connection to the type of movies that Robin was in.

Everything else aside, if you think Obama wrote that statement and made the decision to publicize it all on his own accord, you are out to lunch.

---

I'm aware that america isn't the only country to use distraction tactics, but that obviously doesn't make it okay. What bothers me is that some people (in this thread included) just assume that the US is above this type of thing. Hence the comment about being narrow-minded. The underlying problem is that everybody always thinks they are the good guy, and I would argue that north americans may be more guilty of this than anyone.

[doulos]

You've made your mind up on the reasons why this happened and don't seem too interested in why people disagree with you, so why did you bother posting this thread?

[forumname]

You've made your mind up on the reasons why this happened and don't seem too interested in why people disagree with you, so why did you bother posting this thread?

Yeesh. I've softened my stance on the Williams part of the argument, conceding that other factors are at play. It could very well be reaching, but the majority of my argument focuses on the fact that those types of things do happen. From my perspective I've been more flexible and open-minded than most in this thread, but maybe that's not the case?

People sure get touchy when you question their beliefs...

[mojavedesert]

"he's mourning the death of one person and signing off on the death of others"

It is befitting that a Noble Peace Prize winner mourns the death of one person.
Like most (all?) politicians Obama is a hypocrite.

[forumname]

To answer your question, the reason I started this thread was because of the backlash I got for bringing it up in the first place. I was met with:

"Obama created the flooding in Michigan yesterday. Damn you Obama! I shake my fist at you! *fist shaking*"

"If you don't like Obama, I get it. But to accuse him of using this tragic incident to try to deflect the attention away from him, is pretty sad..."


I wanted to clarify that I obviously don't think Obama put Williams up to it, but it would not surprise me in the least if his administration sees such events as an opportunity.

Not surprisingly, my comment was deleted while the rebuttals remained...

[Bomm Bastic]

Everything else aside, if you think Obama wrote that statement and made the decision to publicize it all on his own accord, you are out to lunch.

---

I'm aware that america isn't the only country to use distraction tactics, but that obviously doesn't make it okay. What bothers me is that some people (in this thread included) just assume that the US is above this type of thing. Hence the comment about being narrow-minded. The underlying problem is that everybody always thinks they are the good guy, and I would argue that north americans may be more guilty of this than anyone.

Obama could feed the world and your ilk would blame him for overpopulation. Point being, you'll adhere to your foregone conclusion despite any evidence indicating otherwise. Why bother having this pointless discussion?

[rataylor22]

To answer your question, the reason I started this thread was because of the backlash I got for bringing it up in the first place. I was met with:

"Obama created the flooding in Michigan yesterday. Damn you Obama! I shake my fist at you! *fist shaking*"

"If you don't like Obama, I get it. But to accuse him of using this tragic incident to try to deflect the attention away from him, is pretty sad..."


I wanted to clarify that I obviously don't think Obama put Williams up to it, but it would not surprise me in the least if his administration sees such events as an opportunity.

Not surprisingly, my comment was deleted while the rebuttals remained...

Just everything in the world is a conspiracy hey? I bet Obama himself deleted your comment so nobody would find out.

[Pengwin7]

My contribution to this thread: