Obama's Speech: Blogger Reactions

President Obama's national security speech was panned by conservatives (many of whom preferred Dick Cheney's speech at AEI) and largely supported by liberals, with some criticism mixed in. Here are some reactions:


The Weekly Standard's John McCormack thought Obama spent too much time talking about the past: "A friend writes: 'I am listening to Obama's speech and I find it really unattractive (not to mention hypocritical) for Mr. Hope 'n Change to keep harping on the past. Boo hoo, you have to be a real leader now. Deal with it!' Well said."

Obama sought to shrug off responsibility, The Foundry's James Carafano wrote: "Now we have gotten to the Bart Simpson part of the speech "I didn't do it." Obama simply condemns the previous administration policies....but if the way forward is so easy why did the Senate just reject his plan to close GITMO?"

Townhall.com's Kevin Glass made roughly the same point: "Barack Obama today followed the same script that has so far dominated his presidency: blame the previous administration for every challenge we face today."

The president answered his critics effectively, The Plank's Jason Zengerle wrote: "He's basically saying, Look, we've got to do something so if you don't like my idea, come up with a better one. But we can't keep doing the same thing. It effectively puts the ball back in his critics' court."

AMERICAblog's Joe Sudbay seemed to like the tone, also noting the Bush/Cheney references: "He's sounding very resolute. And, he's laying plenty of blame on the Bush/Cheney team."

TAPPED's Adam Serwer suggested Obama's rhetoric makes him "more dangerous than George W. Bush": "With his soaring and sincere rhetoric, the president has done an incredible job of selling his kindler, gentler War on Terror, and ultimately, the American people will likely have his back, if only because they trust him. In a sense, Barack Obama may be far more dangerous than George W. Bush when it comes to violating our civil liberties, where the American people feared the excesses of Bush, they trust wholly in the sincerity of Barack Obama. At least for now."

TPM's Josh Marshall liked Obama's point about supermax prisons: "Making the pretty straightforward case that no terrorist is going to escape from one of our supermax facilities. Enlists Lindsey Graham to make the point. Sort of sad that the point needs to be made because the underlying claim is so inane."