"I Trust Him."

"I trust him. I don't need guarantees. I trust him. I trust his word. And I trust his intelligence," Sarkozy said of Obama.

This came from President Sarkozy of France.

This is the statement that President Barack Obama of The United States of America will walk away from his European trip.

There is much concern trolling on Obama's trip to Europe. The what did he get or the what he did not get.

Fair criticism. He did not get, nor was he going to get, everyone to agree with him from the economic strife that is hitting every nation to the muddled mess of Afghanistan. But what he did get was the tag, "A new sheriff in town for the United States of America."

I don't care what anyone says, Barack Obama's energy and enthusiasm was infectious and all over the place. Can anyone ever imagine former President George W. Bush holding a town hall meeting in France? No, you can't. Over 25,000 invaded Prague to hear President Obama's speech today. Would or could former President Bush bring a crowd to listen to him and the American platform? No, he would get that many to protest his very existence in their town. Yes, we know this is true.

President Obama's main job was to restore our image to the Europeans. He needed to let Europe know that we want to work with them, not against them. He had to listen and absorb their concerns. Not to grandstand or give the "you are with us or against us" speech. That single statement from former President George W. Bush did more harm than good for this country and our international standing. A statement this country is still paying a price for.

The economic and international mess is one that former President George W. Bush created. It was the arrogance of that administration that killed his presidency in the end. He could not pick up any phone to ask for any help, he killed all the pragmatic thinking and good will to these European countries and they watched him and this country go downhill.

President Obama's speech at the town hall in France is one of the best he has given. He pointed out all our faults, as well as Europe's faults and pointed that it is time to try a different approach and direction. He is right.

The United States of America is not the police of the world, but former President Bush pinned that tag on us by invading Iraq. We have a lot of work to do and this trip was a beginning. We have to reach out to the Middle East and let them know we are still here and we want to work out the peace in that region. We need to remove ourselves from Iraq, permanently. We are responsible for what has happened to that region and we need to do as much as possible to make it right, but it starts with Iraq taking care of Iraq. Afghanistan is a problem and more troop involvement will not change it, history speaks for itself, but we must make Pakistan take responsibility for protecting al-qaeda terrorists, as they continue to take aid from the United States of America.

We are going through some very difficult times here domestically, but much what is happening is also tied internationally. I trust Barack Obama to do the very best that he can. He will make decisions that I will not always agree with, but I rather have him at the helm than imagining John McCain there. Sorry, for one, McCain would not have been able to keep up. For real.

Finally, I have to post a clip by JedReport from CNNs Cristiane Amanpour's push back of the right-winged criticism of President Barack Obama and WHY Gitmo needs to be condemned and CLOSED. Anyone with intelligence will get it.

COSTELLO: Well, but some people might say that President Obama is giving the French some of what it wants and other European leaders like the closing of Guantanamo Bay and supposedly we’re moving the troops from Iraq very soon. These are things that Europeans wanted.

[SNIP]

COSTELLO: I’m being devil’s advocate because some critics say, you know, President Obama is giving too much away, he’s deferring too much.

AMANPOUR: Can we just be counter-devil’s advocate? Obama is not closing Guantanamo for the Europeans; he’s closing it because it has caused the single biggest anti-American sentiment around the world and because it violates America’s principles, its morals, its rules of law and all of the rest of it. He’s not doing it for the Europeans, he’s not bringing the troops out of Iraq for the Europeans. He’s making his own considered judgment on the war Iraq for American reasons, those happen to be shared by the Europeans and that will help in that way, but he’s not outsourcing American foreign policy for any other country. It’s national interest and it happens to be one that converges with one of the rest of the world.

Source
Obama, Sarkozy Press Conference
Obama's Town Hall Meeting in France

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Prague Spring, photos by Al Rodgers

cross-posted @ Daily Kos

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