can someone explain this Obama quote?

[TheFarseer]

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.

I have to question "eat as much as we want" The other 2 I understand. Seemed like a poor choice of an example.

[elocs]

What is not to understand? n/t

[TheFarseer]

14. We can't eat as much as we want sounds weird

we should sit down to dinner and leave the table hungry? Maybe he could talk about how we waste food or something. I just want someone to agree with me that it's a strange example. :) and yes, I do agree with his overall point of overconsumption.

[anonymous171]

1. Freepers use this to "prove" that Obama is a neo-marxist or something

Not calling you a freeper. Just reminded me of what I read. :hi: I think he's talking about over-consuming products in general.

[TheFarseer]

4. yeah, I heard this on RW radio

and I had to admit it sounded odd, although I understand his overall point and agree with it 100%

[thunder rising]

It's impolite to refer to somebody's obesity problem in public; particularly the entire US

We look like we're being fattened up for the slaughter.

[jefferson_dem]

27. Sludge had this quote painted in red on his website this morning...

and all the minions chirp away with the talking point.

I really don't see the controversy. You know, "let's think of others and not be selfish." Didn't we learn that in Kindergarten?

[Seeker30]

2. Obama wants us to live like 3rd world people

[Buzz Clik]

5. That's exactly right! You're a fucking genius!

[anonymous171]

7. "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

-Hillary Clinton

:rofl:

[PBS Poll-435]

31. Know your audience, I guess.

She gotta a f'ing standing 'O.'

[Buzz Clik]

3. Overconsumption is overconsumption. Period.

When our dogs eat better than half the humans on this planet, we're overconsuming.

[patrice]

6. Do you suppose that we drive the price of imported foods up,so some of those in their countries of

origin can't afford them?

[Melinda]

8. Yeah, cause the cost of producing food doesn't deplete the world's energy supply, or

leave any kind of carbon footprint, right?

[TahitiNut]

12. Don't bananas fly free?

:dunce:

[Melinda]

19. Naww, just the itty bitty banana buggies.

But, they don't weigh or eat much. ;)

[Youphemism]

29. Like in that old saying...

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

[roseBudd]

9. I believe he is referring to obesity, current food shortages are due to ethanol but high meat

consumption also has an effect on the planet. See Diet for a Small Planet

[Uncle Sinister]

10. We are the fattest people on the planet, while much of the world starves...

seems like an excellent example to me.

[Seeker30]

28. Much of the world starves?

Glad to know I live in the only country in the world where there is food.

[sandnsea]

11. We suck fat out of our bodies for chrissake

and yes, other countries are getting pissed that food prices are high because we're a bunch of pigs. Just like the oil. We've got to be more responsible.

[boston bean]

13. The part that bothered me the most about that statement was not our

over consumption, but "then just expect that other countries are going to say OK". To talk about ways to conserve for our own good, fine, but to basically say we will have trouble with other countries is just a tad off the mark and odd.

[sandnsea]

16. No, it is a growing problem

Foreign countries are getting pissed that their people don't have enough to eat while we eat like pigs, subsidize our gluttony, and leave other people to starve.

[SoonerPride]

18. The rest of the world thinks we're grossly fat and lazy.

They are right.

[Shakespeare]

23. He's saying we'll have no moral authority to take a leadership position...

...on global matters concerning consumption. Right on the mark, actually.

[TheFarseer]

24. I understand that point

although it could have been phrased better. He's saying that if we think no one else is going to be competing for the oil, we're crazy. Half our problem is that India and China are entering the market for oil and driving the prices up, but on the other hand, they have as much right as we do to be buying oil. The phrasing he used allows conservatives to pretend like Obama thinks we need to ask for permission, which is f*cking stupid, but so are conservatives and the people gullible enough to buy their talking points.

[muryan]

15. Basically I would assume he's saying americans have to more aware of what impact

our energy consumption is having. Part of being a superpower is having large energy demands, but that doesn't mean we can do way better than we are now.

[candice]

17. It's an elitist thing...also, Obama was the "big" kid other kids teased...

...and didn't want to play with as a child. He eats daintily now. Remember how he asked the ladies at the chocolate factory in PA if they really ate that stuff? He's Mr. Arugula.

But this prose does seem to veer from the typical "soaring" rhetoric from Axelrod's ad campaign: "We are the people we are waiting for." Must have been off-teleprompter.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0703250359mar25,1,6124597.story?coll=chi-news-hed

[anonymous171]

20. "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

Who said that?

[DefenseLawyer]

21. Mr. Creosote- Wrong for America

Better bring a bucket!

[AlCzervik]

22. this country is about one thin mint away from pushing maximum density.

[cbc5g]

25. its humanitarian not elitist

Can anyone say that its fair that one country horde and overuse the resources while people starve? The RW'ers need to understand that sharing does not equal totalitarian commie rulers taking away your guns and god.

[silverweb]

26. It's clear enough to me.

Overall, he's talking about how if we want other nations to respect us and follow our lead, we have to set a good example and not be hypocrites. Food production requires precious energy resources.

I understand "eat as much as we want" to mean the gluttony present in our society. I can't eat half of what I'm served in restaurants, since the portions are so huge, and it's pretty shocking how some people just shovel it in.

We're a gluttonous society, both in terms of what (energy-intense meat) and how much we eat. That's not good (or healthy) and it is, in many respects, taking away from others in the world.

[FARAFIELD]

30. Its about Obesity, he has a talk where he tells the parents

To not let the kids sit in front of the TV and get fat. Makes sense to me