WHEN THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD LEADS....

[ProSense]

WHEN THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD LEADS....

President Obama's Nuclear Security Summit is ongoing in Washington, with the U.S. president playing host to 47 world leaders in "the largest gathering of world leaders arranged by a U.S. president since FDR set up the 1945 meeting leading to the United Nations."

On some fronts -- including progress with China on Iranian sanctions and a Ukrainian decision on highly enriched uranium -- it appears that the summit is already paying "early dividends."

<...>

A lot of developments have unfolded very quickly, starting with the breakthrough on a new arms treaty with Russia, followed by the Nuclear Posture Review, followed by this week's successes during the Nuclear Security Summit. The result, Clemons noted, is a White House "mending the foundation and infrastructure of a global nonproliferation regime" Republicans of the Bush/Cheney era "worked hard to tear down."

<...>

In a political context, I realize this isn't the kind of thing that will give Obama a bump in the polls. The vast majority of Americans almost certainly won't even hear about the president's deft leadership on the nuclear front. But history will likely recognize this as a time when the United States, at long last, began to reassert its leadership role on the global stage, making us safer in the process.

[NJmaverick]

1. K&R

[maxsolomon]

2. i really hate that "leader of the free world" cliche

this meeting was about nuclear weapons - not the "free world". membership in that anachronistic, amorphously designated club wasn't a requirement for attendence.

the Sauds were there.

[damntexdem]

5. Yeah, we're not the free world, we're the high-cost world.

Especially in health care.

;-)

[Dank Nugs]

17. I concur

I'd also like to note that US citizens on average, even the most poverty-stricken, are richer and live in more favorable conditions than the vast majority of the third world countries. They enjoy that benefit because of US Imperialism. Instead of actually taking over a country and occupying it like the British did India, we just simply go in, secure it and contract the security out to contractors. Then give a small pittance of the profit to the country they're exploiting.

Congress is being intellectually dishonest, especially the free market proponents that fiercely advocate non-intervention. THERE IS NO FREE MARKET. They are all subject to some degree of regulation. My assertion is that Congress is derelict in their constitutional duty to regulate pharmaceutical companies, implementation of cost controls and failure to use the full bargaining power of the US Govt to lower the cost of care. This falls within the taxing powers of Congress under Article I, to levy taxes and spend the revenue on matters of interest.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

I would argue that to provide universal access to both healthcare and education (both general school and college) is to provide for the general welfare. It's not like there isn't precedent. Look to Helvering v. Davis where they moved from a presumption of personal liberty to presumption of Government interest. That power was expanded further in SD v. Dole. It wouldn't be outside the realm of reason for Congress to grow a pair of balls. However, admittedly, 'general welfare' can vary from Congress term to term depending on the interpretation.

The fact remains that politicians seem to act out of their own self-interest and on behalf of those that lobby them, since it gets them another term. Until there's public financing reform, there's little incentive for these elected officials to represent the interests of their constituents.

[dbmk]

16. Faulty logic :)

"leader of the free world" might be a cliche and unapplicable these days (if not ever) - but the presence of leaders of countries that are not designated "free" does not prevent a "leader of the free world" from being present.

[maxsolomon]

21. true, but meh.

it's cold war rhetoric that means nothing except that we believe we're special and better than other countries. with the soviet union dead and buried, is russia now "free"? do we "lead" them? how are WE "free"?

are the birds free from the chains of the skyway?

[Cha]

3. It's really too bad that those Americans who

don't even know about this ..are missing History in the making. Courtesy of the US corporatemediawhores..who I hope get their own rightful place in the trashbin of history.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

9. yep; rightist corpscum don't want people to understand anything that doesn't turn a profit

infotainment makes more $$$ for them.

[Arkana]

4. This is the kind of thing Presidents get remembered for.

Arms control treaties are big doin's.

[Hekate]

14. Indeed it is

:fistbump:

[Clio the Leo]

6. kickers! NT

[SpartanDem]

7. Any doubt that he deserved the Nobel Prize

should be gone. America once again has a true leader.

[Hekate]

13. This is a huge deal. We should be dancing in the streets and the MSM should be leading the parade...

But we're not. And they're not. And DU has its contingent of folks who can do nothing but bitch about this President. Is this a stupid country or what?

Hekate

[Tutonic]

8. K & R

Cannot overstate the significance of this man's leadership today.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

10. KnR!

Very awe-inspiring!

[chollybocker]

11. He signed a domestic heath care bill & international nuke treaties

within the span of a few weeks.

That's mighty fine Presidentin'. :)

[goclark]

20. Mighty fine!

[4lbs]

12. That last sentence: History, other than that presented in Texas textbooks that is...

.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lunatica]

18. Your bong is your measure of freedom?

[ProSense]

19. delete n/t

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. No Kidding. But the Palin-a-palooza continues on the teevee.

"The vast majority of Americans almost certainly won't even hear about the president's deft leadership on the nuclear front."

It's times like these that I sorely miss Walter Cronkite. :cry:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

23. The MSM plays it down