Obama Archive
RIO: Painter Michael D’Antuono, created this depiction of Barack Obama posed as Jesus Christ.
The painting is a powerful statement about America, as it is the U.S.’s sins Obama is dying for.
Article from O Globo: Pintor retrata Barack Obama como Jesus Cristo
More discussion at Painter depicts Barack Obama as Jesus Christ
Marc is a writer and improviser in Chicago. Check out his improv work at Octavarius.com>
GERMANY: Obama’s new Afghanistan plan seems to be a hit with NATO allies. The same people who were opposed to all US actions a few months ago, are now jumping on he banwagon.
“We totally endorse and support America’s new strategy in Afghanistan,” Sarkozy told a joint news conference after talks with Obama. France will contribute to the new U.S. approach with development assistance and more training for police, Sarkozy said.
The China Post, who published that quote, also said that NATO’s ability to affect change in Afghanistan will help re-confirm the relevance of the alliance.
China Post article: Obama brings Afghan plan to NATO allies.
Video from Russia Today
No one is sure what will come of the Obama meeting with Medvedev, but pundits have speculated everything from warm embrace to open hositlity. This is what Russia Today had to say.
Video from France 24 English
IRAN: To coincide with the Nowruz festival, celebrating spring, Obama released a new video appeal to Iran. In the video, Obama praises Iran, and again stressed his wish for a mutual understanding between the two countries.
Watch the video: New Year, New Beginning
Reacting positively, the Iranian press advisor embraced the video, but said he wants concrete action more than words. He told the AFP:
We welcome the wish of the president of the United States to put away past differences.
But the way to do that is not by Iran forgetting the previous hostile and aggressive attitude of the United States.
The American administration has to recognise its past mistakes and repair them as a way to put away the differences.
A nice unyielding response. What I found interesting was reading all the comments from readers on the news articles about the video. Basically everyone said “This seems good, but what next?” I hope the Obama administration has a plan, because I’d hate to think of this as a pleasant Friday stunt to distract everyone from economic news over the weekend.
Al Jazeera English article: Obama offers Iran ‘new beginning’
IRAN: Obama’s Iraq policy speech at Camp LeJeune was closely watched by the Middle East media. Press TV (Iran) saw it as a step in the right direction, although the author pointed out that August 31, 2010 is a later withdrawal date than Obama promised during his campaign.
Press TV also took the opportunity to do a little Bush bashing. They cited a poll with 60% of Americans saying that the Iraq War was “not worth it”.
Press TV article: Obama sets Iraq withdrawal date
Photo by riptheskull
Around the globe people tuned in to watch, listen, or read Obama’s speech from last night. Here’s how different papers around the world responded.
The Times of India ran a piece that mostly profiled Bobby Jindal’s response. Jindal, of Indian decent, has been a major thorn in Obama’s side ever since the stimulus fight got underway. The Times o India focused on Jindal’s criticism of the economic plan, but did service to the Democratic side of things. I don’t know if the Jindal emphasis has to do with his being Indian, or more because they wanted a change of pace from all the Obama coverage. They are the only paper that made reference to the fact that Republicans on Capitol Hill are acting against the wishes of over 1/3 of their consituents.
Al Jazeera talked about the international fallout more. They discussed his bold claims and his big spending. Al Jazeera was also concerned with Obma’s foreign policy. Their correspondent in Afghanistan had this to say:
Those in Afghanistan who watched the speech probably would not have been particularly impressed. Clearly, there is a question about whether or not, amid all of this financial turmoil, the US can continue to foot the cost of the war.
When it came to Jindal, Al Jazeera quote him in a practically angelic light. To fill their readers in on some of the background they described Republicans as “champions of smaller government and decreased public expenditure”, despite the past 7 years where that has been anything but true.
The China Daily’s report told about how Obama entered the room to great applause, and how he stopped for a long embrace with Ginsberg, who just got back from surgery. They didn’t mention the oppossition at all. Their quotes for Obama were his sweeping positive statements, and none of his specifics. They didn’t mention any policies directly, but chose to give their readers a broad look at the address. I think CD was trying to capture the Obama narrative more than the Obama plan. The author loved using the phrase “day of reckoning”.
The M&G article was all hugs and kisses for the speech. They quoted Senators from both sides of the aisle, including McCain, who had great things to say about the speech. McCain’s problems with the speech were also quoted, but then quickly followed by Claire McCaskill’s quotes about how great it was. One point of interest is that Michael Pence snuck in a quote about how bad it is to “raise taxes in a time of recession”,. I wish M&G had included for its readers that only the top 2% of Americans are involved in those hikes. I am assuming that most of the South African population is uninformed on the subject, so Pence’s statement is a tad misleading.
Times of India article: Obama’s financial plan irresponsible: Jindal
China Daily article: Obama vows to lead US from dire ‘day of reckoning’
Mail and Guardian article: Legislators from Barack Obama’s Democratic Party as well as several opposition Republicans responded positively to the new president’s first address to Congress late on Tuesday.
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