Last Call on Obama's Afghan Speech: The Right hated it, the left hated it and the Europeans hated it!

Only the Taliban and Al Queda loved it!

I had this left over from last week and it's too precious not to share:

In analyzing Obama's Afghanistan speech delivered at West Point on December 1, Rush Limbaugh found that it contained nearly the same language, word for word, as a speech on Afghanistan Obama delivered on March 27 this year. Rush asks " What took a hundred days to figure out strategy?" Obama's delay in responding to Gen. McChrystal's troop request, not to mention the idiotic announcement of a date to begin withdrawal, only gave hope to the Taliban and Al Queda.

And for our lefty friends who stick their fingers in their ears at the very mention of Rush Limbaugh, Curt posted Jon Stewart's take from the Daily Show. To Stewart Obama sounded just like George Bush. To the rest of us, yeah there might have been similarities in the words, but we know Bush believed what he was saying. It's rather obvious Obama had no passion for the words that were put on his teleprompter.

And just in case our lefty friends think the speech may have been better received by our European friends, not so according to this commentary in the German magazine Der Spiegel:

Searching in Vain for the Obama Magic
By Gabor Steingart
Der Spiegel
December 2, 2009

President Barack Obama's Tuesday speech left a bad taste in many mouths.
Never before has a speech by President Barack Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing America's new strategy for Afghanistan. It seemed like a campaign speech combined with Bush rhetoric -- and left both dreamers and realists feeling distraught.

One can hardly blame the West Point leadership. The academy commanders did their best to ensure that Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama's speech would be well-received.

Just minutes before the president took the stage inside Eisenhower Hall, the gathered cadets were asked to respond "enthusiastically" to the speech. But it didn't help: The soldiers' reception was cool.

One didn't have to be a cadet on Tuesday to feel a bit of nausea upon hearing Obama's speech. It was the least truthful address that he has ever held. He spoke of responsibility, but almost every sentence smelled of party tactics. He demanded sacrifice, but he was unable to say what it was for exactly.

An additional 30,000 US soldiers are to march into Afghanistan -- and then they will march right back out again. America is going to war -- and from there it will continue ahead to peace. It was the speech of a Nobel War Prize laureate.
...
Obama's Magic No Longer Works

But in this case, the public was more disturbed than entertained. Indeed, one could see the phenomenon in a number of places in recent weeks: Obama's magic no longer works. The allure of his words has grown weaker.

It is not he himself who has changed, but rather the benchmark used to evaluate him. For a president, the unit of measurement is real life. A leader is seen by citizens through the prism of their lives -- their job, their household budget, where they live and suffer. And, in the case of the war on terror, where they sometimes die.

Political dreams and yearnings for the future belong elsewhere. That was where the political charmer Obama was able to successfully capture the imaginations of millions of voters. It is a place where campaigners -- particularly those with a talent for oration -- are fond of taking refuge. It is also where Obama set up his campaign headquarters, in an enormous tent called "Hope."

In his speech on America's new Afghanistan strategy, Obama tried to speak to both places. It was two speeches in one. That is why it felt so false. Both dreamers and realists were left feeling distraught.

The American president doesn't need any opponents at the moment. He's already got himself.

So much for winning the admiration and respect of our allies! Obama is fast becoming a universal JOKE! Too bad it's not funny.