Obama's Speech To The Muslim World: Black Moderates & Black Conservatives React

U.S. President Barack Obama today gave his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, Egypt - touting his Muslim heritage and admiration for Islamic culture - to promote a "new beginning" between the West and Muslim world. What did bookeristas think of his speech?



Praise

DarkKnight, a conservative, tweets: "O speech good but not a game-changer. Reaction on both Left and Right has been over-the-top". He adds: "My biggest criticism of O speech is his referencing anti-Muslim bias in US without making clear there is good reason for that bias".

Sophia Nelson, a moderate Republican pundit in D.C., writes: "One last note, Obama is being very careful in his speech this morning – he is being balanced about making sure he holds Islam to the same standard as he is asking of the US in terms of 'tolerance and denouncing stereotypes' of the two nations. This is a good sign given his first trip to Europe a few months ago which was dubbed by many [c]onservatives as an 'apology tour'."

Slyram, a moderate Democrat in Georgia, opines that President Obama was Sidney Poitier smooth: "President Obama is correct in supporting the Two-State Solution for Israel and Palestine because that conflict needs resolution. At the risk of hyperbole, Obama speech on Islam and the Muslim world is one of the top ten presidential speeches of all time to me and could 'simmer down' our conflict with the followers of that faith. I particularly liked the way our president used passages from the Quran and Holy Bible to illustrate that terror was wrong."

Rafique Tucker, a moderate-liberal Democratic blogger, writes that the speech represents President Obama's real good-faith attempt to step up to the plate on key issues: "As one who supported the war in Iraq, I'm glad that he acknowledges that Iraq is better off without Saddam, and while one needn't at all be a supporter of the war to agree with that sentiment, I find it interesting that if he had made this speech a year ago, many war critics would be vexed. I'm also glad that he has stuck to his responsible withdrawal plan (as I predicted he would)...."

He continues: "On Israel, things get a bit more dicey. I've no doubt about Obama's pro-Israel bona fides. I think he is really trying to strike the right balance here, so while I think he loses me a bit when he talks about 'the daily humiliations – large and small – that come with occupation,' I think he's trying to do the right thing. My issue with lines like that is that it can leave the impression that Israel is somehow to blame for the Palestinians present condition. I get what he's saying for the most part, and I think the right-wing criticism is just out of line. Maybe he could've mentioned Hamas and Hezbollah a few more times, but some of the criticisms....laid at his feet are really over the top. As Zalman Shoval said, there is no reason for panic. At the end of the day, it was a good speech, and had Obama's classic rhetorical skill. That being said, speeches are just that--speeches, and he himself pointed out, they must be backed up by sound action."

Mixed

Kenneth Durden, a conservative Republican, writes on Twitter: "O Speech. Overall not bad. I still don't trust him. HA!"

He opines that the president overlooked one development in the Middle East: "Somehow he forgot women newly elected in Kuwait. INTERESTING. Oh, a Bush was involved in that."

Mr. Durden is skeptical about the president's promises to build international coalitions: "O Speech. Coalition? Diplomacy? What about all of the UN resolutions? Liar Liar". And the religious references: "O Speech. I hear Holy Quaran but never hear Holy Bible. Why do we always pay deference to Islam? Are we afraid or do they just deserve more?"

However, Mr. Durden praises President Obama's points on Afghanistan.

Expertise, a conservative in North Carolina, writes on Twitter: "A solid speech by Obama, probably his best foreign policy moment of his term (which isnt saying much) but filled with childish naivet[e]". He adds: "Only a fool thinks Iran will giv up their nuclear prgrm, or that thr will be harmony in Israel. ths was a fantasy speech".

Condemnation

Coby Dillard, a conservative Republican and Navy veteran in Norfolk, Virginia, writes on Twitter: "We don't need a new beginning with the Muslim world; they need to handle their extremists and keep them from attacking us"

Bob Parks, a conservative Republican and military vet in Massachusetts: "While the American left will give [sic] wowed, the radical Muslims who chant 'Death to America' will never shed a tear of remorse, tolerance, and/or understanding. They'll see Barack Obama, offering up a sleeping target on a silver platter, and they'll seize their opportunity when the time is right."

Sandra Rose, a British-born conservative in Atlanta metro, argues that he is calling for a New World Order: "Obama backed off from his usual custom of criticizing America on foreign soil, calling for a 'common ground' and 'a new beginning' with the Muslim world. America’s first half-black president couched his rhetoric in careful language, quoting twice from the Koran and once from the Holy Bible. But his message was clear: a New World Order with its balance of power centered in the Middle East is desirable and inevitable....Obama, who traveled to the Middle East without the First Lady, scored points with women’s groups — his most ardent supporters behind blacks — when he recognized there were some 'sources of tension' between the two cultures, including the continued oppression of women in some Muslim countries."

That Darn Republican, a conservative in L.A., tweets: "Obama's address in Egypt: A very careful two-step around US policy.. it lacked definition and resolve"