Deseret News | Let us all join Obama in striving for peace

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John Florez: Let us all join Obama in striving for peace

sa | 4:21 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

I miss the days of President Reagan.

Obama's foreign policy | 6:12 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Teddy Roosevelt once said "speak softly, but carry a big stick" when speaking about foreign policy. Obama's foreign policy is to trash America abroad, carry a twig, be acquiescent to thugs and dictators, and betray our allies. The world laughs at this man, and his worshippers. How's that hope and change working out?

The only thing a bully repects is strength. bama needs to be kicking some butt.

Anonymous | 6:40 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

His version of peace leads to war.

Comments continue below

Peace! | 7:00 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Regan: "peace through strength."

Obama: "Peace through appeasement."

yes | 7:39 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

and then we can join Obama in a rousing chorus of Kumbaya and talk about how tolerant and open minded we are now that Iran can A-bomb Israel

Teddy | 8:30 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

“The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer”

Theodore Roosevelt

Blaine | 9:16 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

I don't dislike Obama for getting the Nobel Peace Prize. He was surprised and emabarrassed when it was announced. The Nobel committee is trying to influence our foreign policy by giving the prize.
We will wait and see if the President has the backbone to send troops to Afganistan. That will be the test for Obama.

It's not that simple | 10:08 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

It's not quite that simple.

I join him in his efforts for peace, but I CAN'T support him in his quest to disarm America and leave us volnerable to any nation, coalition of nations, or even just a small terrorist organization (such as Al Qaida).

That's where we were at the end of the Carter Administration and the end of the Clinton Administration. Each time we weakend our defenses... we got attacked.

Under Carter... Iran took our embassy staff hostage and thumbed their noses at America (because they KNEW we were weak and could do anything about it). 4 days after we got Carter out of office... they were released and we started to build our defenses and we had more peace because rogue nations knew they couldn't just do their thing without consequences.

Under Clinton... Our Embassys in Africa were attacked (we KNEW it was Al Qaida but did nothing). The WTC was attacked (again we did nothing). The USS Coles was attacked (again we did nothing). We were still seen as weak when Bush took over and we were attacked again 9/11. Bush did SOMETHING.... We haven't been attacked since.

Again... Not that simple | 10:11 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

I fully support Obama in his quest for peace. But unlike some who support Obama in ANYTHING he does... I don't support his position on the Constitution (that it's fundimentally flawed)... And that we can find ways to side-step it when it fits our political agenda.

Chris B. | 10:44 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

It's amazing one man could ruin a country in as little time as he has. We are paying $1 Billion a day in interest alone because of Hussein. And look at all the good it's done. Car companies completely turned around, banks are doing great,and unemployment is dropping. Oh wait, no, none of those things are happening. He needs to go. We won't have any "change" left when he is done.

Peace? | 10:45 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

How is being forced to pay more in taxes that he Obama administration is proposing peace?

Brother Chuck Schroeder | 11:08 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

I'll think about it in 2012

Ross Perot in 2012 for President, George Soros as VP and Sarah Palin as speaker of the house..

Bro Chuck's Rant's n Rave's | 11:24 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009

I am NOT standing there singing we are the world. Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It's a stunning, if not truly surprising, indication of just how meaningless a once honorable and respected award has become. Like most Americans, the DNC can't think of one achievement that the president has accomplished, so they resort to their predictable response and standard playbook of demonizing anyone who disagrees with them. What has President Obama actually accomplished?. President Obama knocked back a few cold ones with the two men he joined, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and police Sgt. James Crowley of Cambridge, Mass. at the center of an uproar over race in America. It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. Vice President Klingon Biden also joined them in a gathering that some dubbed the beer summit to clear the air after the recent uproar.

Ross Perot in 2012 for President, George Soros as VP and Sarah Palin as speaker of the house.

Nuke em all - let God sort em out later.

Its Just Plain Stupid | 12:05 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

for Obama and his henchmen to attack Fox News by describing it as a non-news service when Fox represents the only news service with a somewhat conservative viewpoint. We conservatives deserve at least one news service which leans toward our thinking, all of the major networks ABC, CBS and NBC are left of Karl Marx's socialist views.
When I was young, all of the news services just reported the facts and let the reader/listener/viewer make up their own mind. Now all have an agenda, with the left vastly outnumbering the right. No wonder we are headed for Socialism. By the way, have you noticed that almost all of Europe's governments are voting in more right leaning governments. They found out that Socialism destroys workers incentives, and creates an intitlement oriented society which can go nowhere but down.

Majority of Us | 12:35 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

The majority of human beings want peace. No matter what their religion or political affiliation, they try to treat their fellow men decently.

As we study history and our current situation, we see a small number of greedy, angry, power hungry people who get what they want through war.

Most of us would not be living today, if we had descended from the poor people who were forced to fight then die in the gzillion wars throughout history.

It is terribly ironic to find that most of us descend from the royals who hid out in their castles
during all the fighting.

Search back far enough and you will be surprised, and probably, saddened.

2 bits | 12:58 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Ya but... must I commit to give up my freedom and the Constitution to get this world peace?

Let us join to Fight for Liberty | 1:16 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

This article is laughable and ridiculous. Trying to compare Reagan to Obama is the most laughable part of all.Reagan actually brought down the USSR and the Berlin Wall by HIS ACTIONS and redeemed America from the dead (both economically and militarily)after the sorry Carter years. Obama has done NOTHING action wise and his ridiculous peace award was quickly rejected by conservatives and moderate liberals world wide. Obama has actually made the world LESS SAFE by his appeasement and weakness and our enemies (IRAN and NORTH KOREA) are more bold and frightening than ever before as a result. Even France has criticized Obama for his waffling and weakness ... YES FRANCE!!! No- we don't follow Obama and his appeasing foreign policy and in fact we REJECT IT OUTRIGHT. YES - we do follow Reagan and the strong leadership he exemplified and we seek to change back to that sort of leadership the 2010 and 2012 elections. Obama - like Jimmy Carter - is destined to be a ONE TERM PRESIDENT - let us all hope and pray!!!!

Peace brings prosperity | 1:28 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

I enjoy reading John Florez’ essays. He is an exceptional writer and thinker. If only the posters on here would carefully read what John writes, instead of post the same old anti-Obama tripe they always do.

Thankfully the warmongers were voted out of office. The majority of Americans and the rest of the world are relieved.

Peace brings prosperity. Do you understand that, neocons?

That’s why the true religious, and average people, and the better capitalists want peace. Our President, who is a moderate, Christian capitalist, is trying to bring about peace by diplomacy, not war.

So as John says, let’s help the president, and thereby help ourselves and our posterity.

re: Its Just Plain Stupid | 12:0 | 1:41 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

"When I was young, all of the news services just reported the facts and let the reader/listener/viewer make up their own mind."

Actually news services were probably manipulating facts then too, we just didnt have the internet to factc heck with. Its harder to lie now and get away with it: just ask the New York Times or Dan Rather

Reality | 2:27 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Anybody who thinks Obama "trashed" America has never read or listened to his speeches.
This an excerpt from his Cairo speech:

"But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire. The United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known. We were born out of revolution against an empire. We were founded upon the ideal that all are created equal, and we have shed blood and struggled for centuries to give meaning to those words - within our borders, and around the world. We are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the Earth, and dedicated to a simple concept: E pluribus unum: "Out of many, one."

Hmm | 2:29 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Whirled Pease. Yep, that is all we're goon get from Barry.

To "Peace brings prosperity" | 2:48 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Peace brings prosperity | 1:28 p.m.

NOBODY "Wants" War. You would have to be a total idiot to think anybody does.

But sometimes when our backs are against the wall we have to fight.

Where would most of the people in the "Free" nations of the world be today IF all the free nations (USA, England, Australia, Canada, etc) had decided to take your advice and just sit on the sidelines and let whatever happens in WWII and other imporant potentially world changing wars? Nobody knows, but I would be willing to bet it wouldn't have been a "better" situation.

Peace is more complex than just the absence of war.

Prosperity and Peace are not always had together. Usually one follows the other. It's a little more complex than just saying, "I want peace and prosperity and anyone of the OTHER political philosphy just wants war and missery". (unless you only have rhetoric on your mind).

Just insisting we always stay out of wars doesn't always insure endless peace and prosperity. (In the real world).

Red | 3:11 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

"... the worst of this atomic bomb tragedy is not that not only did the people of the United States not rise up in protest against this savagery, not only did it not shock us to read of this wholesale destruction of men, women, and children, and cripples, but that it actually drew from the nation at large a general approval of this fiendish butchery.... [W]e in America are now deliberately searching out and developing the most savage, murderous means of exterminating peoples that Satan can plant in our minds. We do it not only shamelessly, but with a boast. God will not forgive us for this."

J. Reuben Clark, Jr, First Counselor in the First Presidency, LDS Church, speaking in the October 1946 General Conference.

Con Job | 3:17 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Now just what exactly are you trying to sell me? Somehow, my silence and acquiescence to Bam Bam is suppose to be helping world peace? Right. The socialists are always all about hugging up, and hanging out and pontificating and thinking good thoughts. Now if they can just get someone to do the actual work. Not buyin' it, uh-uh. Seen this all before. You all go first. World peace, world peace. Does that help.

@ "Reality | 2:27 p.m." | 3:24 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Reality | 2:27 p.m.

I would like to hear MORE stuff like this from our President. Keep it comming.

Oh Please | 3:28 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

One of the great lies of history is that Reagan had anything to do with bringing down the Soviet Empire. It collapsed under its own weight, and we are all very lucky that they had a realistic leader in the person of Gorbachev who knew the mess couldn't hold together. I shudder to think what would have happened if old Brainless Ron had come up against a truly ruthless Soviet leader. We'd all be singing Kumbaya in the ashes of our homes.

@Oh Please | 4:05 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Gorbachev? Still singing the praises of mother Russia, I see. You can never teach an old socialist new tricks.

Fluff! | 5:32 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

What a rotten article! Pres.Obama is not concerned with peace (or anything good for America for that matter). He is in it for him. Period. He wants a different America than I believe in. It's all about the power and control. Just wait and see what change we've got, will there be anything left or will we be part of a "Global" entity. Peace, right!

OMG! | 10:29 p.m. Oct. 19, 2009

Seriously, all of you people need to recognize this man as your president. It doesn't matter if you don't think he's doing anything, he hasn't been in office for very long yet. Give this guy a chance, and don't criticize the writer for writing something true. He's right, the President can't do it all by himself. He needs the support of his country. I'm only 16, and sometimes it seems as though I'm more mature than most adults. So suck it up, accept that he's your president and grow up. Stop complaining over stupid things. Respect him, he deserves it as our PRESIDENT! BTW: John, you're a great writer, don't stop, no matter what people say!!

I AM striving for peace | 10:09 a.m. Oct. 20, 2009

I have always striven for peace despite the warmongering of Bush, Obama and Congress. It wasn't me who broke the pledge to end the war in Iraq, who was so careless with the truth (I've been chastened over using the word "lie") as both of such illustrious ones.

It wasn't me who decided to escalate the war in Afghanistan. It wasn't us who voted for undeclared wars. Those who have the power must take the responsibility.

@ "I AM striving for peace " | 11:51 a.m. Oct. 20, 2009

I AM striving for peace,

I'm glad you are striving for peace, but you need to realise that there is no guarantee that IF we hadn't done anything militarily after 9/11 that we would be enjoying MORE peace today. Nobody knows where we would be today. More attacks, less attacks, POSSIBLY Sadam Hussain would have just decided to live peacefully with his neighbors and no longer threatening to occupy or gas the weaker ones, Obama maybe would be smoking the peace pipe with Ahmadenijad... who knows?

You say, "It wasn't us who voted for undeclared wars". Who... do you think voted for the undeclared wars?

CONGRESS voted to approve the resolution to use military force in Iraq (BOTH SIDES). And YOU and I elected them to Congress.

According to our Constitution, we live in a representative democratic republic (for now). So essentially we (or our votes that elected them to Congress to represent us) voted FOR the military action.

Anonymous | 12:30 p.m. Oct. 20, 2009

"NOBODY "Wants" War. You would have to be a total idiot to think anybody does.

But sometimes when our backs are against the wall we have to fight."

There are some (Neocons) that think their back is up against the wall *all the time* someone just looks at them funny and they want to bomb the, said persons, country until it's nothing more than a bunch of dead bodies.

These people are on defence all the time, this is not "defending" yourself... it's called being a jerk and a bully.

Gary | 1:32 p.m. Oct. 20, 2009

I can't believe all the negativity showed here by the comments read here. Whatever happened to showing respect for our leaders and working with them? So many of you have decided on things on things that aren't even happening. We want world peace right? Obama wants world peace too. When he won the presidency, the world for the first time actually showed their approval because they saw hope that through him, he could foster in peace and help make things better in the world. War is not the answer. It never was the answer. It is an answer for defense only. Iraq was a war not because of the trade center towers, but because of the oil currency where Hussein tried getting off the dollar and using the Euro instead. They had nothing to do with the twin towers. Yet Bush declared war on them, using towers as smoke screen. Their country is in shambles now and worst off. Diplomacy through peace efforts would have been more fruitful. Obama is going in that direction. Let's show more respect, support for the President who's trying for world peace.

To "Gary | 1:32 p.m." | 5:58 p.m. Oct. 20, 2009

Gary,

How do you KNOW, Diplomacy through peace efforts would have been more fruitful?

You are aware that we TRIED negotiating, the UN resolutions, and diplomacy BEFORE military intervention was decided to be needed to CHANGE the way things were going, right?

You may feel MORE diplomacy would have accomplished the change we never saw in all the negotiating efforts we had made in the decades that lead up to the Iraq War, but there's no way to prove that. It's entirely possible things would be WORSE today.

You can't pretend to know what would have unfolded IF we had not intervened.

You CAN wax dogmatic and just ASSUME everything would have been fine if only they'd done it YOUR way, but you can't be sure.

We have to live with what we did and go from here, rather than WISHING we were somewhere else, or trying to backtrack and make assumptions about what would have happened IF hypothetical things would have happened in the past.

I think President Obama has come to grips with this reality. It would help if his more rhtoric-drunk followers whould join him in reality-ville.

@1151 | 2:19 p.m. Oct. 21, 2009

Well I didn't vote for either Obama or Bush. I vote only for independent and constitutionalist candidates. I supported Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul though and he strives for peace.

Congress objectively did vote to go to war with Iraq or why is it called the Iraq war? There should have been an honest declaration and not the old back door sneaky method utilised since Korea. We let them get away with murder in Congress.

There is no evidence that the war in Iraq (or Afghanistan) has helped solve the terrorist problem. Perhaps it has actually spawned more terrorists. There was no evidence of WMD either although we were told repeatedly that there was.

Fey.May | 3:49 p.m. Oct. 25, 2009

Mr. Florez, I agree completely. I am not a registered Republican or Democrat because I don't feel that any single party describes my political or moral views well enough for me to wish to be numbered among one in particular, and I must say I have been very impressed with how President Obama has lit a fire of hope and service within our country's population.

I only think the timing of this award is unfortunate. I knew as soon as I learned of the award that the President would be criticized for it, even though he didn't have anything to do with the nomination or award. I still believe that the Nobel Peace Prize criteria has been met. I also have relatives who live overseas (Europe), and the general opinion there since the election a year ago has been that President Obama is good for the U.S. and good for the world.

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