jasongpeirce
06-09-2015, 12:17 AM
http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/why-john-cusack-thinks-obama-is-as-bad-or-worse-than-bush/
Why John Cusack Thinks Obama is ‘As Bad or Worse Than Bush’June 8, 2015—Actor John Cusack is taking heat for the recent comments he made about Obama to The Daily Beast while plugging his new Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy.
When prompted by the interviewer’s noting that George W. Bush’s approval rating is now higher than Obama’s, Cusack addressed a host of issues on which Obama is “as bad or worse than Bush.” Though libertarians applaud Cusack for being largely on-point, he’s received little “love and mercy” since making the comments.
Here’s Cusack’s comments to The Daily Beast:
“Well, Obama has certainly extended and hardened the cement on a lot of Bush’s post-9/11 Terror Inc. policies, so he’s very similar to Bush in every way that way. His domestic policy is a bit different, but when you talk about drones, the American Empire, the NSA, civil liberties, attacks on journalism and whistleblowers, he’s as bad or worse than Bush. He hasn’t started as many wars, but he’s extended the ones we had, and I don’t even think Dick Cheney or Richard Nixon would say the president has the right to unilaterally decide whom he can kill around the world. On Tuesdays, the president can just decide whom he wants to kill, and you know, since 9/11 there are magic words like ‘terror,’ and if you use magic words, you can justify any power grab you want.”
(Note: Obama has certainly agitated war in Syria, Libya, and Ukraine (http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/why-is-george-soros-dictating-obamas-foreign-policy-in-ukraine-2/), for example. These “interventions” may not appear to be as full-blown as Bush’s wars — yet — but the consequences will most likely prove to be equally disastrous to American peace, prosperity, and liberty.)
As for Cusack’s comments, fair enough, right? Well, let’s look at how they were headlined by a smattering of other media outlets:
–From huffingtonpost.com: “John Cusack’s Comments On Obama Being ‘Worse Than Bush’ Taken Out of Context”
–FOXNews.com: “John Cusack: President Obama is ‘as bad or worse than’ George W. Bush”
–Rawstory.com: “John Cusack: Obama is worse than Bush and more conservative than Nixon” (the Nixon part of the headline is in reference to a Cusack quote from an interview with Salon)
–The Washington Post: “John Cusack says Obama is worse than Bush. But he’s just a guy with a boombox.”
–The Guardian: “John Cusack: Barack Obama is ‘as bad or worse’ than George Bush”
Interestingly, huffingtonpost.com ran interference for Obama, claiming the comments were taken out of context. But at least they ran Cusack’s comments in full.
The Washington Post however, did not run the comments in full. But they did attempt to belittle Cusack in their headline: “he’s just a guy with a boombox.” Curiously, WaPo also edited-out Cusack’s damning middle section quote on Obama (who once bragged “I’m really good at killing people”) being worse than Cheney and Nixon: “I don’t even think Dick Cheney or Richard Nixon would say the president has the right to unilaterally decide whom he can kill around the world.”
Hmmm… Now, why would the liberal-progressive WaPo edit that out? (Cusack is presumably referring in-part to the half-dozen American citizens Obama has had killed without charges or trial, including a 16 year-old boy of whom former Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs cracked “he should have had a far more responsible father” — really, and wow).
FOX did print the comments in full, including the Cheney/Nixon comparison. But of course, FOX rarely expresses much concern over the trampling of civil liberties in the name of executing the catastrophe that is the “war on terror.”
Rawstory ran the comments in full, and even sprinkled in Cusack’s pro-perspective of Ed Snowden.
The Guardian, to their credit, ran the comments and also included an older quote from Cusack prefacing his 2012 interview with George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley: “One is forced to ask the question: is the president (Obama) just another Ivy League asshole shredding civil liberties and due process and sending people to die in some shithole for purely political reasons?”
At any rate, Cusack eloquently called out the headlines on twitter for their shortage of “high fidelity” (for lack of a better term):
(see link for tweet)
Here’s another:
(see link for tweet)
Keeping the eye-on-the-ball, the most important aspect of this developing story is the substance of Cusack’s assertions. In short, Obama, like Bush, is an unmitigated disaster for freedom. So kudos to Cusack. He’s right. But what’s needed is for Cusack and anyone following this story to stay focused on the substance, not to battle over controlling the narrative or parsing the headlines. After all, Cusack didn’t simply just “say anything” about Obama. He was specific. And what he said should be of the utmost and urgent importance to anyone concerned with the future of the U.S. and liberty itself. Hopefully Cusack will continue to double-down going forward.
One thing is for sure, Cusack will not be showing up on the White House lawn anytime soon with a boombox blaring “In Your Eyes.”
Why John Cusack Thinks Obama is ‘As Bad or Worse Than Bush’June 8, 2015—Actor John Cusack is taking heat for the recent comments he made about Obama to The Daily Beast while plugging his new Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy.
When prompted by the interviewer’s noting that George W. Bush’s approval rating is now higher than Obama’s, Cusack addressed a host of issues on which Obama is “as bad or worse than Bush.” Though libertarians applaud Cusack for being largely on-point, he’s received little “love and mercy” since making the comments.
Here’s Cusack’s comments to The Daily Beast:
“Well, Obama has certainly extended and hardened the cement on a lot of Bush’s post-9/11 Terror Inc. policies, so he’s very similar to Bush in every way that way. His domestic policy is a bit different, but when you talk about drones, the American Empire, the NSA, civil liberties, attacks on journalism and whistleblowers, he’s as bad or worse than Bush. He hasn’t started as many wars, but he’s extended the ones we had, and I don’t even think Dick Cheney or Richard Nixon would say the president has the right to unilaterally decide whom he can kill around the world. On Tuesdays, the president can just decide whom he wants to kill, and you know, since 9/11 there are magic words like ‘terror,’ and if you use magic words, you can justify any power grab you want.”
(Note: Obama has certainly agitated war in Syria, Libya, and Ukraine (http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/why-is-george-soros-dictating-obamas-foreign-policy-in-ukraine-2/), for example. These “interventions” may not appear to be as full-blown as Bush’s wars — yet — but the consequences will most likely prove to be equally disastrous to American peace, prosperity, and liberty.)
As for Cusack’s comments, fair enough, right? Well, let’s look at how they were headlined by a smattering of other media outlets:
–From huffingtonpost.com: “John Cusack’s Comments On Obama Being ‘Worse Than Bush’ Taken Out of Context”
–FOXNews.com: “John Cusack: President Obama is ‘as bad or worse than’ George W. Bush”
–Rawstory.com: “John Cusack: Obama is worse than Bush and more conservative than Nixon” (the Nixon part of the headline is in reference to a Cusack quote from an interview with Salon)
–The Washington Post: “John Cusack says Obama is worse than Bush. But he’s just a guy with a boombox.”
–The Guardian: “John Cusack: Barack Obama is ‘as bad or worse’ than George Bush”
Interestingly, huffingtonpost.com ran interference for Obama, claiming the comments were taken out of context. But at least they ran Cusack’s comments in full.
The Washington Post however, did not run the comments in full. But they did attempt to belittle Cusack in their headline: “he’s just a guy with a boombox.” Curiously, WaPo also edited-out Cusack’s damning middle section quote on Obama (who once bragged “I’m really good at killing people”) being worse than Cheney and Nixon: “I don’t even think Dick Cheney or Richard Nixon would say the president has the right to unilaterally decide whom he can kill around the world.”
Hmmm… Now, why would the liberal-progressive WaPo edit that out? (Cusack is presumably referring in-part to the half-dozen American citizens Obama has had killed without charges or trial, including a 16 year-old boy of whom former Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs cracked “he should have had a far more responsible father” — really, and wow).
FOX did print the comments in full, including the Cheney/Nixon comparison. But of course, FOX rarely expresses much concern over the trampling of civil liberties in the name of executing the catastrophe that is the “war on terror.”
Rawstory ran the comments in full, and even sprinkled in Cusack’s pro-perspective of Ed Snowden.
The Guardian, to their credit, ran the comments and also included an older quote from Cusack prefacing his 2012 interview with George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley: “One is forced to ask the question: is the president (Obama) just another Ivy League asshole shredding civil liberties and due process and sending people to die in some shithole for purely political reasons?”
At any rate, Cusack eloquently called out the headlines on twitter for their shortage of “high fidelity” (for lack of a better term):
(see link for tweet)
Here’s another:
(see link for tweet)
Keeping the eye-on-the-ball, the most important aspect of this developing story is the substance of Cusack’s assertions. In short, Obama, like Bush, is an unmitigated disaster for freedom. So kudos to Cusack. He’s right. But what’s needed is for Cusack and anyone following this story to stay focused on the substance, not to battle over controlling the narrative or parsing the headlines. After all, Cusack didn’t simply just “say anything” about Obama. He was specific. And what he said should be of the utmost and urgent importance to anyone concerned with the future of the U.S. and liberty itself. Hopefully Cusack will continue to double-down going forward.
One thing is for sure, Cusack will not be showing up on the White House lawn anytime soon with a boombox blaring “In Your Eyes.”