Leaked Canadian memo concerning Obama and NAFTA 'posturing'
El_Kabong
Posts: 4,141
memo???
i know you will say but he and their government denied it but keep in mind one of his top economic and trade advisors helped push nafta thru, had his law firm advise mexico on nafta and pushed to escalate the wto!!!
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8a7bb920-e97b-11dc-8365-0000779fd2ac.html
Obama under fire over Nafta memo
By Andrew Ward in Washington
Published: March 3 2008 23:50 | Last updated: March 3 2008 23:55
A senior adviser to Barack Obama told the Canadian government that the Democratic presidential frontrunner’s campaign rhetoric on free trade should be viewed as “political positioning”, according to a leaked memo.
The memo provided the first firm evidence to support week-old allegations that the Obama campaign issued private reassurances to Canada while publicly criticising the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
The furore stems from a meeting between Austan Goolsbee, Mr Obama’s senior economic adviser, and officials at the Candian consulate in Chicago last month.
In a summary of the meeting, a Canadian diplomat wrote that Mr Goolsbee “acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign”.
“He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans,” said the memo, which was obtained by the Associated Press.
In a televised debate last week, Mr Obama vowed to push for renegotiation of Nafta and threatened to withdraw from the agreement if Canada and Mexico refused.
The 13-year-old deal, which removed tariffs on most trade between the US, Canada and Mexico, has become the focus of economic debate ahead of Tuesday’s primary election in Ohio, which has suffered a painful exodus of manufacturing jobs.
Hillary Clinton on Monday seized on the memo to raise questions about her opponent’s authenticity as she fights to keep her presidential ambitions alive.
She accused Mr Obama of giving “the old wink-wink” to the Canadian government while assuring Americans that he would fight to protect US jobs.
Mr Goolsbee on Monday acknowledged he had met Canadian officials but said he had been misquoted in the memo. Mr Obama last week denied knowledge of any meeting between his campaign and the Canadian government.
The Canadian embassy in Washington expressed regret for how the meeting had been interpreted. “There was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private,” it said.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
i know you will say but he and their government denied it but keep in mind one of his top economic and trade advisors helped push nafta thru, had his law firm advise mexico on nafta and pushed to escalate the wto!!!
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8a7bb920-e97b-11dc-8365-0000779fd2ac.html
Obama under fire over Nafta memo
By Andrew Ward in Washington
Published: March 3 2008 23:50 | Last updated: March 3 2008 23:55
A senior adviser to Barack Obama told the Canadian government that the Democratic presidential frontrunner’s campaign rhetoric on free trade should be viewed as “political positioning”, according to a leaked memo.
The memo provided the first firm evidence to support week-old allegations that the Obama campaign issued private reassurances to Canada while publicly criticising the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
The furore stems from a meeting between Austan Goolsbee, Mr Obama’s senior economic adviser, and officials at the Candian consulate in Chicago last month.
In a summary of the meeting, a Canadian diplomat wrote that Mr Goolsbee “acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign”.
“He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans,” said the memo, which was obtained by the Associated Press.
In a televised debate last week, Mr Obama vowed to push for renegotiation of Nafta and threatened to withdraw from the agreement if Canada and Mexico refused.
The 13-year-old deal, which removed tariffs on most trade between the US, Canada and Mexico, has become the focus of economic debate ahead of Tuesday’s primary election in Ohio, which has suffered a painful exodus of manufacturing jobs.
Hillary Clinton on Monday seized on the memo to raise questions about her opponent’s authenticity as she fights to keep her presidential ambitions alive.
She accused Mr Obama of giving “the old wink-wink” to the Canadian government while assuring Americans that he would fight to protect US jobs.
Mr Goolsbee on Monday acknowledged he had met Canadian officials but said he had been misquoted in the memo. Mr Obama last week denied knowledge of any meeting between his campaign and the Canadian government.
The Canadian embassy in Washington expressed regret for how the meeting had been interpreted. “There was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private,” it said.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
standin above the crowd
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Wow.
Thank you.
This puts the nail in the fucking coffin.
Obama is BOUGHT AND SOLD.
100%.
First the massive donations from Wallstreet and the Federal Reserve owners themselves (Citibank, Morgan Chase, ?Goldman Sachs?) ... now this.
NAFTA was the ONE reason i was wondering whether Obama may actualy be somewhere in between either well meaning yet naive or nearly "rouge" (like kennedy) and in danger of being whacked.
This puts ALL of it to rest.
Obama is a fucking piece of shit shill.
As far as i'm concerned now, you can officialy view EVERYTHING in his "plans" as nothing more than doublespeak and bullshit that will never be implemented.
The stuff that does get implemented will be meant to fuck you.
Case in point:
I read on his website that he will overhaul the tax code so that the average american can file in less than 5 minutes. Sounds to good to be true, right?
It IS.
How would he accomplish this?
The IRS WOULD FILE YOUR TAXES FOR YOU.
Uh!
CAN YOU SAY: "BEND OVER AND LET ME FUCK YOU HARDER" ?
???
WTF
???
OBAMA IS BOUGHT AND SOLD
If I opened it now would you not understand?
wow, you've convinced me!
another fishy obama story where we just have to take his word
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/28/7340/
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
I said that long ago.........
PEARL JAM~San Antonio, TX. 4~5~03
INCUBUS~Houston, TX. 1~19~07
INCUBUS~Denver, CO. 2~8~07
Lollapalooza~Chicago, IL. 8~5~07
INCUBUS~Austin, TX. 9~3~07
Bonnaroo~Manchester, TN 6~14~08
Did you read the last paragraph? Anyway, just curious - how many anti-Obama threads are you planning to start this week? I think you're up to 4 or 5 so far.
"The Canadian embassy in Washington expressed regret for how the meeting had been interpreted. “There was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private,” it said."
There may have been no INTENT to convey that interpretation, but what the fuck are you supposed to look at that and say?
And obviously, if that statement was an internal memo ment to convey that sentiment in PRIVATE, of COURSE they would deny the hypocricy to the press.
Duh!
If I opened it now would you not understand?
Do we even know if this story has been validated yet? Every other thread by Kabong is a bash on Obama. Doesn't she support Nader, who owns stock in all the corporations that he's openly against and trying to take down.
It's politics. No politician is squeaky clean, but please spare me the 'Ralph Nader will save us' garbage.
Give it a fucking rest already... you all have been fooled by the Clintons...
I lost whatever little respect I had left for Clinton after seeing her play the fear card.
I love how Hillary says "it raises questions", but leaves it at that. She plants the seed of negativity and suspicion and then shuts her gaping pie hole. She attempts to implicate him but doesn't do it by saying something outright.
It is brilliant on her part even if she does make me want to stab myself in the ear with a rusty fork when she talks.
It amazes me on this board that the people who love to throw the "sheep" label around and make fun of people for being so gullible (ahem, drifting, ahem...), 10 seconds later run with one of these stories as gospel.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
well, it looks like I'm going to have to vote for McCain....I'm sure he's not bought and sold...um...a....
aw, fuck...
Ha ha i heard this on the radio this morning and cringed, i can't believe the corny crap that gets played over there during election time.
Obama is bought and sold and he'll prove it when you guys vote him in.
Plus don't you think they all play the same dirty game, it seems like there's a lot of protection on this forum for Obama. He really isn't any different to all the other politicians.
The economy has polarized to the point where the wealthiest 10% now own 85% of the nation’s wealth. Never before have the bottom 90% been so highly indebted, so dependent on the wealthy.
On to some more breaking news, did you guys know Obama is a Muslim, he wants to be sworn in on the Koran, and that his middle name is Hussein? Sounds pretty fuckin' fishy to me...
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
It's true! I saw a picture of him in a funny outfit on TV the other day!
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
I saw that same picture...he looked like he was up to know good. Whatever it was he was doing, he probably learned it in that madrassa that he chose to go to while he was five years old.
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
i have NO problem accepting that a story is bunk if it is so.
NO i didn't go rushing to research this, the story says a memo was leaked. I personaly would like to see the memo, but i don't think a google search is going to help me.
Otherwise, there are like 4 people on here saying repeatedly that this story is debunked.
And yet they have no proof except for the people involved covering their asses.
Could i get a link please.
All i see is an article claiming that what was said was not intended to mean what it said.
So what the fuck DID it mean? Give me a fucking break.
He is your candidate.
Defend him with evidence.
And by debunked, i mean prove to me that the statement referenced in the alleged leaked memo is not in existence.
If that memo is real, the story is NOT debunked.
So, lets have it, and i will GLADLY retract my statement.
I would love to believe the Obama hype.
But so far it is just that, hype.
And its growing more suspiscious by the day, imho.
If I opened it now would you not understand?
So a conservative gov like Canada "leaking" a memo about the frontrunner for the Democratic party who said he would opt out of NATO doesn't sound fishy at all to you?
You're the conspiracy guy on here, that doesn't smell a little weird to you?
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
So the conspiracy is that this internal record of a meeting between a Canadian diplomat and Obamas policy advisor was falsified?
That is your defense here.
Someone wrote down an account of a meeting, that was meant to stay private.
You think they took "fake" notes, with the intention of leaking them?
Okay.
If that is your "evidence" that this is debunked,
you are worse than the 911 Truth movement in its claims against the government, aren't you?
If I opened it now would you not understand?
Dude, I'm like you I'm looking for the proof of this memo and coming up short.
I also know this came out right before the biggest day of the campaign season, it just sounds odd. How does that make me worse than the "animated planes on TV" 9/11 truthers?
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
Well.
1. I don't think we will be finding proof of the memo, since we weren't meant to see it in the first place.
2. The "Animated Plane" truthers, IMHO, are part of CoIntelPro if you ask me. Made up by the government to throw a bad label on the truthers. Just like they did by basicaly sponsoring the anarchists at NWO protests in seattle. Bullshit basicaly.
3. The comparison i was making was that if people are constantly railing on the 911 movement for denying reality and relying for their claims on nothing more than speculative and unsubstantiated claims -- though imho there are some very legitimate arguments to be made -- then denying this charge based on simply WANTING TO BELIEVE IT IS NOT TRUE is even worse ... and i say that only because there is NOTHING substantiating the pro-obama counter claim here ... vs. the 911 movement which at this point actualy does have very real charges against the government.
Of course you could argue that it is all a wash, because the memo itself hasn't turned up.
But then again, the article you offer up seems to NOT deny the memo, it only says "he didn't mean it like that", basicaly. But how else can you take it? Like i said.
Anyhow.
I think it is extremely hypocritical for all the obama lovers to so blindly defend their candidate in the face of having accused the Ron Paul supporters endlessly for doing the same. Even though Ron Paul had a consistent policy record, and Obama frankly really doesnt. At least, as far as defendin the constitution goes, which, IMHO is what counts ... not backing up "liberal" legislation.
So.
?
If I opened it now would you not understand?
So what, that people want to post threads about Obama that aren't kissing his ass for his latest pep rally? I see him as bad news and nothing more than another mediocre, full of shit politician. And you guys along with the a whole bunch of other well intentioned but misguided folks are gonna choose him to be our next president. So yeah, we're going to keep posting threads about his shortingcomings...as many as we want to. You don't need to be concerned with how many threads others posts...it shows you don't have much to add on the thread subject so you try to attack the source. This particular story isn't going to have hard evidence...it's going to have speculation. It could go either way. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth bringing up and discussing especially considering Obama's past. Now, I for one, plan to keep bringing up concerns about Obama, however often I fucking please...just like I did Bush because I really don't prefer to see this type of person running the show. You guys already seem to know about Hillary and McCain so why bother there? So address the thread content with a counter point or get over it and continue to cheer.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Forbes is a much more credible site then what anyone else has posted here so one might want to consider their sources.....
if is fishy that this memo comes out the day before the biggest.... make or break... day for Billary........
What is the implicatoin here?
Is there something in the original article or something somewhere else that is from Forbes?
If so i believe it.
If I opened it now would you not understand?
the memo is about NAFTA not NATO. you can say that you don't believe that the memo is true but understand that all you have to go on is that Obama says so. secondly, i am happy that my government did leak this as NAFTA is a part of our country and for Obama to say why is Canada talking about US elections shows me that he is abit niave to believe that a government is not going to talk about issues that affect their country.
- Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me."
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980)
You are correct. Brain fart on my part.
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
First of all, you and everyone else are free to start as many threads on whatever subjects you like. Just like I and everyone else are free to criticize those threads as we see fit.
Second, the Obama slander threads are ridiculous. Even the ones that could go "either way" as you put it are getting almost as bad as:
a) Obama is a muslim and we're all going to be reading the Koran in 4 years
b) Obama's wife hates the US
c) Obama's wife said he stinks
d) Obama doesn't wear the flag pin or put his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegiance.
e) etc, etc, etc
Third, look at my post history. I believe I've made less than 5 totals comments about Obama EVER, but you've labeled me as misguided and someone with absolutely no point. Yet another unfounded claim. Just because I criticize a thread or two doesn't mean I'm Obama's biggest cheerleader and I'm walking around with blinders on.
I'm somewhere in the middle and I'm trying to be objective. I'm certainly going to call bullshit when I see people riding Nader's dick about how he's the only honest candidate and blah blah blah. My2hands posted an article a few days ago that showed Nader's stock portfolio, which includes many of the corporations he so openly speaks out against, like Haliburton. That's a tad hypocritical, don't you think? Nader is just as bad as every other politician. If he really wanted to bring about so called change, why doesn't he just use his influence to bring awareness to the "important issues?" He can do this without running for president.
The point is EVERY politician is sleazy. They're politicians for Christ's sake. Dig up as much dirt as you like on Obama, but you might as well use a little objectivity yourself and at least make sure the claim is somewhat substantiated. Having blind bias is just as bad as having blind faith.
no problem, i have many brain farts also. My questions to all here is why are you blaming Hillary. is it for talking about the story or do you believe that she had a part of releasing the infomation. also for those who believe that teh "conservative" Canadian government releasd this info to get Obama to lose, don't you believe that it would have been smarter for them to release it in the general election so that McCain ( a conservative) could win the election.
- Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me."
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980)
i have to say that this is one of the best posts i have ever read here. the only thing that i find sad is the complete lack of trust of politicians.
- Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me."
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980)
I haven't supported or posted any threads supporting pointless topics such as these.
The misguided comment wasn't to you specifically but more of general sense.
This thread isn't about Nader. But yes, he looks overwhelmingly better than Obama on the issues. I've already said the stock portfolio was hypocritical and have emailed his campaign about it, as well. You think many here are going to be doing the same about Obama's contradictions? And you don't get to decide how Nader should best use his influence. In past elections he has applied pressure to the Dem candidates who were ignoring key issues and forced these issues to be addressed also causing Dems to take up certain causes in an effort to attract voters like me who won't be voting based on a party or what the media says is possible but rather on the issues that are important to me.
Show me where I said there was a perfect candidate. It just so happens that Nader's take on the issues looks much better. Is it soooo hard to address that instead of the stock answer of 'shrugs...every politician is bad' ?? Are we gonna just sit back and continue to accept that fact like this is all that is possible and we have no power to change it. Not me. I'm being objective, actually. I'm voting based on the issues, period.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde