Obama’s West Point Speech: ‘Our Destiny Is Never Written For Us – It’s Written By Us’

video

by Frances Martel | 2:50 pm, May 22nd, 2010

» 42 comments

President Barack Obama gave the commencement speech for the West Point Class of 2010 this morning, highlighting successes in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also gave the class heartfelt advice on how to continue forward through hard times, especially those that are deploying to the warfronts in Iraq and Afghanistan: when they find trouble, “think of West Point.”

Obama announced that the combat mission in Iraq would be over this summer, thanks to the resilience of the military, and reaffirmed that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are “necessary and just.” He also noted that the recent months have brought about more successes for the American military than recent years, even citing the failed Christmas and Times Square bombers as evidence Al-Qaeda and its allies are folding– “the pressure on networks like Al-Qaeda is forcing them to rely on terrorists with less time and space to train.”

He told the students he was humbled by their service, and stood before them especially humbled because he had not served. He thanked their parents for raising them, and them for their service, and affirmed that he did not have “any doubt” that they would succeed in their missions abroad. That said, he noted that the state of the world makes it “easy to give in to the belief sometimes that human progress is stalled,” and also let them on a little secret: the President feels uncertainty sometimes, too. “Along the way, I’m sure you’ve faced a few moments where you’ve asked yourself, ‘What am I doing here?’ I have those moments sometimes,” he told them.

Overall, the message was short, sweet, and positive. Graduating from a military academy into a war is a difficult place to be, but the President gives them their full support, and is entirely confident in their abilities.

Full video of the speech, in two parts, below:

Afghanistan, barack obama, college, commencement speech, Iraq, military, West Point

http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

Obama – a real American President. It’s great to know the grownups are back in control and in charge. The clusterscrewups of the Republican Party of the Bush Administration and his hip pocket congresses were the greatest assets Al Qaeda and the Islamofascists could have ever hoped for.
MichelleF

I’d be willing to bet Obama’s audience at West Point couldn’t disagree with you more.
felixw

Obama at West Point….Is this some kind of Saturday Night Live skit?
notsofast

Bill Adkins says:
May 22, 2010 at 3:02 pm

Obama – a real American President. ”

He hasn’t even proved he is an American, Billy boy ,and neither has he proved he is a President!
valkyrie101

notsofast,
So you are a birther, notsofast. LOL. Why am I not surprised.

Felix, Michelle,
I think Obama has taken a fairly “Bush-like” position with regard to the two wars we are fighting. Like Bush he has set a date for withdrawl from Iraq, and like Bush he has realized the strategic importance of taking it to the terrorists in Afganistan. I suspect our West Point cadets support their commander in chief much more than you realize, Michelle
http://www.facebook.com/people/Josh-Kim/1431811538 Josh Kim

Bill Adkins, why is Gitmo still open?
felixw

Valkyrie, Obama has certainly backed away the “run away and hide” military policy he advocated while running for office. That was probably inevitable. But I doubt many cadets have confidence in a commander-in-chief who has made such dramatic flip-flops, and whose single most consistent foreign policy position is to apologize for American wherever he goes.
notsofast

valkyrie101 says:
May 22, 2010 at 5:35 pm

notsofast,
So you are a birther, notsofast. LOL. Why am I not surprised.”

No, but since there are so many 9/11 lib Truthers on this site, I throw that in!
TROLLING4LIBS

Bill Adkins says:
May 22, 2010 at 3:02 pm
The clusterscrewups of the Republican Party of the Bush Administration and his hip pocket congresses were the greatest assets Al Qaeda and the Islamofascists could have ever hoped for.

How Is the new redefined term ‘Overseas Contingency Plan’ , from ‘ War on Terror’ working out? No attempted terrorist attacks on U.S. Soil ? hmm, Not to mention Ft. Hood, and muslim who shot and killed the Army recruiter.

Al- Qaeda /Taliban & other Radical Islamic terrorists haven’t changed their desire to destroy America , not one bit.

But……but…. Obama abolished of “Torture” techniques.. Radical Islam is supposed to love us now ..
valkyrie101

Felix,
Run away and hide? During his campaign he said he would set a timeline on withdrawing from Iraq. He has done that. He said he would deploy more troops to Afganistan. He has done that too. Obama understands that the key country in all of this is Pakistan. Why Pakistan? Pakistan is an Islamic country that has nuclear weapons. It is important to stop the bad guys in Afganistan, and protect Pakistan from Taliban influence.
Barney

Fuck Obama. That piece of shit should not be allowed anywhere near West Point. His presence there is a desecration.

Seriously..fuck him
RichS

valkyrie101 says:
May 22, 2010 at 5:35 pm

” I suspect our West Point cadets support their commander in chief much more than you realize, Michelle”

And I hope, that while they are in the officer corps of the US Military their political views are not known.
notsofast

Barry, why not say you served in Desert Storm? Bloomy is getting away with his lie, why not you?
TCinAZ

Bill Adkins wrote: “Obama – a real American President.”

Yeah, a real American President, who doesn’t take any questions except from Harry Smith about hoops and about why is “everybody” (a few people) always picking on You (asking some hard questions) Mr. President – as Olivia Newton-John’s, I Honestly Love You, was being piped in by CBS for their little stroll around The WH grounds.

“It’s great to know the grownups are back in control and in charge.”

Correction Bill. That was for Power, Control AND for being in charge. Of Everything. Just the way Progessivos Like It.

Oh yeah, and he’s also charge carding Up a storm! Now, I’ll admit that it’s not the WHOPPING $400 Billion in unpaid debt that Dubya left us with, but it’s getting pretty Close To it. lol.

I know that Bammy and the Dems HAD to push our Triple-A Rating Envelope though. For “the Grown Ups”. I mean, “For the Children – and Grandchildren, and Great Grandchildren”.
notsofast

TCinAZ says:
May 22, 2010 at 7:36 pm

Oh yeah, and he’s also charge carding Up a storm! Now, I’ll admit that it’s not the WHOPPING $400 Billion in unpaid debt that Dubya left us with, but it’s getting pretty Close To it. ”

Actually, Barry has way surpassed what W did.

As for the deficit, CBO shows that over the first three years of the Obama Presidency, 2009-2011, the federal government will borrow an estimated $3.7 trillion. THAT IS MORE THAN THE ENTIRE ACCUMULATED NATIONAL DEBT FOR THE FIRST 225 YEARS OF U.S. HISTORY.

Deficit climbs to record under Obama’s budget
$3.8 trillion budget: Jobs take priority; reaction swift

February 02, 2010|By Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Washington — President Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget blueprint for next year sets a new deficit record of $1.56 trillion,.
disgusted

did ”’we” miss something, or merely just distracted? :
..??..??..
05/22/109 http://michellemalkin.com
Michelle Makin AACORN-friendly
An ACORN-Friendly, Big Labor-Backing, Tax-and-Spend Radical in GOP Clothing
By Michelle Malkin • October 16, 2009 10:09 AM

Yes, it’s time for the upside-down elephant. The Stupid Party is at it again. The subject of today’s column: An abomination in the NY23 special congressional race to replace former GOP Rep. John McHugh, who accepted President Obama’s Army Secretary position. Way to go, Beltway GOP establishment. Grass-roots fiscal conservatives are fired up over ACORN, the SEIU, tax-and-spend radicals. Grass-roots social conservatives are battling radical abortion and gay marriage policies. You have been asking movement conservatives to give you money to fight the ACORN-friendly, union-pandering, tax-and-spend, radical Democrats.

Then you use their money to try and elect Dede Scozzafava, an ACORN-friendly, union-pandering, tax-and-spend radical Republican. And you use that money to fight Doug Hoffman, a viable, bona fide conservative candidate in the race who is closing the gap in the polls.

Watch your campaign coffers dry up, NRCC.

The GOP establishment: Always, always its own worst enemy.

Get out your air sickness bags. Guess who endorsed Scozzafava this morning? Newt Gingrich. I hear Al Sharpton and Nancy Pelosi approve!

Fight the GOP Beltway establishment. Contribute to Doug Hoffman today.
****

An ACORN-Friendly, Big Labor-Backing, Tax-and-Spend Radical in GOP Clothing
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009

Here’s the dirty little secret about political candidates and officeholders labeled by the mainstream media as “moderate Republicans”: There’s usually nothing moderate about them. Consider the case of “moderate Republican” Dede Scozzafava, the GOP nominee in the New York 23rd congressional district’s special election.

Handpicked by local party pooh-bahs and supported by Beltway GOP leaders, Scozzafava is vying to replace former GOP Rep. John McHugh, who abandoned his seat to accept President Obama’s nomination as Army Secretary. There’s certainly no urgency to tack left. The upstate New York district is as safe a Republican district as they come. The GOP has triumphed in every election there since 1871. Obama eked out a victory in the district last fall, but the Democrats have no real traction on the ground.

And the mood of the electorate near and far is far from electric blue. It’s not just Tea Party activists and health care town hall protesters displaying discontent with Big Government in Washington. A recent Gallup Poll reported that self-identified conservatives now outnumber self-identified liberals in all 50 states — and that more Americans nationwide now say they are conservative than have made that claim in any of the last four years.

Scozzafava is an abortion rights advocate who favors gay marriage. It would be one thing if Scozzafava balanced that social liberalism with fiscal conservatism. But as a state assemblywoman, she voted for massive tax increases, Democratic budgets and a $180 million state bank bailout. She also supported the trillion-dollar federal stimulus package — which every House Republican voted against.

More troubling, Scozzafava in past elections has embraced the ballot line of the Working Families Party — a socialist outfit whose political DNA is intertwined with scandal-ridden ACORN. ACORN and the WFP have shared office space in New York City, Arkansas and Illinois. ACORN head Bertha Lewis, a close Scozzafava friend and political supporter, wears a second hat as vice chairman of the WFP. The WFP has been listed in ACORN documents dating back to 2000 as an “affiliate.”

Under fire for her cozy relations with organizations that have shown lifelong hostility toward the Republican Party, Scozzafava now claims she would have voted to de-fund ACORN in the wake of the multiple BigGovernment.com sting videos showing ACORN employees advising undercover journalists on how to evade tax laws, lie on housing applications and smuggle underage illegal alien prostitutes.

But there’s another inextricably linked ACORN and WFP affiliate that Scozzafava would not likely disavow: Big Labor.

Refresher: The Service Employees International Union is co-located with several key ACORN offices across the country. ACORN founder Wade Rathke founded influential SEIU Local 100. As John Wilson reported in the New York Post this spring, the WFP’s largest donors are the SEIU, which pitched in more than $300,000, and the teachers union, which donated $200,000. These organizations have worked together to increase left-wing political clout, undermine capitalism and ensure “social justice” on the public’s dime.

Scozzafava’s husband is a leading upstate New York union organizer. She supports the federal “card-check” legislation that would massively boost union rolls — and Democratic voting rolls — at the expense of rank-and-file workers’ free choice. And for that matter, at the expense of Republican electoral prospects. Card check is the key to a Democratic majority in perpetuity. Big Labor bosses have said as much.

Movement conservatives and limited government activists are battling the establishment GOP over its endorsement of Scozzafava’s candidacy. The Club for Growth, former GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson and others have lined up behind a truly mainstream and viable candidate — Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.

Meanwhile, “moderate Republican” Scozzafava has earned the enthusiastic endorsement of far-left blog entrepreneur and political strategist Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, who runs the Daily Kos website. He enthused that Scozzafava has “been willing to raise taxes when budgets require it, and is to the left of most Democrats on social issues.”

That’s not moderation. That’s extremist fringe. This race isn’t a fight over the heart and soul of the Republican Party. It’s a battle over its brain.

***

Jeri Thompson nails it: “The fact that Republican Party leaders in NY-23 and the NRCC ignored just about everything that has taken place over the past six months — the fight over the Obama stimulus package, the tea party rallies, the health care debate — and put Scozzafava on the ballot, indicates that we need more, not less, common sense and conservative values in the Republican Party. Hoffman represents conservatives’ best chance to send a national message to the Republican Party that they are a force to be reckoned with, and that Hoffman appears to have the energy from the grassroots to pull off a win and help lay the groundwork for a successful 2010 election cycle. As one Hoffman supporter told me yesterday, ‘The feeling of momentum is palpable. The race is between Doug and the Democrat…we hope Dede won’t be a spoiler for conservatives in this race.’”

The Washington Times spotlights the battle: Tea Party conservatives vs. the GOP.

Bill Kristol:

A new poll in the November 3 special election for the congressional seat, NY-23, vacated by Army Secretary John McHugh, confirms what knowledgeable observers have suspected for a while: The candidacy of the official Republican nominee, liberal Dede Scozzafava, selected by local party officials and supported by the national Republican establishment, is collapsing. The Republican who has a real chance to defeat Democrat Bill Owens is Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate—a Republican with a profile far more like the popular McHugh, and one far more in sync with the district. What’s more, if elected, Hoffman would caucus in Congress with Republicans—whereas Scozzafava could well pull an Arlen Specter and defect to the Democrats.

Two weeks ago, the Siena poll had Scozzafava at 35%, Owens at 28%, and Hoffman at 16%. Now Scozzafava, at 29%, trails Owens by 4—and leads Hoffman, who has risen to 23%, by only 6, compared to her 19 point lead over Hoffman two weeks ago. This despite a full-court press for Scozzafava by the state and national GOP establishment—including press releases from the National Republican Congressional Committee attacking Hoffman.

The new poll shows Democrats are coming home to Owens, and that Hoffman is leading among independents. (Scozzafava is running third among independents.) This suggests he’s a far more viable candidate than Scozzafava in the stretch run, especially if Republicans were to begin to coalesce around him—which might well happen if the GOP establishment stopped propping up Scozzafava.

Posted in: ACORN Watch, GOP, NY-23, SEIU, Tea Party, Unions
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MichelleF

Here’s a fun excercise to try. Let’s say you have to vote for president, but you don’t know who the 2 candidates are. On the one hand, you have someone, and all you know about them is a majority of the military endorses them. On the other hand, you have someone and the only thing you know about them is Bill Ayers, George Soros, Reverent Wright, and Saul Alinsky’s son, endorse them . Who do you vote for?
JamesA1102

I’d be willing to bet Obama’s audience at West Point couldn’t disagree with you more.

Willing to bet??? How much? $10,000? Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is or just keep shooting it off?
JamesA1102

On the other hand, you have someone and the only thing you know about them is Bill Ayers, George Soros, Reverent Wright, and Saul Alinsky’s son, endorse them .

So in other words all the cherry picked and distorted info from the right wing noise machine.
JamesA1102

He hasn’t even proved he is an American,

Here you go: http://americanshorts.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/obama-birth-certificate.jpg
MichelleF

JamesA1102 says:
May 22, 2010 at 8:13 pm
On the other hand, you have someone and the only thing you know about them is Bill Ayers, George Soros, Reverent Wright, and Saul Alinsky’s son, endorse them .

So in other words all the cherry picked and distorted info from the right wing noise machine.

Right, I forgot the 11th commandment of not being able to use liberals words against them. Sorry, I don’t subscribe to your religion.
notsofast

He hasn’t even proved he is an American,

Here you go: http://americanshorts.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/obama-birth-certificate.jpg”

Wrong!

That’s the short form showing neither the hospital or the doctor!

the WH has refused to produce the long form.
Ted

MichelleF – That is a very stimulating question / exercise. I have one for you that you should enjoy; perhaps with the family over a tv dinner and Glenn Beck re-runs.

If a tea-bagger were traveling at the speed of light from say, Uranus, how long would it take before said tea-bagger says something off the charts stupid? Have fun!!
MichelleF

Ted,
I can tell you think you are funny, but you’re really not.
BillSays

Oooh, dat tedd back – he want to be with obammas- want barry real bad for his own
MichelleF

Ted says:
May 22, 2010 at 8:21 pm
MichelleF – That is a very stimulating question / exercise. I have one for you that you should enjoy; perhaps with the family over a tv dinner and Glenn Beck re-runs.

Oh and I never got your answer. Who did you choose?
BillSays

tedd do micheelle know you wnat barri for yo own
shootfromthehip

“Notsofast,” when even Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly think Obama was born in Hawaii, it’s time to give up the birther dream and realize Obama is an American.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoY1LzwhhtU
http://www.facebook.com/people/W-Ernest-Dupree/1364280232 W Ernest Dupree

Such a stupid remark………….let me see if I can straighten the POTUS out on this

“Our Destiny Is Never Written For Us – It’s Written By Us’

Actually our Destiny is predetermined………..our history is what we write

His statement is as stupid as “Dig ourselves out of a ditch” which can never happen. You dig into a ditch….you can’t dig yourself out of one…….jeeezz
nancyspring46

Who cares!!! My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He- is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at an age gap dating site [A_g_e_m_i_n_g_l_e @ c.//o.//m]—a nice and free place for Younger- Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or- tell your friends
valkyrie101

Dupree,

In a religious sense, those who believe in predestination, such as John Calvin, believe that, before the Creation, God determined the fate of the universe throughout all of time and space. (From wiki on predestination)

Is that what you are saying? That everything that happens has nothing to do with our free will?
bob james

Of course, where Barry Soetero, AKA Barack Hussein Obama was born is very important. It is so important that the U.S. Constitution states, ” No person except a natural born citizen of the United States shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years and been fourteen years a resident of the United States.”…Article II, Section 1.

If it could be proven, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Obama was NOT born in the United States, we would have a real mess on our hands, wouldn’t we? Yet, from Day 1 of the Obama Presidency, we have had a real mess on our hands, so either way, we lose. The sort of nightmare that our Founding Fathers tried their best to warn us about and prepare us for, namely public apathy, is happening to America, and like a malignant tumor, it continues to grow ever rapidly, as it contaminates and destroys its host.

The problem is not the legitimacy of the Barry Soetero/Barack Hussein Obama presidency. The real problem is that we have in America, approximately 51 million apathetic citizens who didn’t care enough to consider the background or character of the person they voted for. Thanks to the Tea Party movement, a significant number of citizens are shedding their apathy and are now looking very critically at the political candidates they vote for. Let us hope it is not too late.

Our national elections on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 will be a watershed event. Either we elect patriotic, trustworthy conservative candidates who will get America back on the right track of conservative principles that made us the greatest nation on earth or we will continue our downward spiral to nowhere and like Greece, wind up just another socialist pesthole of a nation. The choice could hardly be more clear.
valkyrie101

BobJames,
Yes, well, our forefathers were not conservative when they rebelled against the English, and the conservatives of the day, the Tories, mostly fought with the British. To say that America has always been conservative is inaccurate. Throughout our history conservatives: fought to preserve slavery, fought to prevent woman form voting (or having any rights at all), fought against laws outlawing child labor, fought against anti-trust legislation, fought against civil rights legislation, and opposed medicare, to list only a few instances where the progressives moved our country forward in spite of conservatives.
Munch

valkyrie101

And just who filibustered the ’64 CRA?
knewborn

notsofast you are an idiot racist not worthy of replying to, just thought I’d let you know it you’re a joke
valkyrie101

Here is how the dynamic of change takes place. Conservatives oppose change, progressives advocate change, and when a critical threshold is reached, the progressives prevail
bob james

To valkyrie101

Forgive me for not responding to your posts, but intellectually and philosophically we are so far apart as to essentially preclude any possible meeting of the minds. As your user name implies, you should remain in Valhalla, attendant upon Odin, waiting upon and serving the slain warriors chosen by Odin and Tyr.
valkyrie101

BobJones,

Sure Bob, conservatives are always right, slaves and woman should stay in their place, children should start working in factories at age 10, corporations should be able to monopolize industry, and raw sewage should be dumped into the environment without impunity by manufacturers. Good old conservative values and the magical hand of the rree market place. LOL.
http://www.fashionclothe.com xinxin5522

http://www.fashionclothe.com/index.asp
bob james

valkyrie101

Do you realize how much you embarrass yourself with these ludicrous postings? Really, I know I said I would not respond to your postings, but I am embarrassed for you! Let me give you a word of advice. Before you post anything, save it and sit on it for 24 hours and then reread it. This cooling off period may allow you to come to your senses and wonder how you could have been so stupid as to write garbage like this.
valkyrie101

Bob Jones,
Well Bob, I will then just assume you do not believe in progress. And since you do not believe in progress, you must lament the progress our culture has made in areas like pollution regulation, child labor laws, voting rights for woman, civil rights, etc. because all of those things have been opposed by conservatives and only came into being beccause liberals fought for change in spite of conservatives.

As I said, conservatives stand for the status quo, liberals seek change to the status quo, and that is how the dynamic of change takes place. Nothing foolish about that. What is foolish is thinking that we have such a perfect society that we do not need progress.
Liberty – Not Redistribution

Obama’$ domestic anti-terrorism strategy: “Rely in terrorist screwing up.”