Obama insults the Philippines (UPDATED)
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| How do you say "condescending jerk" in Tagalog? |
Obama praised Arroyo for her efforts to fight terrorism, and her help in dealing with the problems of Burma and North Korea. He noted the Philippines is hosting a conference next year on nuclear non-proliferation. "We're going to have a busy agenda together," Obama said.Ahem. The Philippines is the 12th largest country in the world. It is larger than France, Germany, Egypt, Italy, Canada & the UK. It also covers a vast area of the western Pacific including more than 7,000 islands.
He said the Philippines is a small country, but, to use a boxing metaphor, it "punches above its weight in the international arena."
Could someone tell me why Obama is now insulting the Philippines? Oh that's right — they're an ally. Nevertheless, I doubt that the proud Pinoy community enjoys the condescension.
The brief presser also provided evidence of the One's self-professed "profound humility":
A Philippine journalist asked each leader his or her impression of the other. Arroyo called Obama "cordial, warm, and welcoming."In her response, Arroyo made her answer all about Obama. No one's surprised that Obama did the same.
Obama joked, "I'm sure she thinks I'm much younger looking than she expected."
UPDATE: Lynn B. of In Context reminds me that this isn't the first time Obama has slighted the Philippines.
To Obama, Philippines No Longer a Key U.S. AllyUPDATE #2 (6:20 p.m.): Reuters now has a full story up on the Obama/Arroyo meeting. Unlike USA Today's pool report, this one offers the complete Obama quote which, to be fair, doesn't sound as bad as reporter David Jackson's paraphrase.
The new U.S. secretary of state visited Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and China, but Filipinos were quick to note that her itinerary excluded the Philippines, which, together with Japan and South Korea, have security alliances with the United States.
Indonesia, which has no security alliance with the United States, was the only Southeast Asian country that Clinton visited...
As Clinton visited Asia, signals flared in the Philippines to remind her that its historic and strategic relations with the United States were being badly frayed.
These tensions have been exacerbated by Obama’s repeated snubs of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s attempts to seek a meeting with the U.S. leader or at least receive a return telephone call from him.
Obama said: "Although the Philippines is not the largest of countries, it, using a phrase from boxing, punches above its weight in the international arena." (The AFP confirms this version of the statement.)
The statement still diminishes the guest, which is a diplomatic no-no. Nevertheless, it is not nearly as gaffe-tastic as calling the Philippines "a small country." Looks like Obama was ill-served by his MSM court stenographers.
err...Canada is the second largest country in the world. eh!
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The Philippines is #12 by population, not land size. Canada is #36.
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Actually, The Philippines is the 72nd largest country in the world by size.
So, technically, he was right - by size, it IS a small country. To ignore that, and focus on population is disingenuous.
Also, it's total population is 1.4
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1.4 isn't many. More people than that live in the house next door to me.
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Of course population is more important that the land area when deciding influence on the world stage.
When people discuss the largest cities in the US, they are talking about NYC, LA or Chicago, not land area leaders like Sitka, Alaska; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Anaconda, Mont. Despite NYC being #22 in land area, it is obviously considered our largest city.
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Maybe he should invite the Philippine president over for a beer.
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Looks like Obama was ill-served by his MSM court stenographers.
Maybe. But you really should have observed more carefully the placement of the quotation marks in the original pool report. The description, a small country, is obviously the reporter's paraphrase and not a direction quotation since it did not appear enclosed within quotation marks.
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You have to remember, Obama grew up in Hawaii and went to the prestigious Punahou School, with all the rich kids. Filipinos here in supposedly non-racist Hawaii are looked way down upon. When they first came here, the planters specifically sought out uneducated young men, and for decades Filipinos were kinda Hawaii's poor white trash -- the guys with the rep for troublemaking, being broke all the time, illiteracy, having no skills, etc. Just as it has with blacks, certain classes of whites, and Indians in some parts of the US, the negative image of Filipinos in Hawaii has persisted. I'm betting you that Obama is just a little racist toward Filipinos.
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...I'm betting you that Obama is just a little racist toward Filipinos.
Noooo. Say it ain't so.
Zero's twenty years in the pews of Rev. Wright's church tell me that he's more than a little racist towards all kinds of folks.
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