Rudd moves to censure Howard over Obama attack

[cal04]

OPPOSITION Leader Kevin Rudd today moved a censure motion against Prime Minister John Howard over his attack on US presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Mr Rudd said Mr Howard should be censured over his comment yesterday that terrorist network al-Qaeda would be hoping for a Democratic candidate to win next year's US presidential election.

Senator Obama has pledged to withdraw US troops from Iraq by March 2008, a timetable Mr Howard believes is dangerous.

Labor's censure motion refers to Mr Howard's “false statement” that his comments were directed only at Senator Obama and criticises Mr Howard for damaging the Australia-US alliance.

It also accuses Mr Howard of “gross insensitivity” for lecturing the United States on Iraq when the war has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 US servicemen and women.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21210997-601,00.html

[illinoisprogressive]

1. I heard that Howard sent a nasty gram back to Obama. this is getting

very interesting. I have no doubt as to who will win this one

[rodeodance]

4. certainly will not be that little wienie doggy

[Fridays Child]

2. Good. He should suffer the consequence of making such a remark.

The stupid bastard would be outraged if an American similarly interfered in Australia's electoral politics.

[Random_Australian]

8. No, he was cheering when the U.S did similar... because it was chimp

supporting him.

Just a FYI. :)

[IndianaGreen]

3. Howard has turned Obama into a sympathetic international figure

Aussies that know Howard, know that he is a bloody racist.

[Gman]

14. Obama needs to keep the feud going with Howard

a la Olberman and O'Really. Olberman got a lot of mileage out of baiting O'Really. Obama can turn Howard into another symbol of everything that's wrong with this war and get a lot of free publicity and getting him needed name recognition at the same time. I don't think Howard would be capable of resisting attacking Obama.

Obama's retort of challenging Howard to send 20K troops to Iraq was perfect.

[Lost-in-FL]

5. Sweet!!!

:toast:

[cal04]

6. Editorial: Reality check coming in Iraq war debate

US President George W. Bush may appreciate the sentiment, but it is unlikely that anything John Howard has to say on the timing of a US troop withdrawal from Iraq will have much impact on those jockeying to become the US Democratic Party candidate in next year's race for the White House. As such, the Prime Minister's extraordinary foray into US politics yesterday, criticising the position taken by Democrat contender Barack Obama, is more calculated to influence the ALP and Australian voters than head off the man campaigning to become the first black president of the US.

(snip)
Mr Howard seized on Mr Obama's introduction of a bill to remove US combat forces from Iraq by March 31 next year, despite the legislation having virtually no chance of becoming law under Mr Bush and the fact the US election is not due until November 2008. The Prime Minister said Mr Obama's plan would encourage those who want to destabilise and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama election win. Mr Howard said that if he were running al-Qa'ida in Iraq, he would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Mr Obama but also for the Democrats.

His message remains in sync with that of Mr Bush, who announced last month that an additional 21,500 US troops would be sent to Iraq and signalled the prospect of expanding the military effort to tackle Iran and Syria head-on. Mr Bush said the cost of accepting defeat and withdrawing from Iraq was too great to contemplate, and that to fail there would allow Islamic extremists to grow in strength, topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons, and Washington's enemies would have secured a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the US people. This message is rapidly losing currency with Mr Bush's political opponents, and US voters.

(snip)
Mr Rudd has already watered down Labor's position for a unilateral withdrawal, and yesterday he remained unspecific on what Labor's plans would be. He said combat troops would be withdrawn as their rotations expired, but hundreds of Australian soldiers would remain to protect our diplomats and provide security assistance to the Iraqis. Mr Rudd has promised to talk to Washington about carrying out any troop withdrawal. As such, he is being sensibly cautious. The real danger may well prove to be for Mr Howard, as the US presidential campaign hots up and threatens to provide a reality check for the Iraq debate at home.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21208367-601,00.html

[cal04]

7. Labor targets PM over Obama remarks

Labor has tried to censure Mr Howard over the comments.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd says the relationship with the US Democratic Party has been damaged.

"To accuse the Democratic Party of being the terrorist's party of choice, this is a most serious charge," he said.

"To accuse the party of Roosevelt, to accuse the party of Truman, to accuse the party of Kennedy and Johnson of being the terrorist's party of choice."

Mr Howard told Parliament he will not retract his comments, and has not damaged the US alliance.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1845909.htm

[oscarmitre]

9. Howard is panicking and this shows how panicked he is.

Not that I want to inject domestic Australian politics into the discussion.......it's just that I'm splitting a gut laughing at the antics of our Prime Buffoon.

The censure motion was defeated in the house on party numbers. I want to see another censure motion before the end of the year, the censure motion kicking Howard and his cronies out of government.

Sorry I said I wouldn't bring in our domestic policies.

[Kber]

15. Best of luck to you!

I wish Amerca had the equivalent of a "no confidence vote" sometimes!

[depakid]

10. This is getting interesting

I may not be the biggest Barak Obama fan, but his rhetorical skill have few equals.

He'll eat Howard up and spit him out...

(Please Howard, ALP a favor- keep picking on Obama).

[cal04]

11. Rudd launches offensive on Howard , censure fails

OPPOSITION Leader Kevin Rudd today went on the offensive against Prime Minister John Howard over his verbal attack on US presidential hopeful Barack Obama, warning it might damage the Australia-US alliance.

(snip)
The censure motion failed along party lines, 60 votes to 82.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21210997-601,00.html

[Doondoo]

12. howard is pathetic

[catgirl]

13. Hmm. The Bushies REALLY don't want Obama, do they?

Aren't Howard and Bush tight? This is only
going to help Obama. Ha ha!

[fla nocount]

16. I don't think it's the Bush corporate shills that don't want him

It's corporate America/RNC/DLC/PNAC/AIPAC that are worried. The man has no levers, no handles, no buttons to push except of course for his nicotine addiction. I believe they view him as a loose cannon.

[IndianaGreen]

17. Obama said today that he is chewing Nicorette

It takes a lot of effort to kick the nicotine habit, I wish him well!

[fla nocount]

18. Hi IG

Long time no post.

I wish him well also. I gained new respect for Obama for getting froggy with the Aussie. Tit for tat with no down time for deliberation.....thinks on his feet with snappy/cheeky retorts.

[IndianaGreen]

19. and Howard made himself such a public ass

It was great to see one of Bush's pals look like idiots.

BTW, Howard is trailing badly in the polls.

Hi back at ya! :-)

[Matilda]

20. The more he gets behind in the polls, the more he stumbles.

I wouldn't write him off - he's a cunning little bastard - but last week he made a big gaffe by
saying that the link between carbon emissions and climate change wasn't proven, and had to apologise
in Parliament for his mistake.

This week it's his attack on Obama - defending the indefensible by his continuing support of the US
invasion of Iraq.

He wouldn't have miscalculated like this a couple of months ago - I think Rudd is getting to him.

[IndianaGreen]

21. Howard might throw a temper tantrum when he is defeated by Rudd

All these fascists are alike! Remember when Italian PM Silvo Berlusconi lost to Prodi, and how he refused to leave office? They practically had to evict him!

[Matilda]

22. Is this what it's about?