But when Smith had a Republican in his sights this morning, the mild-mannered Early Show host suddenly went Rambo. Raising his finger, Smith scolded Mitt Romney for pointing out that Pres. Obama's response to the Iranian repression fell far short of Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall" reproach to the Soviets.
View video here if flash player not displaying.
HARRY SMITH: We've heard much stronger language from President Obama yesterday. Beyond language, though, is there anything, really anything, this administration can do beyond just condemning the behavior of the regime?
MITT ROMNEY: Well I'm glad the president finally did rise to the occasion here. It was not exactly a Ronald Reagan, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" moment.
Smith leapt to PBO's defense, while admonishing Romney.
SMITH: Very different circumstances that have been trotted out by Republicans for the last five or six days now. That was a crumbling regime on its last legs. Let's talk about this in realistic terms.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Reagan
June 24, 2009 - 07:10 ET by ForbusAnd, of course, Reagan's policies and actions had absolutely nothing to do with that "crumbling regime" being on its "last legs."
Spot on, Forbus!
June 24, 2009 - 10:42 ET by GalvanicReagan's rhetoric was consistent with his national strategy to stand up to the Communist bloc by negotiating while simultaneously rebuilding US armed forces, threatening to begin SDI, and providing materiel support to anti-Marxist insurgencies around the world. Gorbachev got the message, and as early as 1985 when he declared "We are going to deny you (the US) an enemy," threw in the towel. Yet the MSM dismisses his influence on the death of Communism by claiming it was really Gorbachev's reforms that led to the collapse. (And just why was Gorbachev attempting reform, one might ask?)
On the other hand, desperate to establish PBO's foreign policy creds as the world's new leader, the MSM is associating the massive Iranian reaction to Presidential election fraud with having been inspired by Obama's passive address to Islam from Egypt.
political pandemic
June 24, 2009 - 14:30 ET by Ten7sAlso, President Reagan's economic, fiscal and financial policies, namely promoting personal freedom and trying to limit the power of the federal government, were as much a factor in the demise of the USSR as President Reagan's robust foreign and defense policies. A sustainable centrally planned economy that even approximately matches a free economy (like one of les Anglo-Saxons Model) is mathematically impossible, too much information. President Reagan knew it and helped US prove it.
Now Obama is trying to drag us backward to the failed systems of the 20th Century, systems and policies that are exponentially less viable now, given the computer revolution. Obama's policies are failed, failing and will lead US to terrible failure.
Crumbling Crock, Here what the Soviets were doing in Hawaii
June 24, 2009 - 14:26 ET by upcountrywaterHere is something the Soviets pulled !!!! Thanks Carter.
Governor of Hawaii calls expressing
outrage that the Soviets, by transiting through the 25 NM wide Alenuihaha
Channel between the islands of Hawaii and Maui, are trespassing in the
Hawaiian archipelago. He states his opinion that the KIROV’s launching and
recovering of helicopters constitutes a hostile act and that the
radiological hazard from the vessels constitutes a threat to the fragile
reef ecology of the Islands and to the Hawaiian people.
Screw the people in Hawaii, it's the reef!
And what were the Soviets doing in Afganistan?...
Thanks AGAIN Carter!
Reagan VS Carter and 0bama
All Bias all the Time
June 24, 2009 - 07:11 ET by allanfAt WCBS Radio in New York, they say "All News All the Time". With Harry Smith, its "All Bias all the Time". Bias includes not just the questons but the tone
I guess he and Williams will fight over bedspace next to Obama.
Smith is just as wrong and
June 24, 2009 - 07:16 ET by kgSmith is just as wrong and arrogant as Obama is. Two peas in a pod.
"DumbAssity of Dope"
Same Old Same Old
June 24, 2009 - 09:50 ET by Wildcatter1980It is the same old leftist view that it was not Reagan and his steadfast resolve that led to rebuilding the American military stripped to the bone by Carter and the Democrats, but rather the "enlightened" Gorbachev who ended the Cold War and removed the Iron Curtain. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." had absolutely nothing to do with the ending of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union--in the eyes of the uninformed and/or selfish leftists that is.
--
We already have term limits. They are called elections. We can & should vote out those who do not represent & serve us! - Me
From a real oldie girl
June 24, 2009 - 07:17 ET by MidAmericaFrom a real oldie girl group, The Cookies:
Don't say nothing bad about my baby (Oh, no)
Don't say nothing bad about my baby (I love him so)
Don't say nothing bad about my baby (Oh, don't you know)
Don't say nothing bad about my baby
He's good (He's good)
He's good to me (Good to me)
And that''s all I care about.
Perfect!
June 24, 2009 - 07:19 ET by Mark FinkelsteinPerfect!
What makes Smith think the
June 24, 2009 - 07:23 ET by BruzillaWhat makes Smith think the Iranian leadership isn't on it's last legs? At the time Reagan made his remarks, there were no protests on the streets of Moscow. If anything, the Iranian government is in worse straights than the Soviets were at the time Reagan made his remarks.
Smith
June 24, 2009 - 07:44 ET by buddycThere is only one way to deal with Smith. Romney should attack the basis, prejudice, of the question. Romney should not respond to a clearly prejudiced question like that until he first points out that Smith's being nothing more than a cheerleader for the Obama administration.
That said, raising Reagan is getting stupid. There are plenty of other good responses like hammering the point that these protests are fueled by free and open elections in Iraq and a more open society in Iraq, courtesy of W and a Republican congress or that America has always been the world's leader in promoting free and fair electsion (except at home in Chicago, Balitmore, LA and Miami). He could have quoted John Kennedy to him. "no price is too great to pay in defense of freedom" (not exact).
Can anyone imagine Smith
June 24, 2009 - 07:52 ET by motherbeltCan anyone imagine Smith saying the following to a liberal regarding health care:
45 million uninsured. That's a number that's been trotted out by the Obama adminstration for the last 5 or 6 weeks now. Let's talk about this in realistic terms.
Yeah, me neither.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
"Realistic terms"?
June 24, 2009 - 07:46 ET by CrashHarry, "realistic terms" would be that President Reagan brought down the USSR with tough action. All a "realist" would need for confirmation is to look at the encroachments made by the evil empire during the Carter years.
Realism
June 24, 2009 - 08:01 ET by nadadhimmiLet's be realistic. Obama backs the mullahs!.
Media memory
June 24, 2009 - 08:08 ET by KC MulvilleWhen Reagan challenged the Soviets, at the time, no one knew that the Soviets were on their last legs. The Soviets fell in 1991 when Yelstin officially buried it.
Don't believe me? Take it from a pretty good source: Lech Welesa.
Is Smith being realistic?
June 24, 2009 - 08:10 ET by RevLawHarry Smith has such a convenient memory… “a crumbling regime…last legs.” Why doesn’t Smith talk about Reagan’s Berlin Wall speech in “realistic terms?” NBC News on the night of the Reagan's speech sure didn’t mention anything about a crumbling regime. Utley and Wallace were sure that Gorbachev was “the man of peace.” Reagan only stirred up violent protests!
Source: NBC Nightly News Resource Type: Video News Report
Creator: Garrick Utley/Chris Wallace
Ronald Reagan Speaks at the Berlin Wall
Garrick Utley, anchor:
Ronald Reagan went to the wall today in Berlin, he used the concrete and barbed wire which stand there,to attack the system behind it, to challenge Mikhail Gorbachev, the Reagan visit and his speech were in response campaign to Gorbachev’s campaign to win support in Western Europe. Chris Wallace reports now from the wall, which divides a city, a country and a continent.
Chris Wallace, reporting: Ronald Reagan came to the wall today, a wall he calls an ugly scar. He peered down from a balcony in East Berlin, where some fifty yards away in a watchtower, East German guards look back with binoculars and cameras. Standing behind bulletproof glass, the President was asked whether he can get the Soviets to tear down the wall.
PRESIDENT REAGAN: Jericho didn’t last forever.
Wallace: Near Brandenburg gate, one symbol that united Berlin, now cut off from the west, Mr. Reagan tried to knock down the walls of this Jericho. He noted Mikhail Gorbachev’s talk of reform, and issued a direct challenge to the Soviet Leader.
PRESIDENT REAGAN: If you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
WALLACE: Presidents have called for tearing down the wall before, but Mr. Reagan has a special problem. Polls indicate more West Germans think Gorbachev as more of a man of peace than Mr. Reagan is. With a crowd of 20 thousand listening in West Berlin, the president addressed comments to the several hundred who massed across the wall in East Berlin.
PRESIDENT REAGAN: I join you as I join your fellow countrymen in the west in this firm, this unalterable belief: es gibt nur ein Berlin (there is only one Berlin).
Wallace: There is only one Berlin, Mr. Reagan hoped would be reunited. It was reminiscent of 1963 when John Kennedy came here and said all free men are citizens of Berlin.
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY: Ich bin ein Berliner.
WALLACE: Then a million people jammed the streets, half the population of the city. But for Mr. Reagan there were violent demonstrations last night. More than 60 were arrested, and the city banned all demonstrations today. The president gave his critics a mixed message, talking of a repressive Soviet system that can’t feed its people, but also noting the superpowers were on the verge of an arms deal.
PRESIDENT REAGAN: I invite those who protest today to mark this fact, because we remain strong, the Soviets came back to the table.
Wallace: When Kennedy came to Berlin 24 years ago, the divisions between East and West were clear and so were people’s loyalties. But on this trip, U.S.-Soviet relations are far more complicated, creating new problems and new opportunities. Chris Wallace NBC News, with the president, in Berlin.
"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness." Ronald Reagan
removed
June 24, 2009 - 08:14 ET by RevLawremoved
sorry - how do you erase :-/
June 24, 2009 - 08:13 ET by RevLaw...
Harry Smith...
June 24, 2009 - 08:14 ET by jdripperknows less about history then he does about professional ethics and honesty.
This crumbling regime on its last legs was that way because Ronald Reagan confronted them along with Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. They forced the Soviet Union over the precipice.
Second this crumbling regime had enough nuclear firepower to incinerate the planet. They had the second largest Army in the world. A very well trained and supplied Army. They had twice as much armor and artillery as all of NATO combined.
They had the 13 largest economy on the planet. They had launch and tracking capabilities with their nuclear arsenal to be able to drop a 100 megaton hydrogen warhead within 3 miles of its target. A 100 megaton bomb warhead will destroy everything within a 30 mile radius.
Mr. Smith you are an a$$.
Jack
"If at age 20 you are a conservative then you have no heart. If at age 30 you are a liberal then you have no brains." Sir Winston Churchill
"That was a crumbling regime
June 24, 2009 - 08:17 ET by Tom Paine"That was a crumbling regime on its last legs."
Is Harry referring to CBS News?
Harry is a little protective
June 24, 2009 - 08:19 ET by d1carterHarry is a little protective of his boy king...huh?
Smith is not a
June 24, 2009 - 08:48 ET by nolotrippenSmith is not a journalist.
His Bachelor of Arts degree was in communications and theater.
Theater. Yup.
Well yeah, but how many with
June 24, 2009 - 09:14 ET by G. MayWell yeah, but how many with journalism degrees are just as unprofessional?
To answer to the is there anything
June 24, 2009 - 08:50 ET by RD Kingthis admin(obamster) can do question, the answer can be found here: the little totus that wasn't there
http://www.americant...
Obama doesn't stand for anything.
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little president who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away
The White House is now occupied by a little president who just isn't there when he is called upon to take a clear, moral stand.
They've got his number: He's a pushover.
Keep bamslamming the bamster until he is gone.
Alas Smith & Idiocy
June 24, 2009 - 09:11 ET by Jack BauerWouldn't it have been nice for Romney to scold Smith for his un-Morrowesque Obama response.
He should have raised his hand as Smith was in full Obama anus kiss and said...
Hindsight=20/20
June 24, 2009 - 09:10 ET by G. MayIt should be noted that there was a significant period of time between President Reagan's famous speech and the collapse of the USSR - almost 3 years. It wasn't until after its collapse that the extent of its internal crisis was fully known.
To play Monday morning quarterback 20 years later and leaving out crucial details is plain dishonest, let alone "realistic".
But that's par for the course for the media these days.
Rights.
June 24, 2009 - 09:37 ET by dmambrose"crumbling regime" being on its "last legs."
IRAN is a crumbling regime that's its own people are standing up defiance to change the totalitarian state. Obama could at this point make the biggest and greatest speech ever. A speech filled with civil rights and responsibility about a new world filled with freedom and peace. That people can stand confident that they have true freedom and true democracy. A world that all God given rights would never infringed upon by any government. Anyone could fulfill their dreams with out the worry about tyranny.
But Obama muffed
Notice responses to Obama's Iran Policy is always "huh"?
June 24, 2009 - 09:20 ET by acaiguanaIt is painfully obvious that Obama has no central philosophy driving his foreign policy, other than the clear expression, "Don't involve me. Can't you see I'm focused on implmenting all the Democrat Left's silly ideological 'changes' in the US?"
This is really bad. He's got no standards so he comes across as a second-class world leader when he is the supposed leader of the most powerful nation on the planet.
It'd be funny if the rest of the world wasn't laughing so hard.
I have been watching the responses on this site with respect to calls for more strength from Obama. It always seem to be, "Huh? What would you have him do?"
Is this a take off on "What would Jesus do?"
The issue really is what is Obama's foreign policy root? What role does he see the United States playing in the world market for ideas?
Sadly, I am led to believe there is no root. He'd rather not be bothered with this stuff.
He spent 50 minutes yesterday and never mentioned any of the US involvements in Iraq or Afghanistan. Not to mention (and he didn't) N. Korea, China, Japan or Pakistan.
There is no there there.
ACA
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
Lets get realistic
June 24, 2009 - 09:23 ET by SnappyLets get realistic Harry,
First off, if Obama is going to take credit for this due to his Cairo speach (which I find about as laughable and arrogant as I have ever seen) Then he needed to take ownership of it when it happened. Instead of going for ice cream and complaining that while the reporters might be on a 24 hour news cycle, he was not. Well, as the presedient of the United States of America he better get his a@@ ON a 24 hour news cycle so he can keep up with whats going on. Also, when he was pressed for what the "strong response" would be if the action continued, he said we would have to see how it played out and refused the question. I find this cowerdly and a prime example of juvenile taunting at play. A classic example of "You better not! or else" Or else what? Harry Smith needs to crawl back under the primordial rock he slithered out from under, and our President needs to get over himself and grow up.
Mr. Hack...
June 24, 2009 - 09:57 ET by AgentAmericanI would have put that finger where the sun didn't shine.
The cracks in the facade are getting larger.
2010: A GOP Hill
I think
June 24, 2009 - 10:23 ET by KellyRHarry Smith is interviewing for Bo's job. . .
AND . . .
June 24, 2009 - 10:27 ET by KellyRI think it's becoming a contest between left-wing journalists as to which one can grovel the most for this administration. So far, Chris Matthews is 1st, Keith Olbermann 2nd, and Harry Smith 3rd but moving up fast.
Thou shall not question the
June 24, 2009 - 10:39 ET by wiwfThou shall not question the Messiah!
The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy
Semus
June 24, 2009 - 10:47 ET by SemusWhy didn't Romney put him in his place? Until Conservatives learn how to do that they'll never get their message out to the nincomepoops that refuse to do any research or thinking for themselves. Romney and the others shouldn't have to CONTINUOUSLY explain themselves to unfriendly dishonest political operatives. Frankly I'm tired of hearing them try to do it. These news presenters in lock step with the hard left are hoodwinking the American people and the time is past for civility. There is no pretense anymore, at one time it was required. How insulted we should be at how little they expect from us.
jessieH This is
June 24, 2009 - 10:58 ET by jessieHjessieH This is exactly why the people don't watch the "big three" news. If you question mr. obam-bam, they take offense & bad mouth you. I could care less whether the big three even stay on the air, anymore.
As their Liberal house of
June 24, 2009 - 12:12 ET by RR GOPAs their Liberal house of cards crumbles, they get even more vicious.
They better hope that Emanuel and Axelrod gets control of the government and trains those Civilian Defense Force thugs-and fast.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
Bias in the news coverage
June 24, 2009 - 13:16 ET by chegu45I have been watching and trying to analyze the bias in the MSM favoring Pres. Obama. I understand the numbers touting the political leanings of the press and the influence of such leanings on their views. I believe though there must be some other aspect, and I believe if one stands on the 'curb of life' long enough, one will 'observe' a possible answer to it all.
Standing on the curb, observing the media, I find that any protest against any minority is screamed by the media,as an act of bigotry and racism by the protester. Have a different view, be villified by the press. We now have the real first 'black President' of the United States, if we discount that faux honor bestowed upon former Pres. Clinton. Herein lies the problem, the press even if they wished to, cannot begin to criticize the President. To do so by their own standards of what a bigot and racist is, would be labelling themselves as such. Heavens what a quandry. After all these years of self-proclamation of being on a higher moral road than free thinkers in this country, the MSM has now found themselves in the same bath water as those they villified. Of course, the err of the MSM is that their egoes will not permit them to face the fact that either they are bigots, or their criteria to what bigotry/racism truly is, may be wrong. So for them and their egoes, it is better to continue to attack those who differ in their views from the MSM, than to face the fact they are wrong. In closing, ever notice how the President never walks the dog with the press around...the reason being there is no room for Bo on the Presidents leg, the MSM has that honor.
Obama isn't fit to have fetched Ronald Reagan's newspaper
June 24, 2009 - 14:05 ET by R D Helm-Dave
Obama's health care "reform" plan is to blow up the building in order to fix a leak in the roof-Herman Cain
And all of God's people say AMEN! Funny how smithy sets Romney
June 24, 2009 - 14:20 ET by pahuberup for that little pre-planned lecture... so obvious anymore. Do they think they have us fooled?
Arrogance.
smith
June 25, 2009 - 08:44 ET by jessieHjessieH I have a finger for harry.........