Obama: 'People are going to call me awful things every day'
By Jo Piazza / current.com / @jopiazza
President Barack Obama addressed the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday morning, urging world leaders to confront the causes of rage in the Muslim world.
"I do believe that it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism," Obama said.
The president added that quashing free speech is not the answer to lessening violence around the world.
"There is no speech that justifies mindless violence," such as the attack that left the four Americans dead in Libya, Obama said. "The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech — the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect."
Allowing free speech most certainly means the president will become the focus of attacks. "Moreover, as president of our country and commander in chief of our military, I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day — and I will always defend their right to do so," he said.
The president also warned that time is running out for diplomacy on the looming threat from Iran.
"Make no mistake — a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained," Obama said. "It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of gulf nations and the stability of the global economy. And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."
Read the full story here, the full transcript here and watch here.
(Photo from Getty Images)
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JanforGore
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"Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained,” Obama said. “It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy. And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
So I suppose we can look forward to a war with Iran regardless of which moneyed party candidate 'wins' and regardless of how it affects Americans already dealing with unemployment, poverty and the effects of a drought that is hurting our economy already. So from his statement we can gather that what he really meant was, I will defend your right to say what you wish, I just won't listen to you and still do what my benefactors tell me to do.
- 8 months ago
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JanforGore
