I think it would be quite a good thing if Americans had a Canadian (or better) healthcare system and a really good thing if they eliminated the Pentagon.

Well at least it proves he's just as human as the rest of us unlike our government who seem to lose touch more and more with reality as each day passes.

" Day after day it gets frustrating."

Know exactly what you mean pal.

jakem, are you on the same drugs as Gibbs?

Is it some worldwide conspiracy that after 30 years of economic failure every critic of the policies that have been followed is denigrated?

Trickle down insults to protect the trickle down economics.

The fact that he insists a Canadian-style healthcare system in the US is "not the reality" just goes to prove our point.

Hey, if you don't want people to say Obama is like Bush, then maybe Obama should stop coninuing Bush policies.

Carbon Tax or Cap and Trade
Withdraw from Afghanistan
Halve defense budget
Universal health insurance

I think this guy and the flight attendant who couldn't take the passengers any more and bailed are both on to something. Or on the same thing...

As others state, the Canadian and other international state operated health systems are way better than the private insurance company controlled US system, where the weatlhy can afford, and get, the treatments that they need, whilst the rest are left to suffer and die earlier.

This guy's a bit lame to blame it on television - he's either capable doing his job, or he lacks the appropriate skills - ie. communication excellence. He's not bad, he said some pointless and rather stupid comments, and really should have known better.

Make the Democrats distinct from the Republicans, and communicate clearly why, if necessary, some things are slower than the masses would like.

I think Robert Gibbs was an awful choice for press secretary and has proven that in more than one press conference in the past.

Oh and Obama is actually spending more on foreign wars than Bush did during his term in office. They are cut from the same cloth when it comes to most issues apart from ones which will never properly be resolved in America current political mindstate (abortion etc). The left and right in America are the same crooks all working for big buisness.

Ronald Regan was more leftwing in his policies compared to Obama if you take their policies/agenda side by side. So its a fair comparison to make..

Dear Mr Gibbs, you can keep your health service, pentagon, oil addiction, your bankers and corporate monsters. We also wish your economy speedy recovery. All what we would like is that you spare humanilty your foriegn interventios, illegal wars and your disgraceful detention centres. And most of all stop preaching democracy and human rights to other nations.

Thanks for quoting Glenn Greenwald, who is excellent on a regular basis.
I'm "barely a Dem." - on the Left end of the party. I keep my party registration, for the moment, so I can vote in NY primary elections.
For strong Left criticism of Obama's Administration see Black Agenda Report
http://www.blackagendareport.com

Guardian says:

Robert Gibbs, has tried to climbed (sic) down from angry remarks he aimed at leftwing critics, calling them "crazy".

But apparently Gibbs said:

"I hear these people saying he's like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested," Gibbs said. "I mean, it's crazy."

So Gibbs didn't call the critics "crazy", he called their actions, specifically the comparison of Obama with Bush, "crazy".

Sure it's only nuance and saying they ought to be drugs tested is an obvious direct on attack on his critics, but seriously as a newspaper, you should report this stuff a little more accurately.

It's so infuriating when newspaper headlines cry out how so-and-so has "blasted" or "slammed" such-and-such only to find out that the actual quotes show that nothing of the sort happened.

Also please note typo, should be "climb" not "climbed".

seriously as a newspaper, you should report this stuff a little more accurately.

Ok, I've now noticed that this is a personal blog, (not the "official" Guardian? I don't know how these things are set up) and presumably "blog posts" are not checked as carefully as "articles", but still, these nuances matter.

Another administration marginalizing detractors in it's own party, sounds familiar.
I believe the ferocity of backlash against criticism of the current administration is much worse than the last one. Instead of being labeled "unpatriotic", now you are "unpatriotic, racist, and not as cool as us".

I think anyone who continues to vote for the Democrats really do need to be drug tested....they were voted in with the presidency and control of congress with a 60-40 majority in the Senate and still they couldn't, rather wouldn't, do what they were elected to do,e.g. establish a national health service, they remind me of the lyrics " meet the new boss, same as the old boss" from the Who song , Won't Get Fooled Again.
So they obviously can't be trusted with the votes of their loyal voters.
I will be voting for whoever represents the Green Party in the next U.S. elections.

To the Left: The alternative was McCain-Palin. I'm not saying don't criticise the guy (the so-called Health Care Reform--is just that so-called) but just think of what it could have been....

I'm worried by the phrase 'walk back' used here when 'Gibbs tried to walk back his remarks'. It sounds very homely, like sensibly retracing his steps to a mutually agreeable place where all the dissenting parties would reside were they only able to see how correct his underlying sentiments are. As if we retrace his words like they're steps down the wrong path - a path away from the concord that's implied 'we lefties' share deep down. As if we can rewind the message and then pretend he never took that ideological route.

But of course, this isn't the case. Gibbs certainly expressed himself artlessly. But it's not the artlessness of his expression that is the problem. It's the arrogance to pronounce so dismissively on those who - as they should in a country that enshrines free speech - complain from the left. These are people he imagines will go along with some of this presidencies failings simply because they are assumed to be on the same side as he is. If they disagree, they're crazy and, by association, out of his club.

It upsets me, then, that his hapless attempt to give his sentiments a more positive spin is echoed in the language introducing it. He isn't walking back to common ground that excuses his comments - he's trying to look better without changing the very valid reason he looks bad. It's his opinion, not his journey, and it is one that doesn't deserve such tacit linguistic support, even if his critics are given voice after that introduction.

To my mind, the piece Ari Fleischer wrote in this paper (oh the shock and the flippin' horror!!) that tried to excuse his tenure as Dubya's press secretary was a lot worse.

this Presidency's, even...

I'll never forget how during the 1984 US presidential contest Ronald Reagan accused his Democratic opponenet Michael Dukakis of being the "L" word, a liberal.
And I waited and waited and waited for Mr. Dukakis to simply say something like, "Heck, yes! I'm a liberal and proud of it."
Instead, Mr. Dukakis kept denying he was a liberal and instead is a "Fiscal Conservative", whatever the f' that means.
Ever since then the Democrats have allowed the rightwing to walk all over them and define and frame the debates between both camps.
I can't believe that someone as educated as Obama and with the history of activism he has is as pathetic and helpless as Dukakis.
For crying out loud, do Democrats get their balls cut once they get to political office?

I agree with Gibbs and his comments about the crazy leftists. As a third generation liberal Democrat who was a Vietnam war protester (my beef was with the civilian suits (McNamara and LBJ for example) and the generals and admirals who prosecuted the war, not the trigger-pullers. As Gibbs said, many of the kook left will never be satisfied until the Pentagon is demolished and we get a Canadian health care system at no cost to patients. I will work hard to make sure Obama is re-elected in 2012 as the second Democrat to be RE-ELECTED since FDR in '44. A hilarious cartoon in the LA Times had it right--Obama as Cinderella scrubbing a floor--'Cinderella, Clean up Wall Street/Afghanistan is a mess/Bail out the Auto industry/health care is broken/we need more jobs/don't forget global warming/make us energy independent/stop the BP leak/bust some heads/show a little emotion and on and on....

It is funny to read left wingers talk about the Canadian health care sysstem that is (1) out of money; and (2) running out of doctors. I have no problem with those who have wasted their lives doing nothing having an inferior outcome to their lives as opposed to those who have been productive. The other method makes those who are productive slaves to the parasite class.

Gibbs is right - it is not a bailout for the States. It is a blatant, in your face bribe to the union mafia bosses that run the National Education Administration and the teachers unions. It is a taxpayer funded destructive blow to democracy, and a left wing lunatic efforts to bankrupt the United States. So, he is right. It is not a bailout.

And he is right, they should be tested for drugs. But, it would mostly come back positive, so who cares if you test them or not? Gibbs would come back positive too, no doubt, for some drug that makes it impossible to tell the truth. Spinadone, or something like that.

Robert Gibbs, the WH clown. If it is at all possible, he is more ignorant than Obama and the rest of those clowns that he has appointed as czars.
What a waste of skin!

PROBABLY TRUE. MOST OF THE LEFT DO DRUGS.

What? Robert Gibbs said something foolish?
Imagine.

The most public face of the current administration composed primarily of idiots, is ALSO an idiot. Coincidental? Doubtful.

When Obama spends $26B to prevent SOLELY union layoffs of union teachers, union police, and union nurses, it is most definitely a union bailout.

Obama is beholden to labor unions and trial lawyers. They're being paid back for the millions they donated to his campaign 100x fold.

"Yesterday I watched as someone called legislation to prevent teacher layoffs a bailout " -Robert Gibbs

O ne
B ig
A ss
M istake
A merica

i can't believe it. for once i actually agree with robert gibbs.

jakem -

We have a the best health care in the world in the US.
I LOVE my health care as do my co-WORKERS. Yes, We WORK 40 to 50+ hours a week and PAY for it.

Not meant as a slight in ANY way to American's who have lost their jobs due to the failed policies of elected Democrats and the FANNY MAE/FREDDY MAC created housing bubble that started this economic down turn to begin with.....

I think the new policy should be drug test everyone that gets government subsidized anything!

As far as the Pentagon goes....
yea right....
I suppose the rest of the 'americahaters' would love if that went away too....

just wondering ...all you 'americahaters'....who do you most expect to help when your country has a disaster?
........ thought so.
Wondering how many zillions we've doled out to people that hate us in the past 60 years....
Proud to be a health insurance purchasing American Taxpayer.

"...has tried to climbed down from angry remarks..." Who proofreads these articles? Come on, people

Seldom is Mr. Gibbs ever "artful". He's got to be one of the worst press secretaries ever, but I'm sure he feels right at home with the other incompetents in this administration.

We have a the best health care in the world in the US.
I LOVE my health care as do my co-WORKERS. Yes, We WORK 40 to 50+ hours a week and PAY for it.

Not meant as a slight in ANY way to American's who have lost their jobs due to the failed policies of elected Democrats and the FANNY MAE/FREDDY MAC created housing bubble that started this economic down turn to begin with.....

I think the new policy should be drug test everyone that gets government subsidized anything!

As far as the Pentagon goes....
yea right....
I suppose the rest of the 'americahaters' would love if that went away too....

just wondering ...all you 'americahaters'....who do you most expect to help when your country has a disaster?
........ thought so.
Wondering how many zillions we've doled out to people that hate us in the past 60 years....
Proud to be a health insurance purchasing American Taxpayer.

Will the testing be covered by Obama Care, or do I have to be a union member first?

I must have just dropped into the Twilight zone. I recognize the Britain is a Nanny state and most of it's sheep like to be controlled by their government, but most of us American's like our individual freedoms. As such we will take over the House and possibly the Senate this November and we will absolutely throw our our Socialist amateur Community organizer in 2012.
You Laddies can keep you health care your submission to your Muslim community shia law demands.
I will keep my guns and dignity!

This admin has 'WALKED BACK" so much it is back to the Bush Administration. So again they can , "Blame BUSH" for the remark and the Libs rantings!

By the way, we really don't want to live off the work of others, that is why we do not like the, "Canadian" style Health Care. At one time we were a self reliant people, now we are just Mopes that expect others to do for us what we should be doing for us and our families.

The influence of Canada has not been that great for the US!

DYTIGAF!

Gibbs has one thing correct. Drug testing should be applied to all elected and appointed US officials first, then extended to all federal employees. First time they pee in the bottle and fail the test....Terminate them.

Gibbs is the one whom needs drug tested . He and the entire adminstration . Including the big spender in chief . Do they not read the approval ratings ? Do they not care what the MAJORITY of America wants ? Of course not . One day when they have all been booted out of congress and I pray , held legally accountable for all the autrosities they have committed . Sitting in their jail cells , awaiting the hang man , they might get their heads out of their back sides !

In just the span of only 14 months into his presidency, Obama has piled $5 Billion PER DAY of debt on every man, woman and child in the United States.................3 times the entire debt of Bush's entire 8 year term in office. [Washington Times - June 3, 2010]

That is equal to Obamao stealing your credit cards and charging the purchase of (2) Nimitz Class Nuclear Powered Aircraft carriers each and every day ......year in and year out.......and he is sending you the bill.........while he is playing golf or out spouting lies about 'saved or created' jobs in some speech somewhere...... where he has allowed only a screened audience to attend to maximize the applause' for broadcast on State Controlled Media.

HappyPal,

Do you not get it, Pal?

You, and those who think like you, are a marginal percentage of our population.

The only way that a "Liberal" can be elected in a national political contest in the United States is to do what Obama did--lie about his beliefs and plans.

Liberal candidates' lies, obfuscations, mis-statements, and pandering allow them to fool the 1/3 of the national electorate that does not pay attention until it is time to vote.

And in Obama's case, he fooled a tiny percentage of the 1/3 of the electorate that is sane/conservative, too, with his lies. He seemed like such a "clean, articulate, non-jive-talking black man," (per Sen Biden) and even they had a twinge of white guilt that seemed to be soothed with an Obama vote.

The great thing about Obama's ascension is that not one sane/conservative voter will fall for that again, in their lifetimes. And a huge chunk of the clueless 1/3 will also be immunized against smooth-talking, lying liberals.

Meantime, the loony half of the liberal 1/3 of our country is pissed at Obama.

How's that change working out for you now, Pal? Hope you get over it!

Ralph Nader in 2012!

I'll never forget how during the 1984 US presidential contest Ronald Reagan accused his Democratic opponenet Michael Dukakis of being the "L" word, a liberal.
And I waited and waited and waited for Mr. Dukakis to simply say something like, "Heck, yes! I'm a liberal and proud of it."
Instead, Mr. Dukakis kept denying he was a liberal and instead is a "Fiscal Conservative", whatever the f' that means.
Ever since then the Democrats have allowed the rightwing to walk all over them and define and frame the debates between both camps.
I can't believe that someone as educated as Obama and with the history of activism he has is as pathetic and helpless as Dukakis.
For crying out loud, do Democrats get their balls cut once they get to political office?

So now if we criticize obama we are racist drug addicts.

Gibbs and the entire Obama administration should be tested for sanity. The pathway they are laying for the US is the "Road to Serfdom" and the failures of past attempts at socialism and communism.
Gibbs is an idiot and is a joke .

A large block of U.S. voters that do not affiliate themselves with any party, much less a leftwing agenda, voted for Mr. Obama because he ran on a campaign of reform. Mr. Obama began to betray that reformationist spirit even before he entered office as evidenced by his staff and cabinet selections. Rham and several other White House staffers have been denigrating many of the folks who voted for Obama since day one. Robert Gibbs' comments are yet another example of the Democrats crapping in their own water well. Contempt of criticisms from the people who voted for you is going to loose those votes. Republicans get it and that is why they have fared much far better in elections for 40+ years even when it was to the detriment of the people that voted for them.

For the useful idiots (AKA the Obama voter) here who still propagate the fallacy that everything is "Bush's Fault", Educate yourselves:

Remember the day...
January 3rd, 2007 was the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress:

At the time:

The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77

The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%

The Unemployment rate was 4.6%

George Bush's Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOB CREATION!

Remember the day...
January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee.

The economic meltdown that happened 15 months later was in what part of the economy?
BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES!!!

THANK YOU DEMOCRATS for taking us from 13,000 DOW, 3.5 GDP and 4.6% Unemployment... to this CRISIS by (among MANY other things) dumping 5-6 TRILLION Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac FIASCOS! (BTW: Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES to stop Fannie & Freddie - starting in 2001 because it was Financially risky for the US economy):
http://www.sportstalkworld.com/showthread.php?16828-Dems-Cause-CRASH%21

And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac????

OBAMA

And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie???

The HYPOCRITE in Chief Obama

So when the kool-aid crowd blame Bush...

REMEMBER JANUARY 3rd, 2007.... THE DAY THE DEMOCRATS TOOK OVER!

The only one needing drug testing is YOU Gibbs for working for the NUT in the White House. Gibbs you have to be crazy to work for Obama and believe what he says BUT again you more than like would have drink the Kool Aid at Jones Town. Gibbs America is NOT buying it and you will hear our voices in November when we vote most of the DEMS out of office and when November 2012 comes Obama will be voted out of office and America will take back out country and our FREEDOMS from the SOCIALIST like Obama. Gibbs NOVEMBER 2010 IS only 80 days aways and AMERICANS are ready to let you her our VOCIE and VOTE the SOCIALIST OUT OF OFFICE and BE FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST and AMERICAN WILL SAY FREE AT LAST THANK GOD WERE FREE AT LAST.

Thing Gibbs should step up to the plate..er...pot and deliver the first sample

The asshats longing for a Canadian style healthcare system should first realize that the Canadian system wouldn't work without the American pay for service system. Second they should do all a favor and immigrate to Canada if that is what they wish, Canada would be grateful to receive them almost as much as we would be glad to see the backs of them. America is not a socialist construct; Obamacare shall be repealed before it has a chance to kill.

Obama bailed out the Bank Executives.

Now Obama is bailing out the Teachers Unions.

Those are Obama's one and two biggest campaign contributors.

In Dream Land the government could just keep printing and borrowing money and give us all bail outs for ever.

But there is no such thing as a free lunch - but their are pyramid scams.

Bankers and Teachers were the first to steal tax payers money - the rest of us will just have to pay back the money they already stole.

For once, the goof ball Gibbs is correct.

But forget drug-testing leftists -- they should be institutionalized. And it has little to do with questioning Maobama's commitment to radical, far left causes -- that, of course, is undeniable. Maobama is giving the left the full range of deranged wacko Marxism they have always pined for (and the results were entirely predictable). So to call him another Bush is absolutely hilarious.

IF ONLY it could all be chalked up to drug addition. Unfortunately, their affliction is not curable -- it's a genetic defect.