Judged by the company you keep
I wish I had the time for a full-bore political post right now, but unfortunately I do not. Nonetheless, I cannot help but comment upon yesterday's visit of President Obama to the UN General Assembly.
He gave a speech. He received a soaring round of applause.
I'm sorry, but this is a problem.
It's not that anything in his speech was overtly Marxist or damaging. He continued to beat the drum of a waning America, which is unfortunate, but nothing that cannot be reversed (because nobody in the rest of the world is going to step up to the plate anytime soon...)
The problem is how the rest of the world sees him, and that they're willing to applaud him roundly. George Bush got jeers and a mini-walkout from the UN General Assembly. Bill Clinton got jeers and a mini-walkout. So did George Bush I, and Ronald Reagan. Superpower leaders always get lukewarm welcomes from the General Assembly.
That august body is essentially made up of petty dictators. For every elected first-world leader in the room, there's two representatives of Asian despots, or South American junta generals, or African dictators, or middle-eastern warlords. Hugo Chavez gets ovations at the General Assembly. Robert Mugabe gets rounds of applause.
American Presidents do not. And that's because we're a direct and justifiable threat to 66% of the self-appointed power-mongers in that room.
We're supposed to be a goal-oriented, unified front against the sort of single-point, autocratic nations who comprise the majority of that body. For pete's sake, Andrei Vyshinsky nearly started a nuclear war in that room in 1948 by calling for world defensive preparations against the USA, and he got a round of applause.
Being popular in the UN General Assembly is like being popular on the streets of Bogata. You're excessively open with your largesse, and there's probably a pile of bodies behind you somewhere...
The fact that our President has earned the respect and support of the world's most infamous and unstable leaders is not something I'd be proud of. With friends like that, we really don't have any need for enemies.
He gave a speech. He received a soaring round of applause.
I'm sorry, but this is a problem.
It's not that anything in his speech was overtly Marxist or damaging. He continued to beat the drum of a waning America, which is unfortunate, but nothing that cannot be reversed (because nobody in the rest of the world is going to step up to the plate anytime soon...)
The problem is how the rest of the world sees him, and that they're willing to applaud him roundly. George Bush got jeers and a mini-walkout from the UN General Assembly. Bill Clinton got jeers and a mini-walkout. So did George Bush I, and Ronald Reagan. Superpower leaders always get lukewarm welcomes from the General Assembly.
That august body is essentially made up of petty dictators. For every elected first-world leader in the room, there's two representatives of Asian despots, or South American junta generals, or African dictators, or middle-eastern warlords. Hugo Chavez gets ovations at the General Assembly. Robert Mugabe gets rounds of applause.
American Presidents do not. And that's because we're a direct and justifiable threat to 66% of the self-appointed power-mongers in that room.
We're supposed to be a goal-oriented, unified front against the sort of single-point, autocratic nations who comprise the majority of that body. For pete's sake, Andrei Vyshinsky nearly started a nuclear war in that room in 1948 by calling for world defensive preparations against the USA, and he got a round of applause.
Being popular in the UN General Assembly is like being popular on the streets of Bogata. You're excessively open with your largesse, and there's probably a pile of bodies behind you somewhere...
The fact that our President has earned the respect and support of the world's most infamous and unstable leaders is not something I'd be proud of. With friends like that, we really don't have any need for enemies.