Daniel Henninger reminds us that the president’s photo-op with Hugo Chavez did two unfortunate things: provide the tin-pot dictator with the legitimacy he craves and undermine the democratic opponents struggling to hold on in Venezuela, and under other unsavory regimes around the globe. He writes:
The Obama people seem to believe that talking top guy to top guy is the yellow brick road to progress. Why do they think that? They say Ronald Reagan negotiated over nuclear arsenals at Reykjavik. But virtually all desirable regime change in our time — Soviet Communism, South Africa, the Philippines — has come mainly from below, from the West protecting and supporting people in opposition to autocrats.
The origin of the change-from-below movement was the 1975 Helsinki Accords, which ratified the legitimacy of self-determination. There was no stronger supporter of this liberal turn than AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland. Where is his like today in the Democratic Party or its unions? Where is the left-wing blogosphere when the pro-democracy prisoners of Cuba, Iran and Syria need them? It’s ranting about Bush “war criminals.”
We’ve had a total role-reversal on the subject of human rights. The Left clamored for the appointment of Chas Freeman, who supported dictatorial thugs wherever he could find them. The brigades of liberal bloggers repeatedly demanded that we abandon Iraq before the surge could achieve success, leaving the country to wallow in genocidal violence. The same crew wouldn’t dream of insisting on any discussion of human rights as part of the now defunct six-party talks with North Korea. One wonders how they lost their nerve or came to care so little for those fighting for freedom and civil liberties. That sort of thing used to be in fashion at Georgetown and San Francisco cocktail parties. No longer so.
Remember Obama’s insistence that he will “lead by example”? The example he is providing is that dictators, rather than dissidents, deserve America’s attention and courtesy. This example establishes a precedent of dictators being able to carry out the charade of respectability, yucking it up with the president of the United States without fear of rebuke or embarrassment. As they used to say, the whole world is watching.
yeah both qana masacres were accidents too. and those people on the beach in gaza actually planted the bombs themselves. the bulldozer couldn’t see the girl.
besides being accidents, all the above were also plots by hamas to get good foreign press.
and xyclon b loses toxicity when it hits the air
No, leastone: xyclon b loses tozikity. Yrs, however, appears inexhaustible.
what is it with you and spelling? wow, what a big deal I misspell a few words once in a while. the point is you can’t just committ horrible acts then say hamas planted bodies in qana or hamas planted bodies in the beach in gaza. it compounds the crime a la holocaust denial. everyone knows israel goes balls out with the hi tech weaponry
hi tche wepnry!!
Geez, it’s Lester Maddox! Hiya, Lester!
Let’s see… you mentioned Qana, but what happened to the Jenin Massacre?
Israel first accepted responsibility for the beach blast, then investigated and realized that it was almost impossible for it to have happened the way the Palestinians described — it was a 155mm shell, and I don’t think there’s an active warship afloat that carries a weapon of that large a caliber. Also, Palestinian doctors removed every single bit of shrapnel they could from the dead and wounded — regardless of medical necessity or even advisability — before sending them on to Israeli hospitals.
Rachel Corrie sat in front of a bulldozer that was heavily armored (because of prior attacks on the drivers) and got knocked down and then crushed under debris. Seems like an application of Darwin’s Theory in action.
And Hamas doesn’t have to be truly sophisticated to con the press — the press is eager to be fooled.
J.
lester: what does your comment have to do with J.G. Thayer’s post? Do you wish to claim the german documentary is a lie? Or that it is impossible in your mind that Hamas manipulates the media?
If so then say so directly. Because there is really no logic in your comments…
lester,
You can’t handle the truth. Forget Qana and the Gaza beach incident. Deal with the topic of the post. Or do you concede its point — that the Palestininan Arabs with French media complicity concocted the entire thing.
In any event, the Gaza incident had nothing to do with Israeli artillery and there are plenty of questions about Qana too. Next, you’ll be touting the alleged massacre at Jenin, another Pallywood production brought to us by the European media, as exhibit A in the indictment respecting Israeli cruelty.
Oh, and the death camp quip, repulsive. Your inner anti-Semite is bursting out again. It must take a terrible toll trying to suppress it and sound somewhat intelligent at the same time.
Will this story on German public television ever make its way into the Mainstream Media?
I’ll believe this story when I read about it in the NY Times or the WaPo. OK, mebbe the LA Times. Otherwise it’s another fabrication by those pesky Elders again. They’ve gotten so good they’ve even infiltrated Germany.
Speaking of the Elders, I just read that they’re retiring: forward.com/articles/103587/
Who are we going to get our checks from?
Gord,
“Or do you concede its point — that the Palestininan Arabs with French media complicity concocted the entire thing.”
This also brings to my mind the Baruch Goldstein thing. There may well have been some Palestinian concoction factors with that story as well. And don’t forget the track record of Palestinian suicide bombing that is pulled off to make Israel look bad. They (the Palestinians)would do anything…encourage their children to jump on the paradise express – need one say anything more.
Did Israel’s foray into Gaza really happen?
Bullets flew, rockets fell, but you never know
Now that Photo-Shop is war’s ultimate weapon
Was it an atrocity or merely a clever slide-show
Turns out this is one of Hama’s very best gigs
This dabbing pixel-lated lipstick on photogenic pigs
lester is Hartland’s other brother Darryl.
“it was a 155mm shell, and I don’t think there’s an active warship afloat that carries a weapon of that large a caliber.”
Actually, 155mm is a field artillery calibre–exclusively. There are 155mm guns, and 155mm howitzers, but naval artillery tends to come in rather different sizes–3-inch (76.2mm), 4-inch (100mm), 5-inch (127mm), 6-inch (152mm) and 8-inch (203mm); the last two are cruiser guns, and there are no gun-armed cruisers in service today. Any imbecile would have known that, which is why, of course, it escaped notice by the mainstream media–they are truly exceptional imbeciles.
4-6 my point is you can’t undo carnage witht these sorts of tactics. a probably hezbollah friendly reporter photoshopping a picture to make it look more scary doesn’t mean that there was no attack.
heres how it works: israel fires when they feel like it and it’s YOUR job to get out of their way. if you don’t it’s your problem. their “investigations” and so forth are meaningless and “wink wink”.
gord- I’m no expert on jenin but I saw the footage on PBS and it looked pretty brutal. it didn’t show any bodies but the area looked like a massive bomb hit itthat’s for sure.
“gord- I’m no expert on jenin but I saw the footage on PBS and it looked pretty brutal. it didn’t show any bodies but the area looked like a massive bomb hit itthat’s for sure.”
You are not only “no expert on jenin,” you lack some basic facts about the situation.
The terrorists booby-trapped Jenin with a lot of explosive devices and the IDF fought house to house to flush the terrorists out. It would have been much easier (and fewer IDF soldiers would have lost their lives) if the IAF carpet bombed Jenin. But, since the Israelis are forced to follow rules of war that their opponents ignore, that did not happen.
Regardless, Human Rights Watch and the UN (no friends of Israel) determined there was no massacre at Jenin. It is a myth repeated by the terrorists, their fellow travelers and useful idiots.
tnc- “The terrorists booby-trapped Jenin with a lot of explosive devices ”
that seems highly unlikely
“since the Israelis are forced to follow rules of war ”
lol come on man
Lester, fair’s fair.
Pals got whacked, Israel did it; kudos to Israel; tough titty Pals; choke on your own bile, Lester!
“Because there is really no logic in your comments…”
Sure there is. Lester’s point is that no lie is so vile as not to be jistifiable when aimed at Jews. Or at Israel.
you guys are just stating your approval of israel. you aren’t having any sort of debate about the issue. yeah, you are pro israel. I got it.
look, they are very aggressive and that’s something you approve of by and large so why deny it? you should embrace it
What you call “aggressive”, Lester, we call “Winner”.
We embrace the winners, Israel! We s*it on the losers; whiners, like you Lester, we send to Coventry!
So, use that bone in your throat as an excuse and STFU!
elixelx = big m.a.n.