President Obama’s trip to Asia has drawn unfavorable reviews from people as diverse as Leslie Gelb (“disturbing amateurishness” on top of the “inexcusably clumsy” Afghan review) and John Bolton (“one of the most disappointing trips by any U.S. president to the region in decades”) — but none as devastating as that of Christopher Badeaux in the New Ledger (a foreign policy “premised on the idea that the Carter Administration was not inherently wrong on anything, just well ahead of its time”).
Badeaux notes that the critical feature of the relatively successful China polices of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush was their recognition that “the carrot and the stick are closely joined”:
American Presidents praise a free, prosperous China. They speak of strategic partnerships while directing carrier battle groups in the Pacific. They talk about One China while approving arms shipments to Taiwan and hugging the Dalai Lama. They let China know that it faces no threat from the United States, but that it could.
Obama’s trip seemed simply another stop on a world tour to introduce (in Victor Davis Hanson’s phrase) the exceptional president of an unexceptional nation, complete with an even more exaggerated bow. The only good thing one can say is that at least he showed up (rather than simply send a video) and did not mention that Richard Nixon — one of our pre-Pacific chief executives — could not have imagined when he went to China in 1972 that Obama would one day be president.
The real consequences of this foreign-policy embarrassment, however, may not be in Asia but in Iran. As Iran watches the president on his self-absorbed travels (he is scheduled to pick up an unearned prize in Oslo on December 10 and again address his fellow citizens of the world) and observes him as he redoubles his efforts to talk every time they stiff him, it can be excused for thinking that the chances of its ever facing a stick rather than a carrot are slim.
You’ll find general agreement among conservatives that McCain is a dog.
Yep, I think you’re right Jennifer. I believe we can also count on him to be an excellent and alert guardian of the people’s house — ALL of the people.
Dang, I missed Westminster this year. But it’s always a favorite… because of both the charming and slightly eccentric animals and the people who populate the sport.
McCain has one great drawing card for conservatives. He is a man who actually fought communists. I think this is one of the things that gnaws at conservative ideologues. McCain represents the probability that the struggle with fanatical Islamists does and will involve real fighting and real risks of death. And those who are willing to undertake that fighting are likely to be those most honored and elected for positions of political power. This disturbs the symbolists on the right but terrifies those on the left. This simple fact guarantees that the mainstream media will be in the end ferociously hostile to McCain and this will unite conservatives to the McCain campaign.
McCain’s tougher than any other candidate, perhaps ever.
Let’s not go changing words around like libs.
Obama may, however, be the best trained: http://bigheaddc.com/2008/02/17/obama-caught-plagiarizing-2006-deval-patrick-speech/
Hys. Ter. I. Cal.
I LOVE these parody pieces. It almost makes it seem like having McCain as the nominee is a GOOD thing.
I think you might mention that notwithstanding his advancing years, he remains (mostly) housebroken.
Keep up the good work and who knows — maybe you’ll be working for the Colbert Report one day soon!
He is a man who actually fought communists.
way to excite the kids. too bad you can’t have a nominee who was in the peloponesian war.
Please do not sully the name or reputation of a fantastic beagle by drawing a comparison between him and the flea-bitten mutt McCain. The man, once an American hero, is nothing more than a flip-flopping, opportunistic political tool. What happened to the courage that saw him through his stay in a POW camp? Today he’s a pitiful lump of a man who kisses the ass of a president who savaged him during the 2000 campaign, lies about being “the only person” to call for Don Rumsfeld’s resignation (which he never did), changes his positions to suit his audience, and yet is still lauded as a “straight talker.”
“McCain represents the probability that the struggle with fanatical Islamists does and will involve real fighting and real risks of death. And those who are willing to undertake that fighting are likely to be those most honored and elected for positions of political power.”
Yeah, that’s working out well so far, isn’t it? The most politically powerful people in the country are a pack of draft-dodgers and bedwetters with virtually no record of service at all between them (unless you count Shrub’s laughable -and truncated – tour with the TANG. The same people who brought you AWOL George and “I have other priorities” Dick still run the GOP. What makes you think things will change if McCain is elected?
You really think he’s going to be around for 8 years? He’ll be 72 when he takes office if he wins. I’m old and probably won’t be around, but do you really think it would do the country any favors to have an 79 or 80 yr old president? I’m telling you as an old person, that we lose energy and brain cells everyday and the presidency is the biggest job in the world.
What the right really needs to do is make sure McCain chooses a VP to run with him that is young enough to finish his term.
Merle Haggard wrote a song for Hillary. I used to believe this:
Merle Hasn’t Lost His Fightin’ Side
Dr BLT
words and music by Dr BLT copyright 2008
http://www.drblt.net/music/MerleVeryLast.mp3
Now I’m still a big fan, but I wonder if Merle is going soft, and I’ve written a song as an answer to his song about Hillary.
Go John McCain. This one was written and recorded by yours truly, just for you!
The Maverick
Dr BLT
words and music by Dr BLT copyright 2008
http://www.drblt.net/music/MaverickDemo2.mp3
Yes–McCain fought communists by dropping weapons of mass destruction on innocent Vietnamese women and children. When he was shot down, they spared his life and demonstrated more mercy than he’d shown to their people.
Yes–being imprisoned by people you were dropping bombs on as part of an illegal, unjustified, and false war is a GREAT way to show character and purpose.