Eugene Robinson likes Obama. A lot. So these remarks were intended, I am certain, as heartfelt praise:

Obama’s months in office have been so action-packed that it’s easy to forget some of the historic steps he has taken: nominating Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court. Going to Egypt and speaking directly to the Muslim world about cooperation rather than conflict. Embracing multilateralism as the template for U.S. foreign policy in the new century. Accepting the scientific consensus on climate change. Investing in “green” jobs and education reform as key engines of economic development.

But really. Action-packed? Yes, he was up to his eyeballs not creating or saving jobs, not bringing peace to the Middle East, not defanging Iran, not retaining support from independent voters, not telling us what the White House plan for health care is, and not deciding on an Afghanistan-war strategy. A veritable whirlwind of activity. Results? No, but he was busy, busy, busy. And he did many TV appearances.

His claims to fame? Sonia Sotomayor, whose only distinction Robinson can name is her ethnicity. Quite appropriate, and no doubt signifying that he watched the confirmation hearings.

Then there was the Cairo speech. Aside from providing a fractured tale of Middle East history, adopting the Palestinian narrative that Israel’s right to exist hinges on Holocaust guilt, raising the hopes of Palestinians for a settlement freeze (before dashing them), and side-stepping the real human-rights abuses in the Middle East (think 6-year-olds sold into marriage, not bubbe’s new apartment), it was a smashing success.

Then there was the accomplishment of embracing multilateralism. Yes, it is now an end unto itself. And who can forget the wonders of multilateralism? We had the Goldstone Report’s warm embrace by the UN Human Rights Council. We had the international community’s paralysis in the face of Iran’s continued deceit and violations of sanctions. We had muteness in the face of the mullahs’ crackdown on dissidents. And we didn’t even get the darn Olympics.

The embrace of the global-warming consensus comes just in time for the news that the consensus is fraying around the edges. The models are off a bit, it seems. And we are investing in “green jobs” that have yet to materialize and don’t really mesh with bailing out decrepit car companies.

Obama is running out of steam only a year after his election. We have a spate of “This is it?” reports and “It’s not working” foreign-policy stories. Alas, not even his most ardent defenders seem up to the task of defending his record.

del.icio.us

Google

Facebook

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 8:44 AM and is filed under Contentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.