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Nothing else to add. Ms. Geller understands the import of Obama's fumbling perfectly. He is worse the a foreign policy novitiate.
Obama Grovels to Russia
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/obama_grovels_to_russia.html
By Pamela Geller
The press, true to form, is hailing Obama's trip to Russia as statesmanlike. Reality, as usual, is different.
When Obama took a pass on missile defense and agreed with Russia's Medvedev to reduce our nuclear arsenal by one-third, he accomplished worse than nothing. He sold out our Eastern European allies, dumping a desperately needed missile defense plan for Poland.
As he did so, he revised history, claiming we did not win the cold war. Obama said, "We don't have to diminish other people in order to recognize our role in that history." Yes, he said that. And it gets worse.
When queried in his press conference with Medvedev by Ben Feller of the Associated Press as to whether he trusted his Russian counterpart and whether he believed he's truly in charge, Obama said: "I trust President Medvedev." On the matter of whether Prime Minister and former President Vladimir Putin is really calling the shots, Obama was even more simpering: "My understanding is that President Medvedev is the president. Prime Minister Putin is the prime minister. And they allocate power in accordance with Russia's form of government, in the same way that we allocate power in the United States."
Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if Bush had displayed such stupidity and naivete? They would have ripped Bush to shreds. "Trust Medvedev" -- what foolishness. Groveling to Putin, eight years after Bush "looked into Putin's eyes."
Who can forget how the media derided and mocked George W. Bush when, after a 2001 visit, he said of Vladimir Putin, "I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul, a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country."
They pounded him relentlessly. Six years later the New York Times was still running headlines like "Mr. Bush Gets Another Look Into Putin's Eyes."
So it is amusing to watch the media groveling to Obama as Obama grovels before an evil despot. For eight years after Bush got a sense of Putin's soul, we know what he is. Putin is a KGB thug who has assassinated numerous journalists. Does Obama admire Putin's war in Grozny? There really is no word for this kind of stupidity. It's more than stupidity, it's just evil. The only nuclear reduction the Russians will undertake is selling more of their weapons to America's enemies.
Obama refused France when Sarkozy offered to host a Middle East peace conference later this year. Russia offered, and Obama said yes. Yet Russia backs Iran. Russia helped create the Israel/"Fakestinian" conflict (remember, the "Palestinian" nationality was created out of whole cloth in the 1960s) -- and they will host a "peace" conference? I ask you.
Putin praised Yaser Arafat. Back in 2003, Romanian intelligence chief Ion Mihai Pacepa, the highest ranking intelligence officer ever to have defected from the former Soviet bloc, clarified Arafat's Russian connections. As Romania's former spy chief, Pacepa has read Arafat's KGB file. He describes Arafat as "an Egyptian bourgeois turned into a devoted Marxist by KGB foreign intelligence." He says that Arafat was a KGB agent. According to Pacepa, Arafat "is a career terrorist, trained, armed and bankrolled by the Soviet Union and its satellites for decades." Pacepa described Moscow's plan to make Arafat the national leader of the Palestinians. And this was what Arafat has became, as he went on to conduct the greatest terror offensive of them all -- against Israel.
Arafat was trained at the Balashikha special-ops school in Russia. Pacepa also relates how "the KGB destroyed the official records of Arafat's birth in Cairo, replacing them with fictitious documents saying that he had been born in Jerusalem and was therefore a Palestinian by birth."
Putin was/is KGB to the bone.
And Obama said to Putin, "I am aware of not only the extraordinary work you have done on behalf of the Russian people in your previous role as prime minister -- as president -- but in your current role as prime minister."
Yes, invading Georgia was an extraordinary moment.
Obama appears weak. He is groveling to Russia. It is a sad performance from a President of the United States, who inside of a month aligned with Chavez-backed Zelaya in Honduras, turned a blind eye to the brutal crackdown of a historic revolution for freedom in Iran, called for ethnic cleansing for Jews in parts of Israel, and distributed 300 million of a promised 900 million dollars to the jihad in Gaza.
Pamela Geller is the editor and publisher of the Atlas Shrugs website and former associate publisher of the New York Observer
Sunday, July 12, 2009
President Obama, Unintended Messages, and the Real Liberal Alternative
Succinct, trenchant, brilliant.
President Obama, Unintended Messages, and the Real Liberal Alternative (with a surprise ending)
Posted: 12 Jul 2009 01:11 AM PDT
By Barry Rubin
http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2009/07/president-obama-unintended-messages-and.html
Let me contrast three things. First, what President Barack Obama says. Second, the unintended message this conveys to the world. Third, what a U.S. president should say
1. Leadership
A. Obama Says: We are really sorry that the United States has been too bossy in the past. We were unilateralist, aggressive, often oppressive, and haven’t listened enough to others.
B. Unintended Message: Don’t look to us for leadership in the future. We’re just one of the gang. So how can we complain if you ignore our interests or don’t listen to us? That’s what we’re asking you to do! And how can we take the lead, as you will remind me of what I, myself, said and know there will be no cost for defying the United States.
C. A proper president should say: In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
2. Power
A. Obama Says: The United States has been wrong in using force in the past and in interfering in others affairs. We have sinned. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. Or, rather, George Bush maxima culpa.
B. Unintended message: So we won’t do so in future. Don’t worry about us attacking you no matter what you do. Break all your commitments and fire off missiles (North Korea) and we will “urge” you to behave. Send pirates to terrorize shipping and we will avoid doing anything if at all possible. Send terrorists into Iraq to kill American soldiers (as Syria does) and we’ll send you back our ambassador. Send your officials into Iraq to direct the war against us and we’ll let them go and invite you to our Independence Day party. Steal an election and repress your own people and we will—if you push hard enough—bear witness. Try to take dictatorial powers and repress your own people (Honduras) and we will side against you.
C. A proper president would say: Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
3. America
A. Obama says: Our system has lots of problems; our democracy is flawed.
B. Unintended Message: So don’t look at us for a model. Find someone else. Perhaps some other system entirely? How about Islamism or dictatorship? Who are we to tell others what to do when we cannot even get our house in order?
C. A proper president should say: We are proud of having played a pivotal role in solving, and trying to solve, the great political and human problems of our time. The struggle for democracy and freedom against the forces of dictatorship and repression. The battle to provide human beings at home and abroad better lives. Have we made mistakes? Of course we have. But rather t han waste time moaning and apologizing we have fixed those mistakes to the best of our ability and at the greatest possible speed. We will never fail to hear and respect the advice of friends, and we will never fail to hear the threats of foes.
4. Change
A. Obama says: Yes, we can; yes, you can. Yes, everyone can. Except the Muslim world which already did everything right pretty much.
B. Unintended message: Well, that’s sort of inspiring. And if you send me to an expensive private school in Hawaii, let me into Harvard though I don’t meet the standards, and hand me a Senate seat because I’m the front guy for the local political machine, I can succeed, too. But if this guy thinks we can will away all our material problems and those trying to crush us as dictators or revolutionary demagogues or simply the burden of history, he’s naïve at best.
C. A proper president says: The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
5. Dealing with friends
A. Obama says: I hope you like the CDs, Mr. Prime Minister, and here’s your bust of Churchill back. And as for you, freeze all construction!
B. Un intended message: This guy is nicer to his enemies than to his friends.
C. A proper president says: To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
6. Dealing with Enemies
A. Obama Says: Engaging with enemies is our top priority.
B. Unintended message: This guy is lying, a sucker, or weak.
C. A proper president would say: To those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.
----
Yes, extra credit for noticing that all the quotes in C—except 3C which I wrote before I reread the real speech—come from President John F. Kennedy’s January 20, 1961, inaugural speech.
[And if you are the kind of pers on who would think of this issue right away, note that Kennedy had decided to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Vietnam.]
Kennedy was, of course, a liberal and a Democrat and his approach should remind us of what those two words have traditionally meant, before being reinterpreted recently to mean something else entirely.
And as was once said in a different context: I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine….You're no Jack Kennedy."
President Obama, Unintended Messages, and the Real Liberal Alternative (with a surprise ending)
Posted: 12 Jul 2009 01:11 AM PDT
By Barry Rubin
http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2009/07/president-obama-unintended-messages-and.html
Let me contrast three things. First, what President Barack Obama says. Second, the unintended message this conveys to the world. Third, what a U.S. president should say
1. Leadership
A. Obama Says: We are really sorry that the United States has been too bossy in the past. We were unilateralist, aggressive, often oppressive, and haven’t listened enough to others.
B. Unintended Message: Don’t look to us for leadership in the future. We’re just one of the gang. So how can we complain if you ignore our interests or don’t listen to us? That’s what we’re asking you to do! And how can we take the lead, as you will remind me of what I, myself, said and know there will be no cost for defying the United States.
C. A proper president should say: In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
2. Power
A. Obama Says: The United States has been wrong in using force in the past and in interfering in others affairs. We have sinned. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. Or, rather, George Bush maxima culpa.
B. Unintended message: So we won’t do so in future. Don’t worry about us attacking you no matter what you do. Break all your commitments and fire off missiles (North Korea) and we will “urge” you to behave. Send pirates to terrorize shipping and we will avoid doing anything if at all possible. Send terrorists into Iraq to kill American soldiers (as Syria does) and we’ll send you back our ambassador. Send your officials into Iraq to direct the war against us and we’ll let them go and invite you to our Independence Day party. Steal an election and repress your own people and we will—if you push hard enough—bear witness. Try to take dictatorial powers and repress your own people (Honduras) and we will side against you.
C. A proper president would say: Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
3. America
A. Obama says: Our system has lots of problems; our democracy is flawed.
B. Unintended Message: So don’t look at us for a model. Find someone else. Perhaps some other system entirely? How about Islamism or dictatorship? Who are we to tell others what to do when we cannot even get our house in order?
C. A proper president should say: We are proud of having played a pivotal role in solving, and trying to solve, the great political and human problems of our time. The struggle for democracy and freedom against the forces of dictatorship and repression. The battle to provide human beings at home and abroad better lives. Have we made mistakes? Of course we have. But rather t han waste time moaning and apologizing we have fixed those mistakes to the best of our ability and at the greatest possible speed. We will never fail to hear and respect the advice of friends, and we will never fail to hear the threats of foes.
4. Change
A. Obama says: Yes, we can; yes, you can. Yes, everyone can. Except the Muslim world which already did everything right pretty much.
B. Unintended message: Well, that’s sort of inspiring. And if you send me to an expensive private school in Hawaii, let me into Harvard though I don’t meet the standards, and hand me a Senate seat because I’m the front guy for the local political machine, I can succeed, too. But if this guy thinks we can will away all our material problems and those trying to crush us as dictators or revolutionary demagogues or simply the burden of history, he’s naïve at best.
C. A proper president says: The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
5. Dealing with friends
A. Obama says: I hope you like the CDs, Mr. Prime Minister, and here’s your bust of Churchill back. And as for you, freeze all construction!
B. Un intended message: This guy is nicer to his enemies than to his friends.
C. A proper president says: To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
6. Dealing with Enemies
A. Obama Says: Engaging with enemies is our top priority.
B. Unintended message: This guy is lying, a sucker, or weak.
C. A proper president would say: To those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.
----
Yes, extra credit for noticing that all the quotes in C—except 3C which I wrote before I reread the real speech—come from President John F. Kennedy’s January 20, 1961, inaugural speech.
[And if you are the kind of pers on who would think of this issue right away, note that Kennedy had decided to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Vietnam.]
Kennedy was, of course, a liberal and a Democrat and his approach should remind us of what those two words have traditionally meant, before being reinterpreted recently to mean something else entirely.
And as was once said in a different context: I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine….You're no Jack Kennedy."
Obama Inadvertently Insults His Russian Hosts
I don't understand the problem. The "US Emperor" shows little regard for the sensibilities of his own country, and even less respect for the Constitution which he swore to protect and defend. Why should anyone be surprised at his actions while visiting foreign countries?
Obama's Insult To Russia Gets Noticed
Written by Stanislav Mishin
Sunday, 12 July 2009 06:54
Obama Inadvertently Insults His Russian Hosts
http://www.rightsidenews.com/200907125433/culture-wars/obamas-insult-to-russia-gets-noticed.html
In the first official visit to Russia, Barack Obama (his name in Russia, interestingly means "barracks" барак) has continued the tradition of his cabinet in making unwitting stupidities and unrecognized insulting gestures.
From Hillery's misnamed button (what there are no native Russian speakers in the US?) to Obama ditching Prime Minister Putin for dinner to go hang out, with his family, at the exclusive club O2 in Moscow, where oligarchs bring their wenches, not their wives.
Never mind the question, who brings their small children, daughters no less, to such a club, where high end prostitution and absolute decadence is the absolute norm? Is this the American values advertised?
Of course we should not feel alone, he did the same to President Sarkozy, in Paris, where he blew off the president of France to go on a date with his wife in the city.
What the American emperor needs to understand is: 1. Paris and Moscow are not his vassals. 2. Business dinners are where a very large amount of key deals are made and foundations laid. 3. He is on official business not vacation and 4. THIS IS EXTREMELY INSULTING TO RUSSIANS!!!
While the Anglo media continues to fawn over every action of the American Emperor, to such a degree as to make even our Soviet era state media blush with embarrassment, the gaffs and inadvertent insults pile up.
The people of Russia are not amused nor entertained. If anything, this goes to only further uphold the already negatively slanted view.
One of the most important functions a person can be invited to, for Russians, is a dinner. This is a very important social convention to share bread with a guest and to show him honour and respect. In Russian, we have a word for this: гостеприимность or literally, the acceptance of guests. It is a serious black mark on a person, family or organization, if they do not accept guests well. This was taken to such a degree by our ancestors that a nobleman was obligated to make war on another nobleman, if a guest of the first went to the second and was than insulted or treated otherwise poorly.
On the other side of the coin, a guest must be courteous, accept (unless there is a serious reason why he can not and hanging out in an exclusive lounge, populated mostly by high powered thieves and their whores, is not much of an excuse) and should absolutely never, ever come empty handed. Even if it is but a symbolic gift, like candy or flowers, bring something, especially when coming for the first time.
That the US Emperor shows no regard for Russian customs, while in Russia, shows how little things are likely to change and how much the present powers in DC absolutely disregard Russian sensibilities.
------
Stanislav Mishin, Russian, blogs on Mat-Rodina (The Native Land) shares with RightSideNews.com readers an interesting and candid perspective. Opinions little effected by "political correctness" or "multi-culturalism", more by honesty and genuine concern.
Obama's Insult To Russia Gets Noticed
Written by Stanislav Mishin
Sunday, 12 July 2009 06:54
Obama Inadvertently Insults His Russian Hosts
http://www.rightsidenews.com/200907125433/culture-wars/obamas-insult-to-russia-gets-noticed.html
In the first official visit to Russia, Barack Obama (his name in Russia, interestingly means "barracks" барак) has continued the tradition of his cabinet in making unwitting stupidities and unrecognized insulting gestures.
From Hillery's misnamed button (what there are no native Russian speakers in the US?) to Obama ditching Prime Minister Putin for dinner to go hang out, with his family, at the exclusive club O2 in Moscow, where oligarchs bring their wenches, not their wives.
Never mind the question, who brings their small children, daughters no less, to such a club, where high end prostitution and absolute decadence is the absolute norm? Is this the American values advertised?
Of course we should not feel alone, he did the same to President Sarkozy, in Paris, where he blew off the president of France to go on a date with his wife in the city.
What the American emperor needs to understand is: 1. Paris and Moscow are not his vassals. 2. Business dinners are where a very large amount of key deals are made and foundations laid. 3. He is on official business not vacation and 4. THIS IS EXTREMELY INSULTING TO RUSSIANS!!!
While the Anglo media continues to fawn over every action of the American Emperor, to such a degree as to make even our Soviet era state media blush with embarrassment, the gaffs and inadvertent insults pile up.
The people of Russia are not amused nor entertained. If anything, this goes to only further uphold the already negatively slanted view.
One of the most important functions a person can be invited to, for Russians, is a dinner. This is a very important social convention to share bread with a guest and to show him honour and respect. In Russian, we have a word for this: гостеприимность or literally, the acceptance of guests. It is a serious black mark on a person, family or organization, if they do not accept guests well. This was taken to such a degree by our ancestors that a nobleman was obligated to make war on another nobleman, if a guest of the first went to the second and was than insulted or treated otherwise poorly.
On the other side of the coin, a guest must be courteous, accept (unless there is a serious reason why he can not and hanging out in an exclusive lounge, populated mostly by high powered thieves and their whores, is not much of an excuse) and should absolutely never, ever come empty handed. Even if it is but a symbolic gift, like candy or flowers, bring something, especially when coming for the first time.
That the US Emperor shows no regard for Russian customs, while in Russia, shows how little things are likely to change and how much the present powers in DC absolutely disregard Russian sensibilities.
------
Stanislav Mishin, Russian, blogs on Mat-Rodina (The Native Land) shares with RightSideNews.com readers an interesting and candid perspective. Opinions little effected by "political correctness" or "multi-culturalism", more by honesty and genuine concern.
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