…and yes, we are stupid (at least those of us who voted for Obama):
Since World War II, the world has survived and prospered to a remarkable degree under U.S. leadership. Nazism was defeated, followed by the downfall or reformation of equally murderous communist regimes.
Barack Obama’s deepest intention — emotionally and ideologically — is to change all that.
Forget objective reality. As Dinesh D’Souza demonstrated in his book and film, Obama’s psychological makeup — his heart — is influenced to a significant degree by a belief that America is a dangerous colonial power, that world leadership must be shared.
Yet “leading from behind” is a euphemism. There is no such leading.
Our near-certain next secretary of State, John Kerry, our only slightly less certain next secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, and our next CIA director, John Brennan, hold the same views as Obama, or are close enough to those views to be easily manipulated.
Besides the obvious expected policies, such as pushing Israel to make self-destructive concessions for a two-state solution the Palestinians have shown no evidence of wanting, this triumvirate will support Obama in undercutting numerous formerly bipartisan policies. Including, perhaps most significantly, the gutting of the defense budget.
They also will continue the administration’s bizarre Middle East policy that has resulted in the rise of Islamism everywhere from Mali to Egypt and beyond. And no matter the rhetoric we will most likely hear at confirmation hearings, Iran will get the message that serious American power is in actuality “off the table” when it comes to interdicting the mullahs’ march to nuclear weapons.
Outside of the usual Middle East hotspots, Russia and China are watching.
It’s feeling a lot like the thirties in ways other than the continuing sick economy.
[Update a couple minutes later]
…our concerns in respect of Senator Hagel aren’t about his views on the Jews. And we appreciate the fact that he served as an enlisted man in Vietnam, an experience we tend to credit (although neither is it dispositive). But we’ve been covering his antics for years, and where we’ve come out is that he’s just over his head in terms of policy. So he’s emerged as a shill for Israel’s most implacable foes. It doesn’t take a genius to comprehend what the mullahs in Iran are going to make of this nomination.
The same thing they made of Obama’s reelection. Plus this:
It looks like Mr. Hagel’s anti-Israel record is the very raison d’etre of the nomination. It looks like the nomination is about the President’s determination to block Israel from going to its own defense against a regime that, in Iran, is preparing, by its own account, an attempt to annihilate the Jewish state. Imagine what Mr. Hagel would be like if he actually did have a problem with the Jews.
Yes, imagine.
Yes, Obama picked Hagel because of, not despite, his views on Israel, Iran and national defense. The right-wing media mavens are still looking for clever explanations when the obvious is under everyone’s nose. Obama is making clear that he thinks it’s OK for Iran to proceed with its nuke program, and that Israel mustn’t interfere. Who knows what’s going on behind the scenes to sabotage an Israeli attack. And of course there are Pakistan’s nukes, which we don’t seem to be doing much about. Catastrophe lies ahead.
But we’ve been covering his antics for years, and where we’ve come out is that he’s just over his head in terms of policy.
I saw that article by the NYSun and thought of your response to gerrib.