January, 2010
The International Stage Has Been Appeased. President Obama, What About Us?
Jessica Chasmar
Obama's goal to be Mr. Popularity to the rest of the world has left me and a lot of Americans a little puzzled. Here in the U.S., the president has experienced the largest second- to third-quarter drop for an elected president since the '50s. And to most of moderate America and even the liberal media, his “Apology Tour” and “War on Fox News” is a joke.
So Mr. Obama told the Frenchy French (thanks, Glenn Beck) that America “has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive” toward Europe. Does anyone else see the irony here? Europe wouldn't even exist in its current form if it wasn't for America. Our blood and our men have saved Europe from Europe time and time again, yet we're the dismissive ones in our own president's eyes. In Prague, Obama said America has “a moral responsibility to act” on arms control because only the U.S. had “used a nuclear weapon.” In London, he said that decisions about the world financial system were no longer made by “just Roosevelt and Churchill sitting in a room with a brandy.” And in Latin America, after sitting through an hour of America-bashing from Nicauraguan President Danielle Ortega, Obama said the U.S. had not “pursued and sustained engagement with our neighbors,” because we “failed to see that our own progress is tied directly to progress throughout the Americas.”
So far, our elected president has apologized for America's arrogance, Hiroshima, torture, Guantanamo, the global financial crisis and having insufficient respect for Muslims. In the first ten months of his presidency, it's hard to ignore the fact that Obama has spent more time apologizing for America than standing up for it. Perhaps Obama is kowtowing to our allies and adversaries, because he thinks we will get something in return. Let's take a look at what that return is:
The Russians refused to press Iran on its nuclear weapons program. The Chinese refused to pressure North Korea over its missile launch. And the Europeans refused to launch expensive programs to stimulate their economies out of the recession, preferring to take a free ride off of American spending.
Obama's mea culpa makes him and the U.S. appear meek and submissive, and the rest of the world is laughing in our faces.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the international economic order dominated by the United States was finished. “The old Washington consensus is over. I think a new world order is emerging with the foundation of a new progressive era of international cooperation,” he said, referring to an incipient globalism that seeks to destroy American hegemony. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe would no longer follow America's lead on setting the global economic agenda. Let's not forget to mention the gum chewing, side looks and smirking going on behind Obama's back when he said, “America is changing, but it cannot be America alone that changes,” during his speech in Strasbourg.
And it was certainly hard to ignore a report by Britain's The Guardian saying our president has been more critical of his own country on foreign soil than any American president in history. Yeah, go us!
But when am I going to get my apology, Mr. Obama? I've been recently informed that I, the taxpayer, am now a proud owner of a chunk of General Motors in its fourth largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. I must have fallen asleep during that part of your campaign.
Aside from the Kool-Aid drinkers, I don't think anyone believed everything he promised us in his campaign, but I truly bought in to his stance on Afghanistan and maybe a few facets of his stance on the economy. Gee, for a “War of Necessity” he sure is taking his time on making a move isn't he? Where's “The Decider” when you need him?
Obama campaigned relatively moderate and, though I voted McCain, I was actually quite proud of my country when he won the election. I thought it was a big step forward. But, like all democrats elected into office, he quickly switched gears to show us his real agenda: buddying up with his cronies and the Washington elite and embarking on domestic imperialism unlike anything I've seen in my lifetime. Hugo Chavez has even lauded the president on being more left than he is. This is who you voted for moderate America! Where's a time machine when you need one?
So I guess since we're stuck with him for a least three more years, God willing, we'll just have to sit back and watch this train wreck. If he continues to twiddle his thumbs on making any crucial decisions, and if he continues to tuck his tail between his legs and apologize for our past, he's going to run this country right in to the ground. This isn't a popularity contest, Mr. Obama. The rest of us shouldn't have to suffer because you were a nerd in high school.