Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The president who doesn't presume

Americans who considered Dubya a bit, um, pushy, what with his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, must certainly be comforted by Obama. When an American sea captain was held captive by pirates off Somalia, our president didn't say a word until US Navy Seals ended the standoff with three well-placed shots. Didn't we deserve more guidance than that?

When the gallant lady of Burma was carted off to Insein prison and made to stand a show trial, he waited for the UN to get upset before chiming in. ('I strongly condemn her house arrest and detention, which have also been condemned around the world': you lead, I'll follow!)

And now witht brave Iranians taking to the streets in their hundreds of thousands, protesting an obvious steal of the presidential election by the nutter Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Obama is ... 'disturbed'. That is a step ahead of his emotional state during the abuse of Captain Philips and Aung San Suu Kyi, but it falls a bit short of what is needed.

Remember the French, and how we used to abuse them for their fecklessness? Well, here's Nicolas Sarkozy with some sample dialogue that Obama might adopt: "The extent of the fraud is proportional to the violent reaction.... These elections are an atrocity.... If Ahmadinejad has really made progress since the last election and if he really represents two thirds of the electorate ... why has this violence erupted?"

For its part, Iran decries foreign interference in its internal affairs--an accusation that certainly can't be leveled against the new, more hopeful, less audacious United States. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

1 Comments:

At 5:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As always, great fun to read your take on the mahem. Holding another side, though, if John McCain had won here, I'd fully expected riots, regardless of WHAT margin he'd won by. Also, I don't think the victor and loser in Iran are at issue, as one is as bad as the other. Rather, I see the fight being about the sham democratic process under a theocracy.
Love your observation about Clinton. Always mystified by Obama's deep wisdom and praying there's an ounce of sanity in it or we're all . . .

 

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