George Bush was recently quoted in his first post-Presidential public address, in Canada, saying, "I love my country a lot more than I love politics. I think it is essential that he [Obama] be helped in office." This fundamental, uncharacteristic fairness and decency of the Bush men as Presidents, governors, and public servants, putting their country first before their party or personal ambition, stand in stark contrast to their lesser-qualified, narcissistic successors, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, whom have focused more on finger-in-the-wind politics, fuzzy and economically-questionable policy initiatives, political spin and symbolism.
Obama was quoted in his Strasbourg news conference as saying that the United States (i.e., the Bush Administration) had been "arrogant" and "dismissive", and the smug, self-superior European socialists delighted in a pandering American President's mea culpas, making their case for them. That "giant sucking sound" that Ross Perot thought he heard regarding American jobs and NAFTA? It was really Obama sucking up to other leaders in Europe, naively believing that brown-nosing European leaders over past policy disagreements in interpersonal terms might actually influence their foreign policies. We are, of course, talking about Europe--the continent which spawned two world wars during the twentieth century requiring American intervention and liberation, whose leaders stood by while the Serbia conflict degenerated into a regional war and ethnic cleansing in the 1990's, and whose leaders seem to prefer Chamberlain-like appeasement of Islamic terrorism to realistic, constructive responses.
Now, to be fair, it is true that Obama mildly rebuked "insidious" anti-Americanism in Europe and weakly attempted to defend American leadership in military and economic matters, in his gratuitous attempts to bridge a gap between American and European interests. But what really drew my attention was his response to a question regarding his thoughts on American exceptionalism:
I believe in American exceptionalism. Just as the Brits believe in British exceptionalism, and the Greeks in Greek exceptionalism...This is the same muddle-headed nonsense that every American intuitively understands: In a world where everybody is special, nobody is special. Obama's nuanced response is mystifying: You would think that the son of a Kenyan immigrant would find, in his very own life story, the ultimate expression of what Alexis de Tocqueville meant in terms of the special distinctive nature of America, as a nation of immigrants and the first modern republican democracy.
And, pray tell, how has NATO responded to Obama's interpersonal approach in pleading Europe to step up to organized Islamic terrorists aggressively operating out of the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater? After all, it was not just the Americans, but the British and Spaniards whom have suffered unprovoked attacks on their defenseless civilian populations... And, of course, the NATO charter is supposed to treat an attack of one of theirs as an attack on all of them. Is the NATO charter, to quote Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and subsequently, without attribution, Barack Obama's campaign rhetoric, "Words? Just words?"
But how mightily has NATO responded to Obama, whom has already committed to adding tens of thousands of additional American combat troops, American blood and treasure? Well, we have now a grand total of 5000 troops: 3000 to help carry out the upcoming Afghan election and the other 2000 to help train Afghan troops and police service. No combat troops, of course.
Obama, you're doing a heck of a job!
